diff options
59 files changed, 17 insertions, 17611 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..484b2cb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52038 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52038) diff --git a/old/52038-0.txt b/old/52038-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 536627f..0000000 --- a/old/52038-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8719 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Invasion of America, by Julius Washington Muller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Invasion of America - a fact story based on the inexorable mathematics of war - -Author: Julius Washington Muller - -Release Date: May 10, 2016 [EBook #52038] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION OF AMERICA *** - - - - -Produced by MWS and Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - [Illustration: “It was not because they knew how to fight; it was - because they meant to stay there till they died.” - - Frontispiece_] - - - - - THE INVASION - OF AMERICA - - A FACT STORY BASED ON THE INEXORABLE - MATHEMATICS OF WAR - - BY - JULIUS W. MULLER - Author of “The A. B. C. of Preparedness.” - - [Illustration: colophon] - - NEW YORK - E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - 681 FIFTH AVENUE - 1916 - - Copyright, 1915 - BY E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - - - - -PREFACE - - -In January, 1915, Mr. G. T. Viskniskki, manager of The Wheeler -Syndicate, asked me: “Assuming that an enemy landed an army on the -American coast, what could we actually do with our actual present -resources used to their fullest possible extent?” - -This story was written as the answer. - -I hesitated a long time before I did it. I feared and fear still the -dangers to which the possession of military power drives Nations, and -which are particularly great in the case of a Republic. The obvious -danger that a Nation like ours if powerfully armed may be too easily -impelled to war, is great enough. But still more grave is the danger of -a deep and fatal change in our National spirit, our ideals and our -attitudes toward the world outside of our own borders. - -Therefore when I did write the story I did it with no unworthy design, -and not for the sake of taking advantage of the popular interest in the -subject. - -The story was written without any idea of suggesting that any Nation or -group of Nations may mean to attack us. It was written with no desire to -“scare” the people of the United States into giving thought to the army -and navy. I should hold it a sad reflection on our country to assume -that it must be aroused by terror or hatred into setting its house in -order. - -I beg my readers to accept the story in this spirit. There are eight -words, uttered by one of the greatest of simple men. They are: “With -malice toward none, with charity toward all.” Let that spirit dominate -whatever this Nation may do for military Preparedness, and there will be -no danger that the Preparedness shall become Bellicosity and curse the -land. - -As to the story itself, I need say only that I have tried scrupulously -to avoid twisting any fact to prove a point; and I have cited no fact, -even the most unimportant, without verifying it by reference to the -original source. The description of the method of attack by the -invading foreign armies is not based on any of the conflicting tales -that have come to us from the European scene of war. In fact, the -present war has been almost ignored. The foreign army statistics and -other facts are based on undoubtedly authoritative official and -semi-official publications issued during times of peace, on a study of -the great peace maneuvers, and on information possessed by our own -military experts. - -Similarly, in treating of our own army and its situation I abstained -wholly from using any of the tempting material that has been made so -freely available since the beginning of the agitation for military -preparedness, and have used, instead, the simple and surely unbiassed -facts presented to Congress in responsible official reports before the -European War centered American interest on our own condition. - -The book will demonstrate for itself that the “story element” is not -made to depend on invented battles or imagined catastrophes. Facing the -fact that war is an iron game, wherein the moves are predicated -inexorably on the possession of the material in men and appliances, the -fiction takes no liberties save in trying to present a living picture -of what such a war, falling on an army so unprepared, will be in such a -country as ours. - -The technical soundness of the book is left by me to the verdict of -technical experts. The story was planned, drafted, written and rewritten -with the benefit of unusually authoritative assistance and under -technical coöperation rarely granted to books of this nature. My thanks -are due to men who gave freely of their knowledge, professional ability -and time without even asking that credit should be given to them in -return. - -THE AUTHOR. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Let us be safe rather than sorry! Every scene so graphically described -by the writer of this book will find its duplicate in the mind of the -reader who has kept himself informed of the occurrences in the European -fields of war. - -In war the law of Nations, conserving the laws of humanity, is -superseded by the law of necessity which is invoked and interpreted as -to life and property by the belligerent concerned, to excuse every act -committed. - -Four years of costly and exhausting Civil War found us able to mass on -the Mexican border a magnificently trained and virile army to execute -our mandate of withdrawal (under the Monroe Doctrine) of a so-called -Ruler by Divine Right and his government sustained by foreign arms. From -that task the Civil War armies of both sides, trained to look with -contempt upon obstacles hitherto regarded as insurmountable, turned and -accomplished the construction of trans-Continental railroads that would -not otherwise have been built for another generation, thus inaugurating -an era of unparalleled national development. - -The war in Europe, once ended, will likewise find such virile armies -with warships and transport service comparatively unimpaired and -aggregating, as to the latter, millions of net tons. - -The teaching of history shows that so long as human nature remains -unchanged, war cannot be eliminated as a factor in human affairs. -Meanwhile, and doubtless for centuries to follow, war is inevitable as a -recurrent consequence of the ceaseless operation of an inexorable law of -progress toward world unity under that ultimate governmental form that -shall approach nearest to the laws of humanity and righteousness. - -As our own experience in the Spanish-American war abundantly proves, -intervening oceans lost to our command by reason of the insufficient -strength of our navy, offer no obstacles to the landing on our shore of -a first armed enemy relay sufficient to secure a gateway through which -others would rapidly follow. To this we should be able to oppose only an -available mobile force--at present little more than double the police -force which is deemed somewhat inadequate to preserve order and protect -life and property in the City of New York. - -This book thus simply stages here in New England, the heart of our -industrial efficiency for war or peace, scenes the counterpart of those -occurring abroad from day to day, against the actual happening of which -in our own land there now intervenes a wholly inadequate navy and but -the skeleton of an army, as in the days of the late Thomas Nast.[1] - - JOHN A. JOHNSTON, - - Brigadier General U. S. Army (Resigned); - President Army League of the U. S. - - Washington, D. C. November 1, 1915. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER PAGE - -I THE BEGINNINGS 1 - -II THE COAST BOMBARDED 24 - -III THE LANDING 58 - -IV THE COAST DEFENSES FALL 100 - -V NEW ENGLAND’S BATTLE 135 - -VI THE RISING OF NEW ENGLAND 167 - -VII THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON 201 - -VIII DEFENDING CONNECTICUT 238 - -IX THE CAPTURE OF NEW YORK CITY 268 - -X THE PRICE THAT HAD TO BE PAID 315 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE -“It Was Not Because They Knew How to Fight; -It Was Because They Meant to Stay There Till -They Died” _Frontispiece_ - -“Days Before, the American Fleet Had Steamed -Out of Long Island Sound” facing 14 - -“There Were Ships Moving Toward the Long -Island Coast as if to Threaten New York” 28 - -“There in Connecticut Lay the Army ... Miles -of Tents Separated by Geometrically Straight -Rows of Company Streets” 33 - -“Up Mounted a Hydro-Aeroplane” 46 - -“The Dragons of Twelve-Inch Mortars that -Squatted in Hidden Pits” 48 - -“Destroyers Moved Straight for the Harbor in a -Long Line” 60 - -“He Steered His Craft, Awash, from Behind -Fisher’s Island, at Dawn” 83 - -“For Miles Beyond that the Enemy’s Patrols Had -Occupied Points ...” 92 - -“They Flew over the Tall Municipal Building of -New York” 100 - -“The Efficient, Prepared, Resourceful Invader Was -Landing His Army, Not Only Without Losing a -Man, but Without Getting a Man’s Feet Wet” 109 - -“The Forward Turret of a Battleship Turned and -Spoke with a Great Voice” 129 - -“The People Had Gone out to Tear Up the Railroad -Tracks Leading into the Town” 152 - -“Entirely Raw Volunteers, Who Had Everything -to Learn” 160 - -“There Had Been Firing from Mill-Buildings, -Which Had Been Destroyed for Punishment” 183 - -“The Quick Searchlights Caught the Ships” 208 - -“A Landing Was Attempted in Greater Force, -with the Assistance of a Destroyer Division Lying -Close to the Beach” 213 - -“The Country-Club Had Been Turned into a -Brigade Headquarters” 243 - -“The Army of Madmen Went Forward to the Connecticut -River to Hold the Western Bank” 260 - -“The Only Activity that Remained in Full Progress -Was the Activity of the Bulletin-Boards” 291 - -“The Big Guns Behind Them Made No Despicable -Sentinels” 331 - - -MAPS - -The Landing of the Enemy Forces 123 - -Boston Harbor 201 - -The Attack on the New York Defences 300 - - - - -THE INVASION OF AMERICA - - - - -I - -THE BEGINNINGS - - -“Washington, D. C., March 20.--The President, as Commander-in-Chief of -the Army and Navy, has ordered a grand joint maneuver of the fleet, the -regular army and the Organized Militia (National Guard) of Divisions 5, -6, 7, and 8, comprising New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, -Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.” - -No comment from official circles accompanied this dispatch when it was -printed in the newspapers. None was needed. Ever since the Great -Coalition had been formed, America had faced the probability of war. - -In the White House there was a conference of the Cabinet, attended by -the Chief of Staff of the United States Army and the Admiral who was -President of the General Board of the Navy. - -“The regular troops are moving,” reported the Chief of Staff. “Every -last man of ’em is on the way east.” He laughed grimly. “I take no -credit for it. The trains of the country can do it without changing a -schedule. Do you know, gentlemen, that even the smaller roads often -handle an excursion crowd as big as this whole army of ours?”[2] - -The Secretary of War shrugged his shoulders. “Despite all the talk of -recent years, despite all our official reports, I doubt if the people -realize it.” - -“Make them!” said the President. “Drive it home to them, before war is -brought to our coasts.” He turned to the two chiefs of staff. “Give the -newspapers a statement about the ‘maneuvers’ that will give the public -the cold truth.” - -“The fleet,” said the Admiral to the newspaper correspondents an hour -later, “is assumed to be an enemy fleet too powerful for opposition. It -will attempt to land at least 100,000 fighting forces somewhere on the -Atlantic Coast. It is conceded that an actual enemy planning invasion -would not come with less than that number. It is conceded also that a -sufficiently powerful fleet can transport that number, and more, safely -across the ocean. The Navy, further, concedes the landing.”[3] - - -_What Our Harbor Defenses Cannot Prevent_ - -“But our coast defenses, Admiral!” spoke the correspondent of a Boston -newspaper. “We’ve been told that those affairs with their monster -12-inch rifled steel cannon and their 12-inch mortar batteries, and -mines and things, are as powerful as any in the world, and can stand off -any fleet!” - -“They are not coast defenses, sir,” answered the Chief of Staff. “They -are harbor defenses. They can stop warships from entering our great -harbors. They cannot prevent an enemy from landing on the coast out of -their range. And on the Atlantic Coast of the United States there are -hundreds of miles of utterly undefended beach where any number of men -can land as easily as if they were trippers landing for a picnic. All -those miles of shore, and all the country behind them, lie as open to -invasion,” he held out his hand, “as this.” - -“Then what’s the use of them?” - -“They furnish a protected harbor within which our own navy could take -refuge if defeated or scattered,” said the Admiral. “They make our -protected cities absolutely secure against a purely naval attack. No -navy could readily pass the defenses, and probably none would venture so -close as even to bombard them seriously. Certainly no fleet could -bombard the cities behind them. - -“Therefore,” he continued, “if an enemy wishes to bring war to us, he -must land an army of invasion. Our harbor defenses force him to do that; -but--having forced him to bring the army, their function ceases. They -cannot prevent him from landing it. We have to do that with OUR army.” - -“And could you stop him, or is that a military secret?” asked one of the -party. He did it tentatively. He had been a war correspondent with -foreign armies, and he did not expect a reply. - - -_31,000 Men--Our Actual Mobile Army_ - -“My dear boy,” answered the Chief of Staff promptly, “there probably -isn’t a General Staff in the world that doesn’t know all about us, to -the last shoe on the last army mule. We’ve got 88,000 men in the regular -army, officers and privates.[4] Of these, you may count out 19,000. They -are non-combatants--cooks, hospital staffs, teamsters, armorers, -blacksmiths, and all the other odds and ends that an army must have, but -can’t use for fighting. Now, cut out another 21,000 men. Those are -fighting men, but they’re not here. They’re in Panama, Hawaii, the -Philippines, China and Alaska--and we wish that we had about three times -as many there, especially in Panama. How much does that leave? -Forty-eight thousand? Very well. That’s what we’ve got here at home. But -you’ll please count out another 17,000. They’re in the Coast Artillery, -and have to man the harbor defenses of which we’ve been talking. Now -you’ve got our mobile army--the actual force that we can put into the -field and move around. Thirty-one thousand men.” - -“A pretty straight tip,” agreed the Washington correspondents when they -left the War Department. And as a straight tip they passed it on to -their readers. So the Nation read the next morning how their army was -being made ready. They read how four companies of one infantry regiment -were gathered from Fort Lawton in Washington and another four companies -from Fort Missoula in Montana. They read how still four other companies -of the same regiment were at Madison Barracks in New York State.[5] - -Their fifth Cavalry regiment, they learned, was being assembled like a -picture puzzle by sending to Fort Myer, Virginia, for four troops of it, -to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, for four more troops and a machine-gun -platoon, and to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for the remaining four troops -needed to form a full regiment. - -There was field artillery whose component units were scattered, guns, -horses and men, from the Vermont line to the Rio Grande. There were -signal troops in Alaska, Texas, the Philippines and Panama. - -This was no such mobilization as that giant mobilization in Europe when -a continent had stood still for days and nights while the soldiers -moved to their appointed places. So far scattered was the American army, -so small were its units, that only a few civilians here and there could -have noticed that troops were being moved at all. - -More than one un-military citizen, looking over his newspaper that -morning, cursed the politics that had maintained the absurd, worthless, -wasteful army posts, and cursed himself for having paid no heed in the -years when thoughtful men had called on him and his fellows to demand a -change. - -More than one citizen, when he left his house to go to his accustomed -work, looked up at the sky and wondered, with a sinking heart, how soon -it would seem black with war. - - -_A Dreadnaught For Every Effective American Ship_ - -It was a peaceful, soft sky, with baby clouds sleeping on its bland, -blue arch. It radiated a tranquil warmth of coming spring; and under it -the Atlantic Ocean lay equally peaceful, equally soft, equally tranquil. - -Yet even as the people of America were taking up the day’s work, under -that soft, tranquil sea a message was darting through the encrusted -cables that swept away all peace. - -Before noon, from sea to sea and from lakes to gulf, from the valley of -the Hudson to the sierras of the Rockies, from Jupiter Inlet to the -Philippines, ran the silent alarm of the telegraph that the Great -Coalition had declared War! - -Forty-eight hours later the combined battle-fleet of the four Nations -put to sea with its army transports, bound for the American coast.[6] - -The United States learned of its departure before its rear-guard had -well cleared the land. The news did not come from American spies. It -came from the Coalition itself. - -War, the Chameleon, as Clausewitz called it, was presenting a new aspect -of its unexpected phases. Not a cable had been cut following the -declaration of war; and now the submarine cables and the wireless began -to bring official news from the enemy--news addressed not to the -American government, but to the American people. - -It was news that told of an invulnerable fleet carrying more than a -thousand rifled cannon of the largest caliber ever borne by ships in all -the world. It told of enough battleships alone (and named them) to match -the Republic’s fleet with a dreadnaught for every effective American -ship of any kind.[7] - -“Clever!” said the Secretary of State to the President. “It is -Terrorism.” - -“Don’t you think that you’d better reconsider your idea of letting this -go through?” asked the Secretary of War. “It’s pretty dangerous stuff.” - -“It’s the Nation’s War,” answered the President. “Will it demoralize our -people to know the truth, even under the guise of terrorism? Do you know -in whose hands I’m going to leave that question?” - -“I can’t guess,” said the Secretary. - -“In the hands of the newspapers,” replied the President. - -The newspapers did not require to be told that the purpose of this novel -news service from the enemy was Terrorism. - -They answered Terrorism by Printing The News. - - -_The Battle That Was Decided Years Before_ - -Then the sea-coast cities began to call to Washington. By telegraph and -telephone they demanded protection. It was a chorus from Maine to -Georgia. Into the White House thronged the Congressmen. - -“Defend us! Defend our people! Defend our towns!” said they.[8] - -“We cannot do it!” said the Chief of Staff. “No wit of man can guess at -what point of many hundred miles the enemy will strike. He may land on -the New Jersey coast to take Philadelphia. He may land on Long Island to -march at New York. He may strike at Boston. He may land between Boston -and New York, on the Rhode Island or Massachusetts coasts, and keep us -guessing whether he’ll turn west to New York or east to Boston. He may -even strike for both at once, from there.” - -“Then why not put men into each place to protect it?” demanded a -Congressman. “Are these great cities to be left wide open?” - -“You know how many regulars we’ve got. Do you know how many effective -men we’ve pulled together by calling out those eastern divisions of -organized militia? Their enrolled strength is 50,000 men. Their actual -active strength as shown by attendance figures has been only about 30 -per cent. of that; but we were lucky.[9] This danger has brought out -all, probably, that were able to come. Still, there are less than 30,000 -men; and not quite half of those have had good field training. We need -them. We need them so badly that we’re putting them all in the first -line. But it’s a little bit like--well, it’s murder.” - -“Then you mean to say--!” The Congressman was aghast. - -“I mean to say,” answered the Chief of Staff, with a set face, “that the -army is going to take what it has, and do its best. But it’s going to do -it in its own way. No enemy will dream of landing an invading army -unless it is decisively, over-poweringly superior to our own. Now, -Congressman, the only way for an inferior army to accomplish anything -is to refuse battle until the chances are as favorable as they can be -made. The inferior force must retire before a superior. It must force -the invader to follow till he is weakened by steadily lengthening lines -of communications. His difficulties of food-and ammunition-transport -grow. He becomes involved in strange terrain. Last but not least, he -gets more and more deeply into a land filled with a hostile population. -But if we must defend a specific place at all hazards, then we must -stand and give battle--well, it will be only one battle.” - -“You mean--?” - -“I mean that such a battle is decided already. It was decided years -ago--when the country refused to prepare.” - -“Good God, man!” The Congressman wiped his forehead with a trembling, -fat hand. “I can’t go back and tell my people that.” - -“You’d better not,” said the General, grimly. - - -_No Men to Defend the Harbor Works_ - -The unhappy man, and other unhappy men like him, went back to their -constituencies knowing that now no campaign oratory would serve. Soften -the news they must, and would; but they were the bearers of ill tidings, -and they knew what comes to these. - -The stricken cities heard. From all the great coast with its piled gold -and silver, there arose a cry. Men shook their fists and cursed the -machinery of politics that had worked through the blind years to hinder, -to deceive and to waste. The Pork Barrel ceased all at once to be the -great American joke. - -“Throw men into our harbor defenses!” cried the cities of the coast. -“Hold them! Hold them!” - -“We have seventeen thousand trained regulars and 5,000 militia more or -less experienced to handle these complex giants,” answered the Army, -implacably. “There are 1,184 guns and mortars to handle. It leaves no -men to defend the works. To throw the mobile army or any part of it into -the defenses for mere protection is only to lock them up. The mobile -army must defend the defenses from outside. If it cannot do it, they -fall.”[10] - -“Where is the mobile army?” cried the cities. “Send it here!” clamored -each city. - -There was no reply. Somewhere behind the Atlantic Coast lay the mobile -army, silent. - -The cities stared to sea. They listened for sounds from the sea. That -serving ocean that had made them rich and great, had become suddenly -terrible, a secret place where there brooded wrath. Every day great -multitudes, stirred by helpless, vague impulse, moved toward the -waterfronts and gazed down the harbors. Every rumble of blasts or heavy -vehicle, every sudden great noise, startled the cities into a quick: -“Listen! Cannons!” - - -_The News the Fleet Sent Back_ - -“Where is the fleet?” The question ran from Maine to Florida, till it, -too, became one great clamor, storming at the White House. Again there -was no answer. - -Days before, the American fleet had steamed out of the eastern end of -Long Island Sound. The tall, gray dreadnaughts and armored cruisers, -each with its circling, savage brood of destroyers; light cruisers, -torpedo boats, - -[Illustration: “Days before, the American fleet had steamed out of Long -Island Sound.”] - -sea-going submarines, hospital ships, auxiliaries and colliers, one by -one they had passed into the open sea and vanished. - -But though no man knew where it was, from its unknown place it spoke by -wireless to Washington, and through Washington to the Nation. - -From “somewhere between the Virginia Capes and the northern end of the -Bahama Islands” where it lay, it had sent out its feelers across the sea -toward the on-coming foe--swift gray feelers whose tall skeleton -fire-control tops were white with watching sailors. And so, presently, -between the enemy and the American coast there lay a line of relays to -catch the news and pass it on to the Nation and its fleet. - -More than a hundred miles of sea, said the news, were covered by the -advancing fleet. It was a hundred miles of steel forts; and outside of -them, dashing back and forth in ceaseless patrol, were the lighter and -faster craft, consisting of destroyers and small, swift cruisers. - -The scout cruiser _Birmingham_ had spied ships inside even the inner -line. But they were not transports. They were still warships. The troop -transports were so far within all the protective cordons that the -American scouts, lying far along the horizon, could not even sight their -masts. - -The enemy fleet scarcely made an attempt to attack the spying vessels. -It seemed almost that the enormous mass was too insolently sure of its -power to trouble about the scouts. - -So, with watching cruisers and destroyers hanging to its sides day and -night, the invaders’ armada moved westward as steady as a lifeless, -wicked machine. Never varying their distances or relative positions, -never falling out of line, never altering their speed of 14 knots, the -dreadnaughts and battle-cruisers guarded their precious transports, -trusting to their outer cordon to keep off all attacks. And the outer -cordon held true. - -It did not move slowly, majestically, like the armored line. Incessantly -it swept back and forth, and in and out, patrolling the sea to a -distance so far from the battle-ships that the American scouts rarely -could approach nearer than to sight, from their own tops, the tops of -the dreadnaughts. - - -_The Message From the Kearsarge_ - -As the enemy covered the sea, so he filled the air. Constantly, all day -long, floating and drifting with the soft white clouds far beyond the -farthest extent of the cordon, his aeroplanes surveyed the water-world. -And all day long, and all night long, the ships’ wireless tore the air. - -The American wireless, too, played forth its electric waves of air night -and day. From daring scouts to relay-ships, and from relay-ships to -hidden fleet and to waiting Nation, went the story out of the far sea. -The American millions knew the progress of the coming enemy as if the -fleet were an army moving along a populous highway of the land. - -The Nation watched the implacable, remorseless advance breathlessly, -apprehensively; but behind its apprehension there was hope. “Surely, -surely,” men said to each other, “our splendid sailors will get at -them!” - -Accustomed by its history to expect thrilling deeds of dash and -enterprise that should wrest success out of disaster, the United States -waited for The Deed. - -It came. Out of the far Atlantic came the story. It came from the -battle-ship _Kearsarge_ and went to the _Chester_, it was passed on by -the _Chester_ and picked up by the _Tacoma_, and the _Tacoma_ tossed it -into the air and sent it to the coast. - -“Engaged,” said the _Kearsarge_, “have--sunk,” and then there came a -break in the message. “Destroyer--light--cruiser--” spoke the wireless -again, and stopped. “Armored--cruiser,” spoke the wireless again in half -an hour. “Port--beam--disabled--withdrawing--pre-dreadnaught--abaft- --starboard--beam--firing--14,000--yards--dreadnaught--port beam--” - Again there came an abrupt check to the wireless. - -To the men on the fleet “somewhere off the Virginia Capes,” and to the -men in newspaper offices from ocean to ocean, it was as if they were -witnessing the fight. Indeed, the presses had some of it printed and on -the streets before the battle-ship’s story was done. - -“Dreadnaught--” started the wireless again. “17,000--yards--am -struck--after--gun--upper--turret--am -struck--forward--gun--lower--turret--dismounted--am -struck--after--gun--lower--turret--” - -The air fell silent. It was the last word from the _Kearsarge_. - - -_The Inevitable Order to an Inferior Fleet_ - -“As a man,” said the Admiral that night to the correspondents who -pressed him for an interview, “I am glad that the _Kearsarge_ did it. As -Admiral, I can only say that her destruction, old though she was, is a -heavy loss to us that would not be balanced even if, besides the ships -she sank, she had sunk both the dreadnaughts. We have ordered the fleet -to keep itself intact.” - -“Does that mean that there are to be no raids?” - -“It cannot be done,” answered the Admiral. “With sufficient machinery, -heroism can do great deeds to-day, as ever. Without the machinery, it -can only go down, singing.[11] The enemy transports are within an -inmost line of great ships. At the margin of their zone of fire is -another armored line of dreadnaughts. And the outer cordon is at the -margin of that zone of fire. Thus one of our raiding ships would have to -break through at least thirty miles, every inch of it under fire from -half a dozen ships. It cannot be done. This enemy fleet could be broken -only by brute force. To attack in force with our inferior fleet would -mean simply that we should smash ourselves against him as unavailingly -as if we smashed ourselves full speed ahead against a rocky coast.” - -“But surely at night our ships can dash in!” insisted the public, -reluctant to give up romantic hopes. “Wait--and some night you will -see!” - -Then there came a wireless relayed from the _Conyngham_, biggest and -swiftest of the American destroyer divisions. She had circled the whole -enemy fleet, flying around it through days and nights at the full speed -of her thirty knots. Her message told why there could be no raids at -night. - -There was no night. All the sea, ran the _Conyngham’s_ tale, was lit -like a flaming city. The outer cordon played its search-lights far -toward each horizon. It played other lights inward, toward its own -battle-ships. And the line of battle-ships in turn, kept mighty -searchlights, bow and stern, steadily on their transports. - -Each transport had its guard, whose bright surveillance never shifted, -never wavered, from dusk to dawn. These sentinel dreadnaughts never -turned a search-light to sweep the surrounding sea. They held their -transports steadily in the white glare. - -There was not an inch of ocean within their lines that was not ablaze. A -fragment of driftwood could not have floated into that vivid sea without -being detected by a hundred eyes. - - -_The Invader Off the Coast_ - -Now the news came fast and faster, as the fleet, and its hovering spies, -came nearer. - -The _Alabama_, sister-ship to the _Kearsarge_, by haphazard fortune got -between two enemy scouts and the main fleet, and accomplished by sudden -attack what she never could have accomplished by speed. She sank them -within twenty minutes, and returned without injury. It was 13-inch guns -against 8-inch, and the story was as it always is. The inferior enemy -ships went down like pasteboard, under the fire of the turret guns on -the American vessel. - -On the same day, almost at the same hour, the scout cruiser -_Birmingham_, at the other end of the enemy line, sent report that the -destroyer _Bainbridge_, tiniest of the division, had driven her two -18-inch torpedoes home and sunk an armored cruiser that had fallen out -of line to repair some unknown injury to its machinery. The _Bainbridge_ -did not tell its own story. The little boat and her men were blasted -into nothing within ten minutes by a battle-cruiser that had turned to -protect her mate. - -These disasters, that might have been appalling to a lesser sea-power, -left the great navy of the Coalition unshaken. Steadily, imperturbably, -it kept on its way. - -So there came the day when coasters and small craft sped wildly into the -shelter of Boston and New York Harbors, into Long Island Sound and into -the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. They had seen the enemy. - -Next morning, in a gray, transparent, peaceful April dawn, watchers on -the coast, gazing across the empty, flat Atlantic, to the immense -half-circle of the horizon, saw innumerable tiny objects just sticking -up above the rim of the sea. Through the glass they seemed to be little -perches of skeleton iron built in the deep ocean. - -Set at beautifully precise distances apart, they dotted the sharply -outlined edge of water and sky, north and south, far beyond vision. - -Innocent and quiet they appeared, as they stood there, growing slowly, -very slowly, up out of the far sea. - -And the roaring presses, spouting forth extra editions east, west, north -and south, told the United States of America: - - INVADER APPEARS OFF AMERICAN COAST - - - - -II - -THE COAST BOMBARDED - - -Never, even in after years, was it determined whence the news of the -enemy ships came first. Almost as easily might a land invaded by locusts -have decided what eye first saw the coming cloud, or at what precise -spot. - -“Warship on horizon. Standing in. Slowly.” It came from the keeper of -Peaked Hill Bar Life-Saving Station at the far end of Cape Cod’s -sweeping sand-arm. From the crest of the Navesink Highlands, standing -steep out of the Atlantic at New York’s harbor entrance, men saw ships. -On the high place their eyes commanded a view eighteen miles out to sea. -At that extreme distance were the tops of fighting craft, lying safely -outside of the zone of fire from the big guns in Sandy Hook’s -harbor-defenses. - -From his lantern 163 feet high the lighthouse keeper of Barnegat on the -New Jersey coast, forty miles south of the Navesink, saw tops above his -horizon. “Ships standing off here,” came the word from Cape Ann, north -of Boston. - -Philadelphia heard from Absecon Light and cried to Washington that the -enemy was preparing to land on its coast. Boston cried to Washington for -ships and men. New York telegraphed and telegraphed again and sent -delegations on a special train. - -Washington faced the clamor, the appeals half-beseeching and -half-furious, with a great stern aspect, new in a Republic wherein the -rulers are the servants who must heed public demands. This coming -invasion was unprovoked. The Administration needed no party behind it -now; for it knew that this was to be a fight for life, and that only the -sword could decide. And it had given the sword to the army and navy -without conditions. - -“It is the least we can do,” the President had said. “Long ago they -warned the Nation. The Nation would not give them the tools they needed. -Now that there is nothing left except to do their best, they shall be -left to do it in their own way.” - -So the word went abroad among the politicians: “The army and navy have -the bit in their teeth.” And the politicians, once so powerful, went -helplessly to the Departments, to ask what they might tell their people. - -“Tell them,” said the Admiral, “that there is nothing to say--yet. Here! -We are sending out a bulletin.” He passed it over. - - -_The Sea Strategy an Invader Would Employ_ - -“The enemy fleet,” said the bulletin, “has expanded its line enormously -to threaten many far separated points simultaneously, and thus mask its -actual design for landing. Our ships and air scouts, and the army air -scouts, are trying to penetrate the screen of cruisers, destroyers and -enemy air-craft to find the real fleet with the convoys.” - -“But is this not a chance for the navy to attack the scattered enemy -ships?” asked one. - -“Opportunities may occur,” answered the Admiral. “But the business of -our fleet is to keep itself in battle formation.”[12] - -The sea-coast cities read the bulletin and held their breath. Through -their streets thundered their traffic, as in peace. But the exchanges -were closed--had closed half an hour after opening, in panic. Even in -that short time, a thousand fortunes had been destroyed: and men passing -outside had heard from within a vast noise of cries and shrieks as of -animals. - -The banks were closing. The streets leading to the railroad stations -from the financial centers were clogged by slowly moving but madly -crowding automobiles and cabs and trucks. Everything on wheels had been -pressed into service. On one open truck, guarded by half a dozen men who -showed automatic pistols ostentatiously, were bags of gold. The United -States sub-Treasuries were being emptied. Men tore at securities in -their safe-deposit vaults and stuffed them into valises, and ran. The -treasure of the cities was being sent inland. - -In front of the newspaper offices stood the citizens. They stood so -closely crowded that there was no passage through those parts of the -towns. Their throngs were so great that from their outskirts only those -could read the announcements who were armed with field glasses. These -fortunate ones told the news as it appeared: and it was repeated to the -crowds in the side-streets, who packed the roads from house-edge to -edge. - -All these great crowds were utterly silent. There was no sound from -them, except for the voices of those who passed the news on. A man -looking from a high window in a newspaper office suddenly stepped back, -with a choking in his throat. “It is--it is,” he said, and choked again, -“as if they were waiting for the end of the world.” - - -_A Strategical Shelling of the Coast_ - -Incessantly the bulletins spoke. Lighthouses, coast-guards, patrols, -harbor defenses, ships, air-scouts wirelessed their reports to -Washington, and Washington flung it swiftly through the land. - -Nantucket had seen ships. There were ships moving toward the Long Island -coast as if to threaten New York. Atlantic City on the southern New -Jersey coast, and Rockport in New England sent out warning. - -It was a still, warm morning, heavy with the soft, humid air that early -spring lays on the cities of the sea. There was no breeze, except for a -languorous breathing from the distant - -[Illustration: “There were ships moving toward the Long Island Coast as -if to threaten New York.”] - -ocean, that stole up the harbors and scarcely moved the air. Suddenly -that brooding, heavy air was shaken. One! Two! Three! - -Afterward, when men compared the time, they knew that it was heard at -the same instant at New York and Boston, and all the stretches of coast -between them and beyond. Even in that moment of fear, there were -thousands who instinctively looked at their watches and timed it. It was -exactly half-past ten when the first shot sounded. Very regularly, -almost somnolently, came the far-off shocks through the air. There were -half-minute intervals between them, quite exact. - -The last boom was heard at eleven. Long before that the bulletins had -begun to tell that ships were shelling the coast. Duxbury Beach near -Boston was being shelled. Long Branch and Asbury Park were bombarded. -Amagansett on Long Island was in flames. - -“It has stopped,” said the bulletins, then, “The ships have ceased -firing.” - -Then there came news from the harbor defenses. Two ships, said Plum -Island at the east end of Long Island Sound, had engaged the defenses at -long range without effect. A ship had come in east of Coney Island, -just outside of the zone of fire from Sandy Hook, reported Fort -Hamilton, and dropped shells into Brooklyn’s suburbs. - -Now the crowds were silent no longer. Long years afterward, old men told -how on that still April morning they were in quiet places on the -outskirts of the great cities, and heard from there a great, strange -sound as of a vast æolian harp. It was the noise of multitudes, risen. - -They stormed their City Halls, roaring for soldiers. They tried to rush -their armories, demanding weapons. To Washington flashed the dreaded -news of Mobs. “Troops must be sent at once,” said the cities. - -The old Chief of Staff, with “the bit in his teeth,” dropped the -dispatches on the floor. “Let ’em handle their own mobs,” said he. - - -_Not Enough Men to Guard Even the Water Supply of New York and Boston_ - -“Handle your own mobs!” he said again, to The Boss from New York, who -appeared with a flaming face. - -But The Boss had the bit in his teeth, too. Those dispatches, and long -distance telephone messages from close lieutenants, had filled him with -a dread that was bigger than the new-born dread of the old soldier. -“I’ve broken bigger men than you!” he roared. “A thousand times bigger! -Once and for the last time, are you going to send the army to protect -us?” - -“Once, and for the last time,” said the General, quietly, “no!” - -The Boss looked at him. His eyes glared. Then, all at once, he saw that -in the General’s face that gave him a big, new, overwhelming knowledge. -He saw that the new word “NO” had been born in Washington; and that he -and his henceforth would have to admit that it meant “NO.” - -It hit him like a club. Something came from his throat that was not a -sob, yet strangely like one. “Then what--then--are we going to -everlasting smash?” - -“Listen,” said the General, gravely calm as in the beginning. He laid -his hand on the politician’s shoulder. “We have swept together the stuff -that you and your kind gave us in these past years. Up there,” he -pointed north, “in Connecticut, our officers have been fighting to make -an army of it--of battalions that have no regiments, of divisions that -are not divisions, of riflemen who never learned to shoot and of cavalry -that never learned to maneuver. But even if all that mess were not a -mess--if all these young men were fit to fight in the battle line this -moment, there are not enough of them to guard even the water-supply of -New York and Boston.”[13] - -“Then you won’t put any men into the city?” - -“To defend a city from within is an act of desperation, no matter how -big one’s army is,” said the General. “The place to defend a city is as -far away from it as you can meet the enemy.” - -“But the newspapers say that you haven’t men enough to stop him.” The -Boss had dismissed all attempt to bluster. “Isn’t there a chance?” - -“Not if he comes in the force we expect--and he will be sure to come -so.” The General did not endeavor to soften his statement. He spoke -sharp and short, “And remember--the cities are not the United States. -Our business is to keep the army in the field for the Union, not for New -York or Boston or even Washington. - -[Illustration: “There in Connecticut lay the Army.... Miles of tents -separated by geometrically straight rows of Company streets.”] - -There is a price to be paid--and perhaps the cities must pay it.” - -“And you’ll pay the price, too,” muttered the Chief of Staff, looking -northward toward New England from his window after the politician had -gone. “You’re paying it now, with sweat and nerves; and you’ll pay it in -lives.” - - -_A Militia That Cannot Shoot_ - -There, in Connecticut, lay the army, looking formidable enough. -Radiating in beautiful precision from a central point, were miles of -tents separated by geometrically straight rows of company streets. Over -all the great space, afoot and horseback, in companies and troops, in -squadrons and battalions, moved spruce, agile figures in the trim -efficient campaign dress of the American soldier. Glossy, bright flags -floated everywhere. The sweet bugles sang. - -It would have seemed a very harmonious, solidly welded whole, that army, -to any layman who could have had a bird’s eye view of its business-like -assembly, its great parks of artillery, its full corrals of mounts, its -endless rows of tents and equipage and its enormous trains of transport -vehicles and ambulances. - -But at one end of that great, orderly, formidable camp were hordes of -organized militia firing at targets. With the enemy on the coast, these -men were still being broken in to shoot--not to become sharp-shooters, -but to qualify merely as second-class marksmen that they might at least -learn enough about the use of their rifles to be not entirely useless in -battle. Ever since the militia of the coast States had come in, -small-arms experts of the army had been clutching greedily at every bit -of daylight, to teach 14,000 men how to shoot--14,000 men of an armed -force that was offered by the States to be the country’s first line of -defense.[14] - -Into that camp had marched a month before, with flags flying, bands -gallantly playing, weapons gleaming, one whole State’s militia -organization of which only 700 men had fired regularly in practice -during the whole preceding year. Only 525 of even that small number had -qualified as shots, and more than a thousand were carried as utterly -unqualified. Of that entire State force, only one man had passed through -the regular army qualification course with the rifle, and only twelve -had qualified at long range practice.[15] - -“Brave?” said the hapless General of Brigade who had them under his -hands. “Brave? If we gave ’em the order, they would charge an army with -their bare hands, sir--and they might as well.” - -He fluttered a sheet of paper in his hard, hairy fist. The sheet showed -25,353 organized militia enrolled as “trained men armed with the rifle.” -Of these 15,927 men had qualified sufficiently to be fit for firing in -battle. There were a thousand men in that command whose records showed -that they had not fired their rifles a single time in a year: and the -General had reason to believe that many of these never had used weapons -except as instruments of parade.[16] - - -_State Artillerymen That Have Never Qualified as Gunners._ - -A mile away, in the artillery encampment, a field artillery battery of -regulars from Fort Sill swept their guns at top speed through passages -so tight that it seemed impossible for the flying wheels to clear them. -Sharply they wheeled and came to position, just as a militia battery -arrived. - -The militia guns were hauled by horses that their State had hastily -hired or bought. The brutes had hauled trucks in a city; and in trying -to wheel, one of them straddled the gun. In a moment the gun-team was -around and over the guns in a confusion of chains and leather. - -“Do you stable your mounts on top of your guns in the milish?” shouted a -regular, gleefully. But he and his fellows helped good-naturedly enough. - -“We never had horses till now,” growled one of the militiamen, who was -stooping to tug at a trace-chain. It made his face fiery red. “State -wouldn’t give us any, and we didn’t have stables, anyway, in our armory. -So we couldn’t break in any mounts.” - -“Nor you couldn’t break yourselves in, chum, I guess,” spoke another -regular. “How the devil did you get gunnery practice? Haul your little -gun out by hand to the firing ground?” - -The militiamen fumbled at the trace again. “Didn’t fire it,” he said, -without looking up. - -“All right, milish!” shouted the regular. “Shake! You’re game, all -right, you boys! Willing, by gum, to face the Hell that you’re going to -get, and not a gunner in your battery. Fine leather-headed citizens you -must have, back home.” - -“They didn’t think much of artillery at home,” grinned the militiaman. -“Thought that infantry was all they needed. They sort of thought we just -had a little toy to play with.” - -“You ain’t going to be lonely, milish,” grunted the regular, sauntering -off. “Tie a necktie around your horses and then go over yonder. You’ll -find three other batteries from three other States that never had no -horses, never had no mounted drills, and never qualified as -gunners.”[17] - - -_Cavalry Without Horses and Undrilled_ - -A grizzled Colonel of Cavalry rode by. Under his shaggy eye-brows he -shot a glance at the helpless battery, and swore. He dated back to -Indian times, and they said of him in the army that he knew nothing -except cavalry tactics and horses. But he knew them; and he was breaking -his old heart over the militia cavalry that had come under his command. - -Some he had that were good enough to win his full praise; but none of -these was full as to quota of men. The Colonel of the best of the -regiments was riding at his side. It was an organized force of rich men, -each of whom had brought his own mount, trained as carefully as any -cavalry horse, and perfectly equipped. “Fine, sir, fine!” said the old -Indian fighter. “But oh! Wait till you see what arrived last week. They -can ride! Yes, sir, they can ride. Heaven knows how they learned it, for -they didn’t ever have a mount except what they hired in livery stables. -A rich State, too, and one that did its infantry damned well, damned -well, sir. It was supposed to be a regiment of cavalry that we were to -get. Do you know what arrived? Two squadrons! And, sir, they came afoot. -They served a State that evidently prefers horseless cavalry.”[18] - -He chewed his cigar and threw it away. “Look over there!” he continued. -“See those chaps? They were among the first to come to us. Yes, sir. The -entire cavalry force of that State came out--the entire force, you -understand. D’you want to know how many there were? Three -troops,--three--troops--confound me, sir. Not a whole squadron. But as -these three troops were in three different parts of the State they -hadn’t even been drilled to move together in their little three troops -as one body. We’re just getting ’em so that they can ride in squadron -without smashing into some other troop and crumpling the whole outfit to -Hades.”[19] - - -_State Troops Without Medical Supplies, Shoes, Overcoats_ - -Even while the old cavalry leader was swearing, a delegation of -civilians, sent to visit the camp officially, was gathered at -headquarters. The visitors were haggard and worried: but, with the -ever-ready optimism of the extraordinary American race, the most worried -one of them all said: “A splendid army. Looks fit to fight for its life. -We are sure that you will give a good account of yourselves, General, -against any force.” - -“Against any force,” echoed another. - -The Major-General did not reply. He gazed over the spick and span tents, -the spick and span men, the spick and span guns, far and on, and on, -over an encampment that stretched out of sight behind distant wooded -heights. - -In the immediate line of his vision lay the sanitary camp. There, beside -his own regulars, lay sanitary troops of the State militia that had come -into camp without ambulance companies, without field hospitals, without -medical supplies. He thought of one regiment (a regiment on paper, seven -companies in reality) that had appeared without even its service outfit -of shoes and overcoats. Two whole State divisions, had they gone into -action on their own strength, would have had no ambulances at all to -carry off their wounded. One division, formed from a State that had done -better than most with its militia, arrived for war with two field -hospitals short and lacking seven full ambulance companies. Even the -richest State of the sea-board groups had left its organized force -short, both a field hospital and an ambulance company. Not one of all -the militia forces from all the States had ambulances enough.[20] - -The soldier looked up at the sky. “Lord! Lord!” he muttered, not -impiously. “An extravagant land. As extravagant with its lives as with -everything else.” - - -_The One Thing in Which Our Army Would Be Perfect_ - -There was only one thing in which that army was preëminent and perfect. -It was in the matter of transport. Even that had been made only since -war was declared; but it had been made swiftly, thoroughly, because it -demanded only an efficient, swift gathering of vast resources. - -Within an hour of the declaration, the army had swept the coast States -from New Jersey to Maine clear of everything serviceable that had -wheels. Piled on miles of sidings beside the magnificent railroad system -lay the rolling stock of a dozen great commercial States. Like mammoth -trains along the sides of all the highways, north, south, east and west -from the camp, were the requisitioned automobiles and trucks. - -This army was going to be able not only to fight on its stomach, as -Napoleon said, but it was going to be able to fight on flying feet, too. - -So great were its resources in motive power, that although there were -motor vehicles making a double line miles long on each of half a dozen -roads leading from the camp, there still were thousands of swift cars -free to patrol the American coast from the end of Maine to the Virginia -Capes. - -The army might not be able to withstand a blow; but it could dodge. - -It could know, too, in time to dodge. Its own trained intelligence -department was supplemented by ten thousand and more untrained observers -and watchers, who tried to make up for their lack of technical skill by -keen intelligence, alertness, adventurous daring and--unlimited private -means. - -Queer enough were their reports, often incomprehensible, frequently -absurd to the point of tragedy. In a measure, they made a confused -trouble for army headquarters; yet on the whole they were invaluable in -that time, when the United States was so wofully short of scouts. - - -_The First American to See the Enemy’s Troop Ships_ - -The volunteer scouts spied out the air as they did the roads. - -It was a volunteer who soared out in his bi-plane from New Bedford in -Massachusetts that morning, when the newspapers announced the approach -of the hostile fleet. He had learned to loop the loop for fun, fun being -the great object of his gay though strenuous existence. - -Fortunate it was, indeed, that rich men had taken up aviation as a -sport: for the enemy had come with aeroplanes counted not by scores, but -by hundreds. And to oppose them, the American army and navy combined had -exactly 23![21] - -Now it had happened that the few military airmen, attempting their -scouting flights from the south and the west, had encountered -unfortunate cloudless conditions, which quite prevented them from -evading the far superior forces of hostile airmen. They had, therefore, -been beaten back, continually, before they could pierce the screen. - -The volunteer, however, sweeping across the mouth of Buzzards Bay and -out between the islands of No Man’s Land and Martha’s Vineyard, dipped -into one of those drifting, isolated fogs that are born in the waters of -Nantucket Shoals. Before a slow, lazy wind, the thick vapors went -steaming and trailing out to sea, and he went with them. Occasionally he -rose above the bank and looked out, like a man lifting himself from a -trench. He had done this about a dozen times, and he was getting into -the thin, seaward end of the fog-belt, when he saw ships. - -Instantly he went up, up, up. It was a racing one-man biplane. He -thanked Heaven for its speed: for even as he was looking down on the -ships, little things detached themselves from the decks and arose. They -were specks at first, but in a moment they had grown. He watched them -grow out of a corner of his eye, but with all his vision, all his -concentrated attention, he looked at the fleet. - -There, surrounded by war vessels, he saw a long line of immense -two-funneled, three funneled and four-funneled steamships; and he knew -that he was the first American to see the troop transports of the enemy. - - -_The News the Airman Brought_ - -He was turning in a sharp circle to flee even while he counted them. He -was darting toward the coast, even while he still looked sidewise down -at them to finish his count. Then, rolling and swooping as he put on the -fullest speed of his racing engine, he fled, with five navy planes -behind him, coming on the wings of their explosive storm. - -He wondered if they were firing at him. All that he knew was that his -world just then was only one blur of whistling, strangling, smiting air -and deafening roar. He struck a hole in the air and pitched sharply. He -swept over the fog bank. It could not help him now. He dared not sink -low enough to hide in it. Shining brightly in the bright air, he -volleyed straight on as if he were going to dash into the blue wall of -sky ahead. - -He won. He never knew how far the enemy planes had pursued, or whether -they had come near him or not. He knew only that suddenly there was a -yellow band of sandy land deep, deep under him, that the next instant -trees and hills swept past like little color-prints, and that he came to -earth. - -Then he reached for a flask. And then he looked to wonder where he had -landed. And then he heard the roar of a motor on one side of him, and -the roar of a motor on the other. “Hands up!” shouted a man in khaki, -leaning from the side of a swaying, drunkenly rolling car. He put up his -hands, laughing hysterically. - -Fifteen minutes later the telephone bells rang in the forts on Fisher’s -Island, Plum Island, in the Narragansett Harbor defenses, and in the -headquarters of the field army. It told them that the enemy transports -were thirty miles south of Nantucket Island, standing in for Block -Island Sound or Long Island. - - -_Unleashing the Submarines_ - -Up from Fisher’s Island under the Connecticut shore mounted an army -hydro-aeroplane. It rose 2,000 feet, and circled there, - -[Illustration: “Up mounted a hydro-aeroplane.”] - -with such graceful, steady wheelings that despite its constant speed, it -seemed to be soaring in lazy spirals like a sleepy gull. Under the two -fliers in the machine lay the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound--the -watergate to New York, with half-open jaws whose fangs were the guns of -Fisher’s Island on the north and Plum Island on the south. Utterly -harmless and innocuous seemed those two jaws, for not even the keenest -eye could make out from above anything more savage than grassy mounds -and daintily graded slopes of earth. Not even the sharpest glass could -see within those pretty models in relief the dragons of 12-inch mortars -that squatted in hidden pits sixteen in a group, or the sleek, graceful -rifled cannon whose secret machinery could swing their thirty-five tons -upward in an instant and as instantly withdraw them after they had spat -out their half ton of shot. - -Between the guarding jaws there was deep water--deep and beautifully -green. One of the airmen spoke to the other, who was looking out to sea -through his glasses. “There they go,” he said, nodding to indicate the -water below. - -Both looked. They looked into fifty feet of ocean, but their height made -it but as a thick pane of dim green glass. - -They saw things moving, deep down. They were sleek and gray, like small -whales. But they had snouts longer and sharper than any whale that ever -swam. Three of them there were, moving out to sea through the entrance, -steadily, at about ten knots an hour. - - -_The Wait for the Enemy to Strike_ - -An hour passed. The men in the hydro-aeroplane descended, and their -reliefs went up. They circled for an hour. Sometimes they drifted out to -sea till the land was lost behind them. - -The forts and the army headquarters caught a wireless from the air. The -enemy fleet was approaching Block Island, said the message. The -hydro-aeroplane was rushing homeward while it spattered its news into -the air, for it was a slow machine, and swifter ones were over the -fleet. The enemy had formed in columns, ejaculated the fleeing machines, -with destroyers and light cruisers in advance, and the transports, -gripped on all sides by armored ships, - -[Illustration: “The Dragons of twelve-inch mortars that squatted in -hidden pits.”] - -were coming on in echelon formation, eight cable lengths, or 4,800 feet, -apart. - -Simultaneously, almost, all the coast places from Barnegat to the end of -New York Harbor’s farthest flung domain signaled and telephoned and -wired that the menacing ships had disappeared. To Washington and the -waiting American fleet passed the message from sea-scouts that all the -enemy screen was withdrawing slowly toward the east--a mighty screen, -lying along a hundred miles out to sea, and steadily closing in on its -nucleus, to protect its flanks and rear against surprise from the ocean -ways. - -They were moving fast now--much faster than fourteen knots. There was no -feint now. They were sweeping straight at the land. But where would they -strike? Would they land at Long Island to march their army to New York, -or would they strike at Rhode Island or the southern coast of -Massachusetts? - -Boston was sure that they would come at Massachusetts. New York roared -with the news that its own Long Island coast was the enemy’s object. But -though the cities were shaken with panic, there were no mobs now. Noise -and fear and medley of advice and demand and anger there were, but no -mobs. The cities had handled their mobs with long cordons of silent, -stout, unimaginative police and with firemen who brought out clanging -engines and hose. It was the best answer to hysteria; for these -sudden-born mobs had been born only of hysteria. They became all the -more orderly, after it had had its vent. And the real mob, the silent, -brooding, dangerous under-world, had not begun to stir. - -It would not, now. Before noon there were men in all the -armories--militia fragments and volunteers. They were incapable of -fighting soldiers; but the mobs were as helpless against them as they, -in turn, were helpless against trained armies. - - -_All That Our Submarines Could Accomplish_ - -On a dreadnaught in the van of the convoying fleet, stood the Admiral of -the armada. He was speaking with the ship’s Captain, as they paced up -and down the bridge. Everywhere enormously long polished black cannon -thrust their supple bodies out of turrets. Like the peering heads of -serpents, the guns of the secondary batteries looked out from bow to -stern. Everywhere stood officers and men at quarters. Without a moment’s -pause signals ran up and down, wimpling out their gaudy messages, and -everlastingly the wireless sounded its stuttering staccato. Yet there -was a placid, strangely peaceful quiet over the whole gray, tall, -bristling machine. Except for its appearance, it might have been a -pleasure yacht. - -“It’s a lovely shore,” the Admiral was saying. “Some beautiful estates -and charming people. I was delightfully entertained within five miles of -where we shall land. It seems a rough return for hospitality. But one -does for one’s country what one would not do--hello!” - -The dreadnaught’s circling destroyers were coming at the ship headlong. -The Captain leaped to the rail. Before he got there, the ship’s port -battery crashed. A signalman pointed at the water fifty yards off. -Something like a staring, hooded eye had looked from the sea for a -moment. - -It was the last thing the signalman saw on earth. The dreadnaught -shuddered. While its guns were still firing, it lifted with a jerk as a -man would lift if caught by an upward swing under the jaw. A great, -queerly muffled explosion shook it. For perhaps a minute it tore along -under the impetus of its own speed, but it did not move smoothly. It -jolted, like a cart going over a rough road. Then it began to topple. -Over and over it leaned, slowly, fast, faster. There was not an outcry. -Short calls of command there were from officers, but not a sound from -the men. - -It was very still now. The wireless had ceased, the engines were shut -off, and there was only the roar of steam. - -The dreadnaught’s crew was clinging, like men clinging to a steep cliff, -holding fast to everything that would give foot-hold or hand-grip on the -inclined deck. A signal climbed along the toppling mast. Then, with a -thunder of breaking metal, with fire-hose, ammunition cases, -instruments, ship’s furniture all volleying into the sea, the ship fell -full on her side and went down. - - -_A Maneuver to Escape Undersea Attack_ - -In a hissing, breaking sea that instantly was gray with ashes and -multi-colored with oil, swam eight hundred men. None came near them. -The dreadnaught’s last signal had been the order to keep off: and the -big fleet was weaving in and out at top speed, in a maneuver long since -perfected, to escape other attacks from the invisible things. - -Far astern raved the guns again. This time the alert destroyers had not -missed their aim. A periscope disappeared. Presently, slowly, little -spreading disks of oil swam on the surface, and united, and more floated -upward and spread. - -Not for a moment had the fleet fallen into disorder. Even while the -destroyers were picking up what survivors they could find, another -dreadnaught hoisted its commander’s flag as Admiral, in place of the one -who lay under the bright green water. A speed cone went up: and warships -and convoy steamed full speed ahead. - -Half an hour later the periscopes of two submarines, outdistanced, -bobbed up far behind the fleet. Their gray shapes arose, streaming. The -manholes opened and heads came out, blinking into the sunlight and -drawing in great breaths of fresh air. They followed the ships toward -the coast. - -One of them hoisted a wireless apparatus, and began to call. It was a -weak call, that had to be repeated again and again. Then Montauk Point -heard, over a temporary apparatus, and received, and began to send on to -New York; and the bulletins told that submarine M-9 had sunk the -Admiral’s flag-ship, that submarine G-3 had sunk a destroyer, and that -submarine O-1 had been lost. - -“Victory! Victory! VICTORY!” ran the news. They knew that it was not -victory, those great, anxious crowds that stopped all traffic that day -in all the continent of North America. But for a while they were -thrilled, and they cheered, and forgot the slow, implacable grip of -irresistible power that was closing in on their eastern sea-coast, not -to be stayed, not even to be halted. - - -_The Bombardment of the Coast_ - -The day passed, and the dusk came in. A pleasant evening it was, warm -enough to tempt people to stay out-of-doors. Even in the trembling -sea-cities there was all the wonted life of such a season. The rich had -fled; but the others remained. There was nothing else for them to do. A -few months before, had any of them been asked what they would do in case -of an invasion, they would have painted a picture of the millions -fleeing from their cities with what possessions they could lug. Thus it -had been in Europe, as they had read. Thus it would be in America. - -But it was not so. There they were, watching and waiting, and clinging -to the only hold they knew. And in this soft dusk, there they loitered -in their countless miles of streets, and talked, and argued, and -prophesied, just as they had done always. And everywhere in the miles -fronted by little houses and tenements and tall apartments the children -were ushering in the spring by playing ring-around-rosy. Everywhere -their thin, clear young voices made the old accustomed music of the -towns. - -EXTRA! EXTRA! - -In the soft dusk, on the Rhode Island and Massachusetts coast there was -falling red Hell and ruin. - -Out of the tranquil, empty sea it had come. Out there, far out, in the -pearl and gray, there had been flashes. There had been roars and -whistles and bellows in the high, still air, coming, coming! And the -shells had plunged down, everywhere, unending. Streams of iron, streams -of fire, streams of screaming, bursting things: things that struck the -land and spun into it like beasts biting, and burst, blasting away -forests and houses and men in crimson whirlwind: things that plunged -into towns and ricocheted, and pulled down walls and towers: things that -darted at power plants and darkened the world: and things that burst -into towns with fierce fire and set the world a-light. - -It was not news that came through the spring night. To the men at the -receiving ends of wires it was as if there were coming to them one wild -din of terror. Here were telephone messages that broke off in the middle -and were never to be resumed on this earth. Here were telegraph -dispatches that stopped suddenly and left the wire dead, its far end -dangling where a shell had torn down the poles. From hill tops far -inland came raving words of burning towns glaring red in the country -below. From somewhere unknown, from somebody unknown, came one word over -a telephone that instantly went out of commission. It was: “God.” - -In the cabin of the new flag-ship sat the new Admiral. The ship was -shaking with the explosions from its secondary batteries, but the cabin -was orderly and sedate. A shaded light was shining on a chart. - -“Another hour of this,” said the Admiral, “and I think the coast will be -nicely cleared for the landing.” He selected a cigar from its box, and -lit it carefully. - - - - -III - -THE LANDING - - -The first American soil on which the invader set foot was not on the -mainland. It was a steep-edged, wind-blown bit of New England territory -that swims like a ship far out on the Atlantic in the great misty ocean -gate between painted Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard and the brown-handed -lighthouse of Montauk Point, Long Island. - -Unimportant to the world, but famous in American history and legend is -this Block Island or Manisees, as the Indians called it, meaning the -Isle of God. Here, ever since American liberty was born, there have -clung generations of sea-faring, storm-fighting New England men, proud -to call themselves Rhode Islanders, though the State to which they -belong is so far away that they can only just see its coast. - -Block Island’s men and women stood on Mehegan Bluff and Beacon Hill and -Clay Head, watching their sky fill with fighting tops and enemy flags, -and their sea oppressed by enemy craft. Among those who stood there that -day were descendants of men who had fought at sea in every American war. -Some were there who could boast that their ancestors had crept into Long -Island Sound in little sloops, and even in rowing boats, to harry tall -King’s ships.[22] - -Strong-hearted, like their forefathers, were these men. They looked out -on their beset horizon and doubled their sun-burned hands into fists, -longing to get among the foe with ship to ship, gun to gun, and the -battle-flag of America shining. - -This was no tame population, to be terrified like a driven herd. -Smacksmen were these, accustomed to looking unafraid into the black -snarl of storm. Swordfishermen were here who went daily, without a -second thought, to fight the lithe spearsman of the sea in his own -element. - - -_The First Invader_ - -A cruiser rushed at their island. Heavy with turreted guns and broadside -batteries, tall with laced iron mast-towers and wide funnels and -ponderous cranes, swarthy-gray over all like a Vulcan’s smithy, the -enormous thing stopped half a mile out with the guns of the secondary -batteries pointing at the land. From under her quarter, around bow and -stern, swept destroyers with cocked funnels spitting smoke and with -ready, alert men at the lean little guns. - -They moved straight for the little harbor, in a long line. On the bridge -of the foremost, an officer waved a hand at the crowd of fishermen on -the shore, pointed to his guns, and, with a backward motion, to the -cruiser. - -“Aye! We take the hint, damn ye!” growled an old man. “He means,” he -turned to the rest, “that we’d better not make a fuss! Drop that!” He -turned sharply to a younger man, who had just joined the group. He had a -shot-gun, half concealed under his coat. - -“Are we going to take it laying down?” demanded the armed man. - -The old man pushed him backward with both hands. “You fool! That thing -out there could blow us off the island, men, women and - -[Illustration: “Destroyers moved straight for the harbor in a long -line.”] - -children, as if we was dead maple-leaves afore a southeastern gale!” - -The destroyers had stopped. The crews swung their guns toward the shore. - -From the cruiser dropped six ships’ boats, full of blue-jackets. They -swung past the destroyers, beached, and formed in a line. There was a -click of breech-bolts shot home--so quick that it was as but one sound. - -A Lieutenant advanced his men with the swinging navy trot. He pointed to -men in the little throng, selecting six of the older ones. “We take the -island,” he said in precise English. “Fall in! We hold you responsible -for the good order of the rest of your people. There must be no attempt -at resistance.” - -While he spoke, another detachment of the landing party had been busy -among the huddle of boats in the harbor. Some were being made up into a -tow. Others were being scuttled at their moorings. A third detachment -was knocking holes into the smaller craft hauled up on shore.[23] - - -_The First American to Fall_ - -Three sailors were just driving boat-hooks through the bottom of an -up-turned cat-boat, when a tall young fisherman leaped at them with an -oaken tiller-handle, and struck one down. - -The other two closed on him, but let go again almost instantly at the -sound of a sharp order. They tore themselves away and jumped aside. - -There was another order, in the same sharp voice. Instantly, while the -fisherman still stood, staring, with his weapon in the motion of -striking, a blast of fire spat at him from six carbines. His head went -up, exposing his broad brown throat. He thrust his hands before him, all -the fingers out-spread. With his eyes wide open, he tottered and pitched -face down. - -Another order, and the sailors wheeled, covering the islanders. - -“Dan!” screamed a girl in the crowd. “Hush! Don’t look!” An older woman -caught her around the neck and pressed the girl’s face to her breast. - -“He brought it on himself!” said the Lieutenant to the fishermen. “Take -warning! That is war!” He turned, and walked to the beach. - -The dead man lay where he had fallen. The bluejackets, lowering their -carbines, came to rest beyond him, facing the Block Islanders -impassively. - -None of these had said a word. Save for the outcry of the girl and the -woman’s “Hush!” there had been utter silence, as if the discharge of the -weapons had swept away speech. Slowly clenching and unclenching their -hands, the big, weather-beaten, strong men stared at the corpse that lay -huddled so awkwardly before them. - -One of the women touched a white-haired, white-bearded islander on the -arm. “Won’t they let us have him!” She turned her eyes toward the dead -man. “It don’t seem hardly right--to let him lay there.” - -The old man looked at her as if waking from a trance. He passed his -rough hand over his brow. With his slow, wide fisherman’s stride, he -stepped forward. The sailors instantly brought their weapons up. - -The old man pointed dumbly to the corpse. In reply, a sailor indicated -the Lieutenant with a gesture. - -The fisherman walked to the Lieutenant. “I wanted to ask you--” he -began, but a signalman interrupted him, pointing at his head. The Block -Islander looked at him, bewildered. Impatiently, the sailor pointed -again, and the islander understood. - -Hesitatingly, reluctantly, he took off his hat. Crushing its brim with -the grip of helpless anger, he faced the officer. - -“I wanted to know--sir--if mebbe we couldn’t--” he indicated the corpse. - -“Yes!” answered the officer, shortly. “You can have him!” With a change -in his voice, he added: “I am sorry. Very sorry. Yes! You may take him -away.” - - -_Block Island as a Naval Base For the Enemy_ - -So fell brave Block Island. It had greeted the sunrise with the stars -and stripes hauled defiantly in the face of the invader. The setting sun -shone on the flag of the enemy. Its wireless was being operated by -uniformed men. Its telephone and telegraph communications with the -mainland were torn out. Its little harbors were being used by destroyers -and small craft as if they had been foreign naval bases forever. - -So, too, had fallen the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with -their stouthearted, passionately American population. They had yielded, -not to ignoble fear, but to the irresistible mechanics of war. - -The people of Block Island, watching destroyers steaming slowly toward -the New England coast with strings of their fishing boats in tow, noted -a curious thing. Every boat was laden with fish-nets. The enemy had -gathered every seine, every pound-net. He had lifted long fyke-nets from -the sea, and had dragged the enormous hauling-seines from their -drying-reels. - -Block Island wondered what a fighting navy meant to do with fish-nets. -Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard wondered, too; for they, also, had been -stripped of their gear. - -Following the long tows with their heaped brown freight, six cruisers -moved toward the coast, each guarded by destroyers whose men watched the -sea for a periscope, or for the whitened, broken water that would -indicate the presence of a submarine.[24] - -They moved fast, until they were within three miles of land. Then they -opened fire. - -Steaming rapidly up and down, ship behind ship, they loosed all their -broad-side batteries, starboard and port in turn, simultaneously. So -fierce was the blast that the water shook. All the surface of the sea -between the ships and the land quivered. Fantastic vibration-ripples -shot all around, like cracks on a shattered steel plate. - -The blast killed the wind, and made an infernal little gale of its own -around each ship, that spun in hot ascending columns. Surface-swimming -fish were struck dead and floated in schools on the water, miles away. -Even the bottom-haunting creatures felt the shock and scurried into the -sand and mud.[25] - -This was only the blast from the lips of the guns. It was only pressure. -It was only the released energy that drove conical steel masses forward. -They sped with a violence that would leave the swiftest locomotive -behind in the wink of an eye. Like locomotives smashing into an -obstacle, the projectiles hit the land. - -That impact alone was annihilation. Having struck, the projectiles -exploded. - -The chart under the shaded light in the Admiral’s cabin had a -semi-circle marked on it--a semi-circle that made a great segment into -the land. As if it were in the electric arc, the country in that zone of -fire melted. Houses vanished into stone-dust and plaster-dust even as -the screaming thing that had done it struck houses a mile beyond and -threw them on each other. Streets became pits with sloping sides that -burned. Trees rocked, roaring as in a gale, and were tossed high, and -fell, and twisted in flame. The land shriveled. - - -_A Vast Confusion of Facts and Rumors_ - -As the shells fell on New England’s coast, so the news fell on the -United States. It sped as a vast confusion of facts and rumors, -bewildered tales of terror, inventions born of crazed brains, dispatches -that told only half a story, and messages that told none at all and yet, -in their very incoherence, told more than intelligible words could have -done. - -The newspapers were tested that night, and the steady, intangible -discipline of the great organization held true. Never a linotype in all -the cities had to wait for its copy. The word went to the presses to -“let her go.” Extras followed extras. - -But the news sped ahead of the extras. It sped, and spread, and grew, -and became monstrous. - -The enemy had forced the harbor defenses of Boston! So ran the rushing -rumor in New York and Philadelphia. Long before trains could carry -papers there, people in far-off country districts heard it. - -The State House was in ruins! Portsmouth and Boston Navy Yards had -fallen! - -New York, ran the stories through Boston and all New England, was -invested at both approaches! Fort Totten had been blown up! The enemy -ships had the range of the city, and already the sky-scrapers were -toppling into Broadway! - -The government was fleeing from Washington! An army had landed on the -Delaware coast! - -Even those who had the newspapers before them, and knew that none of -these things was true, were shaken when the tales that had sped ahead, -came back like the back-wash of a wild sea. Many hundreds that night ran -with the newspapers in their hands and helped to spread, and make more -fantastic, the fantastic falsehoods that had been born miles away. - -But the newspaper organization worked steadily. Bit by bit the medley -took tangible form. From the watchful, self-controlled chain of -light-house and life-saving stations, revenue marine and other coast -guard services; from the steady, unimaginative army and navy; from the -alert, unshaken harbor-defenses, bit by bit the story of the night began -to come in orderly sequence. - - -_The Sea Vitals of the Commercial United States_ - -The enemy fleet was biting into the sea-vitals of the commercial United -States, the southern coast of New England between Cape Cod and Long -Island Sound whose possession is the key to the manufacturing and -industrial life of the East. - -Battle-ships lying off the mouth of Buzzards Bay were dropping shells -into the harbor and into the shores. One ship had ventured close into -the land, approaching within the zone of fire from Fort Rodman, and had -dropped shells near New Bedford. Hidden by intervening hills, it had -escaped return fire, and was now lying just out of range, dropping an -occasional 15-inch projectile toward the defenses.[26] - -Other ships were firing into Narragansett Bay. They, too, were firing at -immensely long range, to avoid return fire from the defenses. - -Montauk Point’s wireless transmitted a dispatch that three vessels were -standing in there and lowering boats. Then the apparatus fell silent. - -Point Judith’s wireless had ceased speaking soon after dusk. Its last -dispatch was that shells were falling near it. An hour later its -operators reported from Narrangansett Pier that the tower had been -destroyed. - -Watch Hill and Westerly, on Rhode Island’s southwestern border, said a -message from near-by Stonington, were burning, and were being wrecked by -heavy shells. Fort Wright telegraphed that this was fire from two -battle-ships standing just outside of range from the fort’s mortars and -rifles, and throwing shells from 15-inch guns.[27] - -But these great guns were being used only at intervals. Though their -bite could rend towns, they destroyed themselves as they wreaked -destruction. The acid-fumes from their monster powder-charges ate out -their scientifically rifled cores. They had to be spared. - -The real attack came from the heavy cruisers, standing close in and -working 4, 5, and 8-inch guns. For every shot that the battle-ships’ -mammoths fired, the cruisers fired a hundred. It was not a bombardment. -It was a driving flail of whirling, smashing, exploding metal that -whipped the coast between Watch Hill and Point Judith. - -To the ear it was din, vast, insane. In reality, it was an operation of -war, conducted as precisely and methodically as if it were a quiet -laboratory experiment. The wireless controlled every shot from every gun -on every ship. From the small things on slim tripods to the wide-mouthed -heavy calibers spitting from hooded turrets, not one spoke without -orders. - - -_Sweeping the Floor Clean for the Enemy Army_ - -To the trained artillerists, listening in the Narragansett and Long -Island Sound defenses, it was plain as English words. That crash, as if -a steel side had been blown out of a ship, was the four-inch broadside, -all loosed at once. Now it would be fifteen seconds, and another crash, -farther east, would tell of the next ship’s 4-inch discharge. And the -heavier, fuller, air-shaking roar that came in between was from 5-inch -guns, while the broken, slower, coughing bellow, that overwhelmed all -the rest and echoed from every echo-making prominence inland, was the -voice of an 8-inch rifle, speaking once every five minutes. - -Now the flocks of shells went high to reach far to their farthest range -into the land. Now they went low to sweep through the cover near shore. -Sometimes the steel things drove, as if in sudden uncontrollable fury, -at one given spot. Again, they spread out into a dreadful cone that -danced along a five-mile stretch like a dancing whirl-wind. - -The fire slackened, and died away, and fell silent, and burst out again -as if a horde of devils had only held their breaths to scream anew. Up -and down it moved, now in, now out, although long ago the shells had -whirled away everything that could be destroyed. There was nothing -living in there now. The very beasts of the woods, the birds in their -nests, were dead. - -To the survivors who had escaped from the first red blast, the thing -seemed only a deed of insane wickedness. What had they done, they asked -each other with sobbing breaths, to bring a steel navy at them? What -could a great, powerful enemy gain by this murder of peaceful, unarmed -country folk? What danger could there lie to him, they gasped as they -fled through the dark, or lay face down to the earth and gripped at -grass, in tiny houses and gardens and little sea-shore hamlets? - -It was wicked murder. “Wicked murder!” said the wires, telling their -tale to their fellow-citizens far away. - -The men who were working the ships’ guns were from little villages, from -pretty sea-shore hamlets like these themselves. They were not thinking -of the habitations which were being blasted away. It was an operation of -war. This was the chosen time, and this the chosen place, for the -landing of the army that waited in the gloom of the sea for them to make -the shore safe for it. - -With their brooms of steel and fire, they simply were sweeping clear the -floor on which that army was to set its foot. - -Far in shore of the flame-torn cruisers, safe from any land-fire under -the parabolas of the naval projectiles as if they were under a bombproof -arch, certain little vessels had toiled up and down from the beginning. -Slowly, for they dragged between them long wire cables that hung down to -the sea-bottom, they moved back and forth along the beach, fishing. - -The fish they were trying to catch were spherical and conical steel fish -that bore little protuberances on their tops like the sprouting horns of -a yearling kid. - -A touch as soft as the touch of a lover’s hand could drive those little -horns inward, to awaken a slumbering little devil of fulminate of -mercury, whose sleep is so light that a mere tap will break it. And the -fulminate’s explosion would detonate three hundred pounds of gun-cotton. - -The submarine mine says to the big ships: “I am Death!” And they cannot -answer it. - - -_Guns That Were Being Made Too Late_ - -But there is an answer to the mine. It is the mine-sweeper that drags -for them. The men on these mine-sweepers dedicate themselves to the -tomb. Some must inevitably perish. They will find a mine with their -keels instead of their groping drags; or they will grapple one too -close; or their wire cable will clutch two mines and swing them -together, so that the little horns touch-- - -But, if the mine-sweepers are permitted to work on, the mines may kill, -and kill, and kill, yet in the end they will be gathered in. - -There is an absolute answer to the mine-sweepers. It is to hammer them -with rapid fire from the shore. These little vessels, dragging -laboriously, present targets that scarcely move. No artillerist can miss -them. - -But again there is an answer to the mine-protecting guns. It is -long-range fire from the ships that lie safely outside of the -mine-fields. - -There is only one answer to that. It is for defenders on land to plant -huge guns far inland that can reach the ships and beat them back that -they dare not come close enough to reach the lesser shore artillery -nearer the sea. - -This formula of shore-defense is a formula so simple that a -mathematician, given the conditions, can work it out with simple -arithmetic though he never had seen a cannon in his life. - -Guns, guns, and again guns--and an army to protect them! This was the -only possible reply to the fleet that was pounding the coast. The United -States had not enough sufficiently powerful mobile coast guns and siege -guns. It had not enough artillerists to fight what guns there were. And -it had not enough ammunition to provide them with food.[28] - -In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; up the Hudson, in smoky Watervliet; in -Hartford and Bridgeport and New Haven, and a dozen other towns, with -machinery hastily assembled, and workmen hastily learning, they were -trying, now, to make projectiles enough, and guns enough. They were -trying to make enough powder, down in Delaware and New Jersey. - -In the encampment of the United States army at that moment trains were -delivering guns--guns made in record time, magnificent testimony to -American efficiency under stress. But the guns were coming in one by -one--to meet an enemy who was beating at the gates and could not be -stopped except with hundreds. - - -_The Enemy on the Mainland!_ - -Even then the flag-ship off the coast was sputtering a code into the -night. It was a long code, but its meaning was short. It meant: “Now!” - -The mine-sweepers hauled their gear and came out. Fourteen had gone in. -Those that came out were nine. - -Before they had well begun to move, the beach was white with ships’ -boats, and nine hundred bluejackets and marines set foot on the mainland -of the United States.[29] - -With sharpened knives in their sheaths, and loaded carbines, and -bandoleers filled with cartridges, and entrenching tools and provisions, -each man of that first force presented the highest attainable -unit-efficiency for war. - -The boats were scarcely off the beach, to return to the ships, before -eight hundred of these units were trotting through the up-land, -throwing out advance parties, and making hasty trenches from which, in a -moment, there looked the greyhound muzzles of machine-guns. - -On the shore, the strand-party was sinking sand-anchors and rigging -derricks. Others were setting together the five and one-half foot -sections of jointed hollow masts for the wireless. When the boats -beached again, with more men, two 40-foot masts reached into the night, -and hand-power generators were making the antennæ pulse with their -mysterious life. - -Launches came in now, dragging wide, flat-bottom pontoons and swinging -them on to shore and speeding back for more. Men snatched at them, and -held them in the surf, and ran their mooring up the beach, while others -carried out kedges and boat-anchors from all sides to make them lie -steady in the groundswell. - -The beach shone white as day, all at once. The destroyers had steamed -in, and were giving their men aid with their search-lights. - -In swung more pontoons. Broadside to broadside, kedged and anchored out, -they were moored out into the sea, at half a dozen parts of the beach. -Laid far enough apart that they should not touch, however hard the swell -might strive to grind them together, they formed floating piers, -reaching beyond the farthest outer line of surf. From pontoon to pontoon -ran gang-planks, lashed fast. - -Three hours had passed. Three times the ships’ boats had made the trip -between warships and shore--thirty naval service cutters, each carrying -thirty men. Twenty-seven hundred sailors, marines and soldiers were -holding the Rhode Island coast.[30] - -From the trenches of the advance party a wireless spoke to the cruiser -bearing the senior officer. “Motor scouts reported in front, on road, -three thousand yards in. Will fire rocket indicating direction.” - -The rocket burst. For a minute it made all that part of the black -country stand out as under lightning. “Crash!” said the ship. Over the -bluejackets swept the shells, and burst. - -“Crash!” said another ship. - -“Apparently effective,” said the wireless again. “Shall send patrols -forward.” And again it spoke, in half an hour: “Enemy driven back. Our -patrols hold road. Barb wire entanglements completed. Scouts in. Report -land clear, except for enemy cavalry in force inland out of range.” - - -_The Transports_ - -“Now!” said the cruiser’s wireless, speaking once more into the sea. - -Silent, formless, black, four vast ships, long and twice as tall as the -cruisers, came slowly in among them. - -These were the transports, sealed that not a thread of light should -shine from them to betray them to the thing that all the fleet dreaded -more than anything else--the under-water lance of a submarine’s torpedo. - -Under water the submarine is always blind, even when the brightest light -of the noon-day sun shines vertically into the ocean. It can see only -with its periscope eye above the surface. - -At night the periscope cannot see. Then the submarine ceases to be -useful as a submarine. It can act still; but only on the surface, like -any other torpedo boat. - -Two score destroyers, each of thirty knots, each armed with from four to -ten 3-inch guns and rapid-firers, circled around the transports. Twice -as swift as the surface-speed of the swiftest submarine, armed -overwhelmingly, they could defy surface attack.[31] - -They hemmed the darkened troop-ships round with a great circle of -search-lights, all thrown outward, that served the double purpose of -illuminating the ocean for miles, and of blinding any who tried to -approach. No human eye looking into that glare could have seen the -transports, even if the night had not shrouded them. - -Still, these liners with their tens of thousands of men, were too -precious to be protected only by this bright vigilance. From each -transport there projected long steel booms, eleven to a side. These held -out a half-ton net of steel grommets. Stretched fore and aft as taut as -steam-capstans could haul it, this shirt of - -[Illustration: “He steered his craft, awash, from behind Fisher’s -Island, at dawn.”] - -chain-mail hung far down into the sea to catch any torpedo that might -come driving at the keel. - -There was more protection than that. It would be day soon, and then the -submarines would be blind no longer. All around the area chosen for the -transports to lie in, the fishing boats taken from the sea-islands were -being towed by destroyers, to drop their nets. Their wooden buoys formed -odd geometrical outlines on the sea. - -These thin things of meshed twine, made only to hold little, inoffensive -fish, were suspended like submarine fences, north and south and east and -west of the field of operations. - -That such trivial things should be of any avail against under-water -craft with death in their heads, might well have seemed absurd to a -landsman. They did not seem absurd to the Lieutenant who commanded -United States submarine M-9, when he steered his craft, awash, out from -behind Fisher’s Island Sound at dawn, and looked eastward through his -glasses.[32] - -Ten miles away lay the transports, quite motionless, beautifully -assembled as a target for him. At that distance their masts and funnels -seemed huddled. He had a vivid picture in his mind, for an instant. It -was a picture of fat, slow sheep crowding together with a wolf among -them. - - -_Woven Twine Versus Submarine M-9_ - -But between them and his wolf lay the net buoys, dotting all the -surface, in and out as if they had been laid by some laboring artist to -make a maze. - -The sea-wolf went slowly nearer. With its tanks full of water, it lay so -far submerged that the sea washed the coaming around the manhole hatch. -The Lieutenant was like a man wading breast-high in the ocean. It would -be hard to see him from any distance. - -He studied the traceries of buoys. There were spaces between them, that -betokened gaps in the fences. One might find a gap and go through. - -But to find a gap, the submarine must raise her periscope above water, -and look around. But at each gap, sweeping incessantly to and fro, like -galloping cavalry, were destroyers.[33] - -Could one dive and go through blind? The Lieutenant knew the limitations -of his terrible little animal. Its kiss could draw a twenty thousand ton -ship into the abyss, but the woven twine would laugh at it. - -Its nose could cut through them like the threads that they were. But the -torn ends would catch conning tower and masts and periscope tubes. Even -if it tore away from them, the whirl of the propellor remained to renew -the danger, sucking the trailing cords to itself and in one instant -switching them around and around the spinning shaft. - -With the propellor blocked, the submarine must rise; for only with its -propellor thrusting and its horizontal fins set to hold it down, can the -submarine stay under. It submerges, not by sinking but by diving with -main strength. - -Another rather vivid picture flashed into the Lieutenant’s mind. It was -not a picture, this time, of a wolf among sheep. It was a picture of a -sudden enormous commotion among those quiet net-buoys, as of something -struggling down below; and then of a violent surge as the tangled nets -were dragged to and fro by a helpless submarine, held fast by the -tail.[34] - -A breeze arose with the rising sun, and the water roughened. The -submarine stopped. It could not meet rough water while it was awash. -Although its buoyancy when it was sealed was such that its propellor had -to thrust full speed to make it dive, yet with its hatches open two -hundred gallons of water, far less than is contained in a single big -wave, would send it down like a tin can.[35] - -The Commander held on as long as he could, watching the whitening water -in the east, and watching the transports. - -He saw that at a thousand yards’ distance around them (just what he -would have chosen as neat torpedo range), there lay a little fleet of -gun-boats, all thrusting out booms with steel nets, that made them look -oddly as if they were hooped and wide-skirted. Disposed in an oval, they -guarded the transports with a second wall of steel wire. - -And overhead, soaring in spirals, never flying far away, and always -returning, were three naval planes. The Commander of the M-9 knew that -they were waiting and watching for just one thing--the “shadow” of a -submerged submarine.[36] - -This enemy, plainly, was taking no chances. The fleet had power and -time. It bent them to one object--to land its men safely. It would not -engage the harbor defenses, and so open itself to the risks of plunging -fire and torpedo attack. It would not blockade harbors, and so make -itself a chosen mark for such terrors as M-9. - - -_The Three Harbor Gates to New York and Boston_ - -Very scientifically, very thoughtfully, had the enemy staked out the -vital spot at which he had decided to strike. Here, facing each to each -almost like the salients of a fortification, lay three harbor gates to -the northeastern United States--Buzzards Bay, gashing deeply into -Massachusetts: Narragansett Bay, almost cutting Rhode Island in two: and -the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound and the cities of -Connecticut.[37] - -Open any one of these gates, and it opened the way at one blow to both -New York and Boston. - -These three sea-salients were greatly armed for defense. In each harbor -lay batteries of 12-inch all-steel rifled cannon. Hidden under facings -of earth, steel and concrete, they sat on disappearing carriages and -pneumatic gun-lifts that would swing them up as if they weighed ounces -instead of tons, and instantly plunge them back again into cover after -firing. - -Deep under earth embankments, squatting in concrete-lined graves, -12-inch mortars, sixteen to a group, stared upward at the patches of sky -over their heads, which was all that their men would see while they were -firing, however bitter the fight might be. - -A single shot from one of the long, graceful rifles might sink a ship, -if it were well placed. A single salvo from the mortars, the sixteen -firing together, assuredly would. And they could do it. Aimed by -mathematics, they were sure to strike the spot.[38] - -A score of serving devices in the defenses were slaves to the steel -champions. Searchlights in armor waited like men-at-arms to point with a -long white finger at their prey. Mine fields and emplacements and cable -conduits were there to force the ships to steer where the guns could -strike them most surely. Masked by trees and mounds, concealed by every -device against betrayal, were range-finders and fire-control stations. - -Here sat experts who had studied the most occult questions of -arithmetic, geometry, surveying, navigation, and cartography for one -purpose--to direct those long guns true. They were provided with -exquisite instruments for calculating angles and distances to an inch, -though the point to be ascertained were ten nautical miles and more -away. - -Before them lay charts of the sea-area that they were guarding. Let a -ship come within the limit of their apparatus, and in the time required -to speak into a telephone the gun-pits miles away down the defense-line -would crack with the explosion of tons of smokeless powder. - -They were nearly perfect, those works--as engineering works. They were -fully armed with the engines to make them malignant to the ultimate -fatal degree. The ten-mile area of sea that lay so bright and dimpled -that morning might well have been black as the Wings of Death; for a few -little motions of the waiting men under the pretty grassy mounds would -unfold those pinions. - - -_The Joint in America’s Armor_ - -But under the iron visages was weakness. In none of the defenses on this -morning when the time had come for their test, were there more than -one-half the number of men required to hold them.[39] - -They could fight the guns, so long as the action remained a ship-to-fort -action; but if the enemy attacked at the rear, from the land, they were -not in sufficient force to meet him and throw him back. Attacked from -the land, the men of the defenses would have to retire to the inner keep -and fight from shelter with rapid-fire guns. And when the defenses thus -began to defend themselves, their hour would have struck.[40] - -Still, for the time they were deadly. The enemy fleet paid them the -supreme tribute of scrupulous respect. Not a vessel ventured after dawn -into the deadly circle of their reach. To make sure that no vessel -should expose itself by accident, the mine-layers of the enemy fleet -were even then moving well outside of the zone of extreme fire, and -laying immense steel buoys, painted a vivid scarlet. - -These scarlet buoys outlined an area of safety that was shaped somewhat -like a pentagon with its apex at Block Island and its base on the Rhode -Island coast between Watch Hill and Point Judith. - -It was a base marking out five miles of beach that was safe both from -the fire of the Long Island Sound defenses and from the shots of the -Narragansett defenses. - -Here day-light revealed a land occupied in orderly, quiet, perfect -military manner. Inland, as far as the naval guns could protect them, -lay the men of the advance landing party behind their machine-gun -positions. For miles beyond that, east and west, their patrols had cut -telegraph and telephone wires, and occupied points that commanded roads -by which attacking forces might approach. - -[Illustration: “For miles beyond that the enemy’s patrols had occupied -points....”] - -On the beach, where the blocks and tackle and hoisting derricks had been -rigged in the night, gun-floats were being brought to the beach with -cannon and caissons. Under the pull of centrifugal blocks these were -hoisted out and dropped in shore on railway tracks that led over the -sand to firm ground. - -There motor trucks and traction engines, all brought to land during the -night, took them and hurried them to positions ready for fight, or to -park them ready for moving when the advance should begin. - - -_Destroying the Railroad of Southern New England_ - -From vantage points inland, from hills on Fisher’s Island, from such -venturesome spies as M-9, went the news to Washington, and so through -the land. The crowds in the cities, dense even at that early hour of the -morning, read on the bulletin boards: - -“Enemy effected a landing during the night on Rhode Island between -Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound. Transports are now close in -preparing to put troops ashore. Scouts report four liners aggregating -one hundred thousand tons. Army officials estimate that at the usual -allowance of two men per ton this means fifty thousand men. More -transports waiting under Block Island.” - -“Now is the time to strike ’em!” It was not one man in one crowd who -said it. In every city where there were crowds there arose these -speakers--the excitable, passionate orators who are born of every great -crisis and who, in such moments, find willing listeners. - -“Now is the time to strike ’em, before they can bring more men ashore! -They should have been attacked in the night! What kind of Generals have -we got, to let ’em land, instead of throwing ’em back into the sea as -fast as they came? Where is our army? Keeping itself safe?” - -The army, with ten thousand civilian workers impressed as they were -needed, was destroying the railroad of southern New England. It was -tearing up the shore line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford -Railroad from New Haven to New London and from New London to Providence. -It was throwing the rails on flat cars to be whirled away westward and -northward. Concrete and stone embankments, steel bridges, and tunnels -were sent skyward through the night with dynamite. - -All the connecting system from New Haven north to Hartford and from New -London north to Worcester was being destroyed. Locomotives and rolling -stock that could not be removed were being sent down grades to crash -into wreckage, or blown up or set afire. A curious intoxication of -destruction was on the population that night. Prosperous, dignified -citizens came out with axes or with oil and fire, and helped in the -ruin. - -In fire and dirt and amid shattering roars of explosion and rumbling of -falling trestles they worked on hundreds of miles of iron highway, -desperately, frantically, shouting aloud, willing to tear their soft -hands and to risk limb and even life, rather than to wait inactive, and -listen for news, and dread what was to happen. - -They were tearing up their civilization; and they did it with a savage -delight, that nothing might be left to the foe. - - -_The American Army’s Lack of “Eyes”_ - -In the Army Headquarters, where a single short order had set loose all -this saturnalia of destruction, the Commanding General and his staff -were busied with something that was of more immediate importance to -them. Desperately they were thrusting out for information, and always -they were baffled by superior numbers, superior resources. - -They had pushed cavalry toward the coast, and it had been driven back by -artillery and long-range fire from the ships, whose aim was controlled -by aeroplane signals from the sky and wireless from the shore. They had -pushed out motor scouts, and the artillery had found them. Always, at -every approach, during the night or since daylight, the ships’ fire had -swept the roads. - -Now, scarcely an hour after sunrise, the army aeroplanes had come back, -after only haphazard scouting. They had not been able to fly over the -invaded coast. Wherever they tried it, they reported, they were met by -enemy planes in superior numbers. - -One United States air-man had been driven by four enemy planes into -Narragansett Bay where he had been picked up by boats from the Newport -Torpedo Station. Two others, borne down by three enemy machines faster -than they, and fired at by anti-air-craft guns from an in-lying ship, -had barely managed to escape behind the defenses of Fort Wright in the -Sound. - -The others had been pressed back, inexorably, by the screen of naval -planes that swarmed over the coast.[41] - -The enemy planes came from the sea. To the marveling eyes in the -American defenses, it seemed as if the ocean were spewing them forth. -One after another rose from the Atlantic under Block Island. - -Three strange vessels lay there. They had funnels set extremely far aft, -like certain types of clumsy tramp-ships, but they were big as passenger -liners and their lines showed all the efficiency of the naval architect. -The great sweep of their decks forward was as bare as the deck of a -racing schooner yacht. - -A structure on short trestles like a skid-way rose from this deck at the -bow, projecting slightly. - -It was there that the aeroplanes were being spewed. These were -mother-ships. - -Torpedo-netted, guarded by destroyers, guarded even by a small -semi-rigid dirigible that hovered a thousand feet high over-head, they -were sending out spies to search the land. - - -_Twenty-Five Aeroplanes Against a Swarm_ - -The two United States fliers, standing by their machines in Fort Wright, -looked at the ascending swarm. “No wonder!” said one. “You know how many -one of those Nations had at last accounts? Twelve hundred!”[42] - -“And we’ve got thirteen in the Army and twelve in the Navy!” His -companion laughed. “And Servia had sixty, before the Great War!” - -They said no more, but watched in silence. That ascending, continually -growing line of flying things was like something that was writing into -the sky the word: “Resources!” - -Suddenly the American air-men noticed that these new machines were not -flying to the coast near them. They were turning off, in regular order. -One turned west, to fly over Long Island. The next one turned east, -toward Buzzards Bay. They alternated thus till the entire division had -separated, and disappeared. - -One of the scouts slapped his thigh. “I believe,” said he, “that they -are going to show themselves to Boston and New York!” - -That was at nine o’clock in the morning. At noon the crowds in the two -cities were startled by a distant roar that grew, almost before they had -first heard it, into a thundering that shook the air. They stared upward -and beheld the first squadron of armed flying machines that America ever -had seen. - - - - -IV - -THE COAST DEFENSES FALL - - -Armored, with the bright colors of the enemy on their under-bodies, the -aeroplanes from the enemy fleet flew low. What few anti-aircraft guns -the United States possessed were with the army. Around the peaceful -American cities were no encircling fortifications, no batteries, no -military works that might conceal marksmen. The air-men knew that there -was nothing to fear. - -They skimmed close to the State House on Boston’s Beacon Hill. They flew -over the tall municipal building of New York and dipped toward the City -Hall. They appeared over Providence and Fall River, over Brockton, over -Bridgeport and New Haven. They passed over every one of the -factory-cities of New Jersey that crowd to be near New York’s harbor. - -Where they appeared it was as if they bore some instant charm to turn -the world to stone. - -[Illustration: “They flew over the tall municipal building of New -York.”] - -All the city noises stopped, dead. All motion stopped. Wheels stopped -turning and feet stopped moving and every white face was turned upward. -For that long moment of dumb fear, men saw nothing except the -wide-winged bodies. They heard nothing except the yelping and droning of -the hundred-horse-power motors over them. - -Then they fled. Motor-men and drivers bent low, and yelled, and sent -their vehicles ahead blindly. The crowds rushed every door-way. They -fought for the protection of narrow cornices as if they were -bomb-proofs. They squeezed themselves close to the sides of buildings, -and clung to smooth iron and granite, and stared upward, waiting for -bombs. - -Instead of bombs, they saw things raining down gently, lightly--little -weighted pennants that circled downward in lovely spirals and dropped on -the streets with scarcely a sound. - -Into every crowded street, into every open square of half a hundred -cities that day, the hostile air-men dropped these pennants. - -They were printed. They bore proclamations addressed to the people of -America. - - -THE ENEMY’S PROCLAMATION - - “Our armies have landed,” said the proclamation. “We shall advance - on your cities at once. Any attempt to defend them will mean their - destruction. Civilians are warned against making any demonstration, - whether with arms or otherwise. Infractions of this Rule of War - will be punished by summary execution. Houses from which hostile - acts are committed will be destroyed. Towns whose civilian - population resists will be destroyed. Take warning!” - -Recovering from their shock of fear, the first impulse of the Americans -who read these proclamations was one of rage. Their cities had grown -proud in unchallenged greatness. These pennants, slowly raining from -their sky, were infuriating insults. - -Had the invader appeared in that moment, the people would have torn up -the paving blocks to fight him. - -In the State House in Boston there were said the words that uttered the -emotion of all the cities along the Atlantic coast. In that old, -rebellious town, where American liberty had been nurtured in the very -presence of an armed foe, there were gathered many eminent citizens, -with the officials, the Mayor and the Governor of their State. - -One of these officials had a pennant in his hands. “What can we do?” he -asked. “If we had all the militia of the State here, we would have less -than 6,000 men. If the foe arrives, and lays his guns on the -town--gentlemen, they will be guns that fire high explosives and -incendiary shells. We have nothing to fight with. If the army cannot -check him before he arrives, we must--to save our people’s lives, we -must surrender peaceably!”[43] - -He turned to a man who bore a family name identified with Boston’s -history from the time of its settlement. His ancestors had stood in -Faneuil Hall with James Otis when he dedicated it to the cause of -liberty. - - -“_Let Us Destroy It!_” - -He took the proclamation, held it for a moment while he looked around -the circle, and then crumpled it suddenly, angrily, in his fist. -Throwing it to the floor, he set his foot on it. - -“I say,” he cried with flashing eyes, “let him destroy it! Better still, -let us destroy it! When the enemy approaches, let us send our Boston -town up in flame and fragments! Let us leave him not so much as a rivet -to pick up for loot!” - -There were many men there, of many minds. They had many interests to -guard, and many responsibilities to bear. But for a moment he carried -them with him. They waved their hands and shouted assent. - -It was only for a moment. “If all thought like you!” said one, an old, -grave man. “But we have 700,000 people, and they are not soldiers or -philosophers. They’re human men. It is laid on us to protect them, at -whatever price to our National pride. If humiliation is the price that -we must pay for our past carelessness, why, gentlemen, we must pay it, -bitter though it is.” - -So it was in New York, in Philadelphia, in a score of cities between and -around them. Everywhere was the first outburst of fury and unrecking -heroism, and then the sober second thought born not of cowardice but of -cold logic. This north-eastern Atlantic seaboard with its chain of -twelve million city dwellers, was no Holland to drown itself under its -own sea in order to destroy its foe. These cities were no Moscows, to -devour themselves in fire that the enemy might perish with them. This -was the United States of America, and this was the Twentieth -Century--and the men, no less brave, no less patriotic, faced the -conditions of their place and time. - -They faced it from Portland, Maine, to the Capes of Virginia. If the -army could not stop the invader, they must fall. - -They formed committees of safety. They wrestled with their top-heavy -municipal machineries to make them answer the sharp need. Under the -stress, all the defects of their political rule stood out -uncompromisingly, not to be denied. Their over-staffed departments were -lost in the ingenious mazes of their own contriving. There was only one -answer to the inextricable, blind confusion. It was martial law. - - -_Volunteers Who Could Not Even Be Shod_ - -But here, too, there was inefficiency--inefficiency that had been -cultivated and tended, like a plant, by politics through the heedless -years. In the armories there were no reserve supplies of weapons or -ammunition for the volunteers who came to offer their services. -Although the United States government had given the States enough money -annually for many years back to equip them to full war-strength; and -although the militia nowhere had maintained even one-half of that -strength, there were no reserves of blankets, of uniforms, of tents, of -cots. Doctors who offered their services found that there was no place -for them, because there were no ambulances, no field hospitals, no -surgical instruments, no anæsthetics and no medicines. There had not -been enough for the troops that took the field, though every company had -less men than even its insufficient peace strength demanded.[44] - -The volunteers could not even be shod. Those who were accepted had to -drill in their worthless street shoes, that never could survive the -test of rough roads and mud and water. - -Politics! Politics! It stared the appalled citizens in the face wherever -they turned, as it had stared them in the face for a generation--but now -they had to look and see! It was politics that had left their State -militias to blunder along, each by itself, without agreement or settled -plan. It was politics that now had sent their plucky, intelligent, -capable young men into the field insufficiently equipped, trained or -organized. It was politics that now left their cities bare, to be made a -sport of. - -At the recruiting depots of the regular army it was politics again that -over-bore the recruiting officers with eager, courageous applicants whom -they could not use. What they needed now was men who were ready NOW--not -men who needed six months’ training. These applicants, offering -themselves by thousands, were city-born and city-bred. They were men who -never in all their lives had slept except under a roof; who never had -lain in rain and storm; who had been saved by their city from doing a -dozen simple things that men of the open do for themselves without a -second thought. - -Not one in a thousand of these volunteers ever had built a fire of -sticks, or pitched a tent or even washed dishes. Not one of five -thousand ever had held a gun in his hands. There were thousands there, -and thousands again, who did not even know what it was to be in the -dark--for they had slept all their lives in the electrically lighted -city. - - -_Needed--Not Men But Reserves!_ - -It was not men that the regular army needed. It was reserves! And never -a Congress of all the Congresses that had talked and voted and -appropriated had voted a practical system of army reserves![45] - -Of all the men who had been trained by previous army experience, the War -Department could not call on one unless he chose to volunteer. If those -men--invaluable to the country at this moment--offered themselves, they -offered themselves one by one, here and there and everywhere, scattered -through a land of three and a quarter million square miles. Enlisted -thus, they were futile individuals lost in hordes - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: “The efficient, prepared, resourceful invader was landing -his army, not only without losing a man, but without getting a man’s -feet wet.”] - -of raw recruits. Could they have been called together by their -government, they would have formed perfect regiments, ready for instant, -efficient, priceless service. - -While the United States, civilian and military, was working hopelessly -to make up in desperate hours for long years of waste, the efficient, -prepared, resourceful invader was landing his army, not only without -losing a man, but without getting a man’s feet wet. So perfect were the -dispositions of this expedition that the commander had been able to -order, “Our troops must land perfectly dry,” and the order was carried -out.[46] - -Every transport had three broad gangways to a side. Never for a moment -were these gangways bare of equipped men, moving file after file into -the enormous flat-bottomed landing barges. Never for a moment was the -sea without long tows of them, each bearing two hundred men to shore -with their rifles between their knees, ready.[47] - - -_Preparedness Versus Unpreparedness_ - -In the camp of the United States Army at that moment men were breaking -green horses for cavalry and artillery purposes. On the coast, the -enemy’s four-decked horse transports were sending trained mounts into -broad floats with derricks and slings, lowering away with head and tail -lines to prevent struggling, with nose lines to bridles to prevent them -from turning in the air, with men standing by below to put little bags -of salt into each horse’s mouth to quiet it as soon as it touched the -floats.[48] - -Nothing had been forgotten, nothing left to be improvised. The -horse-floats had hinged sterns. Backed into the beach, these hinged -boards dropped down and formed gang-planks. Sailors threw collision mats -on them to prevent slipping. It required less than a minute to lower a -horse from the ships to the floats. In less than half a minute each -horse was unloaded from them and set ashore. To empty each float of its -cargo of twenty horses, and to have each craft off the beach and under -tow again for another load, was a matter of less than forty minutes. - -Almost as swiftly, at another end of the beach, guns were being landed -from the same type of floats, shoal and wide-beamed, that could be run -well up on shore and could withstand the pounding of the surf. They -brought four light field pieces with their limbers to a load, or two -heavy field artillery pieces. They were landing field howitzers of -calibers that the United States Army did not possess. This artillery has -been coming ashore for hours. It had begun to come before dawn. Still -there was more arriving. - -Yet the beach never was occupied for a moment. The guns were rushed -inland, the men were rushed inland, the horses were rushed inland. -Twelve hours after the first landing party had prepared the way, Rhode -Island was occupied by 30,000 foot, 3,000 cavalry and 50 batteries of -artillery--almost two full divisions that lay in a great belligerent -front snarling with guns--a perfect, complex, often-assembled, -often-tested machine.[49] - -This was the time for the American army to strike, before the enemy -could increase his forces and move forward to attack. - -But the American army was a complex machine that never had been -assembled before, or tested before. The Regular Army never had been -together with the Organized Militia, and the Organized Militias of the -various States never had seen each other. “An uncoördinated army of -allies,” its Commander had called it, “with all the inherent weakness of -allies, emphasized by the unusual number of allies.”[50] - - -_The Uncoördinated and Unorganized American Army_ - -It was an army of which neither the regulars nor the militia had been -organized into divisions at the time when it should have been done, the -only time when it could have been done--in the long days of peace. Until -it was so organized, it was an army only in numbers. For operation -against a prepared, organized enemy it was not an army but merely a -multitude of units, whose trained and perfect ones would inevitably be -sacrificed to the errors and weaknesses of the imperfect ones.[51] - -The division is the true Weapon of War. It alone contains in vitally -correct proportion the various troops that must sustain each other when -cannons and explosives begin that arbitration from which there is no -appeal on earth. It is the division, and the division alone, that -possesses all the limbs and organs--the signal corps and cavalry that -are the eyes and ears: the infantry and engineers and sanitary corps -that are the body and feet: and the artillery that is the smiting -fists.[52] - -In the City Hall Park in New York, a speaker, lifted above the crowd -that watched the newspaper bulletins, was cursing the army amid savage -cheers. He cursed its Generals and its men because they did not fight. -He cursed the Government. - -The crowd listened, and forgot that again and again they had been warned -that this would be if war should ever come. - -With the blind wrath of helpless men they could reason only that at this -moment when everything should be done, nothing was being done. They -shouted approval when the frantic orator screamed: “Tell Washington to -order ’em to fight. Fight! Fight! That’s what they’re for!” - -The crowds could perceive only that they had an army that did not strike -a blow. They could not know that the American commanders were fighting a -better fight just then by fighting to organize, than if they fought with -guns. They could not know that to these officers, grown gray in the -service of their country, this fight was more heart-breaking than it -would have been to fight in the hot blast of shells. - - -_Regiments of Infantry Without a Single Cannon to Protect Them_ - -To organize an army in the face of the foe is like organizing a fire -department when the streets of a city are already in flames. This is -what the Chiefs of the Army were trying to do--had been doing, day and -night, desperately, ever since the troops had come together. And in -Washington, in the archives of Congress, there were lying sheaves of -reports, gathering dust, that had demanded nothing except the chance to -do it in time. - -Here were regiments of militia so “organized” by their States that if -they were permitted to go into battle as they were, 170 companies of -infantry would face the enemy without a single cannon to protect them. -Of all the eastern militia cavalry in that camp, only one regiment had a -machine gun company.[53] - -Even the regular army was efficient only in those things that could be -maintained and perfected by the steady, personal efforts of officers and -men. In everything that depended on legislation it was lacking. Instead -of 150 men to a company of infantry some had only 65. Its troops of -cavalry were not full. It had no siege artillery corps. It was a -skeleton army which, according to optimists, was to be clothed with -substance when war arrived. Now war had come; and to clothe that -skeleton with untrained men would have meant that for every 65 skilled -soldiers there would be 85 utterly useless ones in each company. - -Shortage of men was not the only curse that was laid on the army by the -policy of neglect. In the enemy headquarters, two or at the most three -orders were sent to department chiefs for every movement. In the -American headquarters, the staff had to deal with units. Every problem -had to be handled in detail by men who should have been free to direct -one great, comprehensive movement. Every order issued by the Commanding -General demanded intolerable duplication. - - -_American Commanders Who Had Never Commanded_ - -The General had under him commanders of brigade who had commanded posts -that contained only fragments of regiments. Their brigades, never -assembled in any one place, not only did not approximate to war -conditions, but had to be disrupted and divided and re-formed before the -General could dare to offer them in battle. Hardly a brigade commander -had under him troops that he had known and trained and handled -himself.[54] - -With exception of those who had been on the Mexican border, when a part -of the small army had been mobilized in a body for the first time, these -men had tried to prepare themselves with the best that Congress would -give them--battalions and companies and single batteries instead of -assembled armies, because the politicians would not let the army come -together. - -The 49 army posts of the United States, long a subject of derision among -all except those who fattened on them, might well have been symbolized -now in that camp by forty-nine skeletons--a skeleton army waiting to -lead the other skeleton army to death.[55] - -To none was this better known than to the enemy. The invaders’ -commander, standing idly with his hands in his pockets, was able to say -confidently: “They’ll not bother us seriously. The only thing they’ll -do, the only thing they _can_ do, is to retreat when we begin to -threaten them.” - -He held in his grip the sea, the land and the air. In shore lay ships -ready to sweep part of his front with protective fire. On land his -advance forces had seized roads and railroads, his engineers were -repairing what had been destroyed, and his cavalry was guarding all -approaches. His air-men, overwhelmingly numerous, spied on the American -army almost with impunity, and parried with sure aerial thrusts all -American attempts to spy on their own lines. - -The aerial guard, steel-breasted, with the wings of speed and talons of -fire, could be broken only by equal numbers, equally terrible. -Individual daring, individual skill, were nothing against this armored -brood. Five times American fliers rose to try it; and five times they -were grappled in mid-air and torn with shot, and dropped to the earth -far below. “No more!” said the General in command. - -He sat with his chin in his hand, studying the dispatches that were laid -before him. They were piled high, though twenty operators and half a -dozen aides struggled to eliminate from the torrential confusion the -news that might be deemed most reliable.[56] - - -_The “Fog of War”_ - -There were messages from Washington, messages from coast defenses, -messages from patrols and outposts, from scouts and from company -commanders. There were wild reports of enemy invasion from places so far -inland that it was palpable that they could not be true. There were -reports from places so nearby that they might mean imminent danger. - -Excited officials of towns and cities sent long, involved dispatches or -hung for long minutes to telephones to recount interminable tales. - -One hundred thousand men had landed, according to spies who had made -their way into Fort Greble in the Narragansett defenses. It was two -hundred thousand, telephoned Providence, transmitting messages from the -coast. The army’s own scouts and spies and patrols, groping in -insufficient numbers and finding a wall of cavalry and foot and machine -gun detachments opposed to them everywhere, sent in estimates that -varied all the way from twenty-five thousand to eighty thousand. - -These American advance detachments were striking the enemy outposts east -and west. Near Watch Hill three American motor cycle companies with -machine guns ambushed and cut up two troops of cavalry. American cavalry -drove back a battalion of engineers who had begun work on the railroad -at Kingston. At Niantic two American motor patrols ran into the fire of -a concealed field gun and were destroyed. - -From Fort Michie on Gull Island came the news, brought by a Montauk -Point fisherman who had managed to make his way across the Sound in a -small boat, that men had landed on that end of Long Island. They had -destroyed all communication immediately and had seized the railroad -leading to New York; but it was impossible to guess how great this force -was.[57] - -Only one certain fact was developed from all the news. It was that the -transports were unloading troops still. - - -_The Enemy Moves_ - -Suddenly, almost simultaneously, the American patrols were driven back -all along the line. On a front that extended quickly, irresistibly, -clear across Washington County, Rhode Island, from east to west, the -invader army expanded. It seized Watch Hill. Kingston was occupied in -force. Wickford Junction was occupied. Narragansett Pier was flooded, -all at once, with men and guns. - -With the swiftness of a blow from a fighter’s fist, the invader had -struck and won the entire railroad system of the New York, New Haven and -Hartford Railroad in Rhode Island, and commanded the way to Providence. - -The foe had filled his divisions. Forty thousand men were ready for -battle on American soil, with ten thousand in reserve on the coast. - -Now the wind turned south-east. Point Judith, Rhode Island’s cape that -coast-wise mariners call The Fog-Hole, began to brew one of its April -fogs, gray and blind and wet. - -Its first effect was kind to the Americans. The enemy air-craft, seeing -the vapory bank growing from the sea, fled toward their lines. From all -directions they came in, like gulls fleeing before a storm. They could -not dare to remain in strange territory. All their fine maps, all their -ingenious instruments, would be impotent against it. They came in, and -alighted behind their army. - -Freed from them, and masked by the fog, the American scouts went forward -again and groped once more along the foe’s front. In an - -[Illustration: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE LANDING OF THE ENEMY FORCES - -=A.= _Enemy Transports at Beach. The lines and arrows show direction of -his advance._ - -=B.= _United States Army, withdrawn to a watching position._] - -hour field telephones and telegraphs and aerial told the American -commander enough to assure him that the enemy’s force in men was at -least nearly equal to his own. He knew, too, that the invader had -brought up preponderating artillery. Every road, every piece of -negotiable country was held by guns. - -The American army held tight. In its front, between it and the foe, -there was not a rail-line, not a bridge. All had been destroyed. Behind -it lay a perfect railroad system, with long trains and giant locomotives -under steam, and all the gathered motor vehicles, ready to speed along -perfect roads. - -So far the fog was kind to the defenders. But the invader, too, was -quick to seize its favor. - - -_The Fishermen Who Caught More Than Lobsters_ - -Long before, half a dozen men, dressed like fishermen, had made their -way out of Narragansett Harbor in a small sloop, and had reported at the -enemy headquarters. For a month or more past they had been fishing for -lobsters; but they had caught more than lobsters. Their catch lay on -the table in the Commander’s tent, in the form of charts with soundings -and range lines and distances. They were maps of the mine fields. - -As soon as the fog began, these men went aboard a mine-sweeper. It -steamed eastward, followed by the others. The sweepers had more than the -cables and grapples that make a mine-sweeper’s outfit. Set in rows on -the after-deck of each vessel were bulging mines, filled with 300 pounds -of trinitrotol.[58] - -The fog became so thick that it was hard to say if it were daylight -still, or night. Night could only make it more black. It could not -increase the obscurity. - -In the coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay every -man was straining eyes and ears and nerves. Every gun company was at its -weapon. Every gun was loaded. Tall projectiles stood ready with the -chains and grapples of the hoists prepared. Men stood waiting in the -powder magazines under the batteries. - -Nothing to see or hear at Fort Wright on Fisher’s Island. Nothing at -Fort Michie on Gull Island. Nothing at Fort Terry on Plum Island. On all -the shrouded, swift tide-ways that led into Long Island Sound there was -nothing. - -There was nothing in front of the Narragansett defenses that eyes could -see or ears could hear. Nothing--and then, far out, it was as if a -sea-monster had arisen in dying torment, and lashed, and spouted and -screamed. Before the riven column of water could fall, there came -muffled, thundering explosion under water--one, two, three! - -The defenses split the fog with fire. Their mine-protecting batteries -had been trained over the fields long since. There was no need for aim. -Instantly they swept the hidden sea with shells that would clear twenty -acres of water. - -Again there was silence and blindness--the unearthly silence of the -Atlantic sea-fog. It lay for half an hour, as if there were no such -thing as war in the world. - -Then once more came the roar and the crash, followed by its submarine -echoes. Once more the land-guns raved, firing blind. - - -_Fighting Mines with Mines_ - -The enemy was counter-mining. Instead of sweeping, his vessels were -dropping mines of their own in the fields, and then, backing off to -avoid the fire from the batteries if they could, they exploded them by -electric contact, to blow up the American mines with the shock. - -Not all the mine-sweepers escaped mines or guns. But there were vessels -to spare, and lives to spare. All night the counter-mining went on, and -all night the American guns fired into the vapor and the darkness. - -The sun arose invisibly. But it climbed, and when it had lifted all its -disk above the rim of sea, it showed through the mist as a pale -illumination. It was “burning off” the fog. - -“It will be clear enough in an hour,” said the executive officer of a -battleship under Block Island. The vessel’s wireless began to speak. - -On one of the mother-ships men brought out and assembled an armored -biplane. Its two fliers stowed range-finding apparatus, aerial -telegraph, aneroids and charts in it. There were signal flags and light, -brightly silvered balls. Men brought receptacles that contained bombs -and adjusted them carefully in place. The fliers waited, watching the -fog. - -It lessened. It tore away in rifts. All around, the ships became -visible. - -Seven battle-ships swung around and put on speed and rushed in echelon -toward the coast. They steered straight for the mouth of Narragansett -Bay, turned just outside of the zone of fire of its defenses, slowed -down and steamed across the mouth. - -The bi-plane’s engine burst into life. The machine lifted and followed -them. It flew high over them and into the bay, climbing. - -“They’re over it!” said an officer on a ship, looking at the machine -through his glasses. - - -_Locating the Forts For the Enemy Ships_ - -Far inside of the bay, so high in air that it was little more than a -shining speck, the aeroplane was describing a series of regular, equal -circles. All at once, as if it had been painted in the air with a -mammoth brush, a jet-black descending streak stood out against the sky, -and lengthened steadily toward the earth. - -The azimuth and other range-finding instruments at both ends of the -battle-ships caught - -[Illustration: “The forward turret of a battleship turned and spoke with -a great voice.”] - -the angles and ascertained the range to the black smear that still hung -in the air, like grease. The aviator had dropped a smoke-bomb to -indicate the fort below. - -The forward turret of a battleship turned, its hooded rifle lifted its -muzzle to an angle of fifteen degrees, and spoke with a great voice. - -Eleven miles away a ton of steel rushed from the sky, crashed into the -water of the bay roaring, ricochetted, struck again half a mile beyond, -and again and again. Four times it rebounded, like a pebble, before it -disappeared at last; and each time it filled the air with its clamor, -like a suffering thing.[59] - -The ships’ wireless caught a signal from the aeroplane. The shot had -fallen short. The battleship steamed on, and another one in line opened -up the mouth of the harbor and fired. - -From the aeroplane fell a silver ball. It glittered in the brightening -sun, splendid. “Hit!” went the message to the turret; and the crew there -embraced and cheered. - -It had hit the outer earth-works of the defenses. It had plunged down -with a shock that stunned men in mortar pits and gun-emplacements far -away--small wonder, for this thing falling from the sky had struck a -blow equal to that of New York’s obelisk plunging into Broadway from the -top of Trinity Church steeple.[60] - - -“_No Effect!_” - -“No effect!” reported the watchers in the coast defense to the -commandant. Though the impact had shaken the works and the very earth: -though the blast from the explosion of its charge had twisted three-inch -iron bars within the works, and bent the steel doors of casemates, it -had done no harm to the defenses. So well had they been built by the -engineers that the rending explosion left a crater for only a moment. -The earth rippled down and closed it. The steel and concrete facing -underneath held true.[61] - -The enemy had the range. Ship after ship passed the entrance, delivered -its single shot, proceeded and returned to follow in the circling line. -These were the most modern dreadnaughts, firing from 16-inch guns. Their -shells tore the earth embankments away in tons and flung dirt high in -air and sent it down to bury everything in its way under mounds. But all -their fire and all their havoc was in vain, unless they could hit a gun. -And the guns were protected by steel armor and concrete and earth piled -on earth. - -To hit a gun was to attempt to hit a bull’s eye only a few feet square -at a range of eleven miles, farther than men can see. - -Still the bombardment went on, undeterred. More aeroplanes soared over -the defenses now, far out of reach from shots, and circled and signaled. -The fire grew. The ships were not hesitating now to wear out the rifling -of their guns. They meant to give the defenders no rest. - -They were trying for a prize that was worth all the guns in their -turrets. They knew that inside of the works there could not be more than -a few thousand men, if that much. They knew that all the Coast -Artillery forces of the United States combined numbered only 170 -companies and that these 170 companies had 27 harbor defense systems to -guard. Even if the United States had stripped its other defenses to the -utmost, there could not be a sufficient force in these that were now -being attacked.[62] - - -_Only Enough Ammunition to Last Two Hours_ - -So they poured fire on fire and shot on shot. It was a one-sided duel, -for their great guns outranged the 12-inch guns of the defenses. The men -in there fired only occasionally, when their observers and range-finders -and plotters perceived an opportunity. There was another reason for -their slow fire, besides the inability to reach. Those perfect defenses, -those perfect products of engineering science, those results of millions -on millions of expenditure, contained only enough ammunition for two -hours of firing![63] - -They waited till the enemy ships should try to force the passage and -come within range, that they might make those two hours two hours of -unspeakable destruction that should glorify their death with the fiery -splendor of bursting ships. - -The enemy did not try to force the passage. While they saved their -ammunition, these defenses were fearful gladiators to approach. None -could come within reach of their steel hands and live. - -But the gladiators were gladiators fearful only in front. -Steel-gauntleted, armored with steel breast-plates and shin-plates, -mightily visored--so they faced the sea. In the back they were naked. - -Fire, and noise, and bursting charges, and explosions that made hot -gales within the works and whirled men like dried leaves! An hour -passed. Still from the sea there came the coughing bellow, that made the -air tremble and rolled inland like summer thunder among hills. Still -there fell the screaming steel from the sky. Another hour! And still it -came. - -The sun was over-head. Suddenly, into the naked back of the defenses -poured fire and steel that hammered and beat and tore through them. -Under it, through flame and smoke and flying dirt appeared shining rows -of bayonets. With a yelp 10,000 men poured in.[64] - -And through the United States, smiting it into the dumbness of despair, -went the news that the great Narragansett defenses had fallen, and that -the enemy fleet was entering the harbor. - - - - -V - -NEW ENGLAND’S BATTLE - - -America had lost Narragansett Bay, with all its defenses, great guns and -government stations, in less than two weeks after the declaration of -war! - -The generation that faced this disaster had faced many catastrophes -which had seemed great disasters. It had seen States razed by cyclones. -It had seen giant floods. It had seen magnificent cities thrown down by -a shaking earth. Unterrified, it had flung money and men to the stricken -places to make them whole. Destroyed cities rose in beauty almost before -the dust of their fall had ceased to veil the sun. - -Money, money, money! Men, men, men! It seemed that no disaster could be -so colossal that the wonderful resources and efficiency of the United -States could not mock at it. - -Before the news of Narragansett’s fall was an hour old, the cities of -the United States, including many towns so obscure that few Americans -ever had heard their names, had subscribed enough money to raise and -equip an army twice over and keep it in the field for months. But the -country that was so efficient, so intrepid, so resourceful, was facing a -disaster now that it could not conjure away with all the money and men -that ever were. - -Money, the magician, was futile now. It could not stamp its golden foot -and make guns and ammunition spring from the empty ground. It could not -send to the army in Connecticut cannon that did not exist or cartridges -that had not been made.[65] - - -_Not Enough American Ammunition for Two Days’ Battle_ - -An order had gone out from the American headquarters that morning--an -ominous warning that, given in battle, would have indicated, surely, -the beginning of the end. It was: - - “IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT NO AMMUNITION BE EXPENDED - WITHOUT URGENT NEED. COMPANY COMMANDERS WILL ENFORCE THIS ORDER - RIGOROUSLY.” - -While the futile dollars were being flung to the Government for new -armies, the army that was already in the field was counting its -small-arms and artillery ammunition, knowing that it did not possess -enough for two days’ battle.[66] - -From ocean to ocean men with naked hands were crowding to enlist. The -generous Nation that never yet had denied a need when the need was made -apparent, was as generous with its lives as with its dollars. For two -and three blocks around the recruiting stations of regular army and -militia the streets were packed with men. They had come from work and -pleasure. They had come home from far places. They had dropped shovels -and tennis-rackets, pens and picks. They stood shoulder to shoulder, in -fine stuffs and in rags, made equal by one loyal purpose. And they were -as futile as the dollars. - -One million men, it was computed afterward, had offered themselves in -America in that one day. But there were no weapons for them. There were -not enough rifles. There were no uniforms. There were no tents. There -were no shoes. - -Keen-eyed men of trails and wilderness offered themselves for the signal -corps. There were no signal corps supplies. Telegraphers were there, but -all the field telegraph outfits that the country had were with the army. -Teamsters volunteered, but there was no reserve of army wagons. Men -trained in bridge building and engineering were turned away, because -there was no equipment to fit out sorely needed companies of miners and -sappers.[67] - -Cavalry was needed, urgently; and men who could ride tried to enlist. -But there were no mounts for them. Army officers in Texas and New -Mexico and Oklahoma were buying, at unheard-of prices, rough horses wild -from the range, while in Connecticut were regiments of regular cavalry -whose troops were only three-quarters filled with either men or -horses.[68] - -Money, money, money! Men, men, men! It was too late. - - -_Newport’s Palaces Occupied by Enemy Officers_ - -The bulletins still were displaying the news of the loss of -Narragansett’s defenses when the mine-sweepers of the enemy, unhampered -now, completed their work in the channels of the great harbor and -signaled to their fleet that it was safe to enter. - -The big liners crowded in--ships that hitherto never had entered an -American harbor except New York or Boston. Followed by horse-transports -and vessels laden with artillery, they passed in a gigantic parade past -Newport. - -Only destroyers and light-draught gun-boats preceded them. There was no -further need of cruisers with shotted guns to protect them. The enemy -flag was flying over Forts Adam, Wetherill, Greble, Getty, and Philip -Kearney. The American guns which the garrison had not been able to -destroy now looked down the harbor to hold it for the invader against -American attack. - -Newport’s villas and palaces were occupied by officers of the invading -army and navy. The avenues and gardens and shores of the rich men’s -pleasure-place were thronged with bluejackets and marines. The famous -power-boats, rich with mahogany and cedar, were brought out of their -opulent housings and launched. Glittering steam yachts were being eased -down the ways, to take the water and go into commission under the -foreign flag. - -After the last of the ships had entered, an American sea captain, who -had been crouching in a hiding place on Sakonnet Point at the eastern -entrance to the harbor, clapped his telescope together, arose -cautiously, and straightened out his stiffened old limbs. Taking great -care to select by-paths, he went inland to the village of Little -Compton, where he found an automobile stage that took him to the -railroad station at Tiverton. - -Thence he telephoned to Fall River, and Fall River sent it on to Boston, -and Boston sent it on to Worcester, whence it went to the army, that an -old seaman had not only counted and identified the transports, but was -able to say approximately which ships had troops aboard and which -vessels probably carried only supplies. - -There were liners of more than 40,000 gross tons. There were three ships -of more than 25,000 tonnage. Each of them was a famous liner whose -character was known to its last details. It was a matter of only a few -minutes to figure out that the net tonnage of the troop-laden vessels -was 200,400. Under the foreign military allowance of one soldier for -each two net tons of ship capacity, it was indicated with fair accuracy -that the force that had entered the harbor was at least 100,000 men.[69] - -“With the ample landing facilities,” said the American Commanding -General to his staff, “the men can, no doubt, be disembarked within -twenty hours. Count in the work of landing supplies, artillery, -ammunition and horses, and organizing the army for effective -movement--we cannot safely figure on more than fifty hours before the -enemy will be ready to undertake important operations. He will, no -doubt, have occupied Providence and Fall River at once.”[70] - - -_An Incident of the Occupation of Fall River_ - -A gunboat was lying at that moment in the mouth of Taunton River, with -4-inch guns covering tall, smoky Fall River. Its officers were watching -the signalmen who had been left behind by a detachment of marines that -had been sent in to occupy the river streets. - -Crouching behind a third-story window of a square, multi-windowed -monster of a cotton mill, three men, roughly clad, watched the -bluejackets approach. “I tell you,” said one, “it is no use, no use. -Have you not read the order? It is that we must not do anything.” - -“We have been made citizens,” answered the other, savagely. “And shall -we not fight for this country? Go, then, you, if you fear. Peter and I -will kill these men. Is it not so, Peter?” - -The man addressed nodded, silently. He had a bomb in his hand. The -first speaker, shrugging his shoulder, hurried out. - -“Now!” said Peter. His comrade raised the window, and Peter’s arm went -out swiftly. He tossed the bomb. - -It fell in front of the blue-jackets and burst. The detachment reeled. -But the smoke had not quite dissipated before the sailors were in order -again, running back, dragging their machine-gun and carrying two men, -one dead, one wounded. - -At the corner they stopped and aimed the gun at the mill. There was a -tearing scream, like the sudden yelp of a circular saw when it bites a -plank. A stream of steel-jacketed bullets blew against the building. The -windows vanished with a clash of splintering glass. Three men, their -heads bent low and their arms covering their faces as if to breast a -tempest of hail and wind, ran out of the door. They had not gone ten -yards when they were jerked, and tossed high, and flung forward, and -dropped into a heap that might have been nothing except a huddle of old -clothes. - -The man at the machine-gun grunted. Squatting comfortably behind his -little demon, he turned it on the factory again like a man manipulating -a hose. Exactly as if he were sprinkling, he fanned the rows of windows, -systematically. - -Behind them the gunboat awoke. Its men had learned by signal what had -occurred. Their guns opened fire on the street. Four steel projectiles -struck the brick buildings, broke through them and tore up floors and -walls and girders. As the shells exploded inside, the walls bent -outward, seemed to recover, and then suddenly leaned out again and -toppled, with smoke and dust mounting into a column on a cyclone of -their own making. - -Through the smoke and thick dust sped another flock of shells. A -building at the head of a street moved. It seemed to jump, curiously -like a frightened man staggering backward. Then there was no building. -There was nothing but a pile of stone and twisted iron--with half a -dozen men under it. - - -_Providence’s Handful of Desperate Men_ - -The gunboat lowered boats and sent more men ashore. They rushed machine -guns into the town. “Our men have been attacked,” said their Commander, -appearing at the City Hall. “The town is subject to punishment under the -rules of war. Write a proclamation to your people at once. Inform them -that a single other hostile act will cause your immediate execution and -the complete destruction of your city.” - -“Fall River Destroyed!” was the news that went through the country. It -was spread by men who had seen the houses fall, and had run away in -terror with the roar of tumbling walls and exploding shells in their -ears, and who truly believed that they had seen the entire city in flame -and ruin. - -“Quick! Quick!” shouted a newspaperman in Providence when the news came -in. “Get this on the street with the biggest head you can and rush -copies to the madmen at the barricade. It’ll probably be the last thing -we print; but it may save Providence.” - -Behind the barricade, made of stones and wagons and all the useless, -pitiable defenses that desperate men in desperate cities have always -used, there were a hundred or more men who had lost their heads and -would listen to nothing but the voice of their own fury. They were -armed with old rifles taken from a plundered marine store’s -establishment whose dusty cellar was piled with condemned arms. From the -same place they had taken four automatic guns on rusty tripods. - -Lashing themselves to greater and blinder rage at every attempt at -opposition or argument, they had sworn to turn the weapons on their own -police. But the black headlines on the extras that were tossed to them -acted like the shock of ice-cold water on a drunken man. - -One by one they slouched away. When the enemy arrived, there was nobody -to oppose the files of bluejackets and marines that marched past the -silent, gloomy crowds to occupy the city for the troops. - - -_Green Scouts for the American Army_ - -“Reports here that Providence is occupied,” Washington telegraphed to -the army. “Send details.” - -The General laughed sarcastically, and tossed the dispatch to his aide. - -“Blazes!” growled the latter. “Since they established their aviation -camp back of their lines at Narragansett Pier yesterday, every -reconnoisance we’ve attempted has been just like stirring up a nest of -yellow-jackets. I’m afraid that we’ve lost another machine, sir. It -should have been back here hours ago. If it’s gone, we have only six -left; and our crack aviation squadron from San Diego has been whittled -down to 14 officers and 90 enlisted men. They simply pile on top of -every machine of ours with half a dozen or more of their own.” - -“The mounted patrols that we pushed out toward the south last night got -good results,” said the General. - -“Yes, sir. But,” the aide selected a sheet of paper from the pile, “it’s -like trying to build up a monster from a single bone. Look at this, sir. -Here’s a green patrol--plucky, too, for they got in farther than most. -But see what they give us. They report a regiment of infantry at Exeter, -west of Wickford; and they say that there is positively no artillery -with it.” - -“Of course!” answered the General. “They didn’t know where to look for -artillery, or how it is concealed.”[71] - -“Nice man-trap that sort of scouting is!” grunted the aide. - -“Well, well!” The old General laughed again. “It’s late in the day to -kick. We’ve known long ago what sort of soup was being cooked for our -eating. The only thing to do now is not to let them ladle it into us too -hot.” - -An officer with the insignia of the aviation corps appeared before the -tent-flap and saluted. A trickle of blood was creeping down his forehead -and across one cheek. “Hullo!” said the aide. “Then we haven’t lost that -machine after all! Did you get anything?” - - -_The Report of the Air Scout_ - -“Cavalry and artillery have seized all the railroad and electric lines -to Providence,” reported the flier. “Apparently they are not moving into -the town, but holding tight so that the troops that are landing there -can complete their line. Couldn’t get details--three bi-planes got after -me within twenty minutes.” - -“What delayed you?” - -“They drove me south to the coast. Going over Kingston, I got touched up -with shrapnel. Then two other fliers came down on me, coming from the -direction of our own lines. I had to hustle across the Sound and fly -around Montauk Point and inland before I could shake them off.” - -“What did you see on Montauk?” asked the General, quickly. - -“A small force is holding it, apparently for a supply and repair base,” -said the scout. “I saw a row of forges in one place.” - -“That’s better news, anyway,” said the General. “I’ve been anxious since -we heard that a force had been landed there. Feared it might be a second -army moving toward New York. Well, we’d better tell Washington what -we’ve gathered.” - -“Hostile line,” Washington learned, “is strongly extended through Rhode -Island along entire railroad system from Westerly northeast almost to -Providence. Enemy’s left flank at Westerly has been strengthened by -successful assault on Fort Mansfield near Watch Hill whose two-company -garrison was overcome before it could destroy the 5-inch guns.[72] - -“The enemy holds in strength Westerly, Niantic, Wood River, Wickford -Junction and Landing, River Point and East Greenwich, thus maintaining -line that touches Narragansett Bay at one end and the ocean east of Long -Island at the other. Extraordinarily powerful artillery supports -reported along entire front.” - -“No important news from the front,” said Washington, transmitting this -information to the newspapers. “Providence appears to have been -occupied, as all communication with that place has ceased. It is -reported that two blocks of buildings in Fall River have been destroyed, -but the rest of the city is intact.” - -Washington had become the only source of news, for the time, after the -foe had effected a base in Narragansett Bay. The coasts of New Jersey -and Long Island suddenly had become as quiet again as if there were no -enemy within three thousand miles. No demonstration was made against the -ocean defenses of New York City. No ships threatened the defenses of -Long Island Sound. - - -_The Plight of New Bedford_ - -Simultaneously with the severance of communication with Providence, -Boston had been cut off from direct communication with southern New -England, and could telegraph or telephone only by way of Worcester. - -Late that night the city transmitted a dispatch that had come to it from -Fort Rodman, near New Bedford in Buzzards Bay. A strong force, numbers -unknown, had begun moving along the railroad out of Fall River, with -evident design against the town or the fort. Trains were being -assembled. “Send reinforcements,” said Fort Rodman. “No militia in the -city. We have in our defenses only 63 men, Fourth Company, New Bedford -Militia Coast Artillery, besides our own two companies of regulars and -the two companies that were sent here from Charleston and Mobile.”[73] - -The morning newspapers announced that New Bedford was in uproar and had -demanded of Washington to know if the Government intended to abandon its -sea-board cities utterly. The people had gone out to tear up the -railroad tracks leading into the town, but one train of fifteen cars -had already advanced half way from Fall River, with another of twelve -cars behind it. - -Shortly afterward a dispatch from a station along the line informed -Boston that three other trains had just passed, close behind each other, -going slowly. One train had twelve, one had eight and the other had ten -cars. - -“Fifty-seven cars,” said the War Department, “would indicate that two -regiments with artillery were on the way.” - -Two hours later Washington gave out this bulletin: - -“New Bedford was occupied at nine A.M. by a regiment of infantry and -three batteries of heavy field artillery. Shortly before 10 A.M. this -force, augmented by a further regiment of infantry, a strong body of -sappers and miners, and a battery of howitzers, proceeded in the -direction of Fort Rodman. Since then it has been impossible to gain any -intelligence.” - - -_The Demand of the Cities for Protection_ - -At noon an enemy force of unknown strength advanced toward Taunton, -Massachusetts, by way of the railroad running north from Fall - -[Illustration: “The people had gone out to tear up the railroad tracks -leading into the town.”] - -River. It was reported that two companies of infantry, Massachusetts -Volunteer Militia, had attacked enemy cavalry outside of the town and -had defeated it. A little later came a report that the Americans had -been surrounded and forced to surrender. - -Then Taunton was cut off. Boston telegraphed to Washington: “We have -practically stripped ourselves of militia and demand help at once.” - -“Hold the army where it is!” said New York, promptly. “To move it toward -Boston would simply uncover us, and open all Connecticut to capture.” - -“Protect Boston!” demanded Lawrence and Lowell and Haverhill. - -“Hold the army in Connecticut!” telegraphed New London and New Haven, -Bridgeport and Hartford. - -“Most of our militia is with the army!” urged Philadelphia. “We insist -that our men be kept between us and the foe.” - -“What is the disposition of the enemy forces now?” Washington asked army -headquarters. - -“Disembarkation proceeding swiftly,” was the reply. “The line Providence -to New Bedford appears to be strongly held. Main strength, however, -evidently being thrown to face our front. The original army is being -steadily augmented by additions from the forces now landing. Believe -that hostile line stretching across Rhode Island and threatening us is -now fully eighty thousand men, with preponderating artillery.” - -The news bulletin that the War Department in Washington gave out as a -result of this information was that the American army, though -numerically inferior, was holding the invader in check for the time. No -immediate movement, said the bulletin, was expected. - -To the General in command, however, the Department telegraphed: “It is -of the utmost importance to know if you can maintain present position, -and if so, how long. We wish to work Springfield arsenal to the last -moment. Must have twenty-four hours to dismantle it and ship machinery -away.” - - -_Two Days in Which to Make Ammunition for the American Army!_ - -Springfield Arsenal, lying behind the protecting army, was a-glare with -light at night and a-roar night and day with labor. It was toiling -almost literally over a mine; for the foundations were mined, ready for -the dynamite that was to blow them up when the need came. - -An army of workmen, each provided with his own specific instruction, -were ready, when the word came, to tear out what machinery they could -and load it on the trains.[74] - -Thus, with men standing ready to pull it apart, the great place was -being “speeded” to turn out rifles. Under civilian and military experts -all the workers who could find room were working in eight-hour shifts. -They had increased the output from the normal one hundred rifles an hour -to three thousand in the twenty-four hours. - -“Forces in our front constantly increasing,” the army leaders informed -Washington, after a council of war. “No doubt of offensive intention. We -believe, however, that no forward movement will be made until completion -of landing operations. The total destruction of all roads in our front -will then delay enemy for not more than two days. Think it safe to delay -dismantling works till expiration of that time.” - -“Thank God!” said one of the men in Washington. He was thanking God for -two days of grace--after fifty years of unused time. Two short days had -become suddenly precious. In that time there could be added to the stock -of arms 6,000 rifles before the Springfield works should have to be -abandoned and the country forced to depend on the output of the Rock -Island arsenal in Illinois, whose utmost capacity was only two hundred -and fifty rifles in each eight-hour day.[75] - - -_Militia That Had Come in Without Rifles_ - -Already, without a battle, the army had made requisition for 2,500 new -rifles. The militia had come in with many rifles corroded from the -powerful fumes and acid deposits released by smokeless powder. The -rifling of many was ruined by rust, due to lack of cleaning after use. -In more than one militia company there were men who had come in without -rifles.[76] - -Beholding this wastage that had occurred in peace, the authorities were -inclined to believe the dictum of some of the military men who insisted -that for every infantryman in the field there must be a rifle in -reserve. Certainly it was evident enough that when fighting should once -begin, the waste of small arms would be enormous.[77] - -Two days more! The word went secretly to Hartford and Ansonia, to -Bridgeport, to New Haven, to all the crowded world of Connecticut and -southern Massachusetts where machines were panting night and day, -buildings trembling with their steam fever, men toiling without sleep, -to take advantage of the days of grace. - -It was not only the brass cases for the fixed ammunition, the fuses for -shells, the cartridges for rifles and pistols, the bayonets and -entrenching tools for which the army depended on New England. A hundred -places of peaceful manufacture were working as desperately as were the -manufacturers of quick-firing guns, to provide the food that war devours -with such monstrous rapacity when it begins to feed. - -There were shops that turned out chains, and shops that turned out -cooking utensils. There were workmen who never had done anything more -warlike than to make bootlaces. There were manufacturers of whips and -hats, and wheelwrights and makers of thread. Up and down all the river -valleys, and in all the crowded towns they were working to give the army -what it needed before the enemy should reach out and make the land his -own. - -Now that it was on the verge of being lost, the United States knew -suddenly what this New England meant to it. It realized all at once what -vast productiveness had enriched the entire Continent with its manifold -variety. So accustomed through long generations to the endless supply, -even the merchants of America had not realized how much they depended -on Connecticut and Massachusetts factories for a thousand articles of -daily utility. - -From every point in the Union came orders. Had such a torrent arrived in -a time of peace, Connecticut might have built one unbroken factory -reaching from the Berkshire Hills to Stonington, to meet the demand. - - -“_We Will Play Our Hand Out!_” - -And all that lay between this treasure-house of the United States and -capture was a bluff--a last, desperate American bluff. - -The American General knew that his adversary must know that it was a -bluff; but bluffing was an American game. - -“We will play our hand out,” he said to his staff. “No doubt he knows -that he could drive us back now, without waiting for his whole army to -land, and all that ungodly mess of artillery that he’s brought with him. -But he wants to play safe. He wants to clean the whole thing up in one -operation. He wants to lick us, true; but he wants still more to -accomplish his bigger job--the possession of the seaboard. We’ll sit -tight--and bluff him into going slow.” - -The army sat tight. It sat tight while New England worked, and Chambers -of Commerce and Committees of Safety argued and resolved and argued and -could agree on nothing except that the whole thing was a hopeless mess. -It sat tight while a hundred millions stared at the mess, and hooted -their Congressmen and politicians who wandered around feebly to explain -that it was the fault of somebody else. - -In Ohio and Indiana the mess was typified. Here in great camps were -gathered the organized militia of the western States to be organized, -with 300,000 entirely raw volunteers who had everything to learn. These -green men were the pick of the country--physically perfect, intelligent, -quick to understand. But there was nobody to teach them. - -For years the United States had been warned that if the crisis ever -should occur, there would not be any officers available for the work of -organizing and training recruits. The warning had been whistled down the -wind. Congresses that could find ample time to debate about mileage and -constructive recesses and pork barrels had never found a time when they -could debate this. - -[Illustration: “Entirely raw volunteers, who had everything to -learn.”] - -Congresses that could always find the money for increased pension rolls -never had been able to find the time to lessen the pension rolls of the -future by providing trained officers who would protect their soldiers -and teach them to stay alive as long as possible instead of rushing to -glorious and unnecessary death.[78] - -Even as it was, there were not enough officers for the army that was in -the field. For training the new men, the Nation had to call on every -aged officer in the land, on every otherwise qualified man who was -physically unfit for active service, and on foreigners from foreign -armies. - - -_A Land Lacking in War Efficiency_ - -This army in formation was placed in perfect surroundings. Its health, -its sanitation and its water-supply were excellent. It was fed on the -best that money could buy. In everything that did not depend on military -efficiency, its maintenance was beyond criticism. - -Uniforms were being made for it in record time. Mills were producing -blankets at a speed never before reached. Wherever Americans could help -by the efficient execution of duties that they understood, the result -was magnificent. - -But in everything that demanded the efficiency of men trained to war, -the land was entirely lacking. Everything had to be improvised. There -were only a few men who knew anything about pitching tents, camp -drainage, and the management of large bodies of men. There were -practically no men outside of the army who were capable of managing the -work of supplying the great camps with what they needed. As in the -Spanish-American War, the utter inadequacy of the Quartermaster’s -Department under its civilian appointees had become a scandal within a -few weeks, and threatened already to demoralize the entire volunteer -body. - -Perishable provisions were left in freight cars till they rotted. -Requisitions for vitally needed supplies were not made until it was too -late. Requisitions for one and the same thing were sent out by half a -dozen different officials, leading to inextricable confusion. There was -not an hour in the day when quartermaster’s transports did not block -roads where they had no business to be, and in situations that in war -would have made disaster for a hurrying army.[79] - -“Six months to train that mob!” said a retired General, reporting to the -President. “Well, Mr. President, let’s hope so. I should say nine -months, and not even then unless you can give ’em more officers to teach -’em.” - - -_The News the Spy Brought_ - -In Connecticut a spy was reporting to the staff. He was a Captain of -Artillery, and he had spent seventy-two hours behind the enemy’s lines. - -“They have completed their disembarkation and organization,” he said. -“There are at least 150,000 men, as was calculated. They are -magnificently organized, with reserves of everything. They have an -enormous supply of artillery--at least ten guns to every thousand -infantry and cavalry. Their machine gun companies also are -extraordinarily large.”[80] - -“And what is their disposition?” - -“They were still moving men around to our front,” answered the spy. “I -should say, General, that you now have, or will have before the end of -the day, approximately one hundred thousand men facing you.” - -“And the others?” - -“Everything indicates that they are planning to move against Boston, -while the larger force attacks us, sir. Country people told me that they -are holding Taunton now with a strong force. They were moving men -through Pawtucket this morning on the Providence railroad line for -Boston.” - -“Did you see any movement that might menace Worcester immediately?” - -“They have already repaired the railroad from Providence to Woonsocket.” - -“Then it’s time for us to get out of this. Gentlemen, you all know what -to do. Issue your orders at once.” - - -_The Retreat of the American Army_ - -Eight hours later the enemy army advanced suddenly. Its southern wing -pushed forward, across Rhode Island and entered Connecticut. Its -northern wing, advancing more slowly because it had to repair railroads -and clear obstructed roads before it, extended itself gradually -northward toward Worcester. - -The extreme southern line, advancing from Westerly, took Stonington, -Groton and the new London Navy Yard, and held the eastern shore of the -Thames River. Another force took Norwich and crossed the Thames at that -place. - -Gradually the line straightened out and formed into the drive that was -to sweep the American army before it, or crush it. But the American -army, with everything lacking except transport, was not there, either -to be swept or crushed. It was retreating swiftly, in perfect order. - -As the last wheel rolled out of Springfield, the town shook with the -explosions that were wrecking the dismantled arsenal. - -Eastward, two divisions of enemy forces, perfectly appointed to act as -independent armies, were converging on Boston. - - - - -VI - -THE RISING OF NEW ENGLAND - - -New England was filmy red with bursting maple buds. Silver troops of -rain floated over the low hills in the dawn, and left April shining. The -orderly land lay lovely and serene under the tranquil blessing of the -New England spring whose memory draws its sons, soon or late, from all -the world’s places to go home. - -It was such a morning “promising to become hot” as had lain on -Massachusetts in the dawn of April 19, 1775, when men were gathering at -Concord and Lexington. - -The country was as still as it must have been in that far-off day. The -mill-towns were still and smokeless. The machineries were still. There -was no cry of plowmen in the fields. - -It was a supine New England, hushed, apprehensive and conquered. So, at -least, it seemed to the invaders whose patrols, spreading fanwise, were -beginning to pierce the country in all directions, pushing forward far -in advance of their armies, and finding no opposition. - -Through New England the church and town clocks struck: Seven. The land -was peaceful as death. The hour passed. The lazy clocks began to strike: -Eight. - -In a village north of New Bedford stood a little crowd of farmers, -gathered around the general store and listening to the sheriff. He was -warning them that they must not attempt to resist the invading troops -when they came. - -“I know that you--and you,” said he, pointing to men as he spoke, -“brought arms with you. You’d better give them up to me.” - -“And you an American!” growled one of the men. The sheriff did not -retort. He was scarcely past middle age; but there was a great, slow -patience in his face that made him look old. - -He shook his head and said: “It’s only for your own sake.” - - -_The Modern Paul Revere_ - -“Look!” cried a farmer. “Who is coming here?” - -The man who was coming was a man on a motorcycle. Man and machine were -so coated with dust, were speeding so desperately, that even without war -in the land one would stare at this flying thing, one would wait with -eyes and lips open to learn what startling message it was carrying. - -Man, roaring motor, and their brother pillar of dust crashed by. They -had disappeared before the breathless watchers realized that the man had -waved an arm at them and had screamed: “Soldiers!” - -A farmer ran to his wagon and pulled out a rifle from its hiding place -under the wagon-seat. “Come on, boys!” he said. - -“Listen! Listen!” The sheriff shouldered forward. “Men! Neighbors! Old -friends! For God’s sake, listen! You have no right to fight.” - -“What?” The sheriff’s young brother, sturdy, handsome, suddenly -ferocious, brought his face close to him. “No right to defend our -country? Are you crazy, Jim?” - -The patient man shook his head again. “It is against the rules of war.” - -“Then curse the rules of war!” shouted the younger. “Are you a coward?” - -The sheriff reached out and touched his brother’s arm. It was a secret, -almost a timid, act. The brother threw off the appealing hand. - -“Don’t touch me!” He spoke through set teeth. “If you are a coward and -traitor, may you be damned through all eternity! Again! For the last -time! Will you fight?” - -The sheriff raised his hands, dumbly. The men went to their wagons and -returned with arms. - - -_New England’s Stone Wall_ - -“To that stone wall yonder!” said one. - -He pointed into a field with a rough stone wall dividing its center -three or four hundred yards from the road. This man was an old hunter, -and the others had followed him often. He took command now as a matter -of course. - -The sheriff watched them flounder through the plowed field. He stood -still, for a minute. Then he hurried to his house, emerged with a gun, -and joined the party. - -Two miles away a squad of ten cavalrymen cantered over a ridge and -examined the country through their field-glasses. They studied the -ground foot by foot, almost inch by inch. Satisfied, they trotted -toward the village. - -Around a turn they came on a little knot of women and children who -scurried, screaming, into the ditch. A rider headed off a woman who was -carrying a child. He stooped to her from his tall black horse. Laughing, -he nodded and said something to her in a foreign language. - -Stooping still lower, he snatched the child suddenly and swung it out of -the trembling woman’s arm. He lifted it, and danced it up and down. - -He fumbled in his saddle-bag and brought out some chocolate which he fed -to the baby. Then he handed it back to the mother, roaring again with -laughter at her frightened face. The other riders, laughing also, waved -their hands at the group and cantered on. - -They entered the village, swiftly examined it, riding through gardens -and into alleys, assuring themselves that there was nothing there to -mask danger for the troops that were behind them. They passed out of the -other end and into the road leading past the plowed field with the stone -wall. - -It was still, and very lonely. There was not a living being in sight -throughout all the softly tinted land. On a tree branch that hung over -the stone wall, a bluebird began to sing with all the power of its -little throat. - -It brought a hot choking to the throat of a farmer who was lying behind -the stone wall, just under the bird. Its song had welled out just as he -was raising his rifle. But his gray Yankee eye sought the sights, his -sinewy brown hand gripped the weapon, and he fired. - - -_The Firing of the First Shot_ - -He fired, and pumped another cartridge into the breech and fired again, -so quickly that his second shot had roared out before a cavalryman who -had pitched forward with the first bullet through his side, had quite -toppled from his saddle. - -All along the stone wall they fired, and pumped their magazines, and -fired. They were men who had hunted deer in early autumn cover and -learned to send bullets driving after them at hot speed on the jump. The -big horses and the big men, broad in the open road, were easy targets. -But they were not deer. They were men. More than one of the rifle -bullets went wild because the marksman’s horror shook his hand. - -In the road lay two men, lashing in the dust. Down the road went a -bleeding horse that screamed. It dragged its rider, smashing his face -against the ground. In the field was a soldier, trying to balance -himself on his saddle, with one hand gripping at his breast while the -other reached out grotesquely, as if groping for something to which he -might hold. - -A farmer behind the wall, unable to endure the sight of the men who were -rolling in the road like animals trying to bury their agony, fired at -them and made them lie still. “My God!” he said, and cried. - -The wounded man fell from the saddle and squatted in a queer hunched -posture in the field, his head between his knees. It was the cavalryman -who had fed the child. - -The others scattered, and charged toward the wall. Instantly, the -defenders became cool. Their nerves stopped jumping. These riders, -looming big, with swords out and fury in their eyes, ceased to be men. -They were killers. The farmers shot as steadily as if they were aiming -at deer. - -Two riders escaped and galloped headlong down the road back to their -forces. The New England men arose from behind the wall, and ran across -the fields to gain the shelter of a wood-lot. Before they could reach -it, there was a yelling behind them and a dozen troopers were in the -fields, following them desperately. - - -_In the Stone House_ - -“To the house!” cried the sheriff. He led the way to an old stone house, -built in Revolutionary times. The cavalrymen reined up sharply. A glance -at the solid little building with window-openings as deep as embrasures, -showed them that it was dangerous. They opened out, remaining carefully -out of rifle shot, and surrounded the place where they could watch it -from all sides. Then one rode back, swiftly. - -The watchers sat, easy and careless, as if they had been halted during a -peaceful practice march. Half an hour passed. The immobility of the -soldiers, their passionless watch, was driving the farmers frantic. More -than once the old leader had to growl at a man who wanted to fire, -despite the hopeless distance. - -If the tension in the house had lasted much longer, some of these men -would have rushed out. But there came a great sound from the distance. -It might have been thunder, rolling far away. It might have been a river -in flood. - -“They’re coming!” said the sheriff’s brother. It was hard for him to -speak. The defenders were all violently thirsty, and they had not had -time to bring water from the well. - -They came. Horses, horses, horses! Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! They -came, and passed along the road, and more came on. - -They did not turn off to attack the house. They did not even turn their -heads to look at it. This infuriated the defenders. - -Horses, horses, horses! Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! If the men in the -stone house could have seen other roads, they would have seen each one -so filled with silent, steadily moving columns of men. - -A little party of men and horses turned off from the column and entered -the field. Before it was within the range of the rifles, it wheeled. A -shining, glossy little thing pointed at the house. It was field -artillery, sleek, beautiful. - -The sheriff’s brother, carried away by rage, fired and fired. He emptied -his magazine at the distant men. - - -_The War Machine Rolls On_ - -Along the highway the column moved steadily, silently. No soldier -checked his foot for so much as an instant at the sound of the shots. -Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! The machine moved on. - -It moved on, eyes front, while the captain commanding the cannon snapped -an order. It moved on, bayonets twinkling out of sight in front, and -twinkling past, and twinkling into sight from behind, while the little -gun tore the April morning. - -The stone house spouted clouds of dust and powdering stone. It -dissolved. It became a ruin that stared phantomlike through the cloud, -as if it were looking with horribly expanding eyes at the gun. - -If the besieged fired in return, the men at the gun did not know it. -Their steel beast drowned the farmers’ tiny efforts in roar and flame. -They passed as a breath. The cavalrymen cantered to the ruin. A half -wall was standing, jagged. The rest was a mound of dirt. Under it lay -fourteen men of Massachusetts. The sheriff lay there, with his face more -patient than ever, and his arm around his brother. - -The little gun and its horses and men joined the horses and men that -were moving northward through New England. - -Over the field telegraph wire that unreeled behind the advancing force -went the report to the enemy headquarters: “Civilians estimated at about -a dozen fired from ambush, killing eight cavalry. Took refuge in -building. Annihilated.” - -It was a perfunctory report telling of a merely perfunctory incident. -But the commander-in-chief, sitting at his ease in headquarters in -Providence, stopped smoking for a moment. “See that the news does not -spread,” said he. “It might raise the country. Reënforce all patrols and -warn them.” - - -_New England Ablaze_ - -He was a quick man. His officers were quick and his system of -communication was quick. But the news sped more quickly still. Over -every telephone that was intact, over every telegraph wire that still -worked in New England, by bicycle, on horseback, by men running, the -story was passed from man to man and village to village. - -They were fourteen humble men, unknown beyond their own township, when -they crouched behind the stone wall. They were fourteen shining names -before the ruins that covered them had ceased smoking. New England, like -a blazing forest, was ablaze with wrath and fury. - -Vain was it now for cautious men to warn or authorities to command. Men -who never in their lives had thought harm to any living thing, dashed -out with smoldering eyes to fight. Prudent men, who never in their lives -had acted on impulse, now acted without a second’s pause for reflection. -Men who had cared all their lives only for their own little affairs, -were all drunken now and thought it nothing to fire one shot for their -country and die behind a stone wall in the dirt. - -In Acushnet an old whaling captain, a prosperous, weighty citizen, -emptied his shot gun into a raiding party and was left dead under his -forsythias with the golden blossoms from the volley-torn shrubs covering -him. - -Between Taunton and Pawtucket a militia company of field artillery that -had been unable to move its gun because it lacked horses, got it from -its hiding place, and with a party of volunteers who had no firearms, -fought behind piled bags of cement against enemy cavalry till artillery -had to be brought from miles away to destroy them. - -South of Woonsocket a band, made up of thirty Massachusetts militia -infantry and sixty factory hands from the town, prevented two companies -of hostile infantry for almost two hours from crossing the Blackstone -River. It was not because they could shoot, or knew how to fight. It was -because they meant to stay there till they died. And it was not until -they were dead that the invaders succeeded in crossing. - -New England women who had spent their lives in homely, simple duties, -brought out dippers of water to parched men and cheered them on. They -hid fleeing men in barns and stood by, defiant, when pursuing soldiers -dragged them out and shot them before their eyes. - - -_As the Men of Old_ - -Men took down old muskets that had been over chimney-places for a -generation. Their wives and mothers kissed them as they went out to -fight. - -Grandparents saw their sons and their sons’ sons lie in ambush in -ancestral pastures that had not echoed to a ruder sound than the lowing -of cows; and they saw them vanish away in red storm, and did not weep. - -Dynamite! Dynamite! went the word through Massachusetts and Connecticut. -This was something that the unarmed country had, and that it knew how to -use. Even the peaceful farmers had it, and were practiced in handling -it, from long work in blowing out stumps and rocks. Irish construction -gangs, Italian road-makers, workers of every tongue and race from pits -and quarries, joined the New England men. - -They blew up a sunken road through which artillery was lumbering. They -blasted away a steep bank and buried a troop of cavalry. They blew up a -mined road in front of infantry and when it retreated, sprang a second -mine under the soldiers’ feet that exterminated a battalion. - -Railroads and roads were blown up before advancing troops and behind -them. Men blew up bridges and prevented their own escape so that the -armed forces caught them as in a trap and slaughtered them at leisure. -Viaducts and works were dynamited that never could have been of any use -to the enemy. It was formless, systemless destruction--but in that very -lack of system lay its danger to the enemy forces. - -Had all the men in New England who were engaged in this wild fighting -been gathered in one body, the trained, disciplined soldiers could have -disposed of them in an action so simple that they might scarcely have -named it a skirmish. But this was like a forest fire that, stamped out -in one spot, breaks into roaring flame in another. As it sweeps from -tree tops to tree tops and creeps underground, and flames out in quick -fury miles away, so the warfire raved through Massachusetts and -Connecticut to be crushed out only in detail with detailed, bitter work -through all that long, hot, dusty day. - - -_Serious to the Enemy_ - -It was serious. This uprising of an undisciplined population could not -defeat, or even damage seriously, the great army. But it could hamper -it. It would force a wide scattering of troops to break down the -sporadic opposition. It would make a dangerous country--dangerous in -front of the advancing soldiers, dangerous in their rear, continually -dangerous around them. - -In that sense it was more serious than deliberate, military opposition -by the American army would have been. Had the enemy commander faced only -a defending army, it would have been a quiet, technical matter of -advance guards against advance guards. These pawns in the old game of -war would have thrust each other back here, receded before each other -there, fighting only when it was forced on them, and so, gradually, -properly, they would have cleared the board that the great game might be -played. - -This incoherent uprising was disorganizing all his tactics. From the -western army that had set out to sweep through Connecticut, came - -[Illustration: “There had been firing from mill-buildings, which had -been destroyed for punishment.”] - -word that everywhere patrols had been attacked. Men in a swift power -boat on the Thames River above New London had succeeded in three places -in firing on scouting parties with a Hotchkiss rifle, apparently taken -from a yacht. - -The line north of Norwich along the same river reported four men killed -from ambush. At Willimantic there had been firing from mill buildings, -which had been destroyed for punishment. - -The Commander of the brigade that was advancing on Worcester in -Massachusetts from Connecticut had halted his advance, and was asking -headquarters if the extent of the disorder were great enough to imperil -his communications. - -The eastern division, moving on Boston, reported that the patrols -had been ordered in from the line North Middleboro--East -Middleboro--Plymouth. “Our men can move only in considerable force,” -reported the Commander. “Small parties are constantly in danger of being -assassinated. The population appears to be in a frenzy. Seven cavalry at -Nemasket, engaged in foraging for their horses, were burned alive in a -barn. We have fired the town. It is still burning. Have shot ten -citizens.” - -“My men are getting out of hand,” telegraphed the Commander of a brigade -moving toward Mansfield. “Stern reprisals required at once.” - - -“_Let Them Have It!_” - -“Let them have it!” said the Commander-in-Chief. - -“Instant retaliation!” said the field telegraph to the armies. “Order -all brigade commanders to execute disorderly civilians in most public -and exemplary manner possible. Attach placard to bodies proclaiming why -punishment was incurred. Divisional commanders are empowered in their -discretion to order partial or total destruction of offending cities.” - -The commanders transmitted the orders to their regimental commanders, -and these to the officers of their battalions and companies. “Crush all -disorder with utmost severity,” they said. What it meant was: “Kill, -burn and destroy!” It meant: “Set fury against fury!” It meant: “Let -your men go!” - -It meant what a war of soldiers against battling civilians in a -conquered country always has meant. Both sides had seen their dead. Both -sides were maddened. Now the men with arms, restrained no longer by cold -discipline, broke loose. - -Then New England saw such deeds as that quiet landscape never had framed -since the days of its old Indian wars, and perhaps not even then. It saw -housewives hanging from budding apple-trees, with placards pinned to -their breasts saying that they had helped to murder soldiers. It saw New -England people, who, twenty-four hours earlier would not have killed a -chicken without a pang of pity, surround solitary soldiers and do them -to death with their bare hands, while they begged for mercy. It saw -unarmed citizens seized on the roads and hustled to walls and shot while -they were screaming for somebody in authority, that they might prove -their innocence. - -The authorities of a score of towns were hanged in their town squares -because troops had been fired on. In many a park that never had seen -anything more formidable than children at their play, hung dead men in a -row--the executed hostages who paid for the acts of men whom they had -not known. A thousand men and women of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it -was reported later, were shot or hanged in that one afternoon. - - -_New England’s Funeral Curtain_ - -And over the two States, rising slowly and spreading until the sunny sky -was darkened, there hung, like a funeral curtain over the place of -death, the black smoke of burning villages and towns. - -When that April day ended, and the night came down, there was no place -in eastern Connecticut, in all the seventy miles north and south from -New London to Worcester where men could not see the fire of burning -towns or houses. In Massachusetts from New Bedford to Taunton, and from -Taunton north to Brockton, there were fires. All the sky around -Providence was red with it. The smoke drifted over Boston and the -strangling odor filled its streets. - -All night the country burned. All night wounded fugitives lay hidden, -gritting their teeth, or, forced by intolerable anguish, crawled out and -surrendered. All night long the troops swept through town after town, -wreaking vengeance. - -It was finished in the morning. “The country is pacified,” were the -reports that went to headquarters. There were no gatherings of citizens -anywhere within the province of the army’s operations. They were -forbidden. There were no arms left in the hands of civilians. Houses in -which weapons were found had been destroyed. Men who had been found with -them in their possession were shot. Men with explosives were shot. In -all New England that morning, every man had to be ready, for his life, -to hold out his open hands whenever he met a soldier, and submit to -search. - - -_The Machine Shakes Down_ - -Through the two armies ran the orders to restore stiff discipline. The -soldiers came to leash and the big machine shook down. The patrols went -out grimly, with a new meaning in their peering, scrutinizing frowns. -They found a terrorized country, through which they moved unhampered. - -“Worcester Occupied” was the early news that went through the United -States. “Heavy Cavalry Body Enters Unopposed.” - -“Motor Raiders at Fitchburg,” was the next report. It was followed by -news of raiders east of Worcester. - -Bit by bit the enemy was cutting Boston and all Eastern New England off -from the rest of the United States. - -East of Providence the advance guard of the army that was threatening -Boston reached the line from Attleboro through Bridgewater and Silver -Lake to Kingston, thus extending across that part of Massachusetts all -the way to Plymouth Bay.[81] - -Taunton, according to rumors that reached Boston, was being made the -point for a heavy concentration of men and rolling stock. - -Washington received news of an enormous unfolding of cavalry. The -reports came from East Brookfield, half way between Worcester and -Springfield in southern Massachusetts; from Willimantic in Central -Connecticut, and from New London on the Long Island Sound shore in the -south. Every road across the whole State north and south was held by -horsemen who were pressing steadily westward, converting all means of -communication to the army’s use and cutting off the population -completely from the outside and even from communicating with each -other.[82] - -From Attleboro there was a sudden thrust along the railroad line Taunton -to Mansfield. From this point the enemy moved rapidly along the railroad -line to Framingham. In two hours he had in his possession six important -junctions of the railroad systems that connect Boston with the rest of -New England and with the United States. - - -_Encircling Boston_ - -The enemy was making good a great line that extended in a semi-circle -from the west of Boston to the coast south of it. - -His grip on Rhode Island had not relaxed. That whole State was in his -hands. There was not a village left in it that was not dominated by his -troops. Men were quartered in every house. Officers were quartered in -every hotel, every mansion. The town halls and churches were occupied. -In places where there were not sufficient stable accommodations, the -horses were placed in the churches. - -There were proud homes there, in “little Rhode Island,” where crossed -swords over the old-fashioned mantel-pieces bore witnesses to ancestors -who had fought on land and sea in the Wars of the Revolution and of -1812. Foreign soldiers sat under them, and spread out maps of the State -on the floors while they debated over the best use to make of roads and -houses and towns. - -Town and village authorities received orders, not from officers, but -from common soldiers, or, at the most, from sergeants or corporals. Only -in the most important places did commissioned officers trouble to -consult with the officials. Mostly, they limited themselves to sending -their requisitions and instructions in curtly written notes. - -So it was everywhere throughout the conquered country. Wherever the -invader set foot, all old law ceased instantly and new law began. The -bulletin boards in town halls, court rooms and post offices were -covered, within half an hour after the irruption of soldiery, by -placards that were headed, each and every one, with the words: “An -Order.” - -The people were ordered not to be out of doors after nine at night. They -were ordered to bring in an accounting of all horse forage, all -food-stuffs and all accommodation they had in their premises for men and -animals. They were ordered to bring in all rolling stock for inspection. -They were ordered to leave their lights burning behind lowered shades. - - -_Under Foreign Rule_ - -Their officials were ordered to report daily to the army for -instructions. Their judges were ordered to make reports of their cases. -There was no duty of the day to which a citizen could turn without -feeling the invader’s hand upon him. There was no road on which he could -move without being challenged by a sentry. There was no woman who dared -venture on the street, for fear of offense which her men could not dare -to resent, or for the worse fear of the fate that would be theirs if -they did. - -So, like a great fan opening out from Providence the armies expanded -over the conquered country, and each spoke expanded again. The divisions -unfolded their brigades, the brigades their regiments, the regiments -their battalions, the battalions their companies, and the companies -their detachments, reaching everywhere and everywhere keeping in touch -with the main body through the marvelous network of intelligence that -grew into being behind the soldiers.[83] - -It was as if a vast octopus had crawled from the sea at Narragansett -Bay. With its body clinging there, fast to its ocean base, it sent its -tentacles into every crevice of the land, and gripped tight. - -“It is plain now what he is doing,” said the Chief of Staff to the -President in Washington. “He is keeping a powerful retaining force in -Rhode Island, absolutely assuring his base and holding the gate open for -reënforcements. Westward he is throwing masses of cavalry--probably most -of the cavalry that he has--to clear the way for his infantry and -artillery to march along the coast to New York. Northward those cavalry -masses are screening him against any attempt by our army either to fall -on his forces in Connecticut, or to move around north of him and attack -the rear of his divisions that are marching on Boston. It isn’t tactics. -It’s simple, commonsense use of numerical superiority.”[84] - - -_Making a Fight for Boston_ - -The President played with a pile of dispatches. They were from Boston -and New York. “You say that those companies of coast artillery from the -south got through!” - -“I had a message from the Commander of the Artillery District of -Boston,” he said. “The six companies arrived at Fort Banks yesterday -morning. They had to go around by way of Lake Champlain and Vermont, but -they got through. That will at least give the men some relief if there -should be a sustained action.”[85] - -“You are sure it was not a mistake to--sacrifice them?” asked the -President. - -The General shrugged his shoulders. “There are some things that one -simply must do,” he said. “We had to give New York and Boston something. -We absolutely must make some sort of a fight for them.” - -The Commander of the harbor defenses of Boston was not concerning -himself about the occult reasons that had inspired the reënforcements. -He had been praying for men, for he needed half a dozen men wherever he -had one. He needed them for the searchlights, he needed men that he -might establish defenses to the land approaches, he needed men for -protection of base lines and cable stations. There were scout boats to -be manned, and outlying islands to be posted with lookouts to guard -against approach of ships in fog or darkness. - -Now that he had them, he waited for no orders and asked for no -instructions. He loaded quartermasters’ boats with detachments and -rushed them to the waterfront of Boston and Chelsea where he knew of -things he wanted. They returned with two tons of explosives and -miscellaneous ordnance material that had been seized from merchants. He -seized barb wire. From electric light plants and power works he -obtained, by the same simple method, some forty miles of lead-covered -cable for his mine-fields, and from ships in the harbor he took half a -dozen searchlights.[86] - - -_To Hold the Defenses_ - -Before night, too, he had men entrenched behind entanglements with -machine guns on the narrow neck of land that leads to Nahant’s broad -cliff promontory on the north of Boston Harbor, to protect position -finding stations there and a great 60-inch searchlight. - -Southward at Point Allerton, on the long cape that juts toward Boston -Harbor from Nantasket Beach, to defend the stations and searchlights and -approaches of Fort Revere with its mighty batteries, he placed a strong -force with ample artillery.[87] - -This was the point where he feared a landing most. He built an armored -train, seizing the material from the town of Hull, and armed it with -quick-firers that it might be sent to threatened places. - -Outposts were sent as far as Nantasket, for fear the enemy should try to -land there or cross the narrow neck and take boats over it into the bay -behind. - -Beyond Fort Revere he destroyed certain houses that would interfere with -the firing. At the far outlying islands called The Graves he posted men -with signal rockets. He sent scout boats to lie at sea beyond the fire -zone, from Nahant to the spot where the Light-ship was moored in times -of peace.[88] - -Within forty hours he had doubled the strength of his defense because he -had the men. He looked up at a hostile aeroplane, flying well beyond -gunshot. They had become almost commonplace objects in Boston’s sky -during the past days. “Well, come on!” he said. “You and your ships! -We’ll give you a whirl.” - -He was awakened at one o’clock that morning. The “whirl” had begun. -Ships were standing in toward Nahant Bay in the north and off Cohasset -in the south. Fifteen minutes afterward the people of Boston and -Charlestown and Brookline, of Quincy and Weymouth, Hingham and Lynn, -were brought out of their beds by explosions that shook the houses. They -came from the sea, northeast and southeast and east. They were not only -incessant, but they came two and even three so close together at times -that they made a sustained roar as if the very air itself had turned to -thunder. - - -_Boston’s Bombardment Begins_ - -Battleships with 15- and 16-inch guns were bombarding Fort Revere and the -fort was answering with its 12-inch guns. Armored cruisers were firing -on Standish. Armored cruisers and battle cruisers were throwing 12- and -14-inch shells into Deer Island and on Winthrop. Battleships lying north -of Nahant in Nahant Bay, and thus invisible to the Boston defenses and -not to be reached by searchlights, were bombarding Forts Banks and -Heath.[89] - -Fort Warren was firing at them, over Boston Light. Fort Andrews loosed -its batteries. - -There was bombardment from 3-inch guns along the beaches, north and -south, where destroyers were attacking the coast stations, under heavy -fire in reply from the defenders on the land. - -Southeast, on the horizon, there sprang up a dull glow that became -greatly red, and grew swiftly to pulsating flame. It was the town of -Hull, burning. - -The people in South Boston, looking seaward, saw lights appear in the -sky over the outer harbor islands. They slipped slowly downward, leaving -long trails of stars behind, that hung, burning, in the air as if they -had been fixed there. - -The falling lights opened, like monster flowers, into glaring, -spectrally white flame just before they reached the earth. All the -harbor where they fell stood revealed as in a lightning flash; but this -flame did not go out like a lightning flash. It burned, steady, -inextinguishable, for long minutes. - -They were star-bombs that were being dropped on the forts by the great -war-fowl, the iron breasted aeroplanes. The white lights glaring below, -and the hanging lights in the air that stood like a lighted staff, -pointed out the forts to the hooded cannon of their iron sisters out at -sea. - -Fired at from sea and sky, the forts replied and shook the earth. Faster -and faster hurried the fire from the hidden ocean. Five ships were -firing their secondary batteries to destroy an out-lying searchlight at -a range of 6,000 yards. It was said afterward that at least five hundred -projectiles were expended at that one mark alone.[90] - -In a great semicircle around Boston Harbor, from Nahant out to sea and -curving in again toward Cohasset on the south, lay the flaming, roaring -line, firing at the defenses all night long, till the dawn began to -whiten. - -And behind Boston, inland, the other great armed semicircle was -contracting steadily, swiftly. - - - - -VII - -THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON - - -Boston Harbor should have been impregnable to attack from the sea. Had -Nature been a modern army engineer, she could not have constructed an -oceanic gate more perfectly designed for modern defense against modern -ships. - -One might picture Boston as being protected by two great claws that -curve seaward and wait there on guard, pointing toward each other. The -northern claw would be Winthrop peninsula with its beach and summer -cottages. The southern one would be the long, narrow arm of land that -has famous Nantasket Beach on it, and ends northward at Point Allerton. - -Between these two claws, a prodigal hand has scattered islands. From -Deer Island, lying in the north close under Winthrop, to George’s Island -in the south, they form a stone wall with gaps that are the channels. -Far out, grouped around the portal, the sea is sown with ledges and -rocks whose kelp beards stream in an ever-heaving sea. Here are the -Brewsters, the Devil’s Back, the Graves, the Roaring Bulls. - -Within, there is a glorious harbor great enough for a world’s armada. -But the entrance is a Pass of Thermopylæ. - -Commanding that pass and all approaches far out to sea with zones of -fire whose intersecting circles marked rings of sure destruction, were -defenses honestly built. They were ready to receive and withstand that -climax of destructiveness which man’s science has embodied in the -conical steel projectile fired from the rifled gun.[91] - -The navy that invested the harbor entertained no illusions on that -score. It had not dared the attempt to force the passages of -Narragansett. It would not dare to force the passages of Boston. As at -Narragansett, its business was to occupy the defenders and wear them out -while the army fell on them and on Boston from the land.[92] - -[Illustration: MAP ILLUSTRATING THE ENEMY ATTACK ON BOSTON AND -NEIGHBORING CITIES] - - -_The Deadly Blind Man’s Buff_ - -The ships entered a shrouded, black sea where there was not a light to -warn of reef or shoal. Lightless themselves, they groped with deep-sea -leads and sounding machines till they assured themselves of safe -positions where they might have sea-room to swing around in great closed -circles at high speed. - -These circles would cut deeply into the circles of the fire zones of the -defenses. At close range the vessels, invisible to the forts, could send -a furious volley into them, and rush past before the guns could find -them, to return on their circle and fire from some other point. It was -the penalty that darkness lays on land defenses. But it penalized the -ships, also.[93] - -They would have to fire without sighting their mark. They dared not -betray themselves to the waiting guns on land by throwing their -search-lights on the defenses, while the defenses could sweep the sea -incessantly, for their searchlights were disposed along miles of coast, -far aloof from the batteries. - -If the search-lights were effective, the ships should have to flee to -the farthest limit of the coast guns’ range. At that distance they, in -turn, could not deliver an effective bombardment of the land so long as -it was dark. So, then, all the ferocious game of war centered for the -time on the search-lights. The death-laden ships, the death-laden guns -on land, had to wait till it was learned what the lights would do.[94] - -The enemy knew that the American defenses had only about one-half the -search-light installation that was needed. The hostile sailors had not -been forced to depend on spies for this information. It was in American -reports that had been made to Congress session after session.[95] - -They had prepared for their game of blind man’s buff by long -consultations over charts. Every ship’s officer was provided with minute -instructions for every contingency that human wit could forecast in the -headlong game of chess that is played with cannon. - - -_Defenders Stand Prepared_ - -The defenders were ready, too. In the human chain that began with the -battle commander, and reached from him through links of district -commanders to fire commanders and battery commanders, each man had his -orders for any one of a hundred things that might occur, however -quickly it might come. - -They knew what batteries to fire and when, at the extreme fire zone, at -the intermediate zone, and at the third fire zone which commanded the -mine fields. They had before them, worked out to the ultimate detail, -the order of fire if the enemy ships should come in column, in double -column, or in scattered formation. Far down the beaches, north and -south, they had every range plotted, that the great guns might be turned -on landing parties if the secondary shore defenses should fail to hold -them.[96] - -The ships struck simultaneously all along the line of defenses. They -fired close in north and south, and from battleships out at sea. A -plunging fire went over Nahant and across into Winthrop. The speeding -ships missed the defenses and their bursting shells wrecked the town -instead. As its flames reddened the sky, the flames of Hull, at Point -Allerton on the end of the southern peninsula, made a red reply. - -The quick search-lights caught the ships. Again and again the white -light-shafts fell on veering, speeding vessels and made them hurry to -get away before the fire-control of the defenses could cover them. - -Still they returned. Each time they approached at a new point in the -hope of developing a defect in the light-system. Each time they fired -all the metal that they could throw in the one instant before the beams -fell on them. - -There were few hits made by these running ships; but they could afford -to waste ammunition, since their continual attack forced the defenders -to use their own insufficient supply. - - -_A Game of Wits_ - -While half-naked men in ships’ turrets and half-naked men at coast guns -and in mortar pits were toiling to wreak brute destruction, a game of -wits was being played just as busily. This game was played, not on the -huge armored ships, not in the formidable engine-batteries of the forts, -but in places miles away from either. - -[Illustration: “The quick searchlights caught the ships.”] - -They were insignificant little places from the point of view of -war--summer settlements on friendly beaches, harmless little coves, -pleasant shores beset with the fantastic hotels and fantastic towers of -American pleasure-places. In the summer days of peace, probably not one -in any thousand of the happy crowds that played and laughed there ever -imagined that these serene, careless places could have any importance -some day in battle. - -That night they were playing a part that was full of danger to the -venturesome ships. The American engineers had established portable -search-lights there, and made base stations and range-finding points of -them. Every one of these insignificant out-lying points was endowing the -guns in the distant defenses with an added deadliness of accuracy. - -The modern rifled gun is fired not by sight but by mathematics. The -position of its target is found not by guess but by triangulation. Far -away, on either side of land batteries are observers. The straight line -from one to the other is the base line. As soon as they sight a ship, -each turns his instruments on it and gets the angle from his end of the -base line. The ship to be fired at is at the apex of the triangle thus -obtained. - -The men at the guns get this position by telephone instantly. They know -to a foot what their weapons’ elevation must be with a given charge of -powder and a given weight of projectile to reach that distant spot. They -set their mammoth piece, elevate it above the parapet on its lift, fire -it and bring it back into concealment again. - -To bombard these base-stations from the sea was nearly futile. The -shells that could sweep a fore-shore and make it untenable for an army -might never find these few scattered, concealed men or these scattered, -hidden, tiny stations. A whole fleet might rave at them for hours, and -in vain. There was only one sure, quick way to cripple them.[97] - - -_The Secret Attack on the Shore_ - -Far northward, miles outside of Boston Harbor, beyond the system of the -harbor defenses, two ships stood into Nahant Bay, until they were within -a line drawn from Fishing Point south of Swampscott to Spouting Horn on -Nahant. Here, in 7 fathoms of water, they stopped and lowered their -boats. - -Manned by crack bluejackets, whose oars were wrapped with cloth that -they should not make a sound in the rowlocks, the cutters moved toward -the beach at Little Nahant. - -Far away the harbor searchlights played like summer lightning. The -sailors moved on in utter darkness, toward the invisible beach. They -rowed in, in irregular formation, till they could hear the surf. Then -the foremost boats lay still, tossing on the swell, waiting for the -others to draw abreast. Formless, vaguely gray in the night, the line -made a dash. - -They were on the first lifting swell of the long waves that tumble -toward the land when a fierce white light tore terribly through the -night, and blazed on them, and around them. It held them, intangibly, -tightly, like the hand of a ghost. - -Orange flashes ripped through it. Little Nahant Beach quaked with -explosion. In the white light, as if the tossing boats were spectral -pictures in a dissolving view, they melted amid the roar of the -shore-guns. Black fragments whirled through the steady glare, and shells -chopped the sea where there were bobbing heads and clutching hands. - -The light stabbed the night, in and out. It veered to sea with enormous -speed. A long, black silhouette with three funnels appeared full in the -circle of its artificial day. A funnel vanished, and another. A spout of -water lifted alongside from a shell that had fallen short. Another, the -next instant, smashed into its side and made it reel. The destroyer -turned suddenly and rushed at the land. Its steering gear had been shot -away. Almost instantly it straightened out again; but Little Nahant was -raving. Little Nahant was flaming without pause. The searchlight held -the ship. It staggered, like a stumbling animal, pitched twice, each -time a little more wildly, and went down bow first. - -“Have repulsed attack on search-light station and observers at this -point,” went the word - -[Illustration: “A landing was attempted in greater force, with the -assistance of a destroyer division lying close to the beach.”] - -from Bailey’s Hill on Nahant to the battle commander in Fort Warren. “No -losses. Destroyer and five ships’ boats with crews completely -eliminated.” - - -_Attacks Made Everywhere_ - -They did not have time to cheer at Fort Warren. On Nantasket Beach, as -far south as Nahant was north, a landing was being attempted in greater -force and with the determined assistance of a destroyer division that -was lying close to the beach. - -Here there were three hundred men of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, -Coast Artillery, behind barb-wire and sand-bag defenses with two pieces -of field artillery and three machine guns. They were being swept by -savage fire from the destroyers. - -“We can hold the ships’ boats off. Surf high, and landing will be slow,” -they reported to the battle commander by field telegraph. “But we must -have relief from naval fire, or cannot concentrate efforts on landing -parties.” - -Their officers sent the exact distance from the beach of the destroyers. -In the forts the fire commanders studied their charts, plotted with -diagrams of the shore in sections. They calculated the range. A dropping -shot from a 6-inch gun fell among the enemy vessels one minute later. -The next went over. The third struck a destroyer. Before it disappeared, -shells were falling among the division too fast to count. Three guns -were firing. They were throwing 12 shells in one minute.[98] - -Two destroyers were towed away, crippled. Another escaped from the fire -zone but sank at sea. - -Undeterred, the boat parties tried to run the surf and rush the -defenders. But the sea was heavy, breaking with a sharp over-fall. -Unprotected by fire from the sea, unable to work their own machine guns -in the rough water, the sailors were pounded in the breakers. The field -artillery blew their boats apart. The machine guns slashed them. Rifle -fire hammered them. - -“Attack beaten off,” reported the militiamen. In the surf there were a -few drifting pieces of wood, tossing oars and bodies pitching to and fro -as the undertow played with them. - - -_The “Hussars of the Sea”_ - -“Destroyer division off this point.” It was a report from Strawberry -Hill, south from Fort Revere. Point Allerton’s search-light swung down -the beach, the search-light from Strawberry Hill centered on them. The -reckless craft, the hussars of the sea, dashed in to a 400 yard range, -and, steaming parallel with the beach at full speed, sent in a heavy -broadside fire from all their guns. More than three hundred shells were -directed against the Strawberry Hill light in those few minutes. They -swung, and fled to the sea as the batteries of the fort opened on -them.[99] - -“Searchlight intact,” reported Strawberry Hill. - -“Men have landed on Marblehead Neck, according to reports from -Swampscott,” reported Fort Heath. “Three hundred men at least taking -road southward.” - -“Push forward and occupy Lynn Beach at narrowest part,” telegraphed the -battle commander to the force at Nahant. “Will send one hundred -reënforcements by boat to Lynn.” - -At Nantasket a second attempt at a landing was made. It was defeated, -and the boats withdrew. Two suspicious vessels were sighted almost -within Hull Bay and were destroyed by fire from a shore battery. A -landing party struck at Strawberry Hill. Another, probably the same that -had attempted the second landing at Nantasket, tried to haul three boats -over into the Weir River.[100] - -All were repulsed. There was hot fighting going on near Lynn. It was -difficult for the battle commander to judge what its result would be. -Once his forces sent to Fort Heath for more men. Later, they telegraphed -that they were holding their ground. - -The enemy struck again, and again. He made an attempt on Winthrop, and -lost two destroyers in the mine fields. The fleet opened heavy fire at -short intervals, to mask the attack of the landing parties. But the -telegraph and telephone system of the forts sent word everywhere, to all -the outlying posts, of the uniform success of the defense, with the -result of making their fight constantly more effective. - - -_The Defenses Hold Out_ - -The defenses were holding out. When word came at last that the raiders -who had landed at Marblehead Neck were retreating to their boats, the -end of the night’s fighting had arrived. The fleet called off its boats, -and took them aboard. - -It was near dawn. Once more, for the last time, the ships ran in, -passing the batteries at full speed, and fired from every gun that would -bear in the instant of their passing. Every huge turret gun, every -broadside battery, opened up at once. - -For many miles inland the air trembled and hummed. The hills growled -with rolling echoes. Windows in distant places blew inward and walls -trembled. But the defenses held. - -Ship after ship swung in that fierce circle and passed. It was the -climax of the night’s bombardment. When the dawn spread far on the ocean -horizon, the defenders saw the enemy fleet lying back against it, far -out of the zone of fire. - -The sea was bare between them and the forts, except for a rent ruin -hanging on the Outer Brewster where a shattered destroyer was aground. -Off Cohasset lay another, sprawling on the rocks called The Grampuses, -half out of the sea as if it were the torn body of a weird monster that -had thrown itself ashore in a dying agony. - -“No damage,” said Fort Revere. “No damage, except dismounted -searchlight,” said Fort Strong. “One 6-inch gun dismantled,” said -Standish. “No damage,” reported Andrews and Banks. In Fort Warren two -3-inch quick firers were destroyed. - -“We could hold them off forever,” said the battle commander, “if we were -protected from the land.” - - -_It Was His Last Fight_ - -The successful fight of his defenses had made it only the more bitter -for him. He knew that this was the last fight. He knew that the army -that was sweeping northward would take him in the back before night. - -He looked at one of his 12-inch rifles. He walked over to it and patted -the beautiful thing, so shapely, so graceful that it seemed impossible -that it should weigh 35 tons. “If they had just given you that little -extra elevation!” he murmured. “Then yonder ships wouldn’t dare lie -within 20,000 yards of us.”[101] - -But “they” had not given the rifles that little extra elevation. “They” -had found time enough and money enough to pay for bridges over muddy -creeks, for printing millions of words of oratory, for hundreds of -private bills. “They” had been able to find money to pay themselves for -constructive recesses of Congress, and mileage for journeys that they -had not made. But they had not been able to find money for defense. - -Just a little foresight, and Boston, that now was trembling, might be -sitting behind that charmed circle of its great guns and laughing at all -the navies of the world. - -Haggard and pale, Boston’s people looked toward the sea and the dawn. -The sullen thunders still rolled out there, but slowly now, and far off. -The fleet was using only its heaviest guns, and firing deliberately, -though steadily. Having failed to destroy the effectiveness of the -defenses, it would content itself with long range fire, simply to wear -the defenders out till the army should arrive. - -All night long Boston people, moved to unendurable terror by the -bombardment, had tried to flee from the city. All night long other -crowds had tried to enter it. On all the roads these opposing crowds had -met and jostled. - - -_Opposing Streams of Fugitives_ - -They warned each other, and tried to turn each other back. Shells were -falling into Boston town, said the people who were fleeing from the -city. Crazed by fear, they invented the most monstrous tales and -believed them. - -The in-coming refugees, too, invented tales. They told of soldiers who -had appeared in nearby towns, and who were burning and killing. Nothing -so well illustrated the effect of terror on the faculty of reason as the -fact that always, after this wild interchange of news, the city people -continued to press toward the country, fearing soldiers less than the -cannon-shots that had rung in their ears all night; and the country -people rushed into the city, so panic-driven by what they had heard of -the soldiers and their bloody day of vengeance, that they cared nothing -for the heavy thunder that was shaking all the air. - -Though the roads out of Boston were thus crowded, the fugitives were -only a small proportion of the population. Never before had humanity -realized how firmly men are chained to their habitat. Here was a city, -terribly beset by land and sea with unknown, terrible fate closing -steadily around it. Beyond lay the United States where there was -complete freedom still, and safety. Yet who could seek it? - -There were none who could go, except those temporarily mad with fear, or -those so abjectly poor that it mattered nothing to them where they -trudged. The workers could not go. They had to cling to the places that -they knew, to the scanty foot-hold that was all the more precious to -them for its scantiness. The rich could not go. Money had stopped. All -that they owned had become suddenly valueless for producing cash; and -without cash they could not flee. The merely well-to-do, whose whole -life depended on the town, whose whole possessions lay in real estate, -in homes, in shops--where could they turn? - - -_Boston in Hopeless Fear_ - -They stayed. They even tried, dully, to attend to business, though there -was no business. Mail was still coming in and going out, but in a vastly -circuitous way, as it had to go around by way of Burlington, and so -through Vermont and New Hampshire to its destination. Boston could -communicate still by telegraph and telephone with the United States -outside of southern and western New England; but this, too, was in an -equally circuitous way, and even such service as existed was constantly -in danger of being severed. - -Motor traffic had almost ceased on the streets. The trolley and train -services were cut down to the merest necessity. Gasoline and coal -shortage already had begun to make itself felt. Prices had gone up for -flour and for meat. The fish wharves held none except empty vessels. - -There was an unreasoning fear of the waterfront streets. People shrank -from them, and used the side streets, as if the tiny difference of a -block or two could save them, should shells begin to fall. - -There was a fear, less unreasoning, of tall buildings. Most of the upper -stories in high office buildings were deserted, except for daring ones -who went in temporarily to look toward the harbor. - -A renewed fear of aeroplanes also had seized the city. For days they had -passed and repassed, till the people had become almost accustomed to -them, since they threw no bombs nor made other demonstrations. Now, with -the steady cannonading, the old fear returned. There were wild flights -when the whirring roar was heard. More than once, men and women were -trampled in those sudden dumb panics. Hypnotized by the impending of a -greater tragedy, the citizens scarcely noted these episodes that, in any -other time, would have shocked the town. - -A rumor went through the streets that the fleet had been driven off. -Survivors from Winthrop appeared in the city. They clutched at strangers -and told with quivering mouths how the shells had crashed into their -town, and how they and theirs in night clothes had fled between falling -walls through a night ruddy with fire. - -Refugees from Breed’s Island told how the ground was all ploughed by -shells falling wild. They told of the water tower, flung far down the -hill. - - -_Cities Destroyed and Taken_ - -Hull was destroyed utterly. There was nothing left of it. All gay -Nantasket had vanished. Between it and Point Allerton the houses along -shore were thrown on each other and torn apart or burned. - -On the last train to come in from the direction of Brockton were some -who had fled from that city. It had been taken by the advancing army in -the small hours of the morning. The town authorities, ordered out of bed -by soldiers, had been escorted to the enemy commander, who had made them -write announcements. Before sunrise all the streets flaunted placards -ordering the inhabitants to continue their business. Other placards -warned them to deliver up all arms of any description. - -Twenty of the most prominent men, said the fugitives, had been seized -as hostages. - -Every little while now Boston’s communication with some point was being -cut. These severed lines told of the advance of the hostile army as -eloquently as messages might. - -Up and down Washington street moved the multitude, waiting for news. The -Old South Meeting House that has looked down on so many dramatic Boston -spectacles never had looked on one so tragic as this--on a proud and not -timorous city that was waiting impotently to be taken and dealt with. - -Had the enemy come quickly, had the army advanced into Boston with a -swift rush, it would have been less agonizing for the waiting city than -this slow, systematic, machine-like advance like the jaws of a great -pincer that were closing down with cruel deliberation. - -The armed circle was contracting all the time, but it contracted slowly. -Though the enemy’s scouts had assured him long ago that the road was -free, he was taking no chances in that hostile land, whose sting he had -felt. Far as he might throw out his advance guards, he took care that -they should remain in constant touch with the main force and with each -other. He moved his divisions in fighting array. He kept an unbroken -line of communications. - - -_Making Good His Possessions_ - -Wherever the army passed, it made good its possession wholly. It left no -village behind it in its march whose means of existence, communication, -food supply and machinery of labor and business it had not made entirely -its own. - -Where there were destroyed places, the invader organized the population -to rebuild them. He levied on every community, large and small, for -funds. He paid out nothing of his own, except written scrip. At one blow -the whole financial system of the conquered country was converted into -one great source of tribute. - -Suddenly there came a storm of news to the Boston papers. It came from -the country to the south of the harbor--from Cohasset and Hingham, -Weymouth and Quincy.[102] - -Heavy artillery was being unloaded all along the line of the south shore -branch of the Old Colony Railroad. Horses and limbers were moving along -all the roads to the shore. Soldiers were advancing into all the towns. - -Before the Hingham wires were cut, the correspondent in that town -reported that enormous guns were being moved through it, on heavy -motors. - -Quincy telegraphed that troops had hurried through there and seized the -100-foot Great Hill, and also the yacht club house on Hough’s Neck. Then -Quincy, too, was cut off. - -Scarcely half an hour later the fire from the forts broke out furiously. -It was answered, with greater speed and fury, from the shore, where the -foe had posted his great guns to enfilade the harbor defenses. - -At Fort Revere the commandant cut away concrete emplacements and -succeeded in swinging one of his 12-inch guns around to fight the -assailants, putting a heavy howitzer near Hingham out of action. - -A second plunging shot fell near a gun behind Baker Hill; but the -assailants, from howitzer batteries concealed under Turkey and Scituate -Hills, concentrated a desperate bombardment on him that drove the -Americans from the works.[103] - -Firing from heavy caliber weapons at short range, pouring explosives and -common shell and shrapnel from every vantage point along all the shore, -the hostile army swept the rear of the harbor defenses with such blasts -that the mere impact of the solid shells made a din like the pounding of -monstrous rivetters’ hammers.[104] - -From the sea all the big guns of the ships struck into the chorus. The -vessels pressed in as closely as they dared and opened with every cannon -that could get the range. - - -_Boston Completely Isolated_ - -Boston’s populace, listening to the clamour from the sea, scarcely noted -that the bulletins were announcing that all the railroad lines of the -Boston and Maine Railroad leading north and northwest to Portsmouth, -Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell had been seized, and that Boston was -completely cut off. - -Silent policemen appeared all at once followed by men with posters and -paste-pails. The crowds saw posters go up on their walls, signed by the -Boston Citizens’ Committee. - -There was a poster in great red letters warning the inhabitants to -deliver any firearms that they possessed in the City Hall within six -hours. - -“ATTENTION!” said another placard. “In case of military occupation of -the city, a single disorderly act may mean the ruin of all. It is the -duty of all citizens to offer no resistance, and to report to the -authorities any plan toward resistance.” - -There was a great stir in the crowd. A cab was pushing its way through -Washington Street. Two dishevelled and blood-stained artillerymen, and -an equally dishevelled civilian were in it. - -While the soldiers went on to the City Hall, the civilian got out and -entered a newspaper office. He was a reporter. - -The rumor sped from man to man in the crowd before the building and from -street to street that news had arrived from the forts. There was a -tremendous press into Washington Street, where men and women, crushed -together, stared at the building. - -The cab hardly had stopped at the City Hall before a bulletin went up. - - FORT ANDREWS GARRISON - DIES AT ITS POST - - IGNORES SUMMONS TO SURRENDER - - ONLY THREE MEN ESCAPE FROM RUINS - -Ten minutes later the “extras” appeared and were whirled through the -town. They passed with the speed almost of the wind; for men passed them -from hand to hand. They shouted the news to people looking from windows, -in a delirium half of dismay, half of exultation. The newspaper man had -brought in such a tale as would live in American history. - - -_The Newspaper Man’s Story_ - -He had been writing his story during the night’s bombardments while the -mortar pits quaked around him with the eruptions of their steel -volcanoes. He told how, in the morning, there had come suddenly from the -shore the enfilading fire that caught the works in the back. - -The men at the mortars, unable to turn their ordnance against these -assailants, continued to fire at the ships, obedient to the instructions -from the range-stations, till the blasts from the bursting charges above -and around them tore away all the systems of fire control.[105] - -One enemy howitzer, trained at the very edge of a pit, threw shot on -shot till a group of mortars was buried under the débris that was hurled -down from the torn mounds. - -The mortars ceased action. The assailant, suspending his bombardment, -demanded instant surrender, with the condition that the works must be -delivered intact. The remnants of the garrison, black with smoke and -grime, wounded and burned, replied by manning such movable artillery as -was left. There was only one end to that. It was death. In twenty -minutes there were four men left alive in the defenses--two -artillerymen, the newspaper man and a noncommissioned officer. - -They lay flat under a mound. There was a small boat hidden below the far -end of the island. “Get out of this if you can!” said the -noncommissioned man, an electrician sergeant. “Hurry! I’ll give you five -minutes! Good-by!” - -He crawled back into the works. As they rowed away, they saw boats with -invaders leaving the mainland for the island. Then there came a lick of -flame out of the mortar battery that expanded instantly into a spraying -fountain. An enormous detonation nearly blew their boat out of the -water. The sergeant had found the firing key and touched off the hidden -mine to demolish the defenses. - -In the excitement over this news that had broken the dull strain of -waiting, the people of Boston scarcely noticed that all at once the -firing at sea had stopped. - - -_Demanding Surrender_ - -Down the harbor a boat with a flag of truce was lying under Fort Warren. -An officer, led blind-folded into the works, presented a summons -transmitted from the headquarters of the army. It called on the -commander to surrender the entire system of defenses without further -damage. It demanded also that a complete diagram of all the mine fields -be delivered at once. - -“You have four hours,” continued this summons. “At the end of that time, -we shall bring our artillery to bear on the city from every quarter. -Every five minutes thereafter we shall fire on a given section. You have -made a brave and magnificent defense. By surrendering now, you will save -your city from unnecessary destruction which you are unable to prevent -otherwise.” - -“I will reply in half an hour,” said the commander. At the end of that -time he sent this answer: - -“I shall surrender the defenses on condition that the city be left -inviolate: that no troops occupy it: that the civil authorities be left -in control: and that no levy be made on the municipality.” - -“Absolutely refused,” the hostile commander replied promptly. -“Unconditional surrender, or bombardment begins at time stated. If any -attempt is made to dismantle works, bombardment will begin at once.” - -This was at noon. The hour-hand of the Old South Meeting House clock had -not quite touched one, when artillery was passing through Waltham and -Newton Centre, and along all the roads crossing the Charles and Neponset -Rivers. - -There were cavalry and cycle and motor troops on these roads, and trains -full of infantry. But always and everywhere was artillery. The sleek -guns, pounding along New England’s highways, spoke so wickedly of -destructiveness, that they were more terrifying to the population than -long columns of heavily armed men. - -At Jamaica Plain big howitzers were detrained and taken to the ridge -running west by north from the line of the New York and New England -railroad. More guns were unloaded in Brookline and posted on the crests -from whose tops, 200 feet high, they had all Brookline, all Boston to -the bay, and Cambridge and Somerville under their long range fire.[106] - -Infantry with field guns occupied Cambridge and Somerville, and laid -their ordnance on all points that covered Boston from there. A regiment -pushed quickly through Charlestown, took possession of the great grounds -of the Navy Yard and stationed a battery of 3-inch field pieces under -the Bunker Hill Monument. - - -_The Final Threat_ - -At quarter past three the hostile General sent a message to the American -commander at Fort Warren apprising him of the disposition of the guns. -“In one quarter of an hour,” said he, “the bombardment will begin. We -shall fire at Brookline first.” - -The commander walked to the shattered flagstaff of the fort, on whose -splintered top the American flag was waving in the wind from the -Atlantic. He bared his head, and with his own hand hauled down the -colors that he had defended so well. - -Five minutes later the colors on all the defenses dropped. - -Until then no soldiers had appeared in the city of Boston itself. The -armed ring had contented itself with encircling all the suburbs. Now -the telephone bell rang in the City Hall, and a voice asked for the -Mayor. - -The voice was that of the hostile commander, speaking from Brookline. - -“Your defenses are in our hands,” he said. “Our guns command every part -of your city. I have the honor to demand unconditional and peaceable -surrender at once, with all property of every kind. I regret to say that -I can give you no time for discussion. I must request you to give me -your answer now.” - -The Mayor, with the instrument at his ear, looked around at the members -of the Committee. “It is the army commander,” he said. “He demands -unconditional surrender.” - -“There is only one answer to make,” said one of the Committee. - - “WE SURRENDER” - -The Mayor turned to the telephone. “We surrender,” he said. - -“Very well,” was the response. “A body of troops under a general officer -will enter the city at once. They will have orders to punish any -disturbance severely. I shall have the honor of calling on you shortly -after my men have occupied the town.” - -A little later the Citizens’ Committee saw cavalry with machine guns -approach the City Hall. Similar bodies were taking position in all the -squares and parks, and posting their little guns where they could sweep -the intersecting streets. Up and down Washington Avenue, and up and down -all the side streets, were sentinels and guard parties. A wagon train -was encamped on the Common. - -And a little later still, preceded by light cavalry, three automobiles -rolled through the streets to the City Hall. In each sat four men, -dressed in campaign uniforms. They were leaning back, smoking, and -looking with interest at the buildings. They seemed not to see the -silent crowds that lined the sidewalks. - -These sedate, cheerful, interested gentlemen were the commander and his -staff, arriving to take formal possession of the city. With machine guns -and rifles threatening all around them, the silent people of Boston saw -their conquerors enter the City Hall, and knew that their sovereignty -had passed into alien hands. - - - - -VIII - -DEFENDING CONNECTICUT - - -“What is happening in Boston?” The question stood before the United -States and there was no answer. All communication with it had been -annihilated as if by a lightning stroke. - -Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire still were able to reach the rest of -the country with entire freedom, except that everything, mail, telegraph -messages and freight, had to pass by way of the Lake Champlain Valley -exclusively. But Boston, the richest half of Massachusetts, all of Rhode -Island and the whole eastern end of Connecticut were as completely cut -off as if all that great territory had been torn from the continent and -dropped into the sea. - -Of the 195 American cities with more than thirty thousand population, -twenty-two were in the section that had been lost by the United States. -The assessed valuation of those cities alone was more than two billions -seven hundred millions of dollars. Ten thousand manufacturing -establishments were in the grip of the conqueror.[107] - -The grip lay on the captured country like a thing of iron. Telegraph and -telephone could be used only under the supervision of soldiers who -controlled every central operating station and scrutinized everything, -cutting out any expression that did not suit them or refusing -transmission altogether. Against these decisions there was no appeal. - - -_Post Offices Occupied_ - -The post offices were occupied by censors. Every piece of mail passed -under their eyes and reached those to whom it was addressed only after -long delay and generally with parts of it obliterated by heavy daubs of -printing ink. - -All the springs of creative work were broken. Shops and manufactories -were open, under orders from the military commanders, but the owners and -managers did not know what to do. They continued to produce, dully and -without plan. They dared not make even the most unimportant contract, -for no man could guess what might happen next. There was no money to be -had, except for pressing needs. The banks throughout the conquered -territory had been commanded to hold all cash in their vaults. Every man -who applied for money had to prove to military officers that it was for -immediate subsistence. - -In the banks and trust companies’ offices everywhere there were posted -placards reading as follows: - - “Our conquest, having been completed, carries with it absolute - ownership of property conquered from the enemy State, including - debts as well as personal or real property.”[108] - -The richest man in New England was on a level with the poorest. However -much wealth he might have lying in the banks, he could draw only enough -for daily food. He could not take anything from his safety deposit -vaults. They were guarded by armed sentries who permitted access only -to those who came accompanied by officers. - -This condition would last, as the invaders informed the people, until a -complete list of all funds had been made. - -In every financial department of cities and towns were uniformed men -demanding cash statements and lists of assessed valuations for the -purpose of apportioning the amount of contribution to be levied on each -community. - -While the enemy was going thus systematically to work to ascertain the -full money value of his prize, he made requisitions for immediate needs -in every place occupied by him. The troops demanded hay, oats, corn and -other forage. They paid for the supplies with written papers that -acknowledged receipt; but it was noticed that these receipts did not -promise payment.[109] - - -_$50,000 a Day Levied_ - -In Boston the municipal authorities were informed that the city was -subject to a cash levy for the support of troops at the rate of $1 -daily for each man of the occupying army, making an amount payable in -bank funds of $50,000 a day.[110] - -The authorities had no recourse except to find the money. Nominally in -control, they were held rigorously to account for the obedience of their -city. The Headquarters Staff of the invading army had possession of the -State House, and from this point sent out brief orders. - -Prominent among the notices that were posted here and in all public -places of Boston was the announcement of the institution of the new -government. It was: - - “On and after this date the City of Boston is under the rule of the - Headquarters Staff of this army. The present civil officials of the - city will continue their functions. A continuance of existing civil - and penal laws, and the exercise of legislative, executive and - administrative duties are permitted under the sanction and with the - participation of the military government.”[111] - -Had Boston town gone under in flame and terror, the very fury of the -catastrophe might - -[Illustration: “The Country-Club had been turned into a Brigade -Headquarters.”] - -have carried men through it with less of despair than this cold -conquest. Instead of blows to be struck, or blood to be shed, there was -only humiliation--humiliation intensified hourly by the cool, -unimpassioned correctness with which the enemy treated the fallen city. - -He did not even fill the city with troops. Only four thousand infantry -and a regiment of cavalry were sent in to hold all Boston. The rest of -the army remained outside, encamped or quartered on the people of the -suburbs and the towns of the metropolitan district. - - -_Unconcerned Conquerors_ - -Unconcerned, almost unguarded, the commander and his officers moved -about the town. They went in and out of the City Hall with the assurance -of superiors. They occupied the two largest hotels. Brookline people -reported that the Country Club there had been turned into a brigade -headquarters. - -Dazed, as if in the bonds of an ugly nightmare that must vanish if they -could only awaken, the people of Boston looked at this handful of men -who had so easily, so calmly, made themselves utter masters of a -metropolitan district of 39 municipalities--13 cities and 26 towns all -within fifteen miles of the State House. From the State House this dozen -or two dozen quiet, business-like men in uniform ruled with a word or -two over 415 square miles with a population of more than a million and a -half of people, and a taxable value of more than two and one-half -billions of dollars.[112] - -In the city so helplessly given over to them, there were, according to -the certificate then lying in the City Clerk’s office, 124,000 men -liable to enrollment in the State Militia. These were part of those -“millions of men” of whom passionate orators had spoken so often--the -millions of heroic, strong, intelligent American freemen who would -instantly spring to arms at the call of need and sweep the most daring -invader back into the sea.[113] - -They were heroic. They were strong. They were intelligent. But they were -confronted by the cold truth. It stared at them from all their squares, -from all their parks, from the approaches to all their bridges. It was -the cold truth--in the shape of cannon. Even the grounds of Harvard and -of Boston University were occupied by batteries. Sentinels were on watch -in Boston’s church towers with machine guns that pointed down into the -streets. - -Against that machinery of war, courage was as futile as a dream. -Strength was as helpless as an infant in a cyclone. Intelligence was -naked against the unintelligent steel. - - -_Helpless as Any Village_ - -So this city, one of the richest of the world, next to New York in its -imports, with its enormous railroad terminals that drew together the -roads of a continent’s commerce, had dropped into the invader’s hand -almost for the picking, and lay in his grasp as incapable of resistance -as if, instead of being the fourth greatest city of the United States, -it had been a seaside village.[114] - -There had not been a shot fired after the last shot had sounded from the -harbor forts and the American flag had vanished from the harbor sky. - -There was nothing to do. Slowly, systematically as it had invested -Boston, so the army had taken Boston. There was no commanding point in -all the country around it that was not crowned with heavy artillery. -There was no road to the city that was not held by troops who demanded -passes. Patrols moved constantly through the streets. - -Through the whole metropolitan district had been sent a proclamation -issued by the local authorities, warning the people that all intercourse -between the territories occupied by belligerent armies whether by -letter, by travel, or in any other way, had been interdicted and was -punishable by fine or imprisonment, or, in cases of serious infraction, -by death after summary trial. This proclamation was countersigned by the -military commanders of the various districts.[115] - -Another proclamation, issued from headquarters in the State House, said: - - “The civil authorities, by and with the consent of the military - government, proclaim that troops will be quartered on the - inhabitants at the pleasure of regimental and company officers. The - troops are required to respect the persons and property of citizens - during the good behavior of the latter. Any treachery on the part - of citizens is punishable by death. Refusal to comply with any - provision of this proclamation will be punished with fine or - imprisonment, or in aggravated cases by confiscation of any - property whose use has been denied the troops.”[116] - - -_Clearing the Wharves_ - -Along the water-front an order was given to clear all the big wharves. -Owners of vessels berthed there were instructed to have them towed to -basins or anchored in the stream. Provided with diagrams of the -mine-fields that had been surrendered under the conditions of -capitulation, the mine-sweepers cleared the harbor for the entrance of -the fleet. - -Floating from more than a score of warships and transports, the -Coalition’s flags moved toward the city. Cannon saluted them from the -forts, and they saluted in reply. Among the stricken thousands on shore -there were many who sobbed as they heard the foreign thunders peal -around their bay, and saw the foreign flags against their sky, with -never a starry banner on all those ancient American waters. - -There were foreign ships lying under the forts, unloading spare guns to -replace those that were destroyed. All the works were busy with enemy -sailors, repairing the defenses to protect conquered Boston against -attack from its own navy. - -Naval and army transports steamed up to the city, and took possession of -the wharves and the Navy Yard basins. Destroyers and small craft moved -up the channel to the Mystic River and occupied the naval and marine -hospitals. Marines and sailors came ashore in South Boston and -established a signal station on Telegraph Hill. - -The naval commander seized all Federal property that had anything to do -with the conduct of the harbor. He assumed control of the quarantine and -pilot service and declared the port open under his supervision.[117] - - -_The News Shut Off_ - -All this, and all else of importance that was happening in their city, -the people of Boston could learn only slowly and in fragments, as the -news spread from man to man by word of month. The newspapers were under -armed guard, like all other important places that touched on public -business. Censors sitting at editorial desks permitted only the printing -of the most trivial routine news of local happenings that did not touch -on the real concerns of the invaded country and city. - -The first pages of all the newspapers were reserved by the military -government for its announcements. These were headed: - - OFFICIAL! - - ORDERS AND DECISIONS BY THE MILITARY - GOVERNMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND - THE CITY OF BOSTON - -There were so many of them that there was no room for news on the first -pages, even had news been permitted. - -Within twenty-four hours the city had been set back to its condition in -the seventeenth century when Boston’s first newspaper was throttled by a -reactionary legislature.[118] - -The people of Boston did not know if Connecticut had been conquered. -They did not know if New York had fallen. They did not know where their -army was or what it was doing. A great battle might be deciding the fate -of the entire country, but no whisper reached them. - -As in Colonial days, they were reduced to such knowledge as might come -from rumor or from information whispered by those who learned something -by chance. - -It was in this way that nearly everybody in Boston came to know that in -the State House there sat a council, dressed in uniform and bearing -military rank, but in reality a council of men learned in international -and United States law. Surrounded by great rows of books which they had -brought with them, these men were the real rulers of the conquered -land.[119] - -The Commanding General and his field staff might act with summary -authority under the rules of war. The Commanding General’s name might be -signed to all the scores of orders that issued daily. But this council -of military lawyers acted as governors, judges and soldiers at once. -Their decisions in all mooted cases, their ingeniously worded orders, -were perfecting the enemy’s complete possession.[120] - - -_Stripping Boston of Its Treasure_ - -No American, great or humble, might go a step beyond the prescribed and -routine affairs of the day without first learning what their orders -were. No man held property, whether it were priceless or beggarly, -except by their favor. No man knew at any moment what remaining -liberties might not be taken from him at a word from them.[121] - -With the impersonal coldness of a judicial machine they went about the -work of stripping the city of treasure. In all the departments of the -municipality were soldier experts, studying the books. In the Custom -House were half a hundred others searching the records of exports and -imports. Every financial institution of the city had been ordered to -present its accounts in the State House. - -During all this time the invader made daily requisitions for the use of -the troops or for other military purposes. He demanded for the navy a -supply of 10,000 pounds of smoking tobacco, 1,000 pounds of roasted -coffee, one ton of rice, 500 pounds of salt, and 50,000 pounds of fresh -meat. He made requisition for paint, cable, ropes, hose, and steel for -the ships.[122] - -There were requisitions for medical supplies, for cloth and for shoes. -To the harassed officials, who remonstrated against the hardships that -were laid on the city, and pointed to the state of its trade, the reply -was that it was one of the richest cities in the world and that the -levies were modest. When a deputation of citizens pressed the protest, -the council printed its reply in the “official” columns of the -newspapers. - -“In regard to the requisitions made by the occupying army,” said this -statement, “attention is called to the fact that the United States -Supreme Court in the case New Orleans versus Steamship Company, 20 Wall, -394, decided that the military governing authority ‘may do anything to -strengthen itself and to weaken the enemy,’ and that the Court further -stated that ‘there is no limit to the powers that may be exerted in such -cases save those which are found in the laws and usages of war.’”[123] - - -_The Old Spirit_ - -Despite the cannon that glowered in all the streets, Boston’s fury at -this ironic rejoinder nearly broke through all restraint. In the old -city that had the famous Tea Party among its prized achievements, the -spirit of that past age awoke again, and spread, almost without -concerted thought or intention. Wherever men could meet they formed in -groups to ease their minds by free speech, if they could do nothing -else. In several quarters of the city there were incipient riots, -suppressed by the police only just in time to avoid bloody interference -by the soldiers. - -“We must curb this town,” said the Commanding General to the military -council in the State House. “It is not one to remain cowed for long, -without repressive measures.” - -The council nodded. Next morning’s newspapers had on their first pages -an announcement that made many readers rub their eyes and stare -incredulously at the printed page, for on it was such a proclamation as -might have been read in Boston town in the reign of Charles I. It was -headed: - - SEDITION LAW - -1. Every person resident in the territory occupied by -the power exercising sovereignty by right of conquest, who -shall utter seditious words or speeches, or write, publish or -circulate scurrilous libels against the governing authority, -or who shall conceal such practices that come to his knowledge, -shall be punished summarily and severely. - -2. Every person who joins a secret society or attends a -secret meeting for the purpose of advocating sedition or -rebellion shall be punished summarily and severely.[124] - -Again the citizens’ committee protested. Boston lawyers represented to -the military council that American citizens could not be held guilty of -sedition or rebellion if they adhered to their country. - - -_Citizens of No Country_ - -“The inhabitants of conquered territory,” answered the council, “are -citizens of no country. They are under the jurisdiction of the occupying -army; but they are not even entitled to the privileges of citizens of -the country which controls that army.”[125] - -“But mere conquest does not entitle you to treat them as rebels,” urged -the committee. “They are within their rights to preserve their -allegiance, so long as they do not violate the rules of war by opposing -you with arms.” - -One of the officers smiled. He opened a book. “Once more I must -respectfully refer you to your own court decisions,” he said, and read -from a United States Supreme Court verdict: “‘Conquest is a valid title -while the victor maintains exclusive territory of the conquered -country.’”[126] - -“There is nothing that we can do,” the committee reported to the people. -It was the refrain that sounded in all the United States just then. To -the wild projects for desperate defense that were being broached every -day in the city of New York, to the frenzied demands that the volunteers -in the western camps be rushed into the field, to the curses directed at -the American army because it refused to fight, the same answer -formulated itself because there was no other. Always, from all quarters, -to all demands and imprecations, the only answer that was possible was: -“There is nothing that we can do!” - -The city multitudes surrendered wearily to the situation; but there were -men whom the helpless reply drove frantic. - -There were hundreds of these men in New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, -Newark, and all the towns eastward from there into Connecticut. They -were militiamen who had not been able to join their organizations when -they went to the front, or whose organizations had been merely paper -ones. There were members of sportsmen’s clubs, accustomed to the use of -heavy-caliber fire-arms and to the trail, and there were many men who -were moved simply by the recklessness of courage.[127] - -During the days while there drifted through the United States the -broken, incomplete but ever-growing story of New England’s uprising and -its fearful suppression, these men had begun to assemble in -Connecticut’s country between New Haven and Hartford, urged by no -settled plan but moving to that district simply because it was the last -American front between New York and the invading army. - - -_The Foe’s Slow Advance_ - -The enemy was moving westward slowly. He had to hold out a mighty screen -northwestward against the American army that now lay beyond the -Berkshire Hills, holding the land between western Connecticut and -Albany. That army, intact and out of his reach, was a constant, acute -danger. It endangered his communications, it endangered his base, it -endangered his divisions that occupied Boston. It forced him to advance -only in continual readiness for battle on flanks and rear-lines. - -During the slow approach the men who had gathered between New Haven and -Hartford began to form some sort of an organization. Almost it evolved -itself. - -The enemy pushing forward along the north, took Springfield with cavalry -and artillery. The undefended city surrendered without a blow. - -From New Haven and Hartford, to the factory cities of Wallingford and -Meriden, Middletown and New Britain, along all the factory-lined -valleys, there passed a word that gathered workers from shops and idle -men from streets. All one long day, and all one evening, they moved -toward the two cities. They seemed aimless enough; but there were -leaders who put themselves at their head secretly in the night. - -Suddenly they were angry, determined, united bodies of men. Suddenly, -like a suddenly awakened wind, they stormed the great arms factories of -the two towns. - -They came with guns and pistols. They came with crowbars and picks. They -came with stones, and with nothing except their bare hands. They hauled -their dead aside and withered under the fire of the guards, and burst -through and took the works. - -In Hartford they seized a whole train-load of rapid-firers and machine -guns that had been loaded for the American army. In New Haven they took -almost four thousand sporting rifles. - -The riot fever spread to Bridgeport. The mob arose and seized the -cartridge factories. - - -_The Mad Adventure_ - -It was a mad thing, springing less from purpose than from the insanity -that invasion had laid on men’s minds. It could have but one mad end. -Yet this army of madmen was moved and molded by a touch of the American -ability to “do things”--that very ability on which the people might, -indeed, have depended with perfect assurance, if only they had not -depended on it wholly. - -America did, truly, have men who would fight. They were here; and they -were to fight such a fight as would be remembered many a long day. -America had the men to lead, too. Though they knew that this was a -hopeless thing, they “took hold.” - -They took hold of men armed with magnificent rifles, but of a score of -different patterns for different kinds of sport, and demanding a score -of different shapes and calibers of cartridges. They took hold of -infantry militia fragments whose companies had had only two or three -assemblies a year for target practice with average attendances of only -11 or 12 men. They improvised scout detachments of volunteers with -bicycles and motors.[128] - -Young doctors took hold with nothing but emergency kits, without -ambulances, without litters, without even helpers who would know how to -find a wound or apply a first aid bandage. - -The army of madmen went forward to the Connecticut River to hold the -western bank from Hartford to Middletown. - -They did not know how to dig trenches. - -[Illustration: “The army of madmen went forward to the Connecticut River -to hold the western bank.”] - -They dug ditches. They did not know how to make defenses for their -machine guns. They piled trees that would skewer them with splinters -under shell fire, or heaped up rocks that would fly into fragments and -kill like shrapnel. - -They were all of three thousand men. They were the kind of men whom -America has expected always in times of peace to call to its defense. -They were callous-handed workers in metal and wood and leather; bleached -workers from woolen mills and cotton spindles; ‘longshoremen from the -harbor cities of the Sound; professional men resolute with the fervor of -the time; road-makers and teamsters and shoemakers; hunters, yachtsmen, -and football players. - - -_What Americans Could Have Done_ - -That day along the Connecticut River they showed what America’s men -could have done had they learned how to do it in advance and had they -been armed for the work. - -They lay behind their pitiable defenses, with their motley weapons, -commanded by men who did not know war. They bore the shock of machine -gun assaults from advance patrols. They bore the shock of cavalry -charges from scouting detachments. - -At Middletown they were attacked in force by heavy cavalry that crossed -under cover of gun-fire and outflanked them, and charged in mass. They -sent the charge back, broken, with many empty saddles. - -They lay under the fire of a 3-inch gun at Cromwell for an hour, and -endured, and died--but they denied the river crossing to a battalion. - -For two long hours they held the river along their whole line. It seemed -to them that they were fighting a great battle. Surely their dead -testified to it, and the hot fire that beat on them testified to it, and -across the river, or floating down with the stream, were many enemy dead -to testify to it. - -They cheered and shouted to each other hoarsely that they were winning. -They watched, with ever-growing savage lust, for more assailants. - -In the headquarters of the advancing army there was received this report -from the brigade commander: “Two or three thousand raw but determined -Americans disputing passage of Connecticut River with our advance -guards. They have machine guns, no artillery. Am sending field guns -forward. Shall have passage clear in an hour.” - -“Use ample force,” answered the commander. “These Americans!” he said to -his aid. “They aren’t to be underestimated. A little more preparation--” - -“And we wouldn’t be here!” laughed the aid. - - -_Thirty Minutes Later_ - -Thirty minutes afterward, from points wholly invisible to the Americans, -there burst the shattering thunder of field-artillery. Explosive shells -flew over and into the trenches. Shrapnel screamed at them, and burst -like sentient things right in their faces, to drive rattling bullets in -all directions.[129] - -Their machine guns were useless. There was nothing in sight at which to -fire. The men lay face down, clutching dirt, choking with fumes and -smoke, stunned by the blasting things that burrowed into their -earth-works and blew them apart and tore living bodies to pieces. - -At Rocky Hill a militia company of artillery tried to move its gun into -better shelter. The plow-horses that had been seized to drag it, wild -with terror, became entangled in the traces and fell. Cutting them away, -the men wheeled the cannon into position by hand. But their armory never -had been fitted for sub-caliber practice, as it never had been fitted -for mounted instruction. None of the men had been qualified as first -class or even as second class gunners. They fired, and their shots went -wild, serving only to betray their situation to the enemy. They did not -know how to place themselves for protection from indirect fire. So they -died.[130] - -A troop of militia cavalry, trying to move forward near Hartford, was -cut off by an advance patrol of enemy cavalry that had crossed the river -to outflank the defenders from the north. The Americans charged. But -they were mounted on horses never used before for cavalry work. The -enemy riders were men trained to swordsmanship. The American troop had -averaged only 13 men in mounted drill in a whole year, because they had -possessed neither horses nor armory.[131] - -The green brutes reared at the sight of weapons. They pitched into each -other as the enemy cavalry dashed at them, and added their iron hoofs to -the mêlée. For one brief moment eyes stared into eyes, and it was hack -and thrust. Then the enemy riders were through them, and whirled like a -gale and swept through them again, and killed and killed. - - -_The Massacre of the Connecticut River_ - -“Annihilated,” reported the scout cavalry a little later, when its -squadrons came up. “Our loss one dead, three slightly wounded.” - -Annihilated! Yes, gentlemen of Congress, sitting in Washington at that -moment and passing resolutions and appropriations, and uttering fine -sentiments about millions for defense and not one cent for tribute! -There were ugly things there on the Connecticut River shore that -answered you more loudly in their eternal silence than if they had -spoken with a thousand angry tongues. - -That day’s battle that filled the fields of Connecticut with dead men’s -bones to be plowed up in many a year afterward, went down in American -history as the massacre of the Connecticut River. A massacre it was--an -American massacre, carefully prepared by elaborate carelessness through -many a year before. - -Less than a thousand men, it was said afterward, escaped from the -massacre. They crawled away down gullies or swam down the river, and hid -under weeds and panted, and tied up their wounds with rags from their -ragged garments. They were never able to tell what had occurred. They -knew only that they had thought there was victory--and then, in front of -them, and on their flanks, and behind them, there had come flames as if -a hot line of blast furnaces had opened to blow in their very faces, -wherever they turned. - -“We have taught them their lesson!” said the hostile commander. “We -shall have no more trouble.” - -It was true. Western Connecticut was broken under the invader’s rod as -Eastern Massachusetts had been broken. That night the army occupied -Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, and New Haven, though not before the -arms factories had been blown up, to welcome the soldiers with flaming -ruins. - -The next morning cavalry detachments began cautiously to scout into the -Berkshire Hills, to feel for the American outposts. - - - - -IX - -THE CAPTURE OF NEW YORK CITY - - -When the news of the Battle of Connecticut went through the United -States, there was a temporary end to all patience, to all calculations -of prudence. There was an end to everything except blind passion. The -United States was not a patient Nation, but no Nation, however patient, -could have remained so at such a time. No man, however deeply admired, -could have counseled wisdom then. No interests, however great, could -have controlled. - -All the knowledge that had gone to the public about the utter -unreadiness of the freshly enlisted volunteers to take the firing line; -all the information that had been given to the people about the -condition of their army; all the proofs that the foe had given with -blood and fire of his immense superiority--all these were as nothing. -That the army, if it had fought now, must be destroyed, was as nothing. -The cry was that the army must fight! - -Trusted leaders pointed in vain to the history of the United States to -prove that whenever its raw forces had hurried into battle in obedience -to popular demand, the result had been only to hurry disaster. In vain -they pointed to the Civil War and the hideous death-tolls paid by both -sides without military advantage to either. - -Men would not listen. They would not reason. They hated those who -remained cool enough to reason. It was the human equation that, at some -time or another, defies all the combination of man’s intelligence. - - -_The President Goes to the Army_ - -No administration, however determined, could have ignored it. Secretly, -a special train was made ready in Washington. Secretly, in the night, -the President of the United States with his advisers and staff boarded -it and were taken northward. - -No dispatches went ahead of it, except railroad orders to clear tracks. -After passing Baltimore, it went by way of Harrisburg and Wilkesbarre, -avoiding Philadelphia and the city of New York. Through the sad, black -iron and coal country of Pennsylvania it passed to the New York State -line without a welcome anywhere. - -“We might be fugitives,” said the President, looking out with sleepless -eyes. - -At Jefferson Junction an armored train with machine guns and a 3-inch -rifle slid in ahead of them from a siding where it had been waiting. An -officer entered the President’s train and requested that all shades be -kept down. Thus, furtively, the Nation’s ruler entered Albany. - -Army Headquarters had been a target, like the White House, for messages -that had shaken those to whom they were addressed. More than once the -Commanding General had felt that it was more than human men could bear. -More than once, in council, officers, infuriated by the veiled -accusations of cowardice in the dispatches, had spoken in favor of -giving the army the fatal order to go into action. - - -_What the Commander Faced_ - -The President, when he looked at the General’s deeply lined features, -knew that the old soldier had more to gain from a battle, however -disastrous, than from life. “If he does not interpose between the -invader and New York City,” thought the Chief Magistrate, “he will live -only to see his name blasted. There will be a thousand tacticians in -future years who will assert that he was a blunderer, if not a traitor.” - -“The country demands a battle! I know!” The soldier laid before the -President a sheaf of papers. “Some reports, sir, bearing on the matter.” - -The first sheet was a report from brigade headquarters. “Twenty -batteries of 5.1 inch artillery moved westward through New Haven last -night,” it said. “Our spy reports that these guns appear to be of the -type that is known to have a range of seven miles, far outranging our -field guns. Accompanied by heavy convoys of shrapnel and explosive -shell.”[132] - -“They are bringing up heavier guns still,” said the General, selecting -another report. “Between New London and Saybrook Junction flat cars were -seen with 11.02 inch howitzers, which, we presume, must be the type that -throws a 760-pound projectile. We have nothing near that type in our -artillery to oppose them. As they have a range of 12,000 yards, they can -be placed wherever it may please the enemy, and we might as well bombard -them with roman candles as with our guns.”[133] - - -_Men Disabled Before Battle_ - -The President, without replying, picked up a third report. It was from a -major of the Medical Corps, and ran: - -“A considerable proportion of militia infantry still suffer severely -from blistered feet after only a few miles of march over rough country. -More men are being disabled from ill-fitting shoes and unsuitable socks -(thread and cotton) than from all other causes combined. Habit of -prophylactic care of the feet almost wholly lacking. Few regimental or -infirmary supplies include foot-powder.”[134] - -“If you take men from their office chairs or from seats by the side of -machines in shops,” growled one of the staff, “you can’t expect them to -hike the same day. Men who insist on living near trolley cars, which is -a great American habit, must expect to get sore feet after walking three -miles. In a fifty mile march, sir, this army in its present condition -will lose fifteen per cent. of its militia strength from straggling and -falling out.”[135] - -“But they have improved very greatly, have they not?” asked the -President. - -“Some of them,” answered the General, “notably the New York, -Massachusetts and Pennsylvania troops, are excellent and can go into -battle with the regulars at any time. But--” he turned to an artillery -officer. “Will you tell the President about yesterday’s field artillery -practice?” - - -_What Untrained Batteries Did_ - -“We sent five untrained batteries to an indicated position,” said the -officer. “They had practiced only about half a dozen times in the last -year, and then they had merely drilled in the motions of handling their -pieces, as their armories were equipped neither for mounted drill or -sub-caliber practice. When they reached the positions that they were to -hold, they had lost the locations of their own side, and within half an -hour they were blazing into cover occupied by their own infantry. If -they had been using shell instead of blanks--whew!”[136] - -“We are only just getting several organizations to learn how to deploy -as skirmishers from close order,” said the Commander. “You know how -vital that is under fire. Their company commanders appear to have had no -previous experience at it, and the corporals let their squads get out of -hand hopelessly. There have been some sad mix-ups. The result in battle -would have been sickening.”[137] - -“But I tell you,” said the President, “the country is wild! The people -know that you have the whole of a magnificent railroad system from here -to New York at your disposal. They know that the invading army must -have been spread out tremendously to hold all the territory that it -occupies. They cannot understand why you should not be able to engage -the force that is advancing on New York.” - - -_What the Public Did Not Know_ - -The General walked to the wall map. “The enemy is thinned out. Yes!” He -laid his finger on the chart. “But to meet him, we must move due south -140 miles down the Hudson Valley, with the river on one side of us and -the Berkshire and Litchfield Hills of Massachusetts and Connecticut on -the other. We cannot leave men behind us to protect that length of line -and hold open our road for us if we have to retreat. When General -Sherman marched to Atlanta, he left 115,000 men behind him to guard his -300 mile line back through Chattanooga to Nashville. We have less than -fifty thousand men in our whole army, even if we scrape together all the -very latest green arrivals. - -“The moment we leave our base,” continued the Commander, “the enemy -headquarters will know it. They will instantly begin a big shifting of -their New England forces. They will push them across into New York -State behind us, and we’ll be trapped.” - -“You think that they can concentrate swiftly enough?” asked the -Secretary of War. - -The soldier pulled a paper out of the pile, and read: “Observer at -Providence reports that hostile forces entrained cavalry, field and -heavy artillery and ammunition columns at regular rate of two hours for -full military train. Time for loading siege material, 3½ hours.”[138] - - -_Officers Had Never Handled Men_ - -He tossed the papers aside. “When did any of our officers ever have to -handle thirty thousand men?” he asked. “How many of them ever handled as -many as ten thousand? Last week, two regiments were left without food -for two meals on a practice march because their commissary failed to -supply travel rations. Day before yesterday seven boxes of provisions -were found lying in a company street without any one to claim them. -Those were militia; but our own officers equally lack experience in -handling such a big contract as a whole army.[139] - -“Do you know what it means to see that an infantry division gets its -material? Do you know what we’ve got to send into battle with it? It -means an ammunition train of 165 4-mule wagons, and more than 700 mules -and horses. Then there are the other supply trains, the pack trains and -the engineer trains--135 more wagons and 600 animals. There are ninety -ambulances and wagons with their animals. And this is without counting -the horses for the cavalry and the signal corps! I tell you, Mr. -President, if we unload that mess in the face of an enemy like the one -down there,” he pointed southeastward, “it will never get back -here!”[140] - -“And if you stay here! Won’t you be attacked?” asked a member of the -President’s party. - -“I think not.” The General turned to the chart again. “See here! He’s -got a great big territory to hold already. When he has New York City and -Harbor to control also, I think he’ll be too well occupied to attack us -until he brings reënforcements across. At any rate, he can’t come at us, -except from the direction of New York City up the narrow river valley, -or from the direction of Massachusetts through the Berkshire Hills. We -can make the banks of the Hudson a difficult place for him. And the -longer we can hold on here, the longer the ordnance works at Watervliet -can continue to turn out the heavy guns that we need so sorely. -Watervliet, Mr. President, in my eyes, is the most precious thing we’ve -got to guard just now.”[141] - - -_“Stay!” Says the President_ - -The President arose and walked to the window. For a quarter of an hour -he looked out over the rolling country to the East where the soft blue -curves of the hills were cloud-like against the April sky. Then he -returned. “Stay where you are,” he said, “as long as you can, or think -wise. New York will have to fall. Good-by. We’ll go back to Washington -and do our best. Good luck to you, and to your Berkshire Hills.” - -“They are good American hills,” said the General, smiling for the first -time. “They are giving our men the only protection they’ve had against -aeroplanes since this thing began.” - -The spreading, crowding groves that crowned them and made them famous -for their loveliness, now made the multi-folded Hills a welcome cover -for the harassed American troops. They reduced to a minimum the -effectiveness of scouting from the air, and increased to a maximum -extent the efficiency of cavalry and motor troops that knew the country. -Among their laureled slopes and in their vales and intervales, was good -territory for artillery defense. - -The rich men whose pleasure grounds they are gave the army their motors, -their horses and themselves. Quick-witted and keen, aware of every foot -of the ravines and roads and by-roads, they helped the picked men who -had been selected by the commanders to guard and hold the “escapes” -through the Hills. - - -_Americans Hold the Wall_ - -At the southern end, on the open summit of Mount Everett that old -settlers prefer to call “The Dome,” whence the sight can command the -sweep of the Housatonic Valley through the Hills, all the approaches -from Massachusetts in the eastward, the Litchfield Hills south in -Connecticut, and the basin of the Hudson River to the west, a signal -corps had erected its wireless and its heliograph. At their feet, on the -lower slopes, hidden in the great wild laurel that is most beautiful -there, was artillery. - -There were guns at Great Barrington. At Stockbridge gleaming batteries -guarded the road from Hartford, which once had been the stage coach road -between Boston and Albany. - -Limbers and guns jolted past the great houses and estates of Lenox and -vanished in the cover on both sides, to be posted on the hilly ground -that commanded the Housatonic Valley. More guns passed under the elms of -high Pittsfield. Motors and cavalry and cannon held North Adams and -Williamstown, where Williams College stood almost deserted because -students and professors had volunteered to act as sentinels and patrols. - -On the old trail that had been the trail of the Mohawk Indians of New -York when they went on the war-path against Massachusetts, men in olive -drab were scouting and lying in cover with machine guns. - -On the green hills behind Bennington, Vermont, where Yankee breastworks -had been thrown up in the Revolution, there were more batteries. Here -outposts and patrols guarded the road leading to Lake George, the last -gateway to the territory held by the American forces in New York State. -North of this were Vermont’s Green Mountains--barriers indomitable as of -old when Ethan Allen, wroth at Congress, threatened to retire into those -fastnesses and “wage eternal warfare against Hell, the Devil and Human -Nature in general.” - - -_Impassable by Rail_ - -The long barrier thus running northward from Connecticut like a wall -separating New England and New York, would check any except a powerful, -well-supported force, advancing with the determination to break -through. Long before such an army could make its way, the Americans -could either front the enemy in battle, or retire safely beyond his -reach. - -The invaders could not break through the wall by rail. The railroad line -that led from Greenfield, Massachusetts, to Troy and Albany, had in it a -famous link that was vital to its operation. This link was the -celebrated Hoosac Tunnel, bored for 4¾ miles through Hoosac Mountain. It -was now a solid mass of blasted and piled rock that could not be cleared -away in the time demanded by any military operation. - -In the south, on the Long Island Sound coast of Connecticut, were other -ruins almost as big and as costly. They were the wreckage of -Bridgeport’s big cartridge factories, blown up as the hostile patrols -entered the outskirts of the town. - -It was the last source of ammunition and arms supply in New England. -With it there were lost, too, three submarines that were on the stocks -in the harbor ship yards, and the works that had been manufacturing -naval sea-planes and military tractors for the army’s flying scouts. - -The aerial motor works of Hyde Park in Massachusetts, the Marblehead -factory that made gun-carrying convertible land and marine flying -machines, and the Norwich factory for tractor biplanes and -hydro-monoplanes had been captured almost in the beginning.[142] - - -_New England’s Conquest Complete_ - -As the army entered Bridgeport, another column advancing parallel with -it captured the great manufacturing city of Waterbury in the North. With -these two cities, the invader’s conquest of New England was complete. -Excepting only Portland in Maine, he now possessed every city of more -than 30,000 population. He possessed every source of manufacture. He -held every port on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. He held the -three great harbors of New England. In addition to the vessels building -in Bridgeport, he possessed Fore River, with a battleship and two -destroyers on the ways; Quincy, with eight submarines in course of -construction, and the Portsmouth Navy Yard with one.[143] - -The division that had taken Waterbury turned southerly to the coast -after it passed through that town, to join the division that had taken -Bridgeport and was pressing westward. - -An hour later the American army, apprised by its spies, began to block -the rock cuts on all the New York Central systems leading northward out -of New York City. - -When New York heard this news, it knew that it had been abandoned. - -In that moment of despair, the population would have done what every -loosely knit, heterogeneous multitude does almost spontaneously in the -face of catastrophe. It would have grown into mobs to riot against -itself. If the huge population had been organized, if it had possessed a -single will, nothing could have prevented it and nothing could have -withstood it. But facing the overwhelming numbers were a few thousand -men who were moved by a single will and who were firmly welded together -for its accomplishment. - - -_The Power of Organized Discipline_ - -They were the police. Whatever their faults were, they possessed the one -thing that all the city and all the United States lacked. It was -Organized Discipline. In the face of millions unorganized and -undisciplined, the 11,000 policemen of the city, armed with no visible -weapons except clubs, maintained the peace. They scarcely needed the -assistance of the ten thousand men who had been enlisted hastily as -volunteer militia and deputy sheriffs, and who patroled the streets with -clubs and riot guns.[144] - -Their work was facilitated by the fact that for many days past there had -been a great disarmament in the city. Under the autocratic latitude of -martial law, all suspected individuals had been searched wherever they -were met. Houses had been visited. Warned by the riots in Connecticut, -the authorities had stripped every sporting goods shop and every -pawnbroker’s establishment of weapons, and stored them under heavy guard -in the armories. - -It had been a necessary precaution. During the days that came after the -enemy forces had begun to land, factory after factory and industry after -industry had stopped. Now the greater part of the city was dead. -Seventeen thousand longshoremen and stevedores loitered in the -water-front streets, with ten thousand sailors of all nationalities, -whose ships were tied up. Fifty thousand unskilled laborers wandered -around town with nothing to do. Altogether it was estimated that on this -day there were 200,000 people in New York whose occupations had been -lost, and fully as many again who were working on half time.[145] - - -_The Wholly Helpless Metropolis_ - -The leaders of commerce and finance, the most resourceful of the city’s -business men, were utterly unable to suggest anything. The Chamber of -Commerce, that had met many crises and evolved practical plans of -action, could suggest nothing now. - -The banks were practically closed. The United States Treasury Department -already had declared that the center of the Second Federal Reserve -District would be considered as temporarily merged with the Third -District in Philadelphia. - -The fire insurance companies were refusing all new business, and had -called attention to the fact that existing policies on every kind of -property provided that they were not liable for loss “caused directly or -indirectly by invasion, insurrection, riot, civil war or commotion, or -military or usurped power.” - -There were thousands of other contracts and agreements that would lapse -automatically the moment the first hostile soldier set foot in the city. -Men had laughed for a generation at the mediæval expression in many -printed legal forms that provided that the signers were not responsible -for anything that might occur under “the acts of any foreign Prince or -Potentate.” Now, suddenly, these mediæval words were alive. - -The mails were piled high in the Post Office and in every substation. -The whole United States was striving to settle urgent affairs with the -city, and the city was trying as desperately to settle with the United -States. It was impossible to handle the mass. It remained in bags for -days, untouched, while the postal forces, heavily increased from -near-by cities, struggled with the accumulations of days before. - -The long distance telephone systems were so crowded that connections -could be obtained only by asking for them many hours in advance. -Telegraph dispatches were twenty-four hours old before they could be -forwarded, and steadily their increasing accumulation was leaving the -armies of swift operators farther behind. - - -_Days of Frantic Perplexity_ - -During the days of frantic perplexity there had been talk of dismantling -the factories and shipping their machineries to the interior. But when -the owners of the city’s 26,000 manufacturing establishments faced the -problem, they realized that it could not be done. They were not like the -government that could afford to pull plants apart and move them at more -expense than would be involved in building new ones.[146] - -They were as helpless as their 500,000 employees. To leave their city -meant for owners and workers alike to go away bare-handed and -pauperized. There was nothing to do except to stay. - -All these manufactories and industries of the city had labored so -furiously in the last weeks to produce merchandise and ship it that at -last the railroads were unable to handle the rush of freight. Every yard -was piled high with goods destined for the interior that could not be -loaded. All the sidings were clogged. There were lines of freight trains -with not a gap between them stretching from the Hudson River straight -across the New Jersey meadows and on into the yards and sidings of New -Jersey towns miles from New York. - -No freight was coming in. For three days everything had been -side-tracked far away from the city, in order to clear the tracks for -provisions. The authorities, with the Citizens’ Committee, unable to -guess what the enemy might do, had decided that all efforts must be -subservient to the effort to stock the town with food. - -Already the city had taken over the entire business of distributing -food-stuffs. Nothing could be sold except in quantities and at prices -fixed by ordinance. - - -_The Edge of Famine_ - -The city’s people often had been told by their statisticians that they -always were within a few days of famine. Now they realized what it -meant. The congested tracks had cut down their coal supply. All -interurban transportation had to be reduced to save power. Somewhere in -the narrow valleys leading from Lake Champlain on crowded rails were the -enormous rolls of paper needed to feed the city’s presses. The morning -newspapers had to be cut down to four pages of small size. There was no -sporting news in the papers, no foreign news and no financial news. - -Within the short time that had elapsed since the occupation of New -England’s mill cities, the city had used up a great part of its stocks -of textiles. There was shortage of coffee, of spices, of all the stuffs -that ordinarily came in by sea. - -Hostile cruisers and destroyers patrolled all the Atlantic coast, taking -the precaution merely to stay out of range of the harbor defenses. They -captured every vessel, large or small, that - -[Illustration: “The only activity that remained in full progress was the -activity of the bulletin-boards.”] - -ventured to leave a port, and sent it into Narragansett Bay or Buzzards -Bay as a prize. - -So thoroughly had New York’s sea-gate been locked, that it had trouble -even to dispose of its garbage, because tugboat captains feared to -venture far enough to sea to dump it. - -Wherever men turned, whatever they tried to do, it was as if there lay a -great, dead hand on the city. - - -_Closing in on New York_ - -The only activity that remained in full progress, apparently, was the -activity of the news bulletin-boards. The newspapers had erected them -everywhere, in all the squares. Far into the night they were served. - -Almost continually since the Battle of the Connecticut they had been -announcing the names of New England places successively taken by the -approaching army. Now, suddenly, their news shifted. A bulletin went up -dated from Eaton’s Neck, Long Island. “Large fleet of steamers,” it -said, “crossing Long Island Sound from direction of New Haven, -apparently bound for this shore.” - -“Two passenger steamers of New Haven Line,” said the next bulletin, -“five large freighters, eight lighters. Making for coast east of Oyster -Bay.” - -From Oyster Bay came a dispatch: “Fifteen vessels putting into Cold -Spring Harbor, with large number of troops. It is believed that these -are forces convoyed over the Sound in vessels captured at New Haven, to -move against New York through Long Island.” - -“Village of Cold Spring occupied. Troops approaching Oyster Bay,” was -the news that grew in great letters on the boards an hour later. Nothing -more came from either of these two points. Evidently the enemy had cut -communications at once. - - -_Along the Connecticut Shore_ - -News began to arrive now from the Connecticut shore. The advancing -forces, having joined west of Bridgeport, were moving in mass along the -contracted coastal plain of southwestern Connecticut. Troop trains, -preceded by armored pilot engines, rolled in long procession along the -whole system of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, all the -tracks of which had been repaired by civilians impressed to do the -work. On all the many tracks there was traffic in only one -direction,--westward, toward New York. The trains, moving in echelon, -went forward steadily as clock work. - -Along the magnificent motor road that was the old Boston Post Road, -cavalry and motor patrols and detachments advancing in the same -direction, seized town after town. - -They occupied Fairfield, where Paul Revere stopped over night on his way -to report to Washington. They entered with swords clanking and imperious -motor horns croaking into old Saugatuck, where the Colonials had fought -General Tryon when he landed to burn Danbury. They took Norwalk and -South Norwalk. They quartered men in the estates of Darien. - -They swept on through rich Stamford, whose inhabitants are Connecticut -people by residence and New Yorkers by occupation. They took Greenwich. - - -_The Invaders of Long Island_ - -From Roslyn, Long Island, came word that all the invading vessels that -could find room at the Cold Spring wharves were unloading material. The -character of the derricks that had been rigged, said the report, -indicated that extremely heavy guns were being handled. - -A bulletin that went up immediately afterward announced that the army -was crossing the State line from Connecticut into New York, and that -advance patrols already were passing through the New York State town of -Port Chester. - -The enemy was now only twenty-five miles from New York City. This, and -the actual entrance into State territory, caused a senseless, headlong -fright. It spread even into the councils of the Citizens’ Committee and -city officials in the City Hall. Men jumped to their feet and exclaimed -that the bridges over the Harlem must be dynamited at once. Others -proposed to demolish the great suspension bridges by cutting away the -suspending rods and letting the roadways fall into the East River, that -the Long Island invader might be kept from crossing. - -It was only the final flare-up of nerve-rasped, helplessly cornered men. -The least intelligent people in the streets could perceive that nothing -except cannons, and cannons again, could stop this invader who came with -a war-machine that made war a matter of systematic business. As Boston -had learned it, so New York was learning it. There could not be even the -barren relief of desperate, futile activity. The city, richer than many -a kingdom, more populous than any State in the Union except three, was -as utterly unable to ward off its doom as a trapped animal. Trapped by -its own wealth, it could only wait for the hunter to take it. - -If any men adhered to the belief that the city might gain anything by -destroying its approaches, a telephone message that came through from -Port Chester presently was sufficient to convince even the most -recklessly daring that it would be madness in the face of the iron will -that actuated the enemy. The telephone call was from the corps -commander, who asked for the Mayor. - -“I have the honor,” he said, “to inform you that the American army, -having abandoned the defense of the City of New York and surrounding -territory, all military resistance against us has ceased, and we claim -occupation. Under the rules of war, your civilian citizens lay -themselves open to penalties if they destroy bridges, railways, or other -lines of communication. Should such destruction occur, I shall have to -exact compensation for any suffering that it may cause to the troops -under my command.” - - -“_Invader Can Do What He Pleases_” - -“He is straining the law!” cried one of the Citizens’ Committee who was -an authority on international law. “He has not yet occupied the -territory contiguous to the city.” - -“I think that he has made his occupation good,” said another. “In our -own Army’s Rules of Warfare, paragraph 290 expressly states that ‘it is -sufficient that the occupying army can, within a reasonable time, send -detachments of troops to make its authority felt within the occupied -district.’” - -“It makes little difference,” interposed the Mayor. “We can’t take him -before a Court of Appeals to argue hair-splitting distinctions. He has -us, and can do to us what he pleases. He needs only the color of law to -go to any extremity. We should be insane to argue with him. The only -thing to do is to give renewed and urgent orders that the population -must absolutely avoid any act of violence.” - -Again the cold logic of inexorable circumstances forced humble -submission. Through all the districts north of the Harlem and through -Westchester County almost to the line of the enemy patrols, there was -sent by every possible method of communication the following warning: - -“The invading forces assert occupation of the territory in which you -reside. Under this occupation, any act of disorder involving raiding, -espionage, damage to railways, war material, bridges, roads, canals, -telegraphs or other means of communication is punishable by death as war -treason. Communities in which such acts occur may be punished -collectively. All persons are warned earnestly to yield full obedience -to the occupying military forces and to abstain from all offensive -acts.”[147] - - -_A Matter of Lawyers’ Logic_ - -Thus for the men of New York war was no matter of glorious resistance or -of a splendid death. It was a matter of cold lawyers’ logic with -imprisonment or execution as felons the only answer should they try to -assert their manhood. - -The knowledge held all the territory passive. Men and horses and motors -moved into Westchester County with no more opposition than if they were -pleasure-seekers moving through friendly country. Guns jolted along the -highways with their artillerists sitting at ease. The Westchester hills -and valleys echoed no shots, no cries of battle. - -In every village and town the American flag fluttered down from the -flag-staffs of schools and town halls. - -The corps commander that evening established his headquarters in one of -the great houses in the famous residence colony of Orienta Point, -Mamaroneck. His columns, advancing along the shore, spread out, occupied -New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, and encamped for the night in a great -line that stretched from the Long Island Sound to the Hudson River, -fencing New York City on the north with a wall of men and artillery. - -It was a wall of silence. Not a word came through to the city from -Yonkers, from Mount Vernon, from Pelham, or from any of the other places -already taken. - - -_The Battle in the Night_ - -Only the harbor defenses of the city were still speaking to each other. -From the forts on Throgs Neck in Westchester County and from Fort Totten -on Long Island, the commanders at Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth in the -Narrows received requests for more men. Large forces, said the Sound -defenses, were closing in rapidly to invest them on land from the rear. -It would be an artillery and infantry fight in which the mammoth coast -guns could take little part, if any. The end was certain if -reënforcements could not be sent through the East River and the Sound. - -The commanders of the Narrows were helpless to give aid. The commanders -of the Sandy Hook defenses were helpless. All the men, regulars and -militia, of the coast artillery who could be obtained, were not enough. -Fort Hamilton, being on the Long Island shore itself, dared not denude -itself further than it had done. At any moment there might be an attack -on it, too. The southern defenses had no choice but to tell the eastern -defenses that they must do the best they could. - -[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON THE NEW YORK DEFENCES - -=A.= _Attack on Ft. Totten._ -=B.= _Attack on Ft. Schuyler._ -=C and D.= _Course of Troops Capturing New Jersey Manufacturing Cities._ -=EE.= _Attack on Sandy Hook Forts._ -] - -It was about one o’clock in the morning when the people of northern Long -Island, and the inhabitants of the Borough of the Bronx and Westchester -County, sprang from their beds in wild alarm. Without warning, as if a -hurricane had struck with instant concentrated force, all their windows -had crashed. Their walls were shaking, and pictures and plaster falling. -The air itself was shaking like a throbbing pulse. - -It was like no gun-fire that men ever had imagined. It was not a series -of explosions. It was like one explosion, whose crescent violence would -not dwindle. The people of far Brooklyn and the people of lower -Manhattan heard it. To their ears it was as if all the thunders of a -storm-riven Heaven had been loosed to roll incessantly. - - -_Bands of Flame_ - -Men on vantage points along the Sound that night saw the attacking lines -from end to end plainly as if it were day. So continuous was their fire, -that it painted their positions with broad, unwavering bands of flame. -It needed not the star bombs and rockets that curved everywhere under -the sky to fall glaring into the defenses. It needed not the magnesium -lights that floated from parachutes dropped by aeroplanes. On both -sides of the Sound the night was a red sea. - -Into the mortar pits and gun emplacements of the defenses, like a red -surf from that red sea, beat the unending fire. Shrapnel that wailed -like the bride of the storm, and flew apart in the air, and flung -bullets as if mines had burst inside of the defense! Eleven inch shells -that hammered into concrete facing, and split it apart with the -irresistible agony of their explosion! Five inch shell and solid -projectile! Bombs from the air, and every agency that man had yet -devised to wreck and destroy! - -As suddenly as it had begun, the fire stopped. The night became utterly -still. The rockets ceased curving. But in all the defenses there shone -white glares, from search-lights and magnesium flares, illuminating -rushing masses of men who clambered over the ruins of guns and mounds, -and took the works. There was none left to oppose them. - -When the dawn came, the watchers rubbed their eyes. The great defenses -lay apparently unharmed. Their mounds and embankments betrayed nothing -of the ruin that the night’s battle had worked within. But against the -brightening sky there arose a visible sign of what had been done. The -flag of the Coalition floated over them and greeted the American -sunrise. - -Within a few hours after dawn, artillery began to move through Long -Island’s boulevards toward Brooklyn. North of the city, the army began -marching through the Borough of the Bronx toward the Harlem River. -Before noon, guns were posted along the Harlem Heights, on University -Heights, at High Bridge, and down past the mouth of the Harlem River. -The Long Island Railroad brought guns to the high ground behind Newtown -Creek, to the summit of Eastern Parkway, and to the Prospect Park Slope. - - -_Captured Vessels Enter River_ - -Through Hell Gate into the East River came a motley fleet--Sound and -River steamers captured at New Haven and Bridgeport, wall-sided -freighters and lighters, side-wheelers and screw propellers, and a -flotilla of motor boats, the pick of the beautiful little navy of -pleasure that filled all the Sound harbors. - -This fleet anchored in a long line below Blackwell’s Island close under -the Manhattan shore. - -All the larger vessels had guns on their forward and upper decks. As -soon as the craft had swung to the tide, the weapons were pointed at the -city. - -Then the telephone bell in the City Hall called the Mayor again. The -corps commander, speaking from temporary quarters in the University of -New York buildings, announced that he wished to send commissioners into -the city to treat with the authorities for the terms of capitulation. He -desired that the Mayor send an escort to meet them at the Lenox Avenue -Bridge over the Harlem. - -None of the people in the streets realized that the automobiles that -sped down Lenox Avenue a few hours later, through Central Park and down -Broadway, were bearing enemy soldiers. The population had become -accustomed to men in field uniforms hurrying through the city. - - -_Demand Surrender of Forts_ - -Arrived in the City Hall, the commissioners presented a demand signed by -the commander, for unconditional surrender of the city. The Mayor and -his advisers read it, and turned to the soldiers. - -“What does this mean?” asked the Mayor, pointing to a clause that called -for the surrender of all fortifications with troops and munitions of -war. “We possess no fortifications.” - -“It means Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth, on the Narrows,” answered the -Chief Commissioner. - -“But those are United States property,” said the Mayor. “We have no -authority over them.” - -“Then I should advise you to consult with the commandant of these places -at once,” answered the Commissioner. “Their surrender is an -indispensable condition in the terms of capitulation.” - -The Mayor reached for the telephone. “Stop all other business, however -important,” he said to the operator. “Connect me with the Commandant at -Fort Hamilton.” - -His conversation with that officer was brief. “He declines absolutely to -surrender any part of the defenses or other government property,” he -reported. - -“Then, sir,” said the officer, rising, “I regret to inform you that we -shall shell the city. We are authorized to give you twenty-four hours. -Precisely at the end of that time, we shall order the firing to begin. I -call your attention to the fact that our artillery, as at present -placed, commands the Borough of Manhattan to about 59th Street, and that -our guns in Brooklyn command a great part of the most valuable sections -of that borough. You will take note, also, that guns on the vessels -anchored in the river can sweep both the New York and Brooklyn streets.” - - -_Claims That City Is Unfortified_ - -“But,” exclaimed an old Judge who was on the Citizens’ Committee, “we -are willing to surrender the city without opposition. As a matter of -fact, it lies wide open to your entrance. You cannot possibly mean to -bombard an undefended and unfortified town!” - -Without hesitation the officer drew a paper from his pocket and -presented it. It read: “The City of New York, having Forts Hamilton and -Wadsworth not only within its harbor limits, but actually within its -municipal limits, is plainly a fortified place under all accepted -definitions. Also, while troops occupy these forts the town clearly -falls under the definition of a ‘defended place,’ under the clause that -‘a place that is occupied by a military force is a defended -place.’”[148] - -With a bow he handed the paper to the Mayor. - -“We shall bombard the city within twenty-four hours,” he repeated. - -The New York men looked at each other. “We are quite helpless, sir,” -said the old Judge, then. “We cannot force United States officers to -surrender. I propose to my colleagues that a deputation shall go to -Washington at once to lay your terms before the President as -Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. I assure you that we shall -represent to him, most strongly, the advisability of yielding. Will you, -for your part, give us more time?” - -“I cannot go beyond my orders,” answered the officer. “Twenty-four -hours, I fear, is the extreme limit. It will give you ample time, since -the matter to be considered is most simple. You might inform His -Excellency the President, if you wish, that we have succeeded in -reducing and taking Forts Schuyler, Slocum and Totten. We shall proceed -to invest Fort Hamilton before to-morrow morning. Surrender will prevent -useless loss of life and destruction of property.” - - -_Government Surrenders Forts_ - -A special train brought the deputation into Washington before daylight -next morning. The New York men went at once to the White House where -they were received by the President, who had not been in bed. “You have -no doubt that they mean to make good their threat of bombardment?” asked -the President, after receiving their report. “Then, gentlemen, there is -only one action for this Government to take.” He sighed, and echoed the -refrain of all the past days. “There is nothing else that we can do.” - -An hour later the wires to New York, cleared by orders from the War -Department, carried a dispatch to the commandants at Fort Hamilton and -Fort Wadsworth. It ordered them to surrender. - -From his headquarters the enemy commander ordered detachments to go -down the harbor in boats and occupy the captured defenses. Then he sent -his troops forward into the City. - -And now the New Yorkers who had expected that their streets would be -flooded by a great army, were amazed at the ease and simplicity with -which the city fell into military control. Instead of brigades entering -the city, there were not even regiments. Troops of cavalry, companies of -infantry, single machine-gun detachments, moving separately down -separated avenues, with big intervals between them, were all the force -that entered. - -Some boatloads of men and artillery passed down the river and landed in -Brooklyn, some to occupy the Navy Yard and others to reënforce the men -who had come in through Long Island; but the army remained outside, -holding the northern districts from the Sound to the Hudson, and -guarding the Hudson River and Putnam Valleys against surprise attack -from the direction of Albany. - - -_An Easy City to Occupy_ - -The officers in charge of the men who entered the city asked no -questions and required no directions. Unhesitatingly each led his force -to the point that he wanted. Within two hours New York was wholly in the -hands of the soldiers. - -Nobody had thought of it before. Now, all at once, when it was -accomplished, it amazed the people of New York to learn how easy it was -to control the city’s whole life, civic and commercial. - -A battalion of infantry occupied the Grand Central Terminal. Another -battalion took the great Pennsylvania terminal with its under-river -tunnels to New Jersey and Long Island. Detachments appeared at the -Twenty-third Street and Forty-second Street ferries over the Hudson -River and by that one seizure controlled all railroad connections with -the West from uptown. The occupation of half a dozen other Hudson River -railroad ferries down-town, and of the Hudson Terminal Tube System, -completed the entire control of all the city’s railroad traffic in every -direction. - -Equally simple was the control of its communications. Men appeared at -the two great telegraph buildings and at the telephone building. Within -half an hour they had every trunk line of wires in their hands and -could strike the city dumb at will. - -Thus less than three thousand men had their fingers on the big town’s -spinal nerves, and could paralyze it with a slight pressure. - - -_Still Easier to Guard_ - -It was still easier to control the city from a military point of view. -The citizens who had expected to see their streets commanded by cannon -on limbers, did not at first comprehend why there were hardly any of -these to be seen, while machine gun detachments scattered and -disappeared as soon as they got well into the town. Only gradually did -the citizens discover that their big, sprawling metropolis was being -held subject by a very simple utilization of the city’s characteristic -feature. - -This feature was the sky-scraper. To the eye of the soldier, these high -buildings were nothing so much as inviting and magnificent eminences for -controlling the street-valleys and their population below. - -Four men with a machine gun and abundance of ammunition in one of these -stone and steel summits could control more area than half a dozen heavy -field gun batteries posted in the streets could command. - -These sentinel watchers were as aloof and as sure as fate. They could -neither be rushed by a mob nor sniped from concealment. At a word from -the telephone in their eyries, they could start death dancing among the -pygmy hordes far under them. - -From the top of the Woolworth Building two of the little guns pointed -down into Broadway. Turned southward, they could sweep the town as far -as the Battery. Eastward, they could rain their steel-jacketed bullets -into the river front streets and over the two lower bridges that cross -the East River. Northward, they had Broadway as far up as Canal Street -under their fire. - -They were supplemented by a gun on top of the great Municipal Building. -It held a good part of the crowded tenement house district of the Lower -East Side under its zone of fire, notably the doubtful sections of -Cherry Street and other areas known to the police. - - -_Church Towers as Gun Stations_ - -On the tall towers of the suspension bridges themselves were other -detachments with a gun each. The churches were not forgotten by the -soldiers. The graceful steeple of Grace Church, standing at an acute -angle of Broadway so that it can be seen from far down town, had been -before men’s eyes so long that they had ceased, almost, to note its soft -beauty. Now they looked at it with a new and acute perception, for its -steeple held a gun that pointed down Broadway, whose southern zone of -fire would just about reach to where the northern zone of fire from the -Woolworth Building would end. - -Trinity, too, had a gun in its tower, pointing down Wall Street. North -and south on upper Broadway, guns on the Flatiron Building could reach -any important street or any place where dangerous crowds might -conceivably form. This eminence controlled both Madison and Union -Squares. The tower of Madison Square Garden, near-by, also was armed. -From it men could watch and reach any part of the East Side that was out -of reach of the detachments in the bridge towers. Uptown New York was -governed more easily still. The wide, geometrically regular streets with -many open squares, were overlooked by tall apartment buildings and -hotels that commanded long sweeps of avenue. As a result, many of the -city squares and smaller parts had no artillery in them at all, and -others had only half a battery. - -The people knew that wherever they might move, they were within the -range of cannon that were loaded and ready. Their Citizens’ Committee -and their officials worked under guns. Every foot of their Great White -Way could be changed into a Way of Death at a moment’s notice. Their -women could not shop, their children could not play, except under the -menace of weapons. - -Small need was there in New York City of the many placards and notices -warning the people against disorder. Every man’s eye was on every other -man; and had one plotted mischief or rebellion, there would have been a -hundred witnesses ready to suppress him, to betray him--anything to -prevent those steel devils in the city towers from setting death loose -in the streets! - - - - -X - -THE PRICE THAT HAD TO BE PAID - - -Not until the City of New York actually was surrendered did the people -of the Middle and Far West become startled into a really acute -perception of the catastrophe that had fallen on the whole country. - -Though they were fiery with patriotism and anger, and though they were -giving not only lavishly but extravagantly of their wealth and men, they -were free, unconquered and untouched. They had seen no invader. With a -suddenly freshened realization of the hugeness of the country, they had -attained the conviction that there was little danger that any foe -possibly could reach them from the Atlantic. - -They were willing to defend the East with all that they had. They were -willing to toss to the air all their royal plans for the splendid future -that was all but built. They were the real America, and they were -willing to ruin themselves and die for America. But--the men of Chicago -were a thousand miles from an enemy. Three thousand miles separated the -men of the Pacific from the armed enemies in New England. - -So their customary life and their business had continued. They continued -to work and barter and plan. The loss of the industries of New England -had made itself felt at once, but there was an enormous land left. Even -the locking of all the Atlantic and Gulf ports with the attendant -calamities could not wholly shatter their great web of trade. - - -_Pacific Remains Open_ - -Their commerce could go and enter through their own ports unimpeded, for -happily in this crisis there was no danger threatening from across the -Pacific. - -Therefore, though the surrender of Boston had shaken them, it had not -terrified them. The great inland country clung to the belief that the -army would do something. During the enemy’s slow movement through -Connecticut in the advance toward New York, the people of the West -remained inspired by that hope, as men in past ages, stricken dumb by a -darkened Heaven and a smoking mountain, still clung to the belief that a -kindly miracle would interpose to save them, though the earth of their -market places was trembling under their feet. - -That spiritual self-defense with which men armor themselves against -inevitable fates had not given way until the Administration announced -the surrender of the City of New York and its two great forts, with the -statement: - - “The President assumes full responsibility. After a careful - examination of the situation in person, he issued orders, as - Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States, that - the army in the field should offer no opposition.” - -Then the West began to fear with a great fear that its Pacific coast was -not safe, after all. It thought, appalled, that an enemy so formidable -and successful, confronting opposition so futile, might succeed in -breaking the defenses of the Panama Canal as easily as he had broken the -defenses of the Atlantic. - - -_Panama Canal Safe_ - -But the Panama Canal was being held. The United States fleet, having -failed to prevent the hostile landing on the New England coast, had -turned at once to defend the one vital spot that it could protect even -against superior numbers. That was the Caribbean entrance to the Canal. - -It raced there under forced draught. It surprised and destroyed an -inferior force of cruisers and battleships that the enemy had stationed -there for blockade. Again it was mathematics. The foe, forced to assure -himself against attack on his transports off the New England coast, had -held all his powerful ships north of the American fleet. The weaker -blockaders in the South, facing guns of superior range, ships of -superior speed, and superior volume of gun-fire, went down to -destruction without even the satisfaction of biting hard as they died. - -Now the country that had been sick with humiliation because its navy -would not fight, thanked Heaven that the fleet had kept itself intact: -that instead of going down in glorious disaster, it had worked out a -scientific problem coolly. The big navy, intact to its smallest torpedo -boat, was lying fully potent under the strong defenses of Limon Harbor. - -The guns of the fortifications protected the ships, and the ships -protected the fortifications. Three thousand naval officers and sixty -thousand sailors and marines, added to the land forces in the defenses, -made a force of highly trained, completely efficient men.[149] - - -_The Defenses Perfect_ - -The defenses were perfect. This precious possession was one American -possession at least that could be held to the last. Its guns were fully -installed. It had ammunition. Its range finding systems and its systems -of fire control were complete. Without the navy, it, too, would have -been sorely weak in men and would have been open, like America’s -continental defenses, to attack from the land. But with the naval -forces, it was able to hold out.[150] - -The navy was ready to throw men ashore to meet any attempt at landings -along the coast. The navy’s torpedo boats and destroyers crept to sea in -the night and guarded all weak places. The American submarines, with a -safe harbor for a base, worked under ideal submarine conditions. When -the hostile navy, freed from the task of protecting its army, at last -appeared in force off the Isthmus, it dared not institute anything like -a close blockade. - -It dared not even venture in to bombard. There were 16-inch guns at -Panama. It was an object lesson for the United States. Exactly thus, had -there been an army to protect them, the Atlantic coast defenses could -have defied any attempt from the sea to force a harbor. - - -_Hostile Navy Powerless_ - -The enemy navy, overwhelming as it was, could do nothing except to wait -and watch. It cruised up and down, far out in the purple Caribbean. Its -only trophies in the South were Porto Rico and the United States Naval -station of Guantanamo in Cuba. It had taken the latter by the simple -method of steaming in, for this “naval station” was only an unfortified -harbor.[151] - -The news of Panama’s safety was the first and only good news that had -been given to the country since the declaration of war. The relief that -it gave was so great that the people received almost with equanimity the -news which followed--that word had come from spies of the arrival of -more transports in Boston Harbor and Narragansett Bay, bringing forces -estimated at figures varying from 50,000 to 100,000 more men. - -Soon after this landing had been accomplished, cavalry and light -artillery moved northward through Vermont. They seized and occupied in -force Bellows Falls and the White River, Wells River and St. Johnsbury -Junctions of the Vermont railroads. This cut the last communication of -New England with the United States. It gave the invader absolute command -of the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad, the Central Vermont, -the Maine Central, the Boston and Maine and the Rutland branch -railroads. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were in his power like the -rest of New England. Blockaded from the sea, and cut off from railroad -connection with the interior, they were subjugated even without the -unfolding of forces that now began through their area. - -Here, too, the invaders, despite their grown power, moved slowly, -cautiously. They cut districts from each other, and occupied them one -by one systematically, making united action by the population impossible -even had it been feasible. By the simple method of disorganizing all the -accustomed political and governmental affiliations, they turned to their -purpose the ever-present lack of coherence between State governments and -city governments, township authorities and County authorities. The -machinery fell apart; and the enemy dealt with the bits as he chose. - - -_The Conquest Complete_ - -The few big cities of the three States could offer no resistance. Within -a few days the conquest of all New England was complete. Not a word came -out of it to the rest of the United States. The City of New York was -equally sealed. Nothing was permitted to pass out of the gagged and -fettered town. The messages that stormed at it were delivered to censors -who did what they pleased with them, and passed practically none to the -persons for whom they had been destined. - -In this sealed city, for the first time in men’s memory, there were no -crowds on the streets. Broadway from 59th Street to the Battery was -almost naked of people by day and by night. Its electric signs were -dark. Its hotels and theaters were all but dark. - -Whenever, by chance, people found themselves in a given block in numbers -sufficient to make a throng, there always was a hasty scattering, as if -they feared to touch each other. As these little knots scattered, they -cast swift glances of apprehension at the high roofs. - -There had been an official notice on the front pages of all the New York -newspapers on the morning after the occupation: - - ALL ASSEMBLAGES OR GATHERINGS ON THE - STREETS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN - - By Order of the Military Government.[152] - -There was no threat as to penalty for infraction. None was needed. The -machine guns in all the towers and sky-scrapers were sufficient warning. - -The shape of the island on which the Borough of Manhattan lay, with -immensely long straight streets running north and south through its -narrow width, made it a simple matter to isolate all sections in which -there were populations who might become unruly. The crowded tenement -districts of the East Side were cut off from those in the West. They -were separated into units within themselves. Very soon, the soldiers -moved around the city with the ease of careless visitors. Officers, -mounted and in automobiles, went where they pleased. They paid -apparently no attention to the people, and these, in turn, could not -guess anything that the conquerors had in mind or what would be their -next act in the next minute. - - -_Surrounded by the Unknown_ - -The city’s newspapers, like those of Boston and all New England, were -controlled and edited by military censors. They were permitted to tell -their readers nothing of importance. This utter ignorance in which the -multitudes were kept, made them more helpless than did even the guns -that watched them everywhere. - -It was a city surrounded, perpetually confronted and oppressed by the -unknown. The veil of secrecy and silence was lifted only when newspapers -or placards printed some new proclamation in formal, legal verbiage. - -The first one to be issued had proclaimed the occupation, and the -institution of a Military Government. It had added that the existing -civil authorities had been empowered and ordered to continue their -administration with the sanction and participation of the Military -Government, and that all civil and criminal laws remained in effect -subject to changes demanded by military exigency.[153] - -But immediately under this announcement was a paragraph headed: - - -LAWS SUSPENDED - - On and after this date the following Classes of Laws are Suspended. - (1) The Right to Bear Arms. (2) The Right of Suffrage. (3) The - Right of Assemblage. (4) The Right to Publish Newspapers or - Circulate Other Matter. (5) The Right to Quit Occupied Territory or - Travel Freely in same.[154] - -Another announcement that struck home after the people saw its real -meaning under its smooth wording was: - - “The municipal and other civil and criminal laws as administered by - the civil authorities, are for the benefit and protection of the - civilian population. Their continued enforcement is not for the - protection or control of officers and soldiers of the Occupying - Army, who are subject to the Rules of War, and amenable only to - their own Military Government.”[155] - -At first this announcement seemed to the citizens to be for their -protection, but the sharper readers soon pointed out that it was only a -skillful way of intimating that the soldiers were above all the laws -that controlled the conquered population. - - -_A Mysterious Flotilla_ - -A few days after the surrender, people along the water-front noticed a -great movement of vessels. The big Fall River Line and other Sound -steamers moved down the Upper Bay in long procession, with some -steamships seized at the wharves. - -They were full of troops. Some of the vessels towed railroad floats with -flat cars on which were lashed cannon so big that even from the shore -the eye could perceive their unusual size. Other craft towed strings of -small scows, and still others towed floating derricks. - -The flotilla passed down the Upper Bay, but it did not go out through -the Narrows. It disappeared in the narrow water-way of the Kill von Kull -that winds between Staten Island and the mainland of New Jersey, and -connects with the Lower Harbor through Raritan Bay. - -The story of the mysterious flotilla spread quickly through a city whose -lack of newspapers made its apprehensive curiosity only the more keen. -Robbed of its news and bulletin service, the people, without any -conscious plan, had organized a news service of their own. They had -fallen back on the primitive method of circulating information from man -to man. - - -_New York’s “Bush Telegraph”_ - -Within twenty-four hours of the suppression of the liberty of its press, -the highly modern, highly artificial city had in operation the same form -of news-transmission that has so often puzzled and even awed travelers -in savage lands. Under the sky-scrapers the “bush telegraph” carried its -messages with almost the same astonishing swiftness as in the jungle. - -It was done by hasty whispers and by furtive conversation, for among the -Orders and Regulations that were promulgated daily there was a little -warning that severe punishment would be inflicted on any person who -“spread false news, communicated the movement of land and sea forces, -made noises or uttered outcries of a nature to disturb troops, or -inspected, sketched, photographed or made descriptions of views on land -or sea without authority.”[156] - -There were enough ominous elasticity and inclusiveness in this Order to -cover almost any exchange of words. Yet men, even though they were -mortally afraid while they did it, could not resist the human impulse to -transmit anything that they learned. - -The news merely puzzled the great mass of the population. Accustomed all -their lives to turn to their newspapers for knowledge about everything, -they were quite helpless with their one means of enlightenment shut off. - - -_To Open the Harbor_ - -The Citizens’ Committee and the city officials, however, were able to -guess pretty clearly what this movement of troops and heavy artillery -meant. There was nothing in the lower harbor that possibly could demand -such force except one place--the forts on Sandy Hook, the last remaining -harbor defense that still was under the American flag. Solitary though -it was, so long as it remained intact it forbade the entrance of New -York Harbor to any hostile vessel. - -There had been wonder before because the enemy commander had not -demanded the surrender of the Sandy Hook defenses under threat of -bombarding the city, as he had demanded and forced the surrender of -Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth. - -“Because Sandy Hook is not within the city, as the other two forts -were,” was the solution at which the city’s lawyers arrived, after -considering the rules governing military action. “The invader plainly is -adhering carefully to all the accepted Rules of War. By doing so, he -can, and does, hold us to account rigorously under the same Rules. This -is profitable to him, for despite all their apparent stipulations in -favor of a conquered territory, the Rules of War are made, after all, to -facilitate war.” - -It was impossible to warn the commander at Sandy Hook. Private service -over the telephone and telegraph systems was suspended entirely. The -fire alarm system was operated under the watchful control of soldiers. -In Police Headquarters sat a Colonel of Cavalry whose countersign was -necessary for every order issued by the Police Commissioner. - -This was a stern officer, who held the police force in a hard, masterful -hand. The men were accountable more than ever for strict enforcement of -all laws, but they were subject also to summary control by every -military officer. Even guards and posts of private soldiers had some -authority over them. - -There were many daily experiences and sights in their streets that -served to make the people tractable, but few things were so powerful as -the daily spectacle of their pugnacious police yielding sullen but -complete obedience. - -“It is unlawful to disobey orders given by our army.” This short -regulation covered a great deal. It tied the police and the citizens -hand and foot.[157] - -[Illustration: “The big guns behind them made no despicable -sentinels.”] - - -_Taking of Sandy Hook_ - -On Sandy Hook, fifteen miles down the harbor from the Battery, there -were being demonstrated the inexorable mathematics of war that had been -demonstrated at Narragansett, at Boston, at Forts Schuyler and Slocum in -Westchester, and at Fort Totten in Long Island. - -Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook, almost invulnerable to ship-attack from the -sea, was being reduced from the land. The fort commander had disposed -his men in the most formidable positions possible, and they made the -narrow sandy neck of the Hook that led from the mainland to their -fortifications a pass that no force, however contemptuous of death, -would attack hastily. Barb wire and great sand mounds, rapid fire guns -and big guns behind them, made them no despicable sentinels. But the -Americans numbered companies where the enemy numbered battalions and -regiments. The American mobile guns numbered pairs where the enemy’s -artillery was counted by dozens. - -The steel mass of fort that could protect harbor and city could not -protect itself. The motley flotilla, emerging into Raritan Bay, landed -its men on the New Jersey shore at Keyport inside of the lower harbor, -and behind Sandy Hook. The defenses had not been devised or built to -withstand attack from their own bay. The great rifled guns and the steel -mortars were ponderous. They were mounted on complex engines, equally -ponderous, whose bases were firmly anchored in concrete and steel. These -mammoths were not things that could be swung around to all points of the -compass. They were set in their solid beds for the one purpose of -fighting things out at sea. - - -_The Open Back of the Fort_ - -The commander had succeeded, with desperate labor, by blasting away -concrete emplacements and facings, in turning two of his big guns around -to face the land and protect the open back of the fort. But the giant -steel guns with their 1,000-pound projectiles that could fight -30,000-ton battleships, could not fight little two-legged men. They -might, by chance of fortune, find and destroy one of the siege guns that -were attacking them. But if they missed a gun and fell merely among -soldiers, they would be scarcely more murderous than a little field gun -that fires bursting charges or shrapnel. - -The enemy did not try to rush the works. He had time and means and did -not need to sacrifice men. To the heights of the Atlantic and Navesink -Highlands, that ascend so strangely out of the sea and out of the -flat-sea country there, he lifted guns of great caliber. He placed guns -in cover behind every undulation. When he had placed all these weapons -with scientific precision, they began to fire. - -None of the mobile artillery installed for the defense of the fort -against land attack could reach the invaders’ heavier artillery with any -hope of effect. The men in the defenses, cowering under bomb-proofs and -in pits, held out for a day and a night. They held out for another day. -Then there was nothing left to defend. Dismounted and broken, their -armament was destroyed. The survivors surrendered. - -New York City did not know that the Sandy Hook defenses had fallen till -three light enemy cruisers appeared in the upper bay and steamed through -the East River to the Navy Yard. Then the city knew that its harbor was -open. - - -_Enemy Invades New Jersey_ - -The army that took Sandy Hook did not return to New York. The flotilla -took the troops and their light artillery aboard at the Atlantic -Highlands, and steamed back through Raritan Bay, through the narrow -sound behind Staten Island and into Newark Bay. Here other boats met it -with cavalry and motor troops from Yonkers. - -Troops landed at both sides of the entrance to the bay, taking Bayonne -and Elizabethport, with their oil refineries and tanks, and their ship -yards. Then the flotilla moved up the bay, and put great bodies of -soldiers of all arms ashore at the great factory town of Newark. A big -city, and a difficult city to control, it kept the commanders occupied -for three days before they had made their footing good; but then it was -an admirable and a vastly valuable base. From it the troops spread out -and took Rutherford, Passaic, Hackensack, and Paterson. - -It was rich commercial territory that complemented the value of -possessing New York, for these factory cities were a part of the -Metropolitan District counted with New York City in every National -estimate of industrial wealth. This district contained almost thirty-two -thousand factories. In wealth and productiveness, it was as choice a -prize as New England.[158] - - -_Army Ceases Operations_ - -Having made good its hold on the new conquest across the Hudson River, -the invading army ceased to expand. Even with the accretion that had -been made to its forces, it had none to spare for further operations, -for it now had under its charge 62,000 square miles of domain with more -than thirty millions of people. - -This was a Kingdom. The victor set himself to the task of organizing his -government, which meant the task of turning it to profit. - -From the beginning, he had taught the conquered people that an invading -army lives on the country. Wherever his troops entered, the inhabitants -were ordered to supply all that was needed by men and horses. - -The occupying troops demanded lodgings and stable-room. They demanded -accommodations for everything belonging to the army. They requisitioned -fuel and straw. They called for teams, cars, motors, wagons, boats, and -claimed the services of their owners. They occupied flour mills and -bakeries. They took machinery, material, tools and equipment for -repairing their munitions of war, bridges, and roads.[159] - -In all the towns they seized parts of the hospitals and set them aside -for the care of their men, impressing the hospital attendants into the -service. For the use of their own medical service they forced the towns -to contribute drugs and medicines. - -They seized all appliances on land, on water or in the air that might -serve for the transmission of news. Under the allegation that they were -susceptible of use in war, they took all sorts of subjects of peaceful -commerce or industry, from telegraph wire to houses.[160] - - -_Putting on the Screws_ - -Already they had subjected Boston to a levy of $50,000 a day for the -maintenance of the troops. They laid on New York and the factory cities -of New Jersey a joint levy of $100,000. They laid another impost for the -same purpose on the big cities of New England of seventy-five thousand. -This one levy alone amounted to 1 million, 575 thousand dollars a week; -and it was only one of many.[161] - -They confiscated outright all the cash, funds, realizable securities and -notes belonging to the state, city and local governments. Every bank was -warned under threat of condign punishment to deliver over everything -that might be considered public property. In New York City they seized -from a bank $100,000 that was deposited by a State Department to pay a -draft; and they issued a warning that if the holder of the draft -attempted to collect the amount or permitted it to pass from his -possession, his house and lands would be confiscated.[162] - -They declared themselves possessed as absolute owners by right of -conquest of all public property besides cash. Thus in New York they -asserted ownership of ninety-nine million dollars’ worth of suspension -bridges and in Boston they took bridges to the value of ten and a -quarter millions. They took the New York City armories valued at fifteen -millions. They declared that they owned the subways valued at 100 -millions. - -All United States property, comprising fortifications everywhere in the -conquered territory, navy yards, post offices, customs houses, -lighthouses, treasury buildings, and court houses were listed in -proclamations throughout the occupied country as good and legal prizes -of war. The property so seized in the city of New York alone amounted to -sixty-six millions.[163] - - -_Working Furiously for Defense_ - -The United States was working furiously for defense. In the steel -country of Pennsylvania and the West, all the works were being altered -to turn them into factories for shells, shrapnel, big guns and gun -carriages. At Watervliet and Indian Head the capacity of the shops had -been enlarged immensely and there was not a moment in the day or the -night when there was a pause in the headlong labor. Powder was being -made in the Middle West, in places safe from any possible attack by -aeroplanes. The flying machine works of Hammondsport, and Buffalo, in -New York, San Diego, and Overland Park, were turning out machines at the -rate of one and sometimes two a month. Half a dozen other factories were -being erected.[164] - -A group of automobile factories had agreed to turn out 2-ton trucks at -the rate of forty a day, and, indeed, already were producing thirty a -day. One concern was working under a contract to produce enough -automobiles every day to carry one regiment, each machine capable of -making 100 miles an hour with four men and ten days’ rations of food and -ammunition. Others had agreed between them to produce enough motors in -every working day to carry five or six regiments.[165] - - -_The Handicap of Unpreparedness_ - -The efficient land was rising to the occasion with magnificent ability -and temper. So far, those were justified who had said that America could -meet a crisis with miraculous speed. But there were things that could -not be met with speed--and these things were vital. - -All the industrial efficiency on the land could not provide 35,000 -trained and experienced officers: and that number was needed if the -country was to put half a million volunteers into the field. - -All the efficiency of men and engines could not correct, except by -tedious, slow training, the defects in an army system that had made it -impossible in peace times to concentrate 16,000 men and officers at the -San Antonio border of Texas in less than three months after the order -was issued.[166] - -All the efficiency could not alter the fact that of the whole militia -force of the United States, enrolled as “men armed with the rifle,” -exclusive of the four divisions already with the army, there were only -24,000, or 38 per cent., who could shoot well enough to make them -suitable for battle purposes.[167] - -The capture of Massachusetts and Connecticut had cut off at one blow the -source of 68 per cent. of all the ammunition and weapon works of the -United States. The army, already short of cartridges, would have to -remain short till all the complicated and minutely accurate machinery -for making them could be built and established.[168] - -There were only 425,000 rifles in reserve. The volunteers would have to -drill without arms till factories could be put into operation. - - -_What Had Been Lost_ - -Seven militia mobilization camps were in the territory lost to the -United States. One thousand acres of powder works in New Jersey were in -the possession of the invaders. - -The volunteers needed shirts, breeches, underwear. The four leading -cities in the manufacture of cotton goods, the four that led in making -woolen goods and the leaders in making clothing were cut off from the -United States. - -The volunteers needed shoes. More than all, they needed shoes. Shoes, -shoes, and again shoes! Americans realized with heavy hearts how these -unromantic things were making them helpless--what a blow it had been to -their defense when the great Massachusetts factories of Lynn, Brockton, -Haverhill, and Boston with their un-replaceable machinery had been -taken. These cities and cities scattered through the rest of lost New -England, had produced 57 per cent. of the boots and shoes for the United -States. - -The army was short, even under its old, economical estimates of more -than 500 field artillery. To put the army of 300,000 volunteers into the -field, it would need at least 1,500. In the days of peace it had been -calculated that the shortage then existing could not be made good in -less than two years. Now, with half a hundred factories toiling, with -blackened Watervliet roaring and clanging as never a factory had labored -before, guns were being turned out at a rate that promised to reach -surprising dimensions when all the shops were fully at work. - - -_Six Months of Helplessness_ - -But at best there were six months during which nothing could be done -except to prepare. During those six months, while the country poured -forth its money prodigally to make up in wasteful speed what it had -neglected during long years, the invader could sit in the conquered -seaboard cities and suck them dry. - -Nothing on earth could alter it. The volunteers had to learn everything. -They had to learn to shoot, to survive slush and rain and cold, to dig -trenches. They had to become hardened enough to march twenty and more -miles a day with blankets, half a tent, frying pan, plate, knife, fork, -water bottle, first aid kit, an emergency ration, an intrenching tool -and bayonet, a heavy rifle and ninety heavy cartridges. - -The militia regiments had to be raised from peace strength to war -strength. That meant that into every company of 65 trained or partially -trained men there would have to be an influx of 85 utterly untrained -ones who would, of course, instantly destroy the original efficiency of -the organization till they were trained up to it.[169] - -“Six months at the very lowest possible estimate!” said the Secretary of -War. “And it will be six months of such work as this country never did -before in its history.”[170] - - -_Six Months of Bleeding_ - -“Six months with the North Atlantic Seaboard amputated,” said the -President, “means six months of bleeding to death.” - -Even without the mortal blow that was struck at the country’s commerce -by the locking of its Atlantic and Gulf ports, this severance of New -England and the metropolitan district of New York did, indeed, cause a -huge, bleeding wound. - -Of the seventy-five manufacturing cities of the United States whose -manufactured product ranked highest in value and played the greatest -part in the industrial wealth of the country, the invader possessed -twenty-seven, or more than one-third. - -Fifty-six thousand manufacturing establishments were in his control. -Those of the New England States had produced 30 per cent. of the total -wealth of the country in manufactures. When they were cut off, the blow -struck every human being in the continent who needed their products, and -every human being who depended directly or indirectly on the income from -their purchases of raw material. - -The United States had lost the source of 65 per cent. of its woolen -manufactures in value, 48 per cent. of the cotton manufactures, 45 per -cent. of the bronze and brass products. - -All the amounts involved were enormous. The annual value of the raw -material used by the conquered territory was beyond 2 billion dollars. -The value of the completed products was 5 billions, 642 millions.[171] - - -_An Incalculable Prize_ - -The Nation, thus maimed, stared aghast at the value of the prize that -had been wrested from it for lack of a little insurance. Its individuals -had paid scrupulously each year for insurance against fire and crime and -had scrutinized their policies with the utmost care. But they had -permitted their chosen representatives in Legislatures and Congress to -do as they chose about insuring against war, to spend money as they -would or not at all, and to accept a worthless policy obtained at an -extravagant price. - -Now they faced a loss that, for the time at least, might well be called -total. The value of Boston and the city of New York alone in taxable -property was 9 billions and 880 millions. Five cities of Connecticut -were worth 483 millions. Massachusetts had 22 cities exclusive of Boston -whose value was 1 billion and 415 millions. Counting all New England, -with New York and Boston, and leaving out the New Jersey conquest, the -enemy’s loot was 15 billions and 386 millions, exclusive of the public -city, State and Federal property that he had seized.[172] - - -_What Can He Do With It?_ - -“But what can he do with it?” the people of the rest of the United -States began to ask each other presently. - -Men had prophesied in the beginning that the conqueror with his guns -turned on the great cities, would extort vast tribute under threat of -leveling them. But there had swept through the land a spirit that would -face anything rather than to purchase safety and ignoble peace. “Let him -destroy the cities and all the land!” said America. “We will build the -sea-board up again, better than before. We will recompense our -fellow-citizens for every scrap that they lose. But we shall never pay -blackmail!” - -Had the invader entertained any such plan, this spirit that flamed -unmistakably through the continent would have daunted him. But he had no -such puerile design as to turn his wonderful prize into ashes. If his -errand was one of brigandage and robbery, it was brigandage and robbery -in the most scientific modern terms. It was brigandage that enlisted in -its conception and prosecution the brains of a world’s financiers, the -keen wit of a world’s merchants who wanted to win back the markets of -the earth and the far-sighted policy of international diplomats. - -For almost a month the conqueror did not show his hand. For almost a -month the seaboard from the end of Maine to New Jersey remained sealed. -Then, suddenly, he gave the United States his reply to the question: -“What Can He Do With It?” - - -_The Invader’s Reply_ - -He opened the wires. He did not send out a word over them. The people of -New England and New York did it. They sent out a flood of dispatches -that were like a great cry for help. It was the invader’s reply, through -them. The reply was “Starvation!” - -“We need coal! We need iron and steel! We need cotton!” cried the people -of New England. “We have used up all our raw materials. We cannot work -any longer unless you ship to us.” - -“We must re-open our banks!” said Boston and New York and the hundred -other cities. “We are paralyzed without our exchanges and relations with -the financial system of the country.” - -“We need foodstuffs!” said they all. - -The first quick decision of the country was one of wrathful refusal to -furnish the supplies that the enemy might fatten himself. But the -importunities from the conquered places grew. They went to all the land, -west and north and south. They came at the White House like a storm. - -“We are on the edge of panic! We have three millions of factory workers -who will starve unless we can instantly reëstablish our industries and -our finances!” - -“It is intolerable!” said the President, his face white with anger. “It -is simply a disguised form of blackmail. He means to make us finance -him; for, of course, he will levy contributions on the country as soon -as money begins to flow in.” - - -“_He Has Us!_” - -“He has us!” said the Secretary of the Treasury. “As we were helpless -against his cannon, so we are helpless against the new weapon that he -has drawn--the starvation of our own people. All the messages that we -have received prove that. He has shown them that their fate is wholly in -our hands--that if we refuse to send them money and foodstuffs and raw -material, they will have to blame us for the consequences.” - -The President of the United States arose. “Gentlemen,” he said, “they -are our own people. There is nothing else that we can do!”[173] - - * * * * * - -That is the story of The Invasion of America. There was nothing else -that we could do! - -How the land labored heart-breakingly to put an army into the field; how -the invader for eight long months held the conquered land, and under his -efficient mastery made its soil produce prodigally, its manufactories -pour forth their wealth in redoubled measure; how he laid tax after tax -on the men whose necks were under his foot; how, toward the end, he -gathered his transports in all the harbors; and how, when three American -armies, each 500,000 strong, began to move toward the coast from three -grand bases, he embarked all his men within one hundred and twenty hours -and sailed away unscathed--these things were but inevitable -consequences. - -The United States of America never knew how much wealth the -Conquestadore had squeezed from the conquered territory in requisitions, -in fines, in license fees, in taxes on imports and exports, and in war -levies. Statisticians figured for years afterward to discover from the -wildly tangled accounts how much he had extorted. They figured and -quarreled for a generation over the vast amounts that the United States -had lost by losing the markets of the world; for when her ports were -opened, she found that the markets were gone. - -Men said that from first to last the invading army had taken a sum not -short of four billions of dollars. But whatever the sum, it was as -nothing to the wound that had struck America near the heart--a brave -Nation, a greatly capable Nation, made to grovel for her life because, -in a world of men, she had failed to prepare for what men might do. - -THE END - - * * * * * - -FOOTNOTES: - - [1] The reader will recall Nast’s skeleton representing the Regular - Army with the legend, “Match it for grit if you can” or words to that - effect. - - [2] Statement based on statistics. - - [3] Authorities concede these matters. - - [4] See War Department Reports, 1915. - - [5] Taken from actual stations of various troops at various times. The - army post system is considered indefensible among military men. - - [6] Speed of embarkation of a mobilized and prepared army as - calculated by European military staff officers. - - [7] One thousand rifled cannon could be enumerated from the naval - lists of less than four Powers. Less than four Powers could match our - Navy with battleships. - - [8] This is exactly what happened during the Spanish-American War. - - [9] From U. S. War Department Reports for 1915 on Militia Organization. - - [10] This statement does not betray a military secret. It is well - known to all foreign governments that we cannot defend our coast - defenses against land attack. - - [11] Certain naval experts, basing their opinion on study of the - recent naval battles, claim that a difference of as little as 10 per - cent. in efficiency between fleets otherwise absolutely equal means - inevitable destruction for the inferior fleet. - - [12] A tactical necessity for an outnumbered fleet. - - [13] This statement is based on official army calculations. - - [14] From tabulated returns by the militia departments of twelve - Eastern States. - - [15] From annual reports of rifle practice for 1914, militia - organizations. - - [16] See tabulated returns published by War Department, 1915. - - [17] Under-stated. Annual reports for 1915 show many practically - useless batteries. - - [18] Annual report Militia Organization, 1915. (An Eastern seaboard - State.) - - [19] Tables given in War Department statistics, 1915. - - [20] Extracted from tabulated returns to War Department. (Report on - Militia Organization, 1915.) - - [21] Official figures: 12 Army aeroplanes, 13 Navy aeroplanes, no - dirigibles, two aeroplanes not serviceable, total effective, 23. - - [22] Block Island men helped in the capture of a troopship during the - War of the Revolution. - - [23] A landing party seizing an outlying island for a base, as Block - Island would infallibly be seized, always destroys everything that - might enable the inhabitants to communicate with the mainland. - - [24] A submarine cannot attack until it has risen near enough to the - surface to lift its periscope above water. Having thus obtained its - aim, it submerges again only deep enough to conceal the periscope. - It fires its torpedo blind when submerged. If it dives too deep, it - might send the weapon harmlessly under the ship’s keel. Hence, it - is possible, often, to “spot” the disturbed, whitened water above a - submarine even though it is sunken out of sight. - - [25] Target practice near the land has been found to so affect all - life nearby that it seriously injures the commercial fisheries. The - fishermen of Cape Cod have opposed fleet-firing several times. On one - occasion it is recorded that the fishing for lobsters (exclusively - bottom-haunting crustacean) was quite ruined for months owing to the - firing of big guns. - - [26] As a matter of fact, the extreme range of the present armament - of American harbor defenses is 23,000 yards. This is not a reliably - effective fighting range, and is merely stated as being the extreme - range, “under crucial test,” of the 12-inch steel rifled mortars. The - rifled guns as now mounted have a range of not more than 13,000 yards. - Battle-ships now being constructed are armed with 15 and 16-inch guns - that can outrange the extreme theoretical range of the mortars. - - [27] Harbor defenses are not constructed, necessarily, to protect - places near them. Their purpose is to prevent a naval force from - occupying an important harbor whose possession would open the way - to rich territory or lay commerce prostrate. Therefore it is no - defect in the construction of the Long Island entrance defenses - that it is possible to bombard coast places near them. It is - physically impossible ever to defend all the places on our coast with - fortifications. - - [28] The Army War College has repeatedly called attention to the - urgent need of the mobile army for siege artillery and for the - organization of an efficient body of troops trained in its use to be - _available whenever needed_. “Ammunition on hand for artillery, 38 per - cent. of amount required.” (See report of Army Board, and Secretary - of War Garrison’s statement to House Appropriations Committee, 1915.) - Another estimate in the possession of the author would indicate that - the ammunition on hand for _heavy_ artillery is only about 15 per - cent. of the amount required. - - [29] Troops cannot be landed with as little delay as this. But - naval tactics assume as a matter of course that an advance body of - bluejackets, trained for beach and surf work, can effect an immediate - landing if protected from attack. - - [30] Lord Cochran landed 18,000 men on the open coast of Chile in - five hours, with some guns. The surf conditions there are extremely - hazardous. - - [31] American submarines now in commission do not carry more than one - 3-inch rapid fire gun. It is set in a watertight compartment from - which it is elevated when the vessel is on the surface. Armaments of - destroyers are: Ammen class, five 3-inch rapid fire 30 cal. rifles; - Aylwin class, four 4-inch rapid fire 50 cal. rifles; Bainbridge class, - two 3-inch rifles and five 6-pounders rapid fire. - - [32] Submarine wire entanglements are being used effectively for the - protection of harbors during the present war. The wire cannot resist - cutting much more than twine can. It stops the submarine by menacing - it with being entangled and trapped. A submarine caught under water - cannot be cleared by its crew. The utmost the men can do is to try to - reach the surface by putting on “special escape helmets” and emerging - through the air-locks. - - [33] With periscopes shot away, a submarine, even though uninjured, - is quite helpless. She may escape, if she is in deep water and the - assailant is far enough away to give her time to dive and flee, deeply - submerged. See loss of U-12 on March 10 merely through destruction of - periscope, which permitted enemy destroyers to ram her. - - [34] Even steam vessels of high power often are rendered helpless by - jamming a trailing hawser around the shaft. The revolution of the - shaft so macerates and binds the fouled material that the engines are - unable to turn the propellor in either direction and only a diver can - clear it. - - [35] The reserve buoyancy of a submarine when awash (technically known - as “diving-trim”) is so delicate that 100 additional gallons of water - would sink a 300-ton vessel. - - [36] “From an altitude of 2,000 feet the movements of a submarine - torpedo boat may be easily observed unless the water is very - muddy”--Capt. V. E. Clark, Aviation Corps, U. S. A., December issue, - _Coast Artillery Journal_. - - [37] Important cities in this territory besides New York and Boston - are Fall River, Providence, New Bedford, New London, Bridgeport, New - Haven, Hartford, Worcester, Springfield, Willimantic and Pawtucket. - - [38] Colonel Abbott, U. S. A., one of the leading Chiefs of Engineers - who constructed the U. S. harbor defenses, stated that the fire of the - sixteen mortars, “like one giant musket throwing a charge of buckshot, - each pellet weighing ¼ ton,” could drop their sixteen projectiles into - a space 800 feet long by 300 feet wide. The author was present at a - test of a 16-mortar battery on Sandy Hook when the sixteen shells were - fired simultaneously at a deck-plan of the United States cruiser _San - Francisco_, the plan being outlined with stakes on the New Jersey - beach five and a half miles from the battery. Each projectile struck - inside of the staked outline. - - [39] “It will thus be seen that there are now provided about - one-fourth of the officers and one-half of the enlisted men necessary - for this purpose,” i.e. manning the defenses of the American - coast--Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., to Chief of Staff, - September 19, 1914. - - [40] “It is certain that present-day coast defenses could not - withstand an energetic attack from the land side,” i.e. they must be - defended with a mobile army--“Over-Seas Operations.” - - [41] The present war has made evident to military observers that in - the future the “aeroplane screen” will play a vital part similar - to the “cavalry screen.” It is based on the simple principle of - overpowering the adversary’s attempts by vastly superior numbers. - - [42] Estimates that were transmitted confidentially to this country - by observers in Europe and are now before the writer are that the - European Nations had raised their aeroplane efficiency to the - following magnitude: France 1,400, Germany 1,000, Russia 800, Italy - 600, England 400 (probably greatly increased since then), Austria 400, - Spain 100, Belgium (in the beginning) 100, Switzerland 20 and Servia - 60 aeroplanes. The United States has at present 12 army aeroplanes, 13 - naval planes, no dirigibles, 2 aeroplanes old model, total effective - 23. The first aero squadron of the army has just been formed at the - Signal Corps Aviation School, San Diego, Cal. It will contain twenty - officers and ninety-six enlisted men. The last House of Congress - refused to consent to the Senate’s appropriation of $400,000 for - military aviation, and the amount available this year was cut down to - $300,000. The Navy Department is making specifications for a small - dirigible, and on February 27 opened bids for the construction of six - hydro-aeroplanes, bi-plane sea-going type, armored, to carry two men, - wireless, guns and ammunition at speeds of from fifty to eighty miles - an hour. - - [43] Strength of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, 1914, as per returns - of inspecting officers, 5,369 men, 424 officers. - - [44] Only eleven States had on hand at the time of the last annual - inspection one complete uniform (less shoes) for each enlisted man of - the authorized minimum strength.... “In the opinion of the Division of - Militia Affairs the States could have by this time, by proper economy - and care in the use of property and the expenditure of funds, acquired - stores sufficient to equip the militia at war strength.... The militia - is not now equipped with supplies sufficient for peace strength.... In - no State is the prescribed minimum peace strength maintained.”--Pages - 206, 283 and 287, Organization and Federal Property, Annual Reports, - War Department, June 13, 1913 to October 1, 1914. - - [45] “We are still without an adequate reserve system either of - officers or men.”--Leonard Wood, Major General, Chief of Staff, U. S. - A., official report, January 20, 1914. - - [46] So stated in instructions issued to foreign armies for the event - of disembarkation. - - [47] Landing barges of this capacity are possessed by at least three - Powers and have been tested in maneuvers. - - [48] All these details, and many more, are systematically worked out - in European army instructions, both confidential and public. - - [49] Under average conditions it is possible to land 25,000 infantry, - 1,000 cavalry and 60 guns in six hours.... In the Crimean War 45,000 - men, 83 guns and 100 horses were disembarked and set on shore in less - than eleven hours, without modern appliances.--“Over-Seas Operations.” - See also British and French records. - - [50] This quotation is a literal quotation from the War Department - report on “The Organization of the Land Forces of the United States,” - August 10, 1912. - - [51] This point has been emphasized in practically every War - Department report on organization for many years back. Congress never - has acted on the matter. The Chief of Militia Affairs, U. S. A., was - forced to report in his last report that: “Little or no progress - appears to be making toward correct Divisional organization.”--Part - III, 1914, Report on Organization. Only two States have approachably - organized their militia in correct proportions. - - [52] The Division is the fundamental army unit.... The mobile elements - of the Regular Army should have a Divisional organization in time of - peace.--Office of the Chief of Staff, U. S. A., January 20, 1914. - - [53] Tables 17 and 18, pages 228, 229, Annual Report Division of - Militia Affairs, U. S. A., October 1, 1914.... “The States which send - their Infantry into active service without having made every possible - effort to supply it with an adequate Field Artillery support, will - see in the needless sacrifice of that Infantry the cost of their - short-sightedness in time of preparation.”--A. L. Mills, Brigadier - General, General Staff, U. S. A. - - [54] Page 26, Organization of the Land forces of the United States, U. - S. Army report. - - [55] “While the men who wish to spend the Army and Navy appropriation - upon unnecessary army posts or unfit navy yards have such a voice as - well as a vote,” i.e. in the Houses of Congress, “a great deal of - waste and extravagance is sure to result.”--Henry L. Stimson, former - Secretary of War. - - [56] Only the most perfectly organized intelligence department can - extract from the incredible mass of reports that come in during army - movements, the few true and important facts on which the final orders - of the commander may be based. An inadequate scouting service is worse - than merely weak. It betrays its own forces to disaster. - - [57] The Long Island Sound defenses are built to prevent the entrance - of a hostile fleet into Long Island Sound. By thus closing Long Island - Sound they protect all the Sound cities and the City of New York; but - they cannot and do not protect all the possible landing places. Long - Island, the land highway to New York City, is entirely undefended. The - War Department desires to erect proper defenses on or near Montauk - Point, but has still to get the authority. - - [58] Trinitrotol, now being used in Europe largely for under-water - work, is one of the most violently acting explosives known to-day. - - [59] The latest type of 16-inch naval gun has a range of 23,000 yards - or eleven and a half nautical miles, which is a little more than - thirteen statute miles.... A projectile from a 12-inch rifled gun - (U. S. A. coast-defense type) which was fired in the presence of the - author, ricochetted seven times. - - [60] Not a fanciful description. The impact of a 12-inch projectile - was calculated exactly by Major General Abbot, Chief of Engineers, U. - S. A., in order to formulate a precise comparison. - - [61] The writer has seen iron bars two and a half inches wide, which - locked the steel doors to a casemate, buckle and bend outward from the - vacuum created by the blast of a rifled gun. - - [62] Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., September 19, 1914, - pages 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15. - - [63] The ammunition now on hand and under manufacture is 73 per - cent. of the allowance fixed by the National Coast Defense Board. - Last report to the Chief of Staff, U. S. A.... “The actual supply of - ammunition at present is very considerably behind even that modest - standard,” i.e. the minimum allowance, “and in many cases of our most - important sea-coast guns would be sufficient for only thirty or forty - minutes of firing.”--Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War, March - 1, 1915. - - [64] Army and naval officers, both American and foreign, believe that - 5,000 men would be more than sufficient to take such works if they are - manned only by their Coast Artillery companies and undefended by a - mobile army. - - [65] We have less than one quarter of the ammunition considered - necessary as an adequate supply and reserve for our full number of - small-arms. (Author’s Note.) ... “We are less adequately supplied - with field artillery material than with any other form of fighting - equipment.”--Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, 1911.... “A full - supply of this type of material must be stored and ready for use - before war is undertaken.”--W. W. Wotherspoon, Major General, Chief of - Staff, U. S. A., November 15, 1914, Annual Report. - - [66] It has been said authoritatively that if all the guns of the army - should have to go into action at any one time there is not enough - ammunition for a single day’s engagement, even at a conservative - estimate of the amount of shells expended by each gun. In some of the - European battles, more guns than our whole supply were engaged on each - side. - - [67] There is only enough material on hand to keep our present mobile - army (at its present low peace strength) in the field for six months - in the event of war. There is nothing to spare. - - [68] Cavalry troops in the regular army as now constituted are under - law rarely filled to a number of more than 70, while their proper - complement is 100. - - [69] A comparatively small number of modern liners would be enough to - aggregate this net tonnage. - - [70] Based on foreign army calculations. - - [71] Modern artillery is almost invariably concealed. Experienced - soldiers would suspect that an infantry regiment hardly would be - without at least one battery, and more probably two, of field - artillery support. - - [72] “Unless provision is made in the near future for additional Coast - Artillery personnel, it will be necessary to reduce the garrisons to - mere caretaker establishments at some of the defenses.”--E. M. Weaver, - Brigadier General, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., September 19, - 1914, Annual Report. - - [73] Actual manning detail for New Bedford defenses, 1914, one company - regular Coast Artillery. - - [74] There is said to be only one firm in the United States that can - produce the rifling tools, jigs, gauges and other exact and intricate - machinery needed to make a rifle. Consequently, the loss of the - Springfield Arsenal would be disastrous. - - [75] Official statistics. - - [76] Large numbers of guns and large numbers of ammunition are - liable to capture and destruction.... To start into field operations - with the expectation that the proper proportions will be maintained - without large sources of manufacture, would be fallacious.”--Chief of - Staff, U. S. A., 1914.--See Report on Militia Organization, 1914, for - comments on the great loss and destruction of equipment and material. - - [77] Some observers of the European War declare that the reserve of - one gun per man has proved itself necessary for the proper equipment - of an active army. - - [78] “He,” i.e., Secretary Garrison, present Secretary of War, “asks - for an increase in the number of officers to take the place, in time - of peace, of such officers as are serving with the militia or on - detached duty, and in time of war to assist in the organization of the - citizens’ army. The necessity of these requests is self-evident. Yet - the House of Representatives has completely ignored each and every one - of them, and the pending appropriation bill contains no provision for - them.”--Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War. - - [79] The scandal caused in 1898 by appointing incompetent civilians - to the Quartermaster’s Department and the ensuing difficulties with - commissariat, etc., have been the subject of much discussion. - - [80] Our War Department has asked for only about five guns to every - thousand men, but has not yet been able to have this quota finished. - European practice has been to increase the number of guns to the - thousand rifles and sabers steadily. Before the war it was at least - five. It has been enormously increased as a result of the experience - gained during the recent fighting, in which it was established that - infantry or cavalry without absolutely dominating gun protection were - hopelessly weak. - - [81] These movements of advance bodies and patrols have been carefully - worked out as a campaign problem. The lines of advance mentioned are - those that present themselves to military observers as the ones most - likely to be selected by an invading army moving toward Boston from a - base on Narragansett Bay or Buzzards Bay. - - [82] So laid down as the most likely movement to be made by invading - armies with heavy cavalry supports. - - [83] The elementary tactics for the procedure of every army that has - to hold any extended territory. - - [84] Worked out from a consensus of opinions and plans by tactical - experts both here and abroad. - - [85] “When the defenses outside the Continental United States are - provided for, there will remain for home gun defenses 176 officers and - 7,543 enlisted men, _which is about one-third of one relief_.”--Page - 15, Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., for year ended June - 30, 1914. - - [86] “The searchlight project is approximately 50 per cent. - completed.... The fire-control system may be said to be approximately - 60 per cent. completed.... Installation of power generating and - distributing equipment is 25 per cent. completed.... Submarine mine - structures are 83 per cent. completed.”--Report, Chief of Coast - Artillery, U. S. A., for year ended June 30, 1914. - - [87] Regular manning detail for Boston defenses, twelve companies of - Coast Artillery. These have seven systems of defense to maintain. - The companies are not enlisted to their full strength. Even if they - were, there would be less than two hundred men to each defense. This - is not sufficient for any sustained action at the big guns alone. A - sufficiently energetic enemy, even if he might not damage the works, - could wear out the men by incessant attack for a few days and nights. - There certainly would not be men enough to provide for outlying - defense against landing parties. - - [88] These are all vitally necessary parts of the defense of the - Boston harbor forts. They are only a small part of what would have - to be done in case of naval attack. The data used here are not - theoretical. They have been developed by actual test. - - [89] So developed in sea and land maneuvers undertaken for the purpose - of establishing the very points here mentioned. - - [90] It is estimated, from careful calculations, that to put out of - action a searchlight at night with shipfire at a range of 6,000 yards, - more than a thousand shots from 3-inch guns should be required. The - fact is mentioned here to illustrate the great strength of harbor - defenses against fire from the sea, if there be enough mobile troops - on the land to prohibit destruction by landing parties. - - [91] That the American harbor defense system and construction are - of the very highest type, has been acknowledged many times by the - technical experts of the world. More than once the author has heard - foreign officers express the belief that they were practically - impregnable to naval fire, providing they were fully supplied and - equipped with the material necessary for continuous defense. - - [92] A generous system of reliefs is imperative in harbor defenses - during war. Peace time maneuvers have developed the fact that the mere - strain of incessant watchfulness while waiting for an enemy who may - appear at unexpected points suddenly, is so great that unless the men - have frequent relief, they cannot exert that concentrated energy which - is needed instantly in the crisis. - - [93] This system of night attack has been developed and tested by - actual trial, and is such as is now laid down for battle practice in - the tactics of most navies. “The ... squadron will enter ..., and - will maneuver at range of about 9,000 yards from Fort ..., firing - heavily, to induce the defense to expend as much ammunition as - possible.”--Extract from actual orders in author’s possession, given - to a squadron of battleships and cruisers for night attack. It will - be noted that this distance is less than one-half the range of the - 12-inch rifled mortars in a harbor defense battery. - - [94] The search-light system, recognized as a vital part of harbor - defense by the Endicott Board on harbor defense (appointed in - 1885) has grown steadily in importance with the steady increase in - ship armament and ship speed. A thoroughly efficient installation - of search-lights for modern harbors demands as much scientific - calculation and interlocation as do the gun-systems. If the - search-lights cannot infallibly find any vessel that may approach - within range, the guns of the fortification are useless. - - [95] The inadequacy of the installation has been made the subject - of continuous reports. It is a fact that a few years ago, when a - mock attack on one of the most important Atlantic defenses was - ordered by the War Department, the commander had to requisition - search-lights from other coast defenses, and that during the maneuvers - the search-light defense, because of its inadequacy and temporary - character, failed at several critical points, permitting attacking - ships to come within less than 4,000 yards of one important battery. - - [96] Usually the firing zones are: first, 6,000 yards to the extreme - range of biggest guns; second or intermediate, 3,000 yards to 6,000 - yards; third (mine field zone), 3,000 yards. The order of fire is - worked out absolutely for every condition that is possible. The - movements of attacking ships, and their combinations, although very - numerous, can be predicated with some accuracy beforehand. - - [97] Estimated number of shots required at night from ships afloat - at 6,000 yards: to destroy position-finding tower which is visible, - 22 12-inch shells, 250 4-inch shells or 2,500 3-inch shells; to - destroy invisible station without tower, 400 12-inch shells, 5,000 - 4-inch shells; to destroy search-light, 24 12-inch shells, 300 4-inch - shells or 3,000 3-inch shells. This fact makes it feasible to protect - outlying and secondary range stations perfectly if sufficient troops - can guard each station to fight off landing parties. An enemy will - surely land men to destroy them unless he knows they are well defended. - - [98] Actual records of American harbor batteries: three 6-inch guns on - disappearing carriages, 15 shots in 1 minute, 27 seconds. - - [99] From an actual maneuver performed successfully by a destroyer - division attempting to destroy a base station during a mock battle on - the Atlantic coast. - - [100] The Weir River would enable assailants to reach the inner harbor - and take the defenses in the rear. - - [101] Mr. Garrison, Secretary of War, again represented to Congress - at its last session that changes in the 12-inch gun carriages are - absolutely necessary to give them an elevation of 15 degrees. This - matter has been so well established that all military engineers are - unanimous both as to the urgent need for the change and the excellent - result that will follow. - - [102] These are points lying south of the southern defenses of Boston - Harbor, and so near them that modern siege guns planted there could - fire into them at short range. - - [103] The primary harbor defense batteries (12-inch, 10-inch and - 8-inch guns and 12-inch mortars) are not emplaced for anything except - sea-ward fire, nor should they be. To use them against land attack - would be only a matter of desperation, as in the case here described. - As a matter of fact, they would be rather inefficient against smaller - guns that are more mobile and durable. - - [104] “Firing at speed, the shots from a dozen guns shooting at - successive intervals, would not have five seconds between them.” - - [105] The tremendous air-compression in fortifications during - gun-action almost always tears out parts of the general installation - even in mere target practice. If fire-control installation, wiring, - telephone systems, etc., are efficient only to the minimum degree, - and there is no adequate reserve supply of material for repairs, they - are certain to break down in any attack that is pressed with vigor. - An attacked harbor-work is subjected to the most terrible destructive - attempts that humanity has been able to devise. - - [106] Long range investment with modern artillery serves the double - purpose of commanding the ultimate target, and commanding all the - territory in between, thus giving the artillerist possession of many - miles of area. - - [107] Financial Statistics, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the - Census, 1914. - - [108] In Brown versus the United States, the U. S. Supreme Court - decreed that “war gives to the sovereign,” i.e. the conquering power, - “full right to take the persons and confiscate the property of the - enemy wherever found.--Humane mitigations may affect exercise of this - right but cannot impair the right itself.” - - [109] “The so-called exemption of private property from capture or - seizure on land may be called almost nominal.”--Rear-Admiral Stockton, - Outlines of International Law. - - [110] Napoleon made Valencia pay $100,000 for the support of his army. - Receipts were provided for originally when troops made requisitions, - not necessarily to insure pay to the despoiled inhabitants, but merely - to prevent unauthorized plundering. - - [111] A universally accepted form of military rule, and distinguished - from merely martial law. - - [112] U. S. Census Bureau Report, 1914; also Boston City Manual. - - [113] So certified to City Clerk, Boston, by Board of Assessors, June - 30, 1914, exact number 123,657. - - [114] Statistics of Cities of the United States, 1914. - - [115] From “Instructions for Government of Armies of the United States - in the Field” (with exception of statement as to specific punishment - for infraction. Punishment mentioned here, however, is such as all - military authorities will claim the right to inflict.) - - [116] The right of quartering troops on the inhabitants of enemy - country is unquestioned and universally exercised. Equally universal - is the military commanders’ right to punish treachery by death. - - [117] “Complete conquest carries with it all rights of former - government.”--U. S. Supreme Court. - - [118] Benjamin Harris’ “Publick Occurrences,” suppressed after one - issue. - - [119] There is an immense literature on military law, and every army - contains officers who have taken degrees in law, for the purpose of - expounding and administering it. - - [120] The legal and technical correctness of all acts is of extreme - importance in the peace settlements. - - [121] All authority in conquered country is only by and with the - authority of the military conqueror. His power, practically, is - limited only by his motives of policy or kindness. - - [122] This requisition is taken almost verbatim from a requisition - issued by a belligerent army in the field. It is an accepted and - acknowledged principle of war that the conqueror may force the enemy - to pay his expenses to as large an extent as possible. A commander may - waive the right, but it is held unimpaired. - - [123] This decision covered a case that arose during the Civil - War, and was cited by the Law Office, Division of Insular Affairs, - on several occasions to fortify United States procedure after the - Spanish-American War. - - [124] A literal extract from the Sedition Act (No. 292, etc.) of the - Philippine Commission, except that the act provides for specific - imprisonment and fine. - - [125] So laid down by nearly all writers on military law who touch on - this subject. - - [126] This principle was laid down in regard to territory subjected to - military occupation by the United States during the war with Mexico. - The United States claimed (and sparingly exercised) the right to court - martial and execute as rebels certain leaders of an insurrection - against the military government in New Mexico, 1847-8. - - [127] “In many instances the deficiency has reached such a figure as - to leave militia organizations such in name only.”--Page 206, last - report, General Mills, U. S. A. - - [128] Table No. 9, Report, Division of Militia Affairs, U. S. A., 1914. - - [129] Range of four miles. - - [130] Page 231, Report on militia field artillery, General Mills, U. - S. A., 1914. - - [131] Table 9, militia cavalry statistics, Division of Militia - Affairs, U. S. A. Annual Report, 1914. - - [132] From statistics, gathered before the present European War, of - the armament then owned by at least four of the great Powers. - - [133] From statistics, gathered before the present European War, of - the armament then owned by at least four of the great Powers. - - [134] A literal transcript of the report of two medical officers on - the conditions existing among good militia troops who were ordered out - for maneuvers distinctly specified as war maneuvers to be conducted - under war conditions. - - [135] This figure is purposely placed below what is actually expected. - During the Connecticut maneuvers, 1909, the straggling was a subject - for comment among both militia and regular officers, though the troops - did well considering their softness. One officer reported that the - straggling amounted to 15 to 25 per cent. of some regiments. - - [136] From the report of an umpire at a maneuver under war conditions. - He reported that the batteries of both sides fired into woods actually - occupied by their own troops. - - [137] So reported by a General of Militia, as the result of his - observations in field practice. - - [138] Schedule laid down by General von Bernhardi as the maximum time - that should be expended by properly trained troops under experienced - officers. - - [139] Army heads have called the attention of Congress and the public - repeatedly to the fact that officers cannot possibly be prepared for - the complex work of handling an army if they never get an opportunity - to learn by actual experience. The post system is to blame to a - considerable extent.... Remarks about commissary troubles in this - paragraph are based on actual occurrences in the field, as set forth - in an official report. - - [140] From “The Army in Action.” - - [141] Watervliet, situated near Troy, N. Y., is one of the most - important Government gun factories in the United States. It produces - the 12, 14 and 16-inch all steel rifled guns for the harbor defenses - and is fitted out with enormously expensive machinery for making - many other different types of ordnance. Its exposed situation, under - our present conditions of defenselessness, has long been a cause for - anxiety. - - [142] It has been pointed out often that within a radius of less than - a hundred miles around New York City there is a large percentage of - the works and factories on which the Government depends for much of - its war material. - - [143] Vessels actually building in places named when the last annual - edition of the Navy Year Book was published. - - [144] Strength of total force, including all individuals, October - 1, 1914, 10,740. It is held that New York’s conformation, long and - narrow, makes it an unusually easy city to control, as it is possible - to prevent mobs from combining, and trouble can be confined to limited - areas. - - [145] Bureau of Census, U. S., 1914. - - [146] Census Office Tabular Statement issued in 1911. Figures are for - all boroughs of Greater New York, and include only establishments - conducted under factory system. Building and similar industries and - small establishments producing less than $500 worth of products a year - are not counted. - - [147] Paragraph 373, Acts Punished As War Treason: Rules of Land - Warfare, published for the information and government of the armed - land forces of the United States, April 25, 1914. - - [148] “A town surrounded by detached forts is considered jointly with - such forts as an indivisible whole, as a defended place. A place that - is occupied by a military force or through which such a force is - passing, is a defended place.”--Bombardments, Assaults and Sieges, - Rules of Land Warfare, U. S. A. - - [149] Office of Naval Intelligence, July 1, 1914. - - [150] Practical completion of battery construction and armament, - power plants, fire control, searchlight installation and supply of - ammunition reported by Chief of Coast Artillery, September 19, 1914. - - [151] Congress has appropriated comparatively little for the needs of - Guantanamo Harbor. - - [152] Usually one of the first orders given to the occupants of - occupied territory. - - [153] The practice laid down for our own army and followed in the - Insular campaigns. - - [154] Paragraph 301, Rules of Land Warfare, U. S. A., 1914. - - [155] This is one of the rules accepted among all nations and followed - by all armies. - - [156] Issued during the Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria and cited by - recent writers as acknowledged precedents. - - [157] “While a military government continues as an instrument of - warfare, used to promote the objects of invasion, its powers are - practically boundless.”--Magoon, Law of Civil Government under - Military Occupation, U. S. Bureau of Insular Affairs. - - [158] Table 4, 13th Census, Volume 8. The Metropolitan District, as - referred to in this sense, comprises Greater New York and the New - Jersey manufacturing counties that contain Newark, Bayonne, Paterson, - Hackensack, Passaic, Rutherford, etc. - - [159] Spaight, an authority, says that “practically everything under - the sun” may be requisitioned and cites the case of a boot-jack being - demanded for army use. See quotation and rulings of U. S. Army. - - [160] Under Hague Rule, Article LIII, it is held that “everything - susceptible of military use” may be requisitioned, and modern army - practice defines this as meaning anything from telegraph wire to canal - boats. - - [161] Not a large sum as compared with some imposts laid on quite - small and unimportant towns in wars during the past century. One such - levy was $1,000,000 from one town in one day, according to European - writers. - - [162] See case of seizure by Major General Otis of $100,000 from - Philippine bankers, being money owned by insurgents and payable on - presentation of a draft held by insurgents. Report, Charles E. Magoon, - Law Officer, Division of Insular Affairs, 1902. - - [163] List of non-assessable Federal property, N. Y., 1914. - - [164] At present it is considered that one military flying machine in - two months is good speed of production. - - [165] Result of inquiry made by U. S. Army after tests on Texas border - had developed the high value of motor trucks for war. - - [166] Orders issued by War Department, March 6, 1911, for - concentration at San Antonio, Texas, of maneuver division of three - infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade, an independent cavalry - brigade and the necessary auxiliary troops. Strength should have been - 15,669 officers and men. On March 31 the division mustered only 11,254 - men. On April 30 it had reached a strength of 12,598. On May 30 it - numbered 12,809. It never reached its full required strength and it - did not reach its maximum actual strength until three months after it - had been ordered out. On Feb. 21 and 24, 1913, three brigades of the - second division were ordered to mobilize at Texas City and Galveston. - This force did not reach its maximum strength till June 30, 1913. See - Report of Major General Carter, U. S. A. - - [167] Table 26, page 262, Report, Chief of Division of Militia - Affairs, U. S. A., October 1, 1914. - - [168] Census of Manufactures, U. S., 1910. - - [169] Report, Brigadier General A. L. Mills, U. S. A., 1914. - - [170] Secretary of War Garrison says: “It will require six months at - the lowest possible estimate to equip, organize, train, drill and make - ready our volunteers.” - - [171] Census Bureau, Volume 8. - - [172] From Tax Lists, New York City and Boston, and assessable values - of New England, U. S. Census Bureau. - - [173] Many so-called “non-intercourse acts” were passed during the - Civil War. These authorized the President both to prohibit and to - license and permit intercourse and trade with belligerent territory. - Under these acts President Lincoln permitted the purchase of cotton in - the south, and his procedure was upheld by the United States Supreme - Court on the ground that “the United States has power to permit - intercourse with an enemy during the time of war.” - - * * * * * - -Typographical error corrected by the etext transcriber: - -one of the men in Wash-ton=> one of the men in Washington {pg 156} - - - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Invasion of America, by -Julius Washington Muller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION OF AMERICA *** - -***** This file should be named 52038-0.txt or 52038-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/3/52038/ - -Produced by MWS and Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/52038-0.zip b/old/52038-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2dfcc03..0000000 --- a/old/52038-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h.zip b/old/52038-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1921d61..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/52038-h.htm b/old/52038-h/52038-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index d11f6b8..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/52038-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8892 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> - <head> <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Invasion of America, by Julius W. Muller. -</title> -<style type="text/css"> - p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:4%;} - -.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;margin:.5em auto .5em auto;} - -.cb {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} - -.chead {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;margin:.75em auto .5em auto;} - -.courb {font-family:courier, serif;font-weight:bold;} - -.enlargeimage {margin: 0 0 0 0; text-align: center; border: none;} - @media print, handheld -{.enlargeimage - {display: none;} - } - -.hang {text-indent:-4%;margin-left:4%;} - -.nind {text-indent:0%;} - -.nonvis {display:inline;} - @media print, handheld - {.nonvis - {display: none;} - } - -.r {text-align:right;margin-right: 5%;} - -.rt {text-align:right;} - -.sans {font-family:sans-serif,serif;font-weight:bold;} - -small {font-size: 70%;} - -big {font-size: 130%;} - - h1 {margin-top:5%;text-align:center;clear:both;} - - h2 {margin-top:4%;margin-bottom:2%;text-align:center;clear:both; - font-size:120%;} - - hr.full {width: 50%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:4px double gray;} - - table {margin-top:2%;margin-bottom:2%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;} - - body{margin-left:4%;margin-right:6%;background:#ffffff;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} - -a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - - link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - -a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} - -a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} - -.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:100%;} - - img {border:none;} - -.blockquot {margin-top:2%;margin-bottom:2%;font-size: 90%;} - -.bbox1 {border:solid 2px black;padding:2px;margin:auto auto; -max-width:24em;} -.bbox {border:solid 2px black;padding:2px;} - -.caption {font-weight:bold;font-size: 90%;} -.captionnorm {font-weight:normal;font-size: 90%;} - -.figcenter {margin-top:3%;margin-bottom:3%;clear:both; -margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0%; -max-width:70%;} - @media print, handheld - {.figcenter - {page-break-before: avoid;} - } - -.footnotes {border:dotted 3px gray;margin-top:5%;clear:both;} - -.footnote {width:95%;margin:auto 3% 1% auto;font-size:0.9em;position:relative;} - -.label {position:relative;left:-.5em;top:0;text-align:left;font-size:.8em;} - -.fnanchor {vertical-align:30%;font-size:.8em;} - -div.poetry {text-align:center;} -div.poem {font-size:90%;margin:auto auto;text-indent:0%; -display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - -.pagenum {font-style:normal;position:absolute; -left:95%;font-size:55%;text-align:right;color:gray; -background-color:#ffffff;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0em;} -@media print, handheld -{.pagenum - {display: none;} - } -</style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Invasion of America, by Julius Washington Muller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Invasion of America - a fact story based on the inexorable mathematics of war - -Author: Julius Washington Muller - -Release Date: May 10, 2016 [EBook #52038] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION OF AMERICA *** - - - - -Produced by MWS and Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Image unavailable: cover" /> -</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="border: 2px black solid;margin:auto auto;max-width:50%; -padding:1%;"> -<tr><td> - -<p class="c"><a href="#CONTENTS">Contents.</a></p> - -<p class="c"><a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">List of Illustrations</a><br /> <span class="nonvis">(In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] -clicking directly on the image -will bring up a larger version.)</span></p> -<p class="c">(etext transcriber's note)</p></td></tr> -</table> - - -<p><a name="ILL_IT_WAS" id="ILL_IT_WAS"></a><a name="front" id="front"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_frontis_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_frontis_sml.jpg" width="492" height="290" alt="Image unavailable: “It was not because they knew how to fight; it was because they meant to stay there till they died.” - - -Frontispiece - -" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“It was not because they knew how to fight; it was because they meant to stay there till they died.” - -<br /> -Frontispiece - -</span> -</div> - -<div class="bbox1"> -<div class="bbox"> -<div class="bbox"> -<h1> -THE INVASION<br /> -OF AMERICA</h1> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"> -<b>A FACT STORY BASED ON THE IN-<br />EXORABLE -MATHEMATICS OF WAR</b><br /> -</div></div> - -<p class="cb">BY<br /> -<big>JULIUS W. MULLER</big><br /> -Author of “The A. B. C. of Preparedness.”<br /> -<br /><br /> -<img src="images/colophon.png" -width="120" -height="173" -alt="Image unavailable: [image of the colophon unavailable.]" -/><br /> -<br /> -NEW YORK<br /> -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY<br /> -<span class="smcap">681 Fifth Avenue</span><br /> -1916</p> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="c"> -Copyright, 1915<br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY<br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">In</span> January, 1915, Mr. G. T. Viskniskki, manager of The Wheeler -Syndicate, asked me: “Assuming that an enemy landed an army on the -American coast, what could we actually do with our actual present -resources used to their fullest possible extent?”</p> - -<p>This story was written as the answer.</p> - -<p>I hesitated a long time before I did it. I feared and fear still the -dangers to which the possession of military power drives Nations, and -which are particularly great in the case of a Republic. The obvious -danger that a Nation like ours if powerfully armed may be too easily -impelled to war, is great enough. But still more grave is the danger of -a deep and fatal change in our National spirit, our ideals and our -attitudes toward the world outside of our own borders.</p> - -<p>Therefore when I did write the story I did it with no unworthy design, -and not for the sake of taking advantage of the popular interest in the -subject.</p> - -<p>The story was written without any idea of suggesting that any Nation or -group of Nations may mean to attack us. It was written with no desire to -“scare” the people of the United States into giving thought to the army -and navy. I should hold it a sad reflection on our country to assume -that it must be aroused by terror or hatred into setting its house in -order.</p> - -<p>I beg my readers to accept the story in this spirit. There are eight -words, uttered by one of the greatest of simple men. They are: “With -malice toward none, with charity toward all.” Let that spirit dominate -whatever this Nation may do for military Preparedness, and there will be -no danger that the Preparedness shall become Bellicosity and curse the -land.</p> - -<p>As to the story itself, I need say only that I have tried scrupulously -to avoid twisting any fact to prove a point; and I have cited no fact, -even the most unimportant, without verifying it by reference to the -original source. The description of the method of attack by the -invading foreign armies is not based on any of the conflicting tales -that have come to us from the European scene of war. In fact, the -present war has been almost ignored. The foreign army statistics and -other facts are based on undoubtedly authoritative official and -semi-official publications issued during times of peace, on a study of -the great peace maneuvers, and on information possessed by our own -military experts.</p> - -<p>Similarly, in treating of our own army and its situation I abstained -wholly from using any of the tempting material that has been made so -freely available since the beginning of the agitation for military -preparedness, and have used, instead, the simple and surely unbiassed -facts presented to Congress in responsible official reports before the -European War centered American interest on our own condition.</p> - -<p>The book will demonstrate for itself that the “story element” is not -made to depend on invented battles or imagined catastrophes. Facing the -fact that war is an iron game, wherein the moves are predicated -inexorably on the possession of the material in men and appliances, the -fiction takes no liberties save in trying to present a living picture -of what such a war, falling on an army so unprepared, will be in such a -country as ours.</p> - -<p>The technical soundness of the book is left by me to the verdict of -technical experts. The story was planned, drafted, written and rewritten -with the benefit of unusually authoritative assistance and under -technical coöperation rarely granted to books of this nature. My thanks -are due to men who gave freely of their knowledge, professional ability -and time without even asking that credit should be given to them in -return.</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">The Author.</span><br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Let</span> us be safe rather than sorry! Every scene so graphically described -by the writer of this book will find its duplicate in the mind of the -reader who has kept himself informed of the occurrences in the European -fields of war.</p> - -<p>In war the law of Nations, conserving the laws of humanity, is -superseded by the law of necessity which is invoked and interpreted as -to life and property by the belligerent concerned, to excuse every act -committed.</p> - -<p>Four years of costly and exhausting Civil War found us able to mass on -the Mexican border a magnificently trained and virile army to execute -our mandate of withdrawal (under the Monroe Doctrine) of a so-called -Ruler by Divine Right and his government sustained by foreign arms. From -that task the Civil War armies of both sides, trained to look with -contempt upon obstacles hitherto regarded as insurmountable, turned and -accomplished the construction of trans-Continental railroads that would -not otherwise have been built for another generation, thus inaugurating -an era of unparalleled national development.</p> - -<p>The war in Europe, once ended, will likewise find such virile armies -with warships and transport service comparatively unimpaired and -aggregating, as to the latter, millions of net tons.</p> - -<p>The teaching of history shows that so long as human nature remains -unchanged, war cannot be eliminated as a factor in human affairs. -Meanwhile, and doubtless for centuries to follow, war is inevitable as a -recurrent consequence of the ceaseless operation of an inexorable law of -progress toward world unity under that ultimate governmental form that -shall approach nearest to the laws of humanity and righteousness.</p> - -<p>As our own experience in the Spanish-American war abundantly proves, -intervening oceans lost to our command by reason of the insufficient -strength of our navy, offer no obstacles to the landing on our shore of -a first armed enemy relay sufficient to secure a gateway through which -others would rapidly follow. To this we should be able to oppose only an -available mobile force—at present little more than double the police -force which is deemed somewhat inadequate to preserve order and protect -life and property in the City of New York.</p> - -<p>This book thus simply stages here in New England, the heart of our -industrial efficiency for war or peace, scenes the counterpart of those -occurring abroad from day to day, against the actual happening of which -in our own land there now intervenes a wholly inadequate navy and but -the skeleton of an army, as in the days of the late Thomas Nast.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p class="c"><span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">John A. Johnston</span>,</span><br /> - -Brigadier General U. S. Army (Resigned);<br /> -President Army League of the U. S.<br /> -<br /> -Washington, D. C. November 1, 1915.<br /> -</p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td><small>CHAPTER </small></td><td> </td> -<td><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#I">I</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Beginnings</span> </td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#II">II</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Coast Bombarded</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_024">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#III">III</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Landing</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_058">58</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#IV">IV</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Coast Defenses Fall</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_100">100</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#V">V</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">New England’s Battle</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_135">135</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#VI">VI</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Rising of New England</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_167">167</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#VII">VII</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Investment of Boston</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_201">201</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">Defending Connecticut</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_238">238</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#IX">IX</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Capture of New York City</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_268">268</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="rt"><a href="#X">X</a></td><td valign="top"><span class="smcap">The Price That Had to Be Paid</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_315">315</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="margin:auto auto;max-width:70%;"> - -<tr><td> </td><td class="rt"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_IT_WAS">“It Was Not Because They Knew How to Fight; It Was Because They Meant to Stay There Till They Died</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_DAYS_BEFORE">“Days Before, the American Fleet Had Steamed Out of Long Island Sound</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_014">facing 14</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THERE_WERE">“There Were Ships Moving Toward the Long Island Coast as if to Threaten New York</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_028">28</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THERE_IN">“There in Connecticut Lay the Army ... Miles of Tents Separated by Geometrically Straight Rows of Company Streets</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_033">33</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_UP_MOUNTED">“Up Mounted a Hydro-Aeroplane</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_046">46</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_DRAGONS">“The Dragons of Twelve-Inch Mortars that Squatted in Hidden Pits</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_048">48</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_DESTROYERS_MOVED">“Destroyers Moved Straight for the Harbor in a Long Line</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_060">60</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_HE_STEERED">“He Steered His Craft, Awash, from Behind Fisher’s Island, at Dawn</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_083">83</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_FOR_MILES">“For Miles Beyond that the Enemy’s Patrols Had Occupied Points ...</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_092">92</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THEY_FLEW">“They Flew over the Tall Municipal Building of New York</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_100">100</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_EFFICIENT">“The Efficient, Prepared, Resourceful Invader Was Landing His Army, Not Only Without Losing a Man, but Without Getting a Man’s Feet Wet</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_109">109</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_FORWARD">“The Forward Turret of a Battleship Turned and Spoke with a Great Voice</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_129">129</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_PEOPLE">“The People Had Gone out to Tear Up the Railroad Tracks Leading into the Town</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_152">152</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_ENTIRELY_RAW">“Entirely Raw Volunteers, Who Had Everything to Learn</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_160">160</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THERE_HAD">“There Had Been Firing from Mill-Buildings, Which Had Been Destroyed for Punishment</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_183">183</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_QUICK">“The Quick Searchlights Caught the Ships</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_208">208</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_A_LANDING">“A Landing Was Attempted in Greater Force, with the Assistance of a Destroyer Division Lying Close to the Beach</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_213">213</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_COUNTRY">“The Country-Club Had Been Turned into a Brigade Headquarters</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_243">243</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_ARMY">“The Army of Madmen Went Forward to the Connecticut River to Hold the Western Bank</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_260">260</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_ONLY">“The Only Activity that Remained in Full Progress Was the Activity of the Bulletin-Boards</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_291">291</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top" class="hang"><a href="#ILL_THE_BIG">“The Big Guns Behind Them Made No Despicable Sentinels</a>”</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_331">331</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><th class="c" colspan="2">MAPS</th></tr> -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#ILL_LANDING">The Landing of the Enemy Forces</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_123">123</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#ILL_MAP_BOSTON">Boston Harbor</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_201">201</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td valign="top"><a href="#ILL_NEW_YORK">The Attack on the New York Defences</a></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_300">300</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a>{1}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="THE_INVASION_OF_AMERICA" id="THE_INVASION_OF_AMERICA"></a>THE INVASION OF AMERICA</h2> - -<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE BEGINNINGS</span></h2> - -<p>“Washington, D. C., March 20.—The President, as Commander-in-Chief of -the Army and Navy, has ordered a grand joint maneuver of the fleet, the -regular army and the Organized Militia (National Guard) of Divisions 5, -6, 7, and 8, comprising New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, -Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.”</p> - -<p>No comment from official circles accompanied this dispatch when it was -printed in the newspapers. None was needed. Ever since the Great -Coalition had been formed, America had faced the probability of war.</p> - -<p>In the White House there was a conference of the Cabinet, attended by -the Chief of Staff of the United States Army and the Admiral who was -President of the General Board of the Navy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span></p> - -<p>“The regular troops are moving,” reported the Chief of Staff. “Every -last man of ’em is on the way east.” He laughed grimly. “I take no -credit for it. The trains of the country can do it without changing a -schedule. Do you know, gentlemen, that even the smaller roads often -handle an excursion crowd as big as this whole army of ours?”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>The Secretary of War shrugged his shoulders. “Despite all the talk of -recent years, despite all our official reports, I doubt if the people -realize it.”</p> - -<p>“Make them!” said the President. “Drive it home to them, before war is -brought to our coasts.” He turned to the two chiefs of staff. “Give the -newspapers a statement about the ‘maneuvers’ that will give the public -the cold truth.”</p> - -<p>“The fleet,” said the Admiral to the newspaper correspondents an hour -later, “is assumed to be an enemy fleet too powerful for opposition. It -will attempt to land at least 100,000 fighting forces somewhere on the -Atlantic Coast. It is conceded that an actual enemy planning invasion -would not come with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span> less than that number. It is conceded also that a -sufficiently powerful fleet can transport that number, and more, safely -across the ocean. The Navy, further, concedes the landing.”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What Our Harbor Defenses Cannot Prevent</i></p> - -<p>“But our coast defenses, Admiral!” spoke the correspondent of a Boston -newspaper. “We’ve been told that those affairs with their monster -12-inch rifled steel cannon and their 12-inch mortar batteries, and -mines and things, are as powerful as any in the world, and can stand off -any fleet!”</p> - -<p>“They are not coast defenses, sir,” answered the Chief of Staff. “They -are harbor defenses. They can stop warships from entering our great -harbors. They cannot prevent an enemy from landing on the coast out of -their range. And on the Atlantic Coast of the United States there are -hundreds of miles of utterly undefended beach where any number of men -can land as easily as if they were trippers landing for a picnic. All -those miles of shore, and all the country behind them, lie as open to -invasion,” he held out his hand, “as this.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a>{4}</span></p> - -<p>“Then what’s the use of them?”</p> - -<p>“They furnish a protected harbor within which our own navy could take -refuge if defeated or scattered,” said the Admiral. “They make our -protected cities absolutely secure against a purely naval attack. No -navy could readily pass the defenses, and probably none would venture so -close as even to bombard them seriously. Certainly no fleet could -bombard the cities behind them.</p> - -<p>“Therefore,” he continued, “if an enemy wishes to bring war to us, he -must land an army of invasion. Our harbor defenses force him to do that; -but—having forced him to bring the army, their function ceases. They -cannot prevent him from landing it. We have to do that with <span class="smcap">OUR</span> army.”</p> - -<p>“And could you stop him, or is that a military secret?” asked one of the -party. He did it tentatively. He had been a war correspondent with -foreign armies, and he did not expect a reply.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>31,000 Men—Our Actual Mobile Army</i></p> - -<p>“My dear boy,” answered the Chief of Staff promptly, “there probably -isn’t a General Staff<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span> in the world that doesn’t know all about us, to -the last shoe on the last army mule. We’ve got 88,000 men in the regular -army, officers and privates.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Of these, you may count out 19,000. They -are non-combatants—cooks, hospital staffs, teamsters, armorers, -blacksmiths, and all the other odds and ends that an army must have, but -can’t use for fighting. Now, cut out another 21,000 men. Those are -fighting men, but they’re not here. They’re in Panama, Hawaii, the -Philippines, China and Alaska—and we wish that we had about three times -as many there, especially in Panama. How much does that leave? -Forty-eight thousand? Very well. That’s what we’ve got here at home. But -you’ll please count out another 17,000. They’re in the Coast Artillery, -and have to man the harbor defenses of which we’ve been talking. Now -you’ve got our mobile army—the actual force that we can put into the -field and move around. Thirty-one thousand men.”</p> - -<p>“A pretty straight tip,” agreed the Washington correspondents when they -left the War Department. And as a straight tip they passed it on to -their readers. So the Nation read the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> next morning how their army was -being made ready. They read how four companies of one infantry regiment -were gathered from Fort Lawton in Washington and another four companies -from Fort Missoula in Montana. They read how still four other companies -of the same regiment were at Madison Barracks in New York State.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>Their fifth Cavalry regiment, they learned, was being assembled like a -picture puzzle by sending to Fort Myer, Virginia, for four troops of it, -to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, for four more troops and a machine-gun -platoon, and to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for the remaining four troops -needed to form a full regiment.</p> - -<p>There was field artillery whose component units were scattered, guns, -horses and men, from the Vermont line to the Rio Grande. There were -signal troops in Alaska, Texas, the Philippines and Panama.</p> - -<p>This was no such mobilization as that giant mobilization in Europe when -a continent had stood still for days and nights while the soldiers<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span> -moved to their appointed places. So far scattered was the American army, -so small were its units, that only a few civilians here and there could -have noticed that troops were being moved at all.</p> - -<p>More than one un-military citizen, looking over his newspaper that -morning, cursed the politics that had maintained the absurd, worthless, -wasteful army posts, and cursed himself for having paid no heed in the -years when thoughtful men had called on him and his fellows to demand a -change.</p> - -<p>More than one citizen, when he left his house to go to his accustomed -work, looked up at the sky and wondered, with a sinking heart, how soon -it would seem black with war.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Dreadnaught For Every Effective American Ship</i></p> - -<p>It was a peaceful, soft sky, with baby clouds sleeping on its bland, -blue arch. It radiated a tranquil warmth of coming spring; and under it -the Atlantic Ocean lay equally peaceful, equally soft, equally tranquil.</p> - -<p>Yet even as the people of America were taking up the day’s work, under -that soft, tranquil<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span> sea a message was darting through the encrusted -cables that swept away all peace.</p> - -<p>Before noon, from sea to sea and from lakes to gulf, from the valley of -the Hudson to the sierras of the Rockies, from Jupiter Inlet to the -Philippines, ran the silent alarm of the telegraph that the Great -Coalition had declared War!</p> - -<p>Forty-eight hours later the combined battle-fleet of the four Nations -put to sea with its army transports, bound for the American coast.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>The United States learned of its departure before its rear-guard had -well cleared the land. The news did not come from American spies. It -came from the Coalition itself.</p> - -<p>War, the Chameleon, as Clausewitz called it, was presenting a new aspect -of its unexpected phases. Not a cable had been cut following the -declaration of war; and now the submarine cables and the wireless began -to bring official news from the enemy—news addressed not to the -American government, but to the American people.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span></p> - -<p>It was news that told of an invulnerable fleet carrying more than a -thousand rifled cannon of the largest caliber ever borne by ships in all -the world. It told of enough battleships alone (and named them) to match -the Republic’s fleet with a dreadnaught for every effective American -ship of any kind.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> - -<p>“Clever!” said the Secretary of State to the President. “It is -Terrorism.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think that you’d better reconsider your idea of letting this -go through?” asked the Secretary of War. “It’s pretty dangerous stuff.”</p> - -<p>“It’s the Nation’s War,” answered the President. “Will it demoralize our -people to know the truth, even under the guise of terrorism? Do you know -in whose hands I’m going to leave that question?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t guess,” said the Secretary.</p> - -<p>“In the hands of the newspapers,” replied the President.</p> - -<p>The newspapers did not require to be told that the purpose of this novel -news service from the enemy was Terrorism.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span></p> - -<p>They answered Terrorism by Printing The News.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Battle That Was Decided Years Before</i></p> - -<p>Then the sea-coast cities began to call to Washington. By telegraph and -telephone they demanded protection. It was a chorus from Maine to -Georgia. Into the White House thronged the Congressmen.</p> - -<p>“Defend us! Defend our people! Defend our towns!” said they.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>“We cannot do it!” said the Chief of Staff. “No wit of man can guess at -what point of many hundred miles the enemy will strike. He may land on -the New Jersey coast to take Philadelphia. He may land on Long Island to -march at New York. He may strike at Boston. He may land between Boston -and New York, on the Rhode Island or Massachusetts coasts, and keep us -guessing whether he’ll turn west to New York or east to Boston. He may -even strike for both at once, from there.”</p> - -<p>“Then why not put men into each place to protect it?” demanded a -Congressman. “Are<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span> these great cities to be left wide open?”</p> - -<p>“You know how many regulars we’ve got. Do you know how many effective -men we’ve pulled together by calling out those eastern divisions of -organized militia? Their enrolled strength is 50,000 men. Their actual -active strength as shown by attendance figures has been only about 30 -per cent. of that; but we were lucky.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> This danger has brought out -all, probably, that were able to come. Still, there are less than 30,000 -men; and not quite half of those have had good field training. We need -them. We need them so badly that we’re putting them all in the first -line. But it’s a little bit like—well, it’s murder.”</p> - -<p>“Then you mean to say—!” The Congressman was aghast.</p> - -<p>“I mean to say,” answered the Chief of Staff, with a set face, “that the -army is going to take what it has, and do its best. But it’s going to do -it in its own way. No enemy will dream of landing an invading army -unless it is decisively, over-poweringly superior to our own. Now, -Congressman, the only way for an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> inferior army to accomplish anything -is to refuse battle until the chances are as favorable as they can be -made. The inferior force must retire before a superior. It must force -the invader to follow till he is weakened by steadily lengthening lines -of communications. His difficulties of food-and ammunition-transport -grow. He becomes involved in strange terrain. Last but not least, he -gets more and more deeply into a land filled with a hostile population. -But if we must defend a specific place at all hazards, then we must -stand and give battle—well, it will be only one battle.”</p> - -<p>“You mean—?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that such a battle is decided already. It was decided years -ago—when the country refused to prepare.”</p> - -<p>“Good God, man!” The Congressman wiped his forehead with a trembling, -fat hand. “I can’t go back and tell my people that.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better not,” said the General, grimly.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>No Men to Defend the Harbor Works</i></p> - -<p>The unhappy man, and other unhappy men like him, went back to their -constituencies knowing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> that now no campaign oratory would serve. Soften -the news they must, and would; but they were the bearers of ill tidings, -and they knew what comes to these.</p> - -<p>The stricken cities heard. From all the great coast with its piled gold -and silver, there arose a cry. Men shook their fists and cursed the -machinery of politics that had worked through the blind years to hinder, -to deceive and to waste. The Pork Barrel ceased all at once to be the -great American joke.</p> - -<p>“Throw men into our harbor defenses!” cried the cities of the coast. -“Hold them! Hold them!”</p> - -<p>“We have seventeen thousand trained regulars and 5,000 militia more or -less experienced to handle these complex giants,” answered the Army, -implacably. “There are 1,184 guns and mortars to handle. It leaves no -men to defend the works. To throw the mobile army or any part of it into -the defenses for mere protection is only to lock them up. The mobile -army must defend the defenses from outside. If it cannot do it, they -fall.”<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span></p> - -<p>“Where is the mobile army?” cried the cities. “Send it here!” clamored -each city.</p> - -<p>There was no reply. Somewhere behind the Atlantic Coast lay the mobile -army, silent.</p> - -<p>The cities stared to sea. They listened for sounds from the sea. That -serving ocean that had made them rich and great, had become suddenly -terrible, a secret place where there brooded wrath. Every day great -multitudes, stirred by helpless, vague impulse, moved toward the -waterfronts and gazed down the harbors. Every rumble of blasts or heavy -vehicle, every sudden great noise, startled the cities into a quick: -“Listen! Cannons!”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The News the Fleet Sent Back</i></p> - -<p>“Where is the fleet?” The question ran from Maine to Florida, till it, -too, became one great clamor, storming at the White House. Again there -was no answer.</p> - -<p>Days before, the American fleet had steamed out of the eastern end of -Long Island Sound. The tall, gray dreadnaughts and armored cruisers, -each with its circling, savage brood of destroyers; light cruisers, -torpedo boats,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_DAYS_BEFORE" id="ILL_DAYS_BEFORE"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_014fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_014fp_sml.jpg" width="491" height="292" alt="Image unavailable: “Days before, the American fleet had steamed out of Long Island Sound.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“Days before, the American fleet had steamed out of Long Island Sound.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">sea-going submarines, hospital ships, auxiliaries and colliers, one by -one they had passed into the open sea and vanished.</p> - -<p>But though no man knew where it was, from its unknown place it spoke by -wireless to Washington, and through Washington to the Nation.</p> - -<p>From “somewhere between the Virginia Capes and the northern end of the -Bahama Islands” where it lay, it had sent out its feelers across the sea -toward the on-coming foe—swift gray feelers whose tall skeleton -fire-control tops were white with watching sailors. And so, presently, -between the enemy and the American coast there lay a line of relays to -catch the news and pass it on to the Nation and its fleet.</p> - -<p>More than a hundred miles of sea, said the news, were covered by the -advancing fleet. It was a hundred miles of steel forts; and outside of -them, dashing back and forth in ceaseless patrol, were the lighter and -faster craft, consisting of destroyers and small, swift cruisers.</p> - -<p>The scout cruiser <i>Birmingham</i> had spied ships inside even the inner -line. But they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span> were not transports. They were still warships. The troop -transports were so far within all the protective cordons that the -American scouts, lying far along the horizon, could not even sight their -masts.</p> - -<p>The enemy fleet scarcely made an attempt to attack the spying vessels. -It seemed almost that the enormous mass was too insolently sure of its -power to trouble about the scouts.</p> - -<p>So, with watching cruisers and destroyers hanging to its sides day and -night, the invaders’ armada moved westward as steady as a lifeless, -wicked machine. Never varying their distances or relative positions, -never falling out of line, never altering their speed of 14 knots, the -dreadnaughts and battle-cruisers guarded their precious transports, -trusting to their outer cordon to keep off all attacks. And the outer -cordon held true.</p> - -<p>It did not move slowly, majestically, like the armored line. Incessantly -it swept back and forth, and in and out, patrolling the sea to a -distance so far from the battle-ships that the American scouts rarely -could approach nearer than to sight, from their own tops, the tops of -the dreadnaughts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Message From the Kearsarge</i></p> - -<p>As the enemy covered the sea, so he filled the air. Constantly, all day -long, floating and drifting with the soft white clouds far beyond the -farthest extent of the cordon, his aeroplanes surveyed the water-world. -And all day long, and all night long, the ships’ wireless tore the air.</p> - -<p>The American wireless, too, played forth its electric waves of air night -and day. From daring scouts to relay-ships, and from relay-ships to -hidden fleet and to waiting Nation, went the story out of the far sea. -The American millions knew the progress of the coming enemy as if the -fleet were an army moving along a populous highway of the land.</p> - -<p>The Nation watched the implacable, remorseless advance breathlessly, -apprehensively; but behind its apprehension there was hope. “Surely, -surely,” men said to each other, “our splendid sailors will get at -them!”</p> - -<p>Accustomed by its history to expect thrilling deeds of dash and -enterprise that should wrest success out of disaster, the United States -waited for The Deed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span></p> - -<p>It came. Out of the far Atlantic came the story. It came from the -battle-ship <i>Kearsarge</i> and went to the <i>Chester</i>, it was passed on by -the <i>Chester</i> and picked up by the <i>Tacoma</i>, and the <i>Tacoma</i> tossed it -into the air and sent it to the coast.</p> - -<p>“Engaged,” said the <i>Kearsarge</i>, “have—sunk,” and then there came a -break in the message. “Destroyer—light—cruiser—” spoke the wireless -again, and stopped. “Armored—cruiser,” spoke the wireless again in half -an hour. -“Port—beam—disabled—withdrawing—pre-dreadnaught—abaft—starboard—beam—firing—14,000—yards—dreadnaught—port -beam—” Again there came an abrupt check to the wireless.</p> - -<p>To the men on the fleet “somewhere off the Virginia Capes,” and to the -men in newspaper offices from ocean to ocean, it was as if they were -witnessing the fight. Indeed, the presses had some of it printed and on -the streets before the battle-ship’s story was done.</p> - -<p>“Dreadnaught—” started the wireless again. “17,000—yards—am -struck—after—gun—upper—turret—am -struck—forward—<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span>gun—lower—turret—dismounted—am -struck—after—gun—lower—turret—”</p> - -<p>The air fell silent. It was the last word from the <i>Kearsarge</i>.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Inevitable Order to an Inferior Fleet</i></p> - -<p>“As a man,” said the Admiral that night to the correspondents who -pressed him for an interview, “I am glad that the <i>Kearsarge</i> did it. As -Admiral, I can only say that her destruction, old though she was, is a -heavy loss to us that would not be balanced even if, besides the ships -she sank, she had sunk both the dreadnaughts. We have ordered the fleet -to keep itself intact.”</p> - -<p>“Does that mean that there are to be no raids?”</p> - -<p>“It cannot be done,” answered the Admiral. “With sufficient machinery, -heroism can do great deeds to-day, as ever. Without the machinery, it -can only go down, singing.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span> enemy transports are within an -inmost line of great ships. At the margin of their zone of fire is -another armored line of dreadnaughts. And the outer cordon is at the -margin of that zone of fire. Thus one of our raiding ships would have to -break through at least thirty miles, every inch of it under fire from -half a dozen ships. It cannot be done. This enemy fleet could be broken -only by brute force. To attack in force with our inferior fleet would -mean simply that we should smash ourselves against him as unavailingly -as if we smashed ourselves full speed ahead against a rocky coast.”</p> - -<p>“But surely at night our ships can dash in!” insisted the public, -reluctant to give up romantic hopes. “Wait—and some night you will -see!”</p> - -<p>Then there came a wireless relayed from the <i>Conyngham</i>, biggest and -swiftest of the American destroyer divisions. She had circled the whole -enemy fleet, flying around it through days and nights at the full speed -of her thirty knots. Her message told why there could be no raids at -night.</p> - -<p>There was no night. All the sea, ran the <i>Conyngham’s</i> tale, was lit -like a flaming city.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span> The outer cordon played its search-lights far -toward each horizon. It played other lights inward, toward its own -battle-ships. And the line of battle-ships in turn, kept mighty -searchlights, bow and stern, steadily on their transports.</p> - -<p>Each transport had its guard, whose bright surveillance never shifted, -never wavered, from dusk to dawn. These sentinel dreadnaughts never -turned a search-light to sweep the surrounding sea. They held their -transports steadily in the white glare.</p> - -<p>There was not an inch of ocean within their lines that was not ablaze. A -fragment of driftwood could not have floated into that vivid sea without -being detected by a hundred eyes.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Invader Off the Coast</i></p> - -<p>Now the news came fast and faster, as the fleet, and its hovering spies, -came nearer.</p> - -<p>The <i>Alabama</i>, sister-ship to the <i>Kearsarge</i>, by haphazard fortune got -between two enemy scouts and the main fleet, and accomplished by sudden -attack what she never could have accomplished by speed. She sank them -within twenty minutes, and returned without injury.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span> It was 13-inch guns -against 8-inch, and the story was as it always is. The inferior enemy -ships went down like pasteboard, under the fire of the turret guns on -the American vessel.</p> - -<p>On the same day, almost at the same hour, the scout cruiser -<i>Birmingham</i>, at the other end of the enemy line, sent report that the -destroyer <i>Bainbridge</i>, tiniest of the division, had driven her two -18-inch torpedoes home and sunk an armored cruiser that had fallen out -of line to repair some unknown injury to its machinery. The <i>Bainbridge</i> -did not tell its own story. The little boat and her men were blasted -into nothing within ten minutes by a battle-cruiser that had turned to -protect her mate.</p> - -<p>These disasters, that might have been appalling to a lesser sea-power, -left the great navy of the Coalition unshaken. Steadily, imperturbably, -it kept on its way.</p> - -<p>So there came the day when coasters and small craft sped wildly into the -shelter of Boston and New York Harbors, into Long Island Sound and into -the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. They had seen the enemy.</p> - -<p>Next morning, in a gray, transparent, peaceful April dawn, watchers on -the coast, gazing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span> across the empty, flat Atlantic, to the immense -half-circle of the horizon, saw innumerable tiny objects just sticking -up above the rim of the sea. Through the glass they seemed to be little -perches of skeleton iron built in the deep ocean.</p> - -<p>Set at beautifully precise distances apart, they dotted the sharply -outlined edge of water and sky, north and south, far beyond vision.</p> - -<p>Innocent and quiet they appeared, as they stood there, growing slowly, -very slowly, up out of the far sea.</p> - -<p>And the roaring presses, spouting forth extra editions east, west, north -and south, told the United States of America:</p> - -<p class="c"> -INVADER APPEARS OFF AMERICAN COAST<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE COAST BOMBARDED</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Never</span>, even in after years, was it determined whence the news of the -enemy ships came first. Almost as easily might a land invaded by locusts -have decided what eye first saw the coming cloud, or at what precise -spot.</p> - -<p>“Warship on horizon. Standing in. Slowly.” It came from the keeper of -Peaked Hill Bar Life-Saving Station at the far end of Cape Cod’s -sweeping sand-arm. From the crest of the Navesink Highlands, standing -steep out of the Atlantic at New York’s harbor entrance, men saw ships. -On the high place their eyes commanded a view eighteen miles out to sea. -At that extreme distance were the tops of fighting craft, lying safely -outside of the zone of fire from the big guns in Sandy Hook’s -harbor-defenses.</p> - -<p>From his lantern 163 feet high the lighthouse keeper of Barnegat on the -New Jersey<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> coast, forty miles south of the Navesink, saw tops above his -horizon. “Ships standing off here,” came the word from Cape Ann, north -of Boston.</p> - -<p>Philadelphia heard from Absecon Light and cried to Washington that the -enemy was preparing to land on its coast. Boston cried to Washington for -ships and men. New York telegraphed and telegraphed again and sent -delegations on a special train.</p> - -<p>Washington faced the clamor, the appeals half-beseeching and -half-furious, with a great stern aspect, new in a Republic wherein the -rulers are the servants who must heed public demands. This coming -invasion was unprovoked. The Administration needed no party behind it -now; for it knew that this was to be a fight for life, and that only the -sword could decide. And it had given the sword to the army and navy -without conditions.</p> - -<p>“It is the least we can do,” the President had said. “Long ago they -warned the Nation. The Nation would not give them the tools they needed. -Now that there is nothing left except to do their best, they shall be -left to do it in their own way.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span></p> - -<p>So the word went abroad among the politicians: “The army and navy have -the bit in their teeth.” And the politicians, once so powerful, went -helplessly to the Departments, to ask what they might tell their people.</p> - -<p>“Tell them,” said the Admiral, “that there is nothing to say—yet. Here! -We are sending out a bulletin.” He passed it over.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Sea Strategy an Invader Would Employ</i></p> - -<p>“The enemy fleet,” said the bulletin, “has expanded its line enormously -to threaten many far separated points simultaneously, and thus mask its -actual design for landing. Our ships and air scouts, and the army air -scouts, are trying to penetrate the screen of cruisers, destroyers and -enemy air-craft to find the real fleet with the convoys.”</p> - -<p>“But is this not a chance for the navy to attack the scattered enemy -ships?” asked one.</p> - -<p>“Opportunities may occur,” answered the Admiral. “But the business of -our fleet is to keep itself in battle formation.”<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>The sea-coast cities read the bulletin and held their breath. Through -their streets thundered<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span> their traffic, as in peace. But the exchanges -were closed—had closed half an hour after opening, in panic. Even in -that short time, a thousand fortunes had been destroyed: and men passing -outside had heard from within a vast noise of cries and shrieks as of -animals.</p> - -<p>The banks were closing. The streets leading to the railroad stations -from the financial centers were clogged by slowly moving but madly -crowding automobiles and cabs and trucks. Everything on wheels had been -pressed into service. On one open truck, guarded by half a dozen men who -showed automatic pistols ostentatiously, were bags of gold. The United -States sub-Treasuries were being emptied. Men tore at securities in -their safe-deposit vaults and stuffed them into valises, and ran. The -treasure of the cities was being sent inland.</p> - -<p>In front of the newspaper offices stood the citizens. They stood so -closely crowded that there was no passage through those parts of the -towns. Their throngs were so great that from their outskirts only those -could read the announcements who were armed with field glasses. These -fortunate ones told the news as it appeared: and it was repeated to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span> -crowds in the side-streets, who packed the roads from house-edge to -edge.</p> - -<p>All these great crowds were utterly silent. There was no sound from -them, except for the voices of those who passed the news on. A man -looking from a high window in a newspaper office suddenly stepped back, -with a choking in his throat. “It is—it is,” he said, and choked again, -“as if they were waiting for the end of the world.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Strategical Shelling of the Coast</i></p> - -<p>Incessantly the bulletins spoke. Lighthouses, coast-guards, patrols, -harbor defenses, ships, air-scouts wirelessed their reports to -Washington, and Washington flung it swiftly through the land.</p> - -<p>Nantucket had seen ships. There were ships moving toward the Long Island -coast as if to threaten New York. Atlantic City on the southern New -Jersey coast, and Rockport in New England sent out warning.</p> - -<p>It was a still, warm morning, heavy with the soft, humid air that early -spring lays on the cities of the sea. There was no breeze, except for a -languorous breathing from the distant<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THERE_WERE" id="ILL_THERE_WERE"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_028fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_028fp_sml.jpg" width="493" height="289" alt="Image unavailable: “There were ships moving toward the Long Island Coast as if to threaten New York.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“There were ships moving toward the Long Island Coast as if to threaten New York.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">ocean, that stole up the harbors and scarcely moved the air. Suddenly -that brooding, heavy air was shaken. One! Two! Three!</p> - -<p>Afterward, when men compared the time, they knew that it was heard at -the same instant at New York and Boston, and all the stretches of coast -between them and beyond. Even in that moment of fear, there were -thousands who instinctively looked at their watches and timed it. It was -exactly half-past ten when the first shot sounded. Very regularly, -almost somnolently, came the far-off shocks through the air. There were -half-minute intervals between them, quite exact.</p> - -<p>The last boom was heard at eleven. Long before that the bulletins had -begun to tell that ships were shelling the coast. Duxbury Beach near -Boston was being shelled. Long Branch and Asbury Park were bombarded. -Amagansett on Long Island was in flames.</p> - -<p>“It has stopped,” said the bulletins, then, “The ships have ceased -firing.”</p> - -<p>Then there came news from the harbor defenses. Two ships, said Plum -Island at the east end of Long Island Sound, had engaged the defenses at -long range without effect. A ship<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span> had come in east of Coney Island, -just outside of the zone of fire from Sandy Hook, reported Fort -Hamilton, and dropped shells into Brooklyn’s suburbs.</p> - -<p>Now the crowds were silent no longer. Long years afterward, old men told -how on that still April morning they were in quiet places on the -outskirts of the great cities, and heard from there a great, strange -sound as of a vast æolian harp. It was the noise of multitudes, risen.</p> - -<p>They stormed their City Halls, roaring for soldiers. They tried to rush -their armories, demanding weapons. To Washington flashed the dreaded -news of Mobs. “Troops must be sent at once,” said the cities.</p> - -<p>The old Chief of Staff, with “the bit in his teeth,” dropped the -dispatches on the floor. “Let ’em handle their own mobs,” said he.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Not Enough Men to Guard Even the Water Supply of New York and Boston</i></p> - -<p>“Handle your own mobs!” he said again, to The Boss from New York, who -appeared with a flaming face.</p> - -<p>But The Boss had the bit in his teeth, too. Those dispatches, and long -distance telephone<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span> messages from close lieutenants, had filled him with -a dread that was bigger than the new-born dread of the old soldier. -“I’ve broken bigger men than you!” he roared. “A thousand times bigger! -Once and for the last time, are you going to send the army to protect -us?”</p> - -<p>“Once, and for the last time,” said the General, quietly, “no!”</p> - -<p>The Boss looked at him. His eyes glared. Then, all at once, he saw that -in the General’s face that gave him a big, new, overwhelming knowledge. -He saw that the new word “NO” had been born in Washington; and that he -and his henceforth would have to admit that it meant “NO.”</p> - -<p>It hit him like a club. Something came from his throat that was not a -sob, yet strangely like one. “Then what—then—are we going to -everlasting smash?”</p> - -<p>“Listen,” said the General, gravely calm as in the beginning. He laid -his hand on the politician’s shoulder. “We have swept together the stuff -that you and your kind gave us in these past years. Up there,” he -pointed north, “in Connecticut, our officers have been fighting to make -an army of it—of battalions that have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span> no regiments, of divisions that -are not divisions, of riflemen who never learned to shoot and of cavalry -that never learned to maneuver. But even if all that mess were not a -mess—if all these young men were fit to fight in the battle line this -moment, there are not enough of them to guard even the water-supply of -New York and Boston.”<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - -<p>“Then you won’t put any men into the city?”</p> - -<p>“To defend a city from within is an act of desperation, no matter how -big one’s army is,” said the General. “The place to defend a city is as -far away from it as you can meet the enemy.”</p> - -<p>“But the newspapers say that you haven’t men enough to stop him.” The -Boss had dismissed all attempt to bluster. “Isn’t there a chance?”</p> - -<p>“Not if he comes in the force we expect—and he will be sure to come -so.” The General did not endeavor to soften his statement. He spoke -sharp and short, “And remember—the cities are not the United States. -Our business is to keep the army in the field for the Union, not for New -York or Boston or even Washington.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THERE_IN" id="ILL_THERE_IN"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_033fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_033fp_sml.jpg" width="489" height="202" alt="Image unavailable: “There in Connecticut lay the Army.... Miles of tents separated by geometrically straight rows of Company streets.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“There in Connecticut lay the Army.... Miles of tents separated by geometrically straight rows of Company streets.”</span> -</div> - -<p>There is a price to be paid—and perhaps the cities must pay it.”</p> - -<p>“And you’ll pay the price, too,” muttered the Chief of Staff, looking -northward toward New England from his window after the politician had -gone. “You’re paying it now, with sweat and nerves; and you’ll pay it in -lives.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Militia That Cannot Shoot</i></p> - -<p>There, in Connecticut, lay the army, looking formidable enough. -Radiating in beautiful precision from a central point, were miles of -tents separated by geometrically straight rows of company streets. Over -all the great space, afoot and horseback, in companies and troops, in -squadrons and battalions, moved spruce, agile figures in the trim -efficient campaign dress of the American soldier. Glossy, bright flags -floated everywhere. The sweet bugles sang.</p> - -<p>It would have seemed a very harmonious, solidly welded whole, that army, -to any layman who could have had a bird’s eye view of its business-like -assembly, its great parks of artillery, its full corrals of mounts, its -endless rows of tents and equipage and its enormous trains of transport -vehicles and ambulances.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span></p> - -<p>But at one end of that great, orderly, formidable camp were hordes of -organized militia firing at targets. With the enemy on the coast, these -men were still being broken in to shoot—not to become sharp-shooters, -but to qualify merely as second-class marksmen that they might at least -learn enough about the use of their rifles to be not entirely useless in -battle. Ever since the militia of the coast States had come in, -small-arms experts of the army had been clutching greedily at every bit -of daylight, to teach 14,000 men how to shoot—14,000 men of an armed -force that was offered by the States to be the country’s first line of -defense.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p>Into that camp had marched a month before, with flags flying, bands -gallantly playing, weapons gleaming, one whole State’s militia -organization of which only 700 men had fired regularly in practice -during the whole preceding year. Only 525 of even that small number had -qualified as shots, and more than a thousand were carried as utterly -unqualified. Of that entire State force, only one man had passed through -the regular army qualification<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span> course with the rifle, and only twelve -had qualified at long range practice.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>“Brave?” said the hapless General of Brigade who had them under his -hands. “Brave? If we gave ’em the order, they would charge an army with -their bare hands, sir—and they might as well.”</p> - -<p>He fluttered a sheet of paper in his hard, hairy fist. The sheet showed -25,353 organized militia enrolled as “trained men armed with the rifle.” -Of these 15,927 men had qualified sufficiently to be fit for firing in -battle. There were a thousand men in that command whose records showed -that they had not fired their rifles a single time in a year: and the -General had reason to believe that many of these never had used weapons -except as instruments of parade.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>State Artillerymen That Have Never Qualified as Gunners.</i></p> - -<p>A mile away, in the artillery encampment, a field artillery battery of -regulars from Fort Sill swept their guns at top speed through passages<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span> -so tight that it seemed impossible for the flying wheels to clear them. -Sharply they wheeled and came to position, just as a militia battery -arrived.</p> - -<p>The militia guns were hauled by horses that their State had hastily -hired or bought. The brutes had hauled trucks in a city; and in trying -to wheel, one of them straddled the gun. In a moment the gun-team was -around and over the guns in a confusion of chains and leather.</p> - -<p>“Do you stable your mounts on top of your guns in the milish?” shouted a -regular, gleefully. But he and his fellows helped good-naturedly enough.</p> - -<p>“We never had horses till now,” growled one of the militiamen, who was -stooping to tug at a trace-chain. It made his face fiery red. “State -wouldn’t give us any, and we didn’t have stables, anyway, in our armory. -So we couldn’t break in any mounts.”</p> - -<p>“Nor you couldn’t break yourselves in, chum, I guess,” spoke another -regular. “How the devil did you get gunnery practice? Haul your little -gun out by hand to the firing ground?”</p> - -<p>The militiamen fumbled at the trace again. “Didn’t fire it,” he said, -without looking up.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span></p> - -<p>“All right, milish!” shouted the regular. “Shake! You’re game, all -right, you boys! Willing, by gum, to face the Hell that you’re going to -get, and not a gunner in your battery. Fine leather-headed citizens you -must have, back home.”</p> - -<p>“They didn’t think much of artillery at home,” grinned the militiaman. -“Thought that infantry was all they needed. They sort of thought we just -had a little toy to play with.”</p> - -<p>“You ain’t going to be lonely, milish,” grunted the regular, sauntering -off. “Tie a necktie around your horses and then go over yonder. You’ll -find three other batteries from three other States that never had no -horses, never had no mounted drills, and never qualified as -gunners.”<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Cavalry Without Horses and Undrilled</i></p> - -<p>A grizzled Colonel of Cavalry rode by. Under his shaggy eye-brows he -shot a glance at the helpless battery, and swore. He dated back to -Indian times, and they said of him in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span> army that he knew nothing -except cavalry tactics and horses. But he knew them; and he was breaking -his old heart over the militia cavalry that had come under his command.</p> - -<p>Some he had that were good enough to win his full praise; but none of -these was full as to quota of men. The Colonel of the best of the -regiments was riding at his side. It was an organized force of rich men, -each of whom had brought his own mount, trained as carefully as any -cavalry horse, and perfectly equipped. “Fine, sir, fine!” said the old -Indian fighter. “But oh! Wait till you see what arrived last week. They -can ride! Yes, sir, they can ride. Heaven knows how they learned it, for -they didn’t ever have a mount except what they hired in livery stables. -A rich State, too, and one that did its infantry damned well, damned -well, sir. It was supposed to be a regiment of cavalry that we were to -get. Do you know what arrived? Two squadrons! And, sir, they came afoot. -They served a State that evidently prefers horseless cavalry.”<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>He chewed his cigar and threw it away.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span> “Look over there!” he continued. -“See those chaps? They were among the first to come to us. Yes, sir. The -entire cavalry force of that State came out—the entire force, you -understand. D’you want to know how many there were? Three -troops,—three—troops—confound me, sir. Not a whole squadron. But as -these three troops were in three different parts of the State they -hadn’t even been drilled to move together in their little three troops -as one body. We’re just getting ’em so that they can ride in squadron -without smashing into some other troop and crumpling the whole outfit to -Hades.”<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>State Troops Without Medical Supplies, Shoes, Overcoats</i></p> - -<p>Even while the old cavalry leader was swearing, a delegation of -civilians, sent to visit the camp officially, was gathered at -headquarters. The visitors were haggard and worried: but, with the -ever-ready optimism of the extraordinary American race, the most worried -one of them all said: “A splendid army. Looks fit to fight for its life. -We are sure that you will<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span> give a good account of yourselves, General, -against any force.”</p> - -<p>“Against any force,” echoed another.</p> - -<p>The Major-General did not reply. He gazed over the spick and span tents, -the spick and span men, the spick and span guns, far and on, and on, -over an encampment that stretched out of sight behind distant wooded -heights.</p> - -<p>In the immediate line of his vision lay the sanitary camp. There, beside -his own regulars, lay sanitary troops of the State militia that had come -into camp without ambulance companies, without field hospitals, without -medical supplies. He thought of one regiment (a regiment on paper, seven -companies in reality) that had appeared without even its service outfit -of shoes and overcoats. Two whole State divisions, had they gone into -action on their own strength, would have had no ambulances at all to -carry off their wounded. One division, formed from a State that had done -better than most with its militia, arrived for war with two field -hospitals short and lacking seven full ambulance companies. Even the -richest State of the sea-board groups had left its organized force -short, both a field hospital<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> and an ambulance company. Not one of all -the militia forces from all the States had ambulances enough.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>The soldier looked up at the sky. “Lord! Lord!” he muttered, not -impiously. “An extravagant land. As extravagant with its lives as with -everything else.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The One Thing in Which Our Army Would Be Perfect</i></p> - -<p>There was only one thing in which that army was preëminent and perfect. -It was in the matter of transport. Even that had been made only since -war was declared; but it had been made swiftly, thoroughly, because it -demanded only an efficient, swift gathering of vast resources.</p> - -<p>Within an hour of the declaration, the army had swept the coast States -from New Jersey to Maine clear of everything serviceable that had -wheels. Piled on miles of sidings beside the magnificent railroad system -lay the rolling stock of a dozen great commercial States. Like mammoth -trains along the sides of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> highways, north, south, east and west -from the camp, were the requisitioned automobiles and trucks.</p> - -<p>This army was going to be able not only to fight on its stomach, as -Napoleon said, but it was going to be able to fight on flying feet, too.</p> - -<p>So great were its resources in motive power, that although there were -motor vehicles making a double line miles long on each of half a dozen -roads leading from the camp, there still were thousands of swift cars -free to patrol the American coast from the end of Maine to the Virginia -Capes.</p> - -<p>The army might not be able to withstand a blow; but it could dodge.</p> - -<p>It could know, too, in time to dodge. Its own trained intelligence -department was supplemented by ten thousand and more untrained observers -and watchers, who tried to make up for their lack of technical skill by -keen intelligence, alertness, adventurous daring and—unlimited private -means.</p> - -<p>Queer enough were their reports, often incomprehensible, frequently -absurd to the point of tragedy. In a measure, they made a confused -trouble for army headquarters; yet on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span> the whole they were invaluable in -that time, when the United States was so wofully short of scouts.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The First American to See the Enemy’s Troop Ships</i></p> - -<p>The volunteer scouts spied out the air as they did the roads.</p> - -<p>It was a volunteer who soared out in his bi-plane from New Bedford in -Massachusetts that morning, when the newspapers announced the approach -of the hostile fleet. He had learned to loop the loop for fun, fun being -the great object of his gay though strenuous existence.</p> - -<p>Fortunate it was, indeed, that rich men had taken up aviation as a -sport: for the enemy had come with aeroplanes counted not by scores, but -by hundreds. And to oppose them, the American army and navy combined had -exactly 23!<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> - -<p>Now it had happened that the few military airmen, attempting their -scouting flights from the south and the west, had encountered -unfortunate cloudless conditions, which quite prevented<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span> them from -evading the far superior forces of hostile airmen. They had, therefore, -been beaten back, continually, before they could pierce the screen.</p> - -<p>The volunteer, however, sweeping across the mouth of Buzzards Bay and -out between the islands of No Man’s Land and Martha’s Vineyard, dipped -into one of those drifting, isolated fogs that are born in the waters of -Nantucket Shoals. Before a slow, lazy wind, the thick vapors went -steaming and trailing out to sea, and he went with them. Occasionally he -rose above the bank and looked out, like a man lifting himself from a -trench. He had done this about a dozen times, and he was getting into -the thin, seaward end of the fog-belt, when he saw ships.</p> - -<p>Instantly he went up, up, up. It was a racing one-man biplane. He -thanked Heaven for its speed: for even as he was looking down on the -ships, little things detached themselves from the decks and arose. They -were specks at first, but in a moment they had grown. He watched them -grow out of a corner of his eye, but with all his vision, all his -concentrated attention, he looked at the fleet.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span></p> - -<p>There, surrounded by war vessels, he saw a long line of immense -two-funneled, three funneled and four-funneled steamships; and he knew -that he was the first American to see the troop transports of the enemy.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The News the Airman Brought</i></p> - -<p>He was turning in a sharp circle to flee even while he counted them. He -was darting toward the coast, even while he still looked sidewise down -at them to finish his count. Then, rolling and swooping as he put on the -fullest speed of his racing engine, he fled, with five navy planes -behind him, coming on the wings of their explosive storm.</p> - -<p>He wondered if they were firing at him. All that he knew was that his -world just then was only one blur of whistling, strangling, smiting air -and deafening roar. He struck a hole in the air and pitched sharply. He -swept over the fog bank. It could not help him now. He dared not sink -low enough to hide in it. Shining brightly in the bright air, he -volleyed straight on as if he were going to dash into the blue wall of -sky ahead.</p> - -<p>He won. He never knew how far the enemy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span> planes had pursued, or whether -they had come near him or not. He knew only that suddenly there was a -yellow band of sandy land deep, deep under him, that the next instant -trees and hills swept past like little color-prints, and that he came to -earth.</p> - -<p>Then he reached for a flask. And then he looked to wonder where he had -landed. And then he heard the roar of a motor on one side of him, and -the roar of a motor on the other. “Hands up!” shouted a man in khaki, -leaning from the side of a swaying, drunkenly rolling car. He put up his -hands, laughing hysterically.</p> - -<p>Fifteen minutes later the telephone bells rang in the forts on Fisher’s -Island, Plum Island, in the Narragansett Harbor defenses, and in the -headquarters of the field army. It told them that the enemy transports -were thirty miles south of Nantucket Island, standing in for Block -Island Sound or Long Island.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Unleashing the Submarines</i></p> - -<p>Up from Fisher’s Island under the Connecticut shore mounted an army -hydro-aeroplane. It rose 2,000 feet, and circled there,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_UP_MOUNTED" id="ILL_UP_MOUNTED"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_046fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_046fp_sml.jpg" width="340" height="332" alt="Image unavailable: “Up mounted a hydro-aeroplane.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“Up mounted a hydro-aeroplane.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">with such graceful, steady wheelings that despite its constant speed, it -seemed to be soaring in lazy spirals like a sleepy gull. Under the two -fliers in the machine lay the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound—the -watergate to New York, with half-open jaws whose fangs were the guns of -Fisher’s Island on the north and Plum Island on the south. Utterly -harmless and innocuous seemed those two jaws, for not even the keenest -eye could make out from above anything more savage than grassy mounds -and daintily graded slopes of earth. Not even the sharpest glass could -see within those pretty models in relief the dragons of 12-inch mortars -that squatted in hidden pits sixteen in a group, or the sleek, graceful -rifled cannon whose secret machinery could swing their thirty-five tons -upward in an instant and as instantly withdraw them after they had spat -out their half ton of shot.</p> - -<p>Between the guarding jaws there was deep water—deep and beautifully -green. One of the airmen spoke to the other, who was looking out to sea -through his glasses. “There they go,” he said, nodding to indicate the -water below.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span></p> - -<p>Both looked. They looked into fifty feet of ocean, but their height made -it but as a thick pane of dim green glass.</p> - -<p>They saw things moving, deep down. They were sleek and gray, like small -whales. But they had snouts longer and sharper than any whale that ever -swam. Three of them there were, moving out to sea through the entrance, -steadily, at about ten knots an hour.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Wait for the Enemy to Strike</i></p> - -<p>An hour passed. The men in the hydro-aeroplane descended, and their -reliefs went up. They circled for an hour. Sometimes they drifted out to -sea till the land was lost behind them.</p> - -<p>The forts and the army headquarters caught a wireless from the air. The -enemy fleet was approaching Block Island, said the message. The -hydro-aeroplane was rushing homeward while it spattered its news into -the air, for it was a slow machine, and swifter ones were over the -fleet. The enemy had formed in columns, ejaculated the fleeing machines, -with destroyers and light cruisers in advance, and the transports, -gripped on all sides by armored ships,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_DRAGONS" id="ILL_THE_DRAGONS"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_048fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_048fp_sml.jpg" width="493" height="291" alt="Image unavailable: “The Dragons of twelve-inch mortars that squatted in hidden pits.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The Dragons of twelve-inch mortars that squatted in hidden pits.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">were coming on in echelon formation, eight cable lengths, or 4,800 feet, -apart.</p> - -<p>Simultaneously, almost, all the coast places from Barnegat to the end of -New York Harbor’s farthest flung domain signaled and telephoned and -wired that the menacing ships had disappeared. To Washington and the -waiting American fleet passed the message from sea-scouts that all the -enemy screen was withdrawing slowly toward the east—a mighty screen, -lying along a hundred miles out to sea, and steadily closing in on its -nucleus, to protect its flanks and rear against surprise from the ocean -ways.</p> - -<p>They were moving fast now—much faster than fourteen knots. There was no -feint now. They were sweeping straight at the land. But where would they -strike? Would they land at Long Island to march their army to New York, -or would they strike at Rhode Island or the southern coast of -Massachusetts?</p> - -<p>Boston was sure that they would come at Massachusetts. New York roared -with the news that its own Long Island coast was the enemy’s object. But -though the cities were shaken with panic, there were no mobs now.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span> Noise -and fear and medley of advice and demand and anger there were, but no -mobs. The cities had handled their mobs with long cordons of silent, -stout, unimaginative police and with firemen who brought out clanging -engines and hose. It was the best answer to hysteria; for these -sudden-born mobs had been born only of hysteria. They became all the -more orderly, after it had had its vent. And the real mob, the silent, -brooding, dangerous under-world, had not begun to stir.</p> - -<p>It would not, now. Before noon there were men in all the -armories—militia fragments and volunteers. They were incapable of -fighting soldiers; but the mobs were as helpless against them as they, -in turn, were helpless against trained armies.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>All That Our Submarines Could Accomplish</i></p> - -<p>On a dreadnaught in the van of the convoying fleet, stood the Admiral of -the armada. He was speaking with the ship’s Captain, as they paced up -and down the bridge. Everywhere enormously long polished black cannon -thrust their supple bodies out of turrets. Like the peering heads of -serpents, the guns of the secondary<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span> batteries looked out from bow to -stern. Everywhere stood officers and men at quarters. Without a moment’s -pause signals ran up and down, wimpling out their gaudy messages, and -everlastingly the wireless sounded its stuttering staccato. Yet there -was a placid, strangely peaceful quiet over the whole gray, tall, -bristling machine. Except for its appearance, it might have been a -pleasure yacht.</p> - -<p>“It’s a lovely shore,” the Admiral was saying. “Some beautiful estates -and charming people. I was delightfully entertained within five miles of -where we shall land. It seems a rough return for hospitality. But one -does for one’s country what one would not do—hello!”</p> - -<p>The dreadnaught’s circling destroyers were coming at the ship headlong. -The Captain leaped to the rail. Before he got there, the ship’s port -battery crashed. A signalman pointed at the water fifty yards off. -Something like a staring, hooded eye had looked from the sea for a -moment.</p> - -<p>It was the last thing the signalman saw on earth. The dreadnaught -shuddered. While its guns were still firing, it lifted with a jerk as a -man would lift if caught by an upward<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span> swing under the jaw. A great, -queerly muffled explosion shook it. For perhaps a minute it tore along -under the impetus of its own speed, but it did not move smoothly. It -jolted, like a cart going over a rough road. Then it began to topple. -Over and over it leaned, slowly, fast, faster. There was not an outcry. -Short calls of command there were from officers, but not a sound from -the men.</p> - -<p>It was very still now. The wireless had ceased, the engines were shut -off, and there was only the roar of steam.</p> - -<p>The dreadnaught’s crew was clinging, like men clinging to a steep cliff, -holding fast to everything that would give foot-hold or hand-grip on the -inclined deck. A signal climbed along the toppling mast. Then, with a -thunder of breaking metal, with fire-hose, ammunition cases, -instruments, ship’s furniture all volleying into the sea, the ship fell -full on her side and went down.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Maneuver to Escape Undersea Attack</i></p> - -<p>In a hissing, breaking sea that instantly was gray with ashes and -multi-colored with oil, swam eight hundred men. None came near<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span> them. -The dreadnaught’s last signal had been the order to keep off: and the -big fleet was weaving in and out at top speed, in a maneuver long since -perfected, to escape other attacks from the invisible things.</p> - -<p>Far astern raved the guns again. This time the alert destroyers had not -missed their aim. A periscope disappeared. Presently, slowly, little -spreading disks of oil swam on the surface, and united, and more floated -upward and spread.</p> - -<p>Not for a moment had the fleet fallen into disorder. Even while the -destroyers were picking up what survivors they could find, another -dreadnaught hoisted its commander’s flag as Admiral, in place of the one -who lay under the bright green water. A speed cone went up: and warships -and convoy steamed full speed ahead.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the periscopes of two submarines, outdistanced, -bobbed up far behind the fleet. Their gray shapes arose, streaming. The -manholes opened and heads came out, blinking into the sunlight and -drawing in great breaths of fresh air. They followed the ships toward -the coast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span></p> - -<p>One of them hoisted a wireless apparatus, and began to call. It was a -weak call, that had to be repeated again and again. Then Montauk Point -heard, over a temporary apparatus, and received, and began to send on to -New York; and the bulletins told that submarine M-9 had sunk the -Admiral’s flag-ship, that submarine G-3 had sunk a destroyer, and that -submarine O-1 had been lost.</p> - -<p>“Victory! Victory! VICTORY!” ran the news. They knew that it was not -victory, those great, anxious crowds that stopped all traffic that day -in all the continent of North America. But for a while they were -thrilled, and they cheered, and forgot the slow, implacable grip of -irresistible power that was closing in on their eastern sea-coast, not -to be stayed, not even to be halted.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Bombardment of the Coast</i></p> - -<p>The day passed, and the dusk came in. A pleasant evening it was, warm -enough to tempt people to stay out-of-doors. Even in the trembling -sea-cities there was all the wonted life of such a season. The rich had -fled; but the others remained. There was nothing else for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span> them to do. A -few months before, had any of them been asked what they would do in case -of an invasion, they would have painted a picture of the millions -fleeing from their cities with what possessions they could lug. Thus it -had been in Europe, as they had read. Thus it would be in America.</p> - -<p>But it was not so. There they were, watching and waiting, and clinging -to the only hold they knew. And in this soft dusk, there they loitered -in their countless miles of streets, and talked, and argued, and -prophesied, just as they had done always. And everywhere in the miles -fronted by little houses and tenements and tall apartments the children -were ushering in the spring by playing ring-around-rosy. Everywhere -their thin, clear young voices made the old accustomed music of the -towns.</p> - -<p>EXTRA! EXTRA!</p> - -<p>In the soft dusk, on the Rhode Island and Massachusetts coast there was -falling red Hell and ruin.</p> - -<p>Out of the tranquil, empty sea it had come. Out there, far out, in the -pearl and gray, there had been flashes. There had been roars and -whistles and bellows in the high, still air, coming,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> coming! And the -shells had plunged down, everywhere, unending. Streams of iron, streams -of fire, streams of screaming, bursting things: things that struck the -land and spun into it like beasts biting, and burst, blasting away -forests and houses and men in crimson whirlwind: things that plunged -into towns and ricocheted, and pulled down walls and towers: things that -darted at power plants and darkened the world: and things that burst -into towns with fierce fire and set the world a-light.</p> - -<p>It was not news that came through the spring night. To the men at the -receiving ends of wires it was as if there were coming to them one wild -din of terror. Here were telephone messages that broke off in the middle -and were never to be resumed on this earth. Here were telegraph -dispatches that stopped suddenly and left the wire dead, its far end -dangling where a shell had torn down the poles. From hill tops far -inland came raving words of burning towns glaring red in the country -below. From somewhere unknown, from somebody unknown, came one word over -a telephone that instantly went out of commission. It was: “God.”</p> - -<p>In the cabin of the new flag-ship sat the new<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> Admiral. The ship was -shaking with the explosions from its secondary batteries, but the cabin -was orderly and sedate. A shaded light was shining on a chart.</p> - -<p>“Another hour of this,” said the Admiral, “and I think the coast will be -nicely cleared for the landing.” He selected a cigar from its box, and -lit it carefully.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE LANDING</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">The</span> first American soil on which the invader set foot was not on the -mainland. It was a steep-edged, wind-blown bit of New England territory -that swims like a ship far out on the Atlantic in the great misty ocean -gate between painted Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard and the brown-handed -lighthouse of Montauk Point, Long Island.</p> - -<p>Unimportant to the world, but famous in American history and legend is -this Block Island or Manisees, as the Indians called it, meaning the -Isle of God. Here, ever since American liberty was born, there have -clung generations of sea-faring, storm-fighting New England men, proud -to call themselves Rhode Islanders, though the State to which they -belong is so far away that they can only just see its coast.</p> - -<p>Block Island’s men and women stood on Mehegan Bluff and Beacon Hill and -Clay Head,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span> watching their sky fill with fighting tops and enemy flags, -and their sea oppressed by enemy craft. Among those who stood there that -day were descendants of men who had fought at sea in every American war. -Some were there who could boast that their ancestors had crept into Long -Island Sound in little sloops, and even in rowing boats, to harry tall -King’s ships.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>Strong-hearted, like their forefathers, were these men. They looked out -on their beset horizon and doubled their sun-burned hands into fists, -longing to get among the foe with ship to ship, gun to gun, and the -battle-flag of America shining.</p> - -<p>This was no tame population, to be terrified like a driven herd. -Smacksmen were these, accustomed to looking unafraid into the black -snarl of storm. Swordfishermen were here who went daily, without a -second thought, to fight the lithe spearsman of the sea in his own -element.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The First Invader</i></p> - -<p>A cruiser rushed at their island. Heavy with turreted guns and broadside -batteries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span> tall with laced iron mast-towers and wide funnels and -ponderous cranes, swarthy-gray over all like a Vulcan’s smithy, the -enormous thing stopped half a mile out with the guns of the secondary -batteries pointing at the land. From under her quarter, around bow and -stern, swept destroyers with cocked funnels spitting smoke and with -ready, alert men at the lean little guns.</p> - -<p>They moved straight for the little harbor, in a long line. On the bridge -of the foremost, an officer waved a hand at the crowd of fishermen on -the shore, pointed to his guns, and, with a backward motion, to the -cruiser.</p> - -<p>“Aye! We take the hint, damn ye!” growled an old man. “He means,” he -turned to the rest, “that we’d better not make a fuss! Drop that!” He -turned sharply to a younger man, who had just joined the group. He had a -shot-gun, half concealed under his coat.</p> - -<p>“Are we going to take it laying down?” demanded the armed man.</p> - -<p>The old man pushed him backward with both hands. “You fool! That thing -out there could blow us off the island, men, women and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_DESTROYERS_MOVED" id="ILL_DESTROYERS_MOVED"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_060fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_060fp_sml.jpg" width="490" height="289" alt="Image unavailable: “Destroyers moved straight for the harbor in a long line.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“Destroyers moved straight for the harbor in a long line.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">children, as if we was dead maple-leaves afore a southeastern gale!”</p> - -<p>The destroyers had stopped. The crews swung their guns toward the shore.</p> - -<p>From the cruiser dropped six ships’ boats, full of blue-jackets. They -swung past the destroyers, beached, and formed in a line. There was a -click of breech-bolts shot home—so quick that it was as but one sound.</p> - -<p>A Lieutenant advanced his men with the swinging navy trot. He pointed to -men in the little throng, selecting six of the older ones. “We take the -island,” he said in precise English. “Fall in! We hold you responsible -for the good order of the rest of your people. There must be no attempt -at resistance.”</p> - -<p>While he spoke, another detachment of the landing party had been busy -among the huddle of boats in the harbor. Some were being made up into a -tow. Others were being scuttled at their moorings. A third detachment -was knocking holes into the smaller craft hauled up on shore.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The First American to Fall</i></p> - -<p>Three sailors were just driving boat-hooks through the bottom of an -up-turned cat-boat, when a tall young fisherman leaped at them with an -oaken tiller-handle, and struck one down.</p> - -<p>The other two closed on him, but let go again almost instantly at the -sound of a sharp order. They tore themselves away and jumped aside.</p> - -<p>There was another order, in the same sharp voice. Instantly, while the -fisherman still stood, staring, with his weapon in the motion of -striking, a blast of fire spat at him from six carbines. His head went -up, exposing his broad brown throat. He thrust his hands before him, all -the fingers out-spread. With his eyes wide open, he tottered and pitched -face down.</p> - -<p>Another order, and the sailors wheeled, covering the islanders.</p> - -<p>“Dan!” screamed a girl in the crowd. “Hush! Don’t look!” An older woman -caught her around the neck and pressed the girl’s face to her breast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span></p> - -<p>“He brought it on himself!” said the Lieutenant to the fishermen. “Take -warning! That is war!” He turned, and walked to the beach.</p> - -<p>The dead man lay where he had fallen. The bluejackets, lowering their -carbines, came to rest beyond him, facing the Block Islanders -impassively.</p> - -<p>None of these had said a word. Save for the outcry of the girl and the -woman’s “Hush!” there had been utter silence, as if the discharge of the -weapons had swept away speech. Slowly clenching and unclenching their -hands, the big, weather-beaten, strong men stared at the corpse that lay -huddled so awkwardly before them.</p> - -<p>One of the women touched a white-haired, white-bearded islander on the -arm. “Won’t they let us have him!” She turned her eyes toward the dead -man. “It don’t seem hardly right—to let him lay there.”</p> - -<p>The old man looked at her as if waking from a trance. He passed his -rough hand over his brow. With his slow, wide fisherman’s stride, he -stepped forward. The sailors instantly brought their weapons up.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span></p> - -<p>The old man pointed dumbly to the corpse. In reply, a sailor indicated -the Lieutenant with a gesture.</p> - -<p>The fisherman walked to the Lieutenant. “I wanted to ask you—” he -began, but a signalman interrupted him, pointing at his head. The Block -Islander looked at him, bewildered. Impatiently, the sailor pointed -again, and the islander understood.</p> - -<p>Hesitatingly, reluctantly, he took off his hat. Crushing its brim with -the grip of helpless anger, he faced the officer.</p> - -<p>“I wanted to know—sir—if mebbe we couldn’t—” he indicated the corpse.</p> - -<p>“Yes!” answered the officer, shortly. “You can have him!” With a change -in his voice, he added: “I am sorry. Very sorry. Yes! You may take him -away.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Block Island as a Naval Base For the Enemy</i></p> - -<p>So fell brave Block Island. It had greeted the sunrise with the stars -and stripes hauled defiantly in the face of the invader. The setting sun -shone on the flag of the enemy. Its wireless was being operated by -uniformed men. Its telephone and telegraph communications<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span> with the -mainland were torn out. Its little harbors were being used by destroyers -and small craft as if they had been foreign naval bases forever.</p> - -<p>So, too, had fallen the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with -their stouthearted, passionately American population. They had yielded, -not to ignoble fear, but to the irresistible mechanics of war.</p> - -<p>The people of Block Island, watching destroyers steaming slowly toward -the New England coast with strings of their fishing boats in tow, noted -a curious thing. Every boat was laden with fish-nets. The enemy had -gathered every seine, every pound-net. He had lifted long fyke-nets from -the sea, and had dragged the enormous hauling-seines from their -drying-reels.</p> - -<p>Block Island wondered what a fighting navy meant to do with fish-nets. -Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard wondered, too; for they, also, had been -stripped of their gear.</p> - -<p>Following the long tows with their heaped brown freight, six cruisers -moved toward the coast, each guarded by destroyers whose men watched the -sea for a periscope, or for the whitened,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span> broken water that would -indicate the presence of a submarine.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p>They moved fast, until they were within three miles of land. Then they -opened fire.</p> - -<p>Steaming rapidly up and down, ship behind ship, they loosed all their -broad-side batteries, starboard and port in turn, simultaneously. So -fierce was the blast that the water shook. All the surface of the sea -between the ships and the land quivered. Fantastic vibration-ripples -shot all around, like cracks on a shattered steel plate.</p> - -<p>The blast killed the wind, and made an infernal little gale of its own -around each ship, that spun in hot ascending columns. Surface-swimming -fish were struck dead and floated in schools on the water, miles away. -Even the bottom-haunting creatures felt the shock and scurried into the -sand and mud.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span></p> - -<p>This was only the blast from the lips of the guns. It was only pressure. -It was only the released energy that drove conical steel masses forward. -They sped with a violence that would leave the swiftest locomotive -behind in the wink of an eye. Like locomotives smashing into an -obstacle, the projectiles hit the land.</p> - -<p>That impact alone was annihilation. Having struck, the projectiles -exploded.</p> - -<p>The chart under the shaded light in the Admiral’s cabin had a -semi-circle marked on it—a semi-circle that made a great segment into -the land. As if it were in the electric arc, the country in that zone of -fire melted. Houses vanished into stone-dust and plaster-dust even as -the screaming thing that had done it struck houses a mile beyond and -threw them on each other. Streets became pits with sloping sides that -burned. Trees rocked, roaring as in a gale, and were tossed high, and -fell, and twisted in flame. The land shriveled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Vast Confusion of Facts and Rumors</i></p> - -<p>As the shells fell on New England’s coast, so the news fell on the -United States. It sped as a vast confusion of facts and rumors, -bewildered tales of terror, inventions born of crazed brains, dispatches -that told only half a story, and messages that told none at all and yet, -in their very incoherence, told more than intelligible words could have -done.</p> - -<p>The newspapers were tested that night, and the steady, intangible -discipline of the great organization held true. Never a linotype in all -the cities had to wait for its copy. The word went to the presses to -“let her go.” Extras followed extras.</p> - -<p>But the news sped ahead of the extras. It sped, and spread, and grew, -and became monstrous.</p> - -<p>The enemy had forced the harbor defenses of Boston! So ran the rushing -rumor in New York and Philadelphia. Long before trains could carry -papers there, people in far-off country districts heard it.</p> - -<p>The State House was in ruins! Portsmouth and Boston Navy Yards had -fallen!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span></p> - -<p>New York, ran the stories through Boston and all New England, was -invested at both approaches! Fort Totten had been blown up! The enemy -ships had the range of the city, and already the sky-scrapers were -toppling into Broadway!</p> - -<p>The government was fleeing from Washington! An army had landed on the -Delaware coast!</p> - -<p>Even those who had the newspapers before them, and knew that none of -these things was true, were shaken when the tales that had sped ahead, -came back like the back-wash of a wild sea. Many hundreds that night ran -with the newspapers in their hands and helped to spread, and make more -fantastic, the fantastic falsehoods that had been born miles away.</p> - -<p>But the newspaper organization worked steadily. Bit by bit the medley -took tangible form. From the watchful, self-controlled chain of -light-house and life-saving stations, revenue marine and other coast -guard services; from the steady, unimaginative army and navy; from the -alert, unshaken harbor-defenses, bit by bit the story of the night began -to come in orderly sequence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Sea Vitals of the Commercial United States</i></p> - -<p>The enemy fleet was biting into the sea-vitals of the commercial United -States, the southern coast of New England between Cape Cod and Long -Island Sound whose possession is the key to the manufacturing and -industrial life of the East.</p> - -<p>Battle-ships lying off the mouth of Buzzards Bay were dropping shells -into the harbor and into the shores. One ship had ventured close into -the land, approaching within the zone of fire from Fort Rodman, and had -dropped shells near New Bedford. Hidden by intervening hills, it had -escaped return fire, and was now lying just out of range, dropping an -occasional 15-inch projectile toward the defenses.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>Other ships were firing into Narragansett Bay. They, too, were firing at -immensely long range, to avoid return fire from the defenses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span></p> - -<p>Montauk Point’s wireless transmitted a dispatch that three vessels were -standing in there and lowering boats. Then the apparatus fell silent.</p> - -<p>Point Judith’s wireless had ceased speaking soon after dusk. Its last -dispatch was that shells were falling near it. An hour later its -operators reported from Narrangansett Pier that the tower had been -destroyed.</p> - -<p>Watch Hill and Westerly, on Rhode Island’s southwestern border, said a -message from near-by Stonington, were burning, and were being wrecked by -heavy shells. Fort Wright telegraphed that this was fire from two -battle-ships standing just outside of range from the fort’s mortars and -rifles, and throwing shells from 15-inch guns.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>But these great guns were being used only at intervals. Though their -bite could rend towns, they destroyed themselves as they wreaked -destruction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> The acid-fumes from their monster powder-charges ate out -their scientifically rifled cores. They had to be spared.</p> - -<p>The real attack came from the heavy cruisers, standing close in and -working 4, 5, and 8-inch guns. For every shot that the battle-ships’ -mammoths fired, the cruisers fired a hundred. It was not a bombardment. -It was a driving flail of whirling, smashing, exploding metal that -whipped the coast between Watch Hill and Point Judith.</p> - -<p>To the ear it was din, vast, insane. In reality, it was an operation of -war, conducted as precisely and methodically as if it were a quiet -laboratory experiment. The wireless controlled every shot from every gun -on every ship. From the small things on slim tripods to the wide-mouthed -heavy calibers spitting from hooded turrets, not one spoke without -orders.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Sweeping the Floor Clean for the Enemy Army</i></p> - -<p>To the trained artillerists, listening in the Narragansett and Long -Island Sound defenses, it was plain as English words. That crash, as if -a steel side had been blown out of a ship, was the four-inch broadside, -all loosed at once.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span> Now it would be fifteen seconds, and another crash, -farther east, would tell of the next ship’s 4-inch discharge. And the -heavier, fuller, air-shaking roar that came in between was from 5-inch -guns, while the broken, slower, coughing bellow, that overwhelmed all -the rest and echoed from every echo-making prominence inland, was the -voice of an 8-inch rifle, speaking once every five minutes.</p> - -<p>Now the flocks of shells went high to reach far to their farthest range -into the land. Now they went low to sweep through the cover near shore. -Sometimes the steel things drove, as if in sudden uncontrollable fury, -at one given spot. Again, they spread out into a dreadful cone that -danced along a five-mile stretch like a dancing whirl-wind.</p> - -<p>The fire slackened, and died away, and fell silent, and burst out again -as if a horde of devils had only held their breaths to scream anew. Up -and down it moved, now in, now out, although long ago the shells had -whirled away everything that could be destroyed. There was nothing -living in there now. The very beasts of the woods, the birds in their -nests, were dead.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span></p> - -<p>To the survivors who had escaped from the first red blast, the thing -seemed only a deed of insane wickedness. What had they done, they asked -each other with sobbing breaths, to bring a steel navy at them? What -could a great, powerful enemy gain by this murder of peaceful, unarmed -country folk? What danger could there lie to him, they gasped as they -fled through the dark, or lay face down to the earth and gripped at -grass, in tiny houses and gardens and little sea-shore hamlets?</p> - -<p>It was wicked murder. “Wicked murder!” said the wires, telling their -tale to their fellow-citizens far away.</p> - -<p>The men who were working the ships’ guns were from little villages, from -pretty sea-shore hamlets like these themselves. They were not thinking -of the habitations which were being blasted away. It was an operation of -war. This was the chosen time, and this the chosen place, for the -landing of the army that waited in the gloom of the sea for them to make -the shore safe for it.</p> - -<p>With their brooms of steel and fire, they simply were sweeping clear the -floor on which that army was to set its foot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span></p> - -<p>Far in shore of the flame-torn cruisers, safe from any land-fire under -the parabolas of the naval projectiles as if they were under a bombproof -arch, certain little vessels had toiled up and down from the beginning. -Slowly, for they dragged between them long wire cables that hung down to -the sea-bottom, they moved back and forth along the beach, fishing.</p> - -<p>The fish they were trying to catch were spherical and conical steel fish -that bore little protuberances on their tops like the sprouting horns of -a yearling kid.</p> - -<p>A touch as soft as the touch of a lover’s hand could drive those little -horns inward, to awaken a slumbering little devil of fulminate of -mercury, whose sleep is so light that a mere tap will break it. And the -fulminate’s explosion would detonate three hundred pounds of gun-cotton.</p> - -<p>The submarine mine says to the big ships: “I am Death!” And they cannot -answer it.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Guns That Were Being Made Too Late</i></p> - -<p>But there is an answer to the mine. It is the mine-sweeper that drags -for them. The men on these mine-sweepers dedicate themselves to the -tomb. Some must inevitably perish. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span> will find a mine with their -keels instead of their groping drags; or they will grapple one too -close; or their wire cable will clutch two mines and swing them -together, so that the little horns touch—</p> - -<p>But, if the mine-sweepers are permitted to work on, the mines may kill, -and kill, and kill, yet in the end they will be gathered in.</p> - -<p>There is an absolute answer to the mine-sweepers. It is to hammer them -with rapid fire from the shore. These little vessels, dragging -laboriously, present targets that scarcely move. No artillerist can miss -them.</p> - -<p>But again there is an answer to the mine-protecting guns. It is -long-range fire from the ships that lie safely outside of the -mine-fields.</p> - -<p>There is only one answer to that. It is for defenders on land to plant -huge guns far inland that can reach the ships and beat them back that -they dare not come close enough to reach the lesser shore artillery -nearer the sea.</p> - -<p>This formula of shore-defense is a formula so simple that a -mathematician, given the conditions, can work it out with simple -arithmetic though he never had seen a cannon in his life.</p> - -<p>Guns, guns, and again guns—and an army to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span> protect them! This was the -only possible reply to the fleet that was pounding the coast. The United -States had not enough sufficiently powerful mobile coast guns and siege -guns. It had not enough artillerists to fight what guns there were. And -it had not enough ammunition to provide them with food.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p>In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; up the Hudson, in smoky Watervliet; in -Hartford and Bridgeport and New Haven, and a dozen other towns, with -machinery hastily assembled, and workmen hastily learning, they were -trying, now, to make projectiles enough, and guns enough. They were -trying to make enough powder, down in Delaware and New Jersey.</p> - -<p>In the encampment of the United States army at that moment trains were -delivering guns—guns made in record time, magnificent testimony to -American efficiency under stress.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span> But the guns were coming in one by -one—to meet an enemy who was beating at the gates and could not be -stopped except with hundreds.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Enemy on the Mainland!</i></p> - -<p>Even then the flag-ship off the coast was sputtering a code into the -night. It was a long code, but its meaning was short. It meant: “Now!”</p> - -<p>The mine-sweepers hauled their gear and came out. Fourteen had gone in. -Those that came out were nine.</p> - -<p>Before they had well begun to move, the beach was white with ships’ -boats, and nine hundred bluejackets and marines set foot on the mainland -of the United States.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>With sharpened knives in their sheaths, and loaded carbines, and -bandoleers filled with cartridges, and entrenching tools and provisions, -each man of that first force presented the highest attainable -unit-efficiency for war.</p> - -<p>The boats were scarcely off the beach, to return to the ships, before -eight hundred of these<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span> units were trotting through the up-land, -throwing out advance parties, and making hasty trenches from which, in a -moment, there looked the greyhound muzzles of machine-guns.</p> - -<p>On the shore, the strand-party was sinking sand-anchors and rigging -derricks. Others were setting together the five and one-half foot -sections of jointed hollow masts for the wireless. When the boats -beached again, with more men, two 40-foot masts reached into the night, -and hand-power generators were making the antennæ pulse with their -mysterious life.</p> - -<p>Launches came in now, dragging wide, flat-bottom pontoons and swinging -them on to shore and speeding back for more. Men snatched at them, and -held them in the surf, and ran their mooring up the beach, while others -carried out kedges and boat-anchors from all sides to make them lie -steady in the groundswell.</p> - -<p>The beach shone white as day, all at once. The destroyers had steamed -in, and were giving their men aid with their search-lights.</p> - -<p>In swung more pontoons. Broadside to broadside, kedged and anchored out, -they were moored out into the sea, at half a dozen parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> of the beach. -Laid far enough apart that they should not touch, however hard the swell -might strive to grind them together, they formed floating piers, -reaching beyond the farthest outer line of surf. From pontoon to pontoon -ran gang-planks, lashed fast.</p> - -<p>Three hours had passed. Three times the ships’ boats had made the trip -between warships and shore—thirty naval service cutters, each carrying -thirty men. Twenty-seven hundred sailors, marines and soldiers were -holding the Rhode Island coast.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>From the trenches of the advance party a wireless spoke to the cruiser -bearing the senior officer. “Motor scouts reported in front, on road, -three thousand yards in. Will fire rocket indicating direction.”</p> - -<p>The rocket burst. For a minute it made all that part of the black -country stand out as under lightning. “Crash!” said the ship. Over the -bluejackets swept the shells, and burst.</p> - -<p>“Crash!” said another ship.</p> - -<p>“Apparently effective,” said the wireless<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> again. “Shall send patrols -forward.” And again it spoke, in half an hour: “Enemy driven back. Our -patrols hold road. Barb wire entanglements completed. Scouts in. Report -land clear, except for enemy cavalry in force inland out of range.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Transports</i></p> - -<p>“Now!” said the cruiser’s wireless, speaking once more into the sea.</p> - -<p>Silent, formless, black, four vast ships, long and twice as tall as the -cruisers, came slowly in among them.</p> - -<p>These were the transports, sealed that not a thread of light should -shine from them to betray them to the thing that all the fleet dreaded -more than anything else—the under-water lance of a submarine’s torpedo.</p> - -<p>Under water the submarine is always blind, even when the brightest light -of the noon-day sun shines vertically into the ocean. It can see only -with its periscope eye above the surface.</p> - -<p>At night the periscope cannot see. Then the submarine ceases to be -useful as a submarine. It can act still; but only on the surface, like -any other torpedo boat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span></p> - -<p>Two score destroyers, each of thirty knots, each armed with from four to -ten 3-inch guns and rapid-firers, circled around the transports. Twice -as swift as the surface-speed of the swiftest submarine, armed -overwhelmingly, they could defy surface attack.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>They hemmed the darkened troop-ships round with a great circle of -search-lights, all thrown outward, that served the double purpose of -illuminating the ocean for miles, and of blinding any who tried to -approach. No human eye looking into that glare could have seen the -transports, even if the night had not shrouded them.</p> - -<p>Still, these liners with their tens of thousands of men, were too -precious to be protected only by this bright vigilance. From each -transport there projected long steel booms, eleven to a side. These held -out a half-ton net of steel grommets. Stretched fore and aft as taut as -steam-capstans could haul it, this shirt of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_HE_STEERED" id="ILL_HE_STEERED"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_083fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_083fp_sml.jpg" width="490" height="289" alt="Image unavailable: “He steered his craft, awash, from behind Fisher’s Island, at dawn.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“He steered his craft, awash, from behind Fisher’s Island, at dawn.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">chain-mail hung far down into the sea to catch any torpedo that might -come driving at the keel.</p> - -<p>There was more protection than that. It would be day soon, and then the -submarines would be blind no longer. All around the area chosen for the -transports to lie in, the fishing boats taken from the sea-islands were -being towed by destroyers, to drop their nets. Their wooden buoys formed -odd geometrical outlines on the sea.</p> - -<p>These thin things of meshed twine, made only to hold little, inoffensive -fish, were suspended like submarine fences, north and south and east and -west of the field of operations.</p> - -<p>That such trivial things should be of any avail against under-water -craft with death in their heads, might well have seemed absurd to a -landsman. They did not seem absurd to the Lieutenant who commanded -United States submarine M-9, when he steered his craft, awash, out from -behind Fisher’s Island Sound at dawn, and looked eastward through his -glasses.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span></p> - -<p>Ten miles away lay the transports, quite motionless, beautifully -assembled as a target for him. At that distance their masts and funnels -seemed huddled. He had a vivid picture in his mind, for an instant. It -was a picture of fat, slow sheep crowding together with a wolf among -them.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Woven Twine Versus Submarine M-9</i></p> - -<p>But between them and his wolf lay the net buoys, dotting all the -surface, in and out as if they had been laid by some laboring artist to -make a maze.</p> - -<p>The sea-wolf went slowly nearer. With its tanks full of water, it lay so -far submerged that the sea washed the coaming around the manhole hatch. -The Lieutenant was like a man wading breast-high in the ocean. It would -be hard to see him from any distance.</p> - -<p>He studied the traceries of buoys. There were spaces between them, that -betokened gaps in the fences. One might find a gap and go through.</p> - -<p>But to find a gap, the submarine must raise<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span> her periscope above water, -and look around. But at each gap, sweeping incessantly to and fro, like -galloping cavalry, were destroyers.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p>Could one dive and go through blind? The Lieutenant knew the limitations -of his terrible little animal. Its kiss could draw a twenty thousand ton -ship into the abyss, but the woven twine would laugh at it.</p> - -<p>Its nose could cut through them like the threads that they were. But the -torn ends would catch conning tower and masts and periscope tubes. Even -if it tore away from them, the whirl of the propellor remained to renew -the danger, sucking the trailing cords to itself and in one instant -switching them around and around the spinning shaft.</p> - -<p>With the propellor blocked, the submarine must rise; for only with its -propellor thrusting and its horizontal fins set to hold it down, can the -submarine stay under. It submerges, not by sinking but by diving with -main strength.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span></p> - -<p>Another rather vivid picture flashed into the Lieutenant’s mind. It was -not a picture, this time, of a wolf among sheep. It was a picture of a -sudden enormous commotion among those quiet net-buoys, as of something -struggling down below; and then of a violent surge as the tangled nets -were dragged to and fro by a helpless submarine, held fast by the -tail.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p>A breeze arose with the rising sun, and the water roughened. The -submarine stopped. It could not meet rough water while it was awash. -Although its buoyancy when it was sealed was such that its propellor had -to thrust full speed to make it dive, yet with its hatches open two -hundred gallons of water, far less than is contained in a single big -wave, would send it down like a tin can.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p>The Commander held on as long as he could, watching the whitening water -in the east, and watching the transports.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span></p> - -<p>He saw that at a thousand yards’ distance around them (just what he -would have chosen as neat torpedo range), there lay a little fleet of -gun-boats, all thrusting out booms with steel nets, that made them look -oddly as if they were hooped and wide-skirted. Disposed in an oval, they -guarded the transports with a second wall of steel wire.</p> - -<p>And overhead, soaring in spirals, never flying far away, and always -returning, were three naval planes. The Commander of the M-9 knew that -they were waiting and watching for just one thing—the “shadow” of a -submerged submarine.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>This enemy, plainly, was taking no chances. The fleet had power and -time. It bent them to one object—to land its men safely. It would not -engage the harbor defenses, and so open itself to the risks of plunging -fire and torpedo attack. It would not blockade harbors, and so make -itself a chosen mark for such terrors as M-9.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Three Harbor Gates to New York and Boston</i></p> - -<p>Very scientifically, very thoughtfully, had the enemy staked out the -vital spot at which he had decided to strike. Here, facing each to each -almost like the salients of a fortification, lay three harbor gates to -the northeastern United States—Buzzards Bay, gashing deeply into -Massachusetts: Narragansett Bay, almost cutting Rhode Island in two: and -the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound and the cities of -Connecticut.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>Open any one of these gates, and it opened the way at one blow to both -New York and Boston.</p> - -<p>These three sea-salients were greatly armed for defense. In each harbor -lay batteries of 12-inch all-steel rifled cannon. Hidden under facings -of earth, steel and concrete, they sat on disappearing carriages and -pneumatic gun-lifts that would swing them up as if they weighed ounces -instead of tons, and instantly<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span> plunge them back again into cover after -firing.</p> - -<p>Deep under earth embankments, squatting in concrete-lined graves, -12-inch mortars, sixteen to a group, stared upward at the patches of sky -over their heads, which was all that their men would see while they were -firing, however bitter the fight might be.</p> - -<p>A single shot from one of the long, graceful rifles might sink a ship, -if it were well placed. A single salvo from the mortars, the sixteen -firing together, assuredly would. And they could do it. Aimed by -mathematics, they were sure to strike the spot.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>A score of serving devices in the defenses were slaves to the steel -champions. Searchlights in armor waited like men-at-arms to point with a -long white finger at their prey. Mine fields and emplacements and cable -conduits<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span> were there to force the ships to steer where the guns could -strike them most surely. Masked by trees and mounds, concealed by every -device against betrayal, were range-finders and fire-control stations.</p> - -<p>Here sat experts who had studied the most occult questions of -arithmetic, geometry, surveying, navigation, and cartography for one -purpose—to direct those long guns true. They were provided with -exquisite instruments for calculating angles and distances to an inch, -though the point to be ascertained were ten nautical miles and more -away.</p> - -<p>Before them lay charts of the sea-area that they were guarding. Let a -ship come within the limit of their apparatus, and in the time required -to speak into a telephone the gun-pits miles away down the defense-line -would crack with the explosion of tons of smokeless powder.</p> - -<p>They were nearly perfect, those works—as engineering works. They were -fully armed with the engines to make them malignant to the ultimate -fatal degree. The ten-mile area of sea that lay so bright and dimpled -that morning might well have been black as the Wings of Death; for a few -little motions of the waiting<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span> men under the pretty grassy mounds would -unfold those pinions.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Joint in America’s Armor</i></p> - -<p>But under the iron visages was weakness. In none of the defenses on this -morning when the time had come for their test, were there more than -one-half the number of men required to hold them.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> - -<p>They could fight the guns, so long as the action remained a ship-to-fort -action; but if the enemy attacked at the rear, from the land, they were -not in sufficient force to meet him and throw him back. Attacked from -the land, the men of the defenses would have to retire to the inner keep -and fight from shelter with rapid-fire guns. And when the defenses thus -began to defend themselves, their hour would have struck.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> - -<p>Still, for the time they were deadly. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span> enemy fleet paid them the -supreme tribute of scrupulous respect. Not a vessel ventured after dawn -into the deadly circle of their reach. To make sure that no vessel -should expose itself by accident, the mine-layers of the enemy fleet -were even then moving well outside of the zone of extreme fire, and -laying immense steel buoys, painted a vivid scarlet.</p> - -<p>These scarlet buoys outlined an area of safety that was shaped somewhat -like a pentagon with its apex at Block Island and its base on the Rhode -Island coast between Watch Hill and Point Judith.</p> - -<p>It was a base marking out five miles of beach that was safe both from -the fire of the Long Island Sound defenses and from the shots of the -Narragansett defenses.</p> - -<p>Here day-light revealed a land occupied in orderly, quiet, perfect -military manner. Inland, as far as the naval guns could protect them, -lay the men of the advance landing party behind their machine-gun -positions. For miles beyond that, east and west, their patrols had cut -telegraph and telephone wires, and occupied points that commanded roads -by which attacking forces might approach.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_FOR_MILES" id="ILL_FOR_MILES"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_092fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_092fp_sml.jpg" width="326" height="471" alt="Image unavailable: “For miles beyond that the enemy’s patrols had occupied points....”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“For miles beyond that the enemy’s patrols had occupied points....”</span> -</div> - -<p>On the beach, where the blocks and tackle and hoisting derricks had been -rigged in the night, gun-floats were being brought to the beach with -cannon and caissons. Under the pull of centrifugal blocks these were -hoisted out and dropped in shore on railway tracks that led over the -sand to firm ground.</p> - -<p>There motor trucks and traction engines, all brought to land during the -night, took them and hurried them to positions ready for fight, or to -park them ready for moving when the advance should begin.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Destroying the Railroad of Southern New England</i></p> - -<p>From vantage points inland, from hills on Fisher’s Island, from such -venturesome spies as M-9, went the news to Washington, and so through -the land. The crowds in the cities, dense even at that early hour of the -morning, read on the bulletin boards:</p> - -<p>“Enemy effected a landing during the night on Rhode Island between -Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound. Transports are now close in -preparing to put troops ashore. Scouts report four liners aggregating -one hundred thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span> tons. Army officials estimate that at the usual -allowance of two men per ton this means fifty thousand men. More -transports waiting under Block Island.”</p> - -<p>“Now is the time to strike ’em!” It was not one man in one crowd who -said it. In every city where there were crowds there arose these -speakers—the excitable, passionate orators who are born of every great -crisis and who, in such moments, find willing listeners.</p> - -<p>“Now is the time to strike ’em, before they can bring more men ashore! -They should have been attacked in the night! What kind of Generals have -we got, to let ’em land, instead of throwing ’em back into the sea as -fast as they came? Where is our army? Keeping itself safe?”</p> - -<p>The army, with ten thousand civilian workers impressed as they were -needed, was destroying the railroad of southern New England. It was -tearing up the shore line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford -Railroad from New Haven to New London and from New London to Providence. -It was throwing the rails on flat cars to be whirled away westward and -northward. Concrete and stone embankments, steel bridges,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span> and tunnels -were sent skyward through the night with dynamite.</p> - -<p>All the connecting system from New Haven north to Hartford and from New -London north to Worcester was being destroyed. Locomotives and rolling -stock that could not be removed were being sent down grades to crash -into wreckage, or blown up or set afire. A curious intoxication of -destruction was on the population that night. Prosperous, dignified -citizens came out with axes or with oil and fire, and helped in the -ruin.</p> - -<p>In fire and dirt and amid shattering roars of explosion and rumbling of -falling trestles they worked on hundreds of miles of iron highway, -desperately, frantically, shouting aloud, willing to tear their soft -hands and to risk limb and even life, rather than to wait inactive, and -listen for news, and dread what was to happen.</p> - -<p>They were tearing up their civilization; and they did it with a savage -delight, that nothing might be left to the foe.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The American Army’s Lack of “Eyes”</i></p> - -<p>In the Army Headquarters, where a single short order had set loose all -this saturnalia of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span> destruction, the Commanding General and his staff -were busied with something that was of more immediate importance to -them. Desperately they were thrusting out for information, and always -they were baffled by superior numbers, superior resources.</p> - -<p>They had pushed cavalry toward the coast, and it had been driven back by -artillery and long-range fire from the ships, whose aim was controlled -by aeroplane signals from the sky and wireless from the shore. They had -pushed out motor scouts, and the artillery had found them. Always, at -every approach, during the night or since daylight, the ships’ fire had -swept the roads.</p> - -<p>Now, scarcely an hour after sunrise, the army aeroplanes had come back, -after only haphazard scouting. They had not been able to fly over the -invaded coast. Wherever they tried it, they reported, they were met by -enemy planes in superior numbers.</p> - -<p>One United States air-man had been driven by four enemy planes into -Narragansett Bay where he had been picked up by boats from the Newport -Torpedo Station. Two others, borne down by three enemy machines faster -than they,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span> and fired at by anti-air-craft guns from an in-lying ship, -had barely managed to escape behind the defenses of Fort Wright in the -Sound.</p> - -<p>The others had been pressed back, inexorably, by the screen of naval -planes that swarmed over the coast.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - -<p>The enemy planes came from the sea. To the marveling eyes in the -American defenses, it seemed as if the ocean were spewing them forth. -One after another rose from the Atlantic under Block Island.</p> - -<p>Three strange vessels lay there. They had funnels set extremely far aft, -like certain types of clumsy tramp-ships, but they were big as passenger -liners and their lines showed all the efficiency of the naval architect. -The great sweep of their decks forward was as bare as the deck of a -racing schooner yacht.</p> - -<p>A structure on short trestles like a skid-way rose from this deck at the -bow, projecting slightly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span></p> - -<p>It was there that the aeroplanes were being spewed. These were -mother-ships.</p> - -<p>Torpedo-netted, guarded by destroyers, guarded even by a small -semi-rigid dirigible that hovered a thousand feet high over-head, they -were sending out spies to search the land.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Twenty-Five Aeroplanes Against a Swarm</i></p> - -<p>The two United States fliers, standing by their machines in Fort Wright, -looked at the ascending swarm. “No wonder!” said one. “You know how many -one of those Nations had at last accounts? Twelve hundred!”<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p>“And we’ve got thirteen in the Army and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span> twelve in the Navy!” His -companion laughed. “And Servia had sixty, before the Great War!”</p> - -<p>They said no more, but watched in silence. That ascending, continually -growing line of flying things was like something that was writing into -the sky the word: “Resources!”</p> - -<p>Suddenly the American air-men noticed that these new machines were not -flying to the coast near them. They were turning off, in regular order. -One turned west, to fly over Long Island. The next one turned east, -toward Buzzards Bay. They alternated thus till the entire division had -separated, and disappeared.</p> - -<p>One of the scouts slapped his thigh. “I believe,” said he, “that they -are going to show themselves to Boston and New York!”</p> - -<p>That was at nine o’clock in the morning. At noon the crowds in the two -cities were startled by a distant roar that grew, almost before they had -first heard it, into a thundering that shook the air. They stared upward -and beheld the first squadron of armed flying machines that America ever -had seen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE COAST DEFENSES FALL</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Armored</span>, with the bright colors of the enemy on their under-bodies, the -aeroplanes from the enemy fleet flew low. What few anti-aircraft guns -the United States possessed were with the army. Around the peaceful -American cities were no encircling fortifications, no batteries, no -military works that might conceal marksmen. The air-men knew that there -was nothing to fear.</p> - -<p>They skimmed close to the State House on Boston’s Beacon Hill. They flew -over the tall municipal building of New York and dipped toward the City -Hall. They appeared over Providence and Fall River, over Brockton, over -Bridgeport and New Haven. They passed over every one of the -factory-cities of New Jersey that crowd to be near New York’s harbor.</p> - -<p>Where they appeared it was as if they bore some instant charm to turn -the world to stone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THEY_FLEW" id="ILL_THEY_FLEW"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_100fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_100fp_sml.jpg" width="487" height="288" alt="Image unavailable: “They flew over the tall municipal building of New York.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“They flew over the tall municipal building of New York.”</span> -</div> - -<p>All the city noises stopped, dead. All motion stopped. Wheels stopped -turning and feet stopped moving and every white face was turned upward. -For that long moment of dumb fear, men saw nothing except the -wide-winged bodies. They heard nothing except the yelping and droning of -the hundred-horse-power motors over them.</p> - -<p>Then they fled. Motor-men and drivers bent low, and yelled, and sent -their vehicles ahead blindly. The crowds rushed every door-way. They -fought for the protection of narrow cornices as if they were -bomb-proofs. They squeezed themselves close to the sides of buildings, -and clung to smooth iron and granite, and stared upward, waiting for -bombs.</p> - -<p>Instead of bombs, they saw things raining down gently, lightly—little -weighted pennants that circled downward in lovely spirals and dropped on -the streets with scarcely a sound.</p> - -<p>Into every crowded street, into every open square of half a hundred -cities that day, the hostile air-men dropped these pennants.</p> - -<p>They were printed. They bore proclamations addressed to the people of -America.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span></p> - -<p class="chead">THE ENEMY’S PROCLAMATION</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“Our armies have landed,” said the proclamation. “We shall advance -on your cities at once. Any attempt to defend them will mean their -destruction. Civilians are warned against making any demonstration, -whether with arms or otherwise. Infractions of this Rule of War -will be punished by summary execution. Houses from which hostile -acts are committed will be destroyed. Towns whose civilian -population resists will be destroyed. Take warning!”</p></div> - -<p>Recovering from their shock of fear, the first impulse of the Americans -who read these proclamations was one of rage. Their cities had grown -proud in unchallenged greatness. These pennants, slowly raining from -their sky, were infuriating insults.</p> - -<p>Had the invader appeared in that moment, the people would have torn up -the paving blocks to fight him.</p> - -<p>In the State House in Boston there were said the words that uttered the -emotion of all the cities along the Atlantic coast. In that old, -rebellious town, where American liberty had been nurtured in the very -presence of an armed foe, there were gathered many eminent citizens, -with the officials, the Mayor and the Governor of their State.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span></p> - -<p>One of these officials had a pennant in his hands. “What can we do?” he -asked. “If we had all the militia of the State here, we would have less -than 6,000 men. If the foe arrives, and lays his guns on the -town—gentlemen, they will be guns that fire high explosives and -incendiary shells. We have nothing to fight with. If the army cannot -check him before he arrives, we must—to save our people’s lives, we -must surrender peaceably!”<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - -<p>He turned to a man who bore a family name identified with Boston’s -history from the time of its settlement. His ancestors had stood in -Faneuil Hall with James Otis when he dedicated it to the cause of -liberty.</p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>Let Us Destroy It!</i>”</p> - -<p>He took the proclamation, held it for a moment while he looked around -the circle, and then crumpled it suddenly, angrily, in his fist. -Throwing it to the floor, he set his foot on it.</p> - -<p>“I say,” he cried with flashing eyes, “let him destroy it! Better still, -let us destroy it! When the enemy approaches, let us send our<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> Boston -town up in flame and fragments! Let us leave him not so much as a rivet -to pick up for loot!”</p> - -<p>There were many men there, of many minds. They had many interests to -guard, and many responsibilities to bear. But for a moment he carried -them with him. They waved their hands and shouted assent.</p> - -<p>It was only for a moment. “If all thought like you!” said one, an old, -grave man. “But we have 700,000 people, and they are not soldiers or -philosophers. They’re human men. It is laid on us to protect them, at -whatever price to our National pride. If humiliation is the price that -we must pay for our past carelessness, why, gentlemen, we must pay it, -bitter though it is.”</p> - -<p>So it was in New York, in Philadelphia, in a score of cities between and -around them. Everywhere was the first outburst of fury and unrecking -heroism, and then the sober second thought born not of cowardice but of -cold logic. This north-eastern Atlantic seaboard with its chain of -twelve million city dwellers, was no Holland to drown itself under its -own sea in order to destroy its foe. These cities were no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span> Moscows, to -devour themselves in fire that the enemy might perish with them. This -was the United States of America, and this was the Twentieth -Century—and the men, no less brave, no less patriotic, faced the -conditions of their place and time.</p> - -<p>They faced it from Portland, Maine, to the Capes of Virginia. If the -army could not stop the invader, they must fall.</p> - -<p>They formed committees of safety. They wrestled with their top-heavy -municipal machineries to make them answer the sharp need. Under the -stress, all the defects of their political rule stood out -uncompromisingly, not to be denied. Their over-staffed departments were -lost in the ingenious mazes of their own contriving. There was only one -answer to the inextricable, blind confusion. It was martial law.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Volunteers Who Could Not Even Be Shod</i></p> - -<p>But here, too, there was inefficiency—inefficiency that had been -cultivated and tended, like a plant, by politics through the heedless -years. In the armories there were no reserve supplies of weapons or -ammunition for the volunteers<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> who came to offer their services. -Although the United States government had given the States enough money -annually for many years back to equip them to full war-strength; and -although the militia nowhere had maintained even one-half of that -strength, there were no reserves of blankets, of uniforms, of tents, of -cots. Doctors who offered their services found that there was no place -for them, because there were no ambulances, no field hospitals, no -surgical instruments, no anæsthetics and no medicines. There had not -been enough for the troops that took the field, though every company had -less men than even its insufficient peace strength demanded.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<p>The volunteers could not even be shod. Those who were accepted had to -drill in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> worthless street shoes, that never could survive the -test of rough roads and mud and water.</p> - -<p>Politics! Politics! It stared the appalled citizens in the face wherever -they turned, as it had stared them in the face for a generation—but now -they had to look and see! It was politics that had left their State -militias to blunder along, each by itself, without agreement or settled -plan. It was politics that now had sent their plucky, intelligent, -capable young men into the field insufficiently equipped, trained or -organized. It was politics that now left their cities bare, to be made a -sport of.</p> - -<p>At the recruiting depots of the regular army it was politics again that -over-bore the recruiting officers with eager, courageous applicants whom -they could not use. What they needed now was men who were ready NOW—not -men who needed six months’ training. These applicants, offering -themselves by thousands, were city-born and city-bred. They were men who -never in all their lives had slept except under a roof; who never had -lain in rain and storm; who had been saved by their city from doing a -dozen simple things that men of the open do for themselves without a -second thought.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span></p> - -<p>Not one in a thousand of these volunteers ever had built a fire of -sticks, or pitched a tent or even washed dishes. Not one of five -thousand ever had held a gun in his hands. There were thousands there, -and thousands again, who did not even know what it was to be in the -dark—for they had slept all their lives in the electrically lighted -city.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Needed—Not Men But Reserves!</i></p> - -<p>It was not men that the regular army needed. It was reserves! And never -a Congress of all the Congresses that had talked and voted and -appropriated had voted a practical system of army reserves!<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> - -<p>Of all the men who had been trained by previous army experience, the War -Department could not call on one unless he chose to volunteer. If those -men—invaluable to the country at this moment—offered themselves, they -offered themselves one by one, here and there and everywhere, scattered -through a land of three and a quarter million square miles. Enlisted -thus, they were futile individuals lost in hordes<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_109fpa_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_109fpa_sml.jpg" width="336" height="202" alt="Image unavailable: " /></a> -</div> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_EFFICIENT" id="ILL_THE_EFFICIENT"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_109fpb_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_109fpb_sml.jpg" width="336" height="201" alt="Image unavailable: “The efficient, prepared, resourceful invader was landing his army, not only without losing a man, but without getting a man’s feet wet.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The efficient, prepared, resourceful invader was landing his army, not only without losing a man, but without getting a man’s feet wet.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">of raw recruits. Could they have been called together by their -government, they would have formed perfect regiments, ready for instant, -efficient, priceless service.</p> - -<p>While the United States, civilian and military, was working hopelessly -to make up in desperate hours for long years of waste, the efficient, -prepared, resourceful invader was landing his army, not only without -losing a man, but without getting a man’s feet wet. So perfect were the -dispositions of this expedition that the commander had been able to -order, “Our troops must land perfectly dry,” and the order was carried -out.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> - -<p>Every transport had three broad gangways to a side. Never for a moment -were these gangways bare of equipped men, moving file after file into -the enormous flat-bottomed landing barges. Never for a moment was the -sea without long tows of them, each bearing two hundred men to shore -with their rifles between their knees, ready.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Preparedness Versus Unpreparedness</i></p> - -<p>In the camp of the United States Army at that moment men were breaking -green horses for cavalry and artillery purposes. On the coast, the -enemy’s four-decked horse transports were sending trained mounts into -broad floats with derricks and slings, lowering away with head and tail -lines to prevent struggling, with nose lines to bridles to prevent them -from turning in the air, with men standing by below to put little bags -of salt into each horse’s mouth to quiet it as soon as it touched the -floats.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<p>Nothing had been forgotten, nothing left to be improvised. The -horse-floats had hinged sterns. Backed into the beach, these hinged -boards dropped down and formed gang-planks. Sailors threw collision mats -on them to prevent slipping. It required less than a minute to lower a -horse from the ships to the floats. In less than half a minute each -horse was unloaded from them and set ashore. To empty each float of its -cargo of twenty horses, and to have each craft off the beach and under -tow again for another<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> load, was a matter of less than forty minutes.</p> - -<p>Almost as swiftly, at another end of the beach, guns were being landed -from the same type of floats, shoal and wide-beamed, that could be run -well up on shore and could withstand the pounding of the surf. They -brought four light field pieces with their limbers to a load, or two -heavy field artillery pieces. They were landing field howitzers of -calibers that the United States Army did not possess. This artillery has -been coming ashore for hours. It had begun to come before dawn. Still -there was more arriving.</p> - -<p>Yet the beach never was occupied for a moment. The guns were rushed -inland, the men were rushed inland, the horses were rushed inland. -Twelve hours after the first landing party had prepared the way, Rhode -Island was occupied by 30,000 foot, 3,000 cavalry and 50 batteries of -artillery—almost two full divisions that lay in a great belligerent -front snarling with guns—a perfect, complex, often-assembled, -often-tested machine.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span></p> - -<p>This was the time for the American army to strike, before the enemy -could increase his forces and move forward to attack.</p> - -<p>But the American army was a complex machine that never had been -assembled before, or tested before. The Regular Army never had been -together with the Organized Militia, and the Organized Militias of the -various States never had seen each other. “An uncoördinated army of -allies,” its Commander had called it, “with all the inherent weakness of -allies, emphasized by the unusual number of allies.”<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Uncoördinated and Unorganized American Army</i></p> - -<p>It was an army of which neither the regulars nor the militia had been -organized into divisions at the time when it should have been done, the -only time when it could have been done—in the long days of peace. Until -it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> so organized, it was an army only in numbers. For operation -against a prepared, organized enemy it was not an army but merely a -multitude of units, whose trained and perfect ones would inevitably be -sacrificed to the errors and weaknesses of the imperfect ones.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>The division is the true Weapon of War. It alone contains in vitally -correct proportion the various troops that must sustain each other when -cannons and explosives begin that arbitration from which there is no -appeal on earth. It is the division, and the division alone, that -possesses all the limbs and organs—the signal corps and cavalry that -are the eyes and ears: the infantry and engineers and sanitary corps -that are the body and feet: and the artillery that is the smiting -fists.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span></p> - -<p>In the City Hall Park in New York, a speaker, lifted above the crowd -that watched the newspaper bulletins, was cursing the army amid savage -cheers. He cursed its Generals and its men because they did not fight. -He cursed the Government.</p> - -<p>The crowd listened, and forgot that again and again they had been warned -that this would be if war should ever come.</p> - -<p>With the blind wrath of helpless men they could reason only that at this -moment when everything should be done, nothing was being done. They -shouted approval when the frantic orator screamed: “Tell Washington to -order ’em to fight. Fight! Fight! That’s what they’re for!”</p> - -<p>The crowds could perceive only that they had an army that did not strike -a blow. They could not know that the American commanders were fighting a -better fight just then by fighting to organize, than if they fought with -guns. They could not know that to these officers, grown gray in the -service of their country, this fight was more heart-breaking than it -would have been to fight in the hot blast of shells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Regiments of Infantry Without a Single Cannon to Protect Them</i></p> - -<p>To organize an army in the face of the foe is like organizing a fire -department when the streets of a city are already in flames. This is -what the Chiefs of the Army were trying to do—had been doing, day and -night, desperately, ever since the troops had come together. And in -Washington, in the archives of Congress, there were lying sheaves of -reports, gathering dust, that had demanded nothing except the chance to -do it in time.</p> - -<p>Here were regiments of militia so “organized” by their States that if -they were permitted to go into battle as they were, 170 companies of -infantry would face the enemy without a single cannon to protect them. -Of all the eastern militia cavalry in that camp, only one regiment had a -machine gun company.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>Even the regular army was efficient only in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> those things that could be -maintained and perfected by the steady, personal efforts of officers and -men. In everything that depended on legislation it was lacking. Instead -of 150 men to a company of infantry some had only 65. Its troops of -cavalry were not full. It had no siege artillery corps. It was a -skeleton army which, according to optimists, was to be clothed with -substance when war arrived. Now war had come; and to clothe that -skeleton with untrained men would have meant that for every 65 skilled -soldiers there would be 85 utterly useless ones in each company.</p> - -<p>Shortage of men was not the only curse that was laid on the army by the -policy of neglect. In the enemy headquarters, two or at the most three -orders were sent to department chiefs for every movement. In the -American headquarters, the staff had to deal with units. Every problem -had to be handled in detail by men who should have been free to direct -one great, comprehensive movement. Every order issued by the Commanding -General demanded intolerable duplication.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>American Commanders Who Had Never Commanded</i></p> - -<p>The General had under him commanders of brigade who had commanded posts -that contained only fragments of regiments. Their brigades, never -assembled in any one place, not only did not approximate to war -conditions, but had to be disrupted and divided and re-formed before the -General could dare to offer them in battle. Hardly a brigade commander -had under him troops that he had known and trained and handled -himself.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>With exception of those who had been on the Mexican border, when a part -of the small army had been mobilized in a body for the first time, these -men had tried to prepare themselves with the best that Congress would -give them—battalions and companies and single batteries instead of -assembled armies, because the politicians would not let the army come -together.</p> - -<p>The 49 army posts of the United States, long a subject of derision among -all except those who fattened on them, might well have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> symbolized -now in that camp by forty-nine skeletons—a skeleton army waiting to -lead the other skeleton army to death.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<p>To none was this better known than to the enemy. The invaders’ -commander, standing idly with his hands in his pockets, was able to say -confidently: “They’ll not bother us seriously. The only thing they’ll -do, the only thing they <i>can</i> do, is to retreat when we begin to -threaten them.”</p> - -<p>He held in his grip the sea, the land and the air. In shore lay ships -ready to sweep part of his front with protective fire. On land his -advance forces had seized roads and railroads, his engineers were -repairing what had been destroyed, and his cavalry was guarding all -approaches. His air-men, overwhelmingly numerous, spied on the American -army almost with impunity, and parried with sure aerial thrusts all -American attempts to spy on their own lines.</p> - -<p>The aerial guard, steel-breasted, with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> wings of speed and talons of -fire, could be broken only by equal numbers, equally terrible. -Individual daring, individual skill, were nothing against this armored -brood. Five times American fliers rose to try it; and five times they -were grappled in mid-air and torn with shot, and dropped to the earth -far below. “No more!” said the General in command.</p> - -<p>He sat with his chin in his hand, studying the dispatches that were laid -before him. They were piled high, though twenty operators and half a -dozen aides struggled to eliminate from the torrential confusion the -news that might be deemed most reliable.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The “Fog of War”</i></p> - -<p>There were messages from Washington, messages from coast defenses, -messages from patrols and outposts, from scouts and from company -commanders. There were wild reports of enemy invasion from places so far -inland that it was palpable that they could not be true.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> There were -reports from places so nearby that they might mean imminent danger.</p> - -<p>Excited officials of towns and cities sent long, involved dispatches or -hung for long minutes to telephones to recount interminable tales.</p> - -<p>One hundred thousand men had landed, according to spies who had made -their way into Fort Greble in the Narragansett defenses. It was two -hundred thousand, telephoned Providence, transmitting messages from the -coast. The army’s own scouts and spies and patrols, groping in -insufficient numbers and finding a wall of cavalry and foot and machine -gun detachments opposed to them everywhere, sent in estimates that -varied all the way from twenty-five thousand to eighty thousand.</p> - -<p>These American advance detachments were striking the enemy outposts east -and west. Near Watch Hill three American motor cycle companies with -machine guns ambushed and cut up two troops of cavalry. American cavalry -drove back a battalion of engineers who had begun work on the railroad -at Kingston. At Niantic two American motor patrols ran into the fire of -a concealed field gun and were destroyed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span></p> - -<p>From Fort Michie on Gull Island came the news, brought by a Montauk -Point fisherman who had managed to make his way across the Sound in a -small boat, that men had landed on that end of Long Island. They had -destroyed all communication immediately and had seized the railroad -leading to New York; but it was impossible to guess how great this force -was.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> - -<p>Only one certain fact was developed from all the news. It was that the -transports were unloading troops still.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Enemy Moves</i></p> - -<p>Suddenly, almost simultaneously, the American patrols were driven back -all along the line. On a front that extended quickly, irresistibly, -clear across Washington County, Rhode Island, from east to west, the -invader army expanded. It seized Watch Hill. Kingston was occupied in -force. Wickford Junction was occupied.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> Narragansett Pier was flooded, -all at once, with men and guns.</p> - -<p>With the swiftness of a blow from a fighter’s fist, the invader had -struck and won the entire railroad system of the New York, New Haven and -Hartford Railroad in Rhode Island, and commanded the way to Providence.</p> - -<p>The foe had filled his divisions. Forty thousand men were ready for -battle on American soil, with ten thousand in reserve on the coast.</p> - -<p>Now the wind turned south-east. Point Judith, Rhode Island’s cape that -coast-wise mariners call The Fog-Hole, began to brew one of its April -fogs, gray and blind and wet.</p> - -<p>Its first effect was kind to the Americans. The enemy air-craft, seeing -the vapory bank growing from the sea, fled toward their lines. From all -directions they came in, like gulls fleeing before a storm. They could -not dare to remain in strange territory. All their fine maps, all their -ingenious instruments, would be impotent against it. They came in, and -alighted behind their army.</p> - -<p>Freed from them, and masked by the fog, the American scouts went forward -again and groped once more along the foe’s front. In an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_LANDING" id="ILL_LANDING"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<span class="caption">MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE LANDING OF THE ENEMY FORCES</span><br /> -<a href="images/i_123_lg.png"> -<img src="images/i_123_sml.png" width="346" height="369" alt="Image unavailable: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE LANDING OF THE ENEMY FORCES - -A. Enemy Transports at Beach. The lines and arrows show direction of -his advance. - -B. United States Army, withdrawn to a watching position." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="captionnorm"> -<span class="sans">A.</span> Enemy Transports at Beach. The lines and arrows show direction of -his advance. -<br /> -<span class="sans">B.</span> United States Army, withdrawn to a watching position.</span> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span></p> - -<p class="nind">hour field telephones and telegraphs and aerial told the American -commander enough to assure him that the enemy’s force in men was at -least nearly equal to his own. He knew, too, that the invader had -brought up preponderating artillery. Every road, every piece of -negotiable country was held by guns.</p> - -<p>The American army held tight. In its front, between it and the foe, -there was not a rail-line, not a bridge. All had been destroyed. Behind -it lay a perfect railroad system, with long trains and giant locomotives -under steam, and all the gathered motor vehicles, ready to speed along -perfect roads.</p> - -<p>So far the fog was kind to the defenders. But the invader, too, was -quick to seize its favor.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Fishermen Who Caught More Than Lobsters</i></p> - -<p>Long before, half a dozen men, dressed like fishermen, had made their -way out of Narragansett Harbor in a small sloop, and had reported at the -enemy headquarters. For a month or more past they had been fishing for -lobsters; but they had caught more than lobsters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span> Their catch lay on -the table in the Commander’s tent, in the form of charts with soundings -and range lines and distances. They were maps of the mine fields.</p> - -<p>As soon as the fog began, these men went aboard a mine-sweeper. It -steamed eastward, followed by the others. The sweepers had more than the -cables and grapples that make a mine-sweeper’s outfit. Set in rows on -the after-deck of each vessel were bulging mines, filled with 300 pounds -of trinitrotol.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> - -<p>The fog became so thick that it was hard to say if it were daylight -still, or night. Night could only make it more black. It could not -increase the obscurity.</p> - -<p>In the coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay every -man was straining eyes and ears and nerves. Every gun company was at its -weapon. Every gun was loaded. Tall projectiles stood ready with the -chains and grapples of the hoists prepared. Men stood waiting in the -powder magazines under the batteries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span></p> - -<p>Nothing to see or hear at Fort Wright on Fisher’s Island. Nothing at -Fort Michie on Gull Island. Nothing at Fort Terry on Plum Island. On all -the shrouded, swift tide-ways that led into Long Island Sound there was -nothing.</p> - -<p>There was nothing in front of the Narragansett defenses that eyes could -see or ears could hear. Nothing—and then, far out, it was as if a -sea-monster had arisen in dying torment, and lashed, and spouted and -screamed. Before the riven column of water could fall, there came -muffled, thundering explosion under water—one, two, three!</p> - -<p>The defenses split the fog with fire. Their mine-protecting batteries -had been trained over the fields long since. There was no need for aim. -Instantly they swept the hidden sea with shells that would clear twenty -acres of water.</p> - -<p>Again there was silence and blindness—the unearthly silence of the -Atlantic sea-fog. It lay for half an hour, as if there were no such -thing as war in the world.</p> - -<p>Then once more came the roar and the crash, followed by its submarine -echoes. Once more the land-guns raved, firing blind.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Fighting Mines with Mines</i></p> - -<p>The enemy was counter-mining. Instead of sweeping, his vessels were -dropping mines of their own in the fields, and then, backing off to -avoid the fire from the batteries if they could, they exploded them by -electric contact, to blow up the American mines with the shock.</p> - -<p>Not all the mine-sweepers escaped mines or guns. But there were vessels -to spare, and lives to spare. All night the counter-mining went on, and -all night the American guns fired into the vapor and the darkness.</p> - -<p>The sun arose invisibly. But it climbed, and when it had lifted all its -disk above the rim of sea, it showed through the mist as a pale -illumination. It was “burning off” the fog.</p> - -<p>“It will be clear enough in an hour,” said the executive officer of a -battleship under Block Island. The vessel’s wireless began to speak.</p> - -<p>On one of the mother-ships men brought out and assembled an armored -biplane. Its two fliers stowed range-finding apparatus, aerial -telegraph, aneroids and charts in it. There were signal flags and light, -brightly silvered balls. Men brought receptacles that contained<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> bombs -and adjusted them carefully in place. The fliers waited, watching the -fog.</p> - -<p>It lessened. It tore away in rifts. All around, the ships became -visible.</p> - -<p>Seven battle-ships swung around and put on speed and rushed in echelon -toward the coast. They steered straight for the mouth of Narragansett -Bay, turned just outside of the zone of fire of its defenses, slowed -down and steamed across the mouth.</p> - -<p>The bi-plane’s engine burst into life. The machine lifted and followed -them. It flew high over them and into the bay, climbing.</p> - -<p>“They’re over it!” said an officer on a ship, looking at the machine -through his glasses.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Locating the Forts For the Enemy Ships</i></p> - -<p>Far inside of the bay, so high in air that it was little more than a -shining speck, the aeroplane was describing a series of regular, equal -circles. All at once, as if it had been painted in the air with a -mammoth brush, a jet-black descending streak stood out against the sky, -and lengthened steadily toward the earth.</p> - -<p>The azimuth and other range-finding instruments at both ends of the -battle-ships caught<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_FORWARD" id="ILL_THE_FORWARD"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_129fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_129fp_sml.jpg" width="485" height="286" alt="Image unavailable: “The forward turret of a battleship turned and spoke with a great voice.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The forward turret of a battleship turned and spoke with a great voice.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">the angles and ascertained the range to the black smear that still hung -in the air, like grease. The aviator had dropped a smoke-bomb to -indicate the fort below.</p> - -<p>The forward turret of a battleship turned, its hooded rifle lifted its -muzzle to an angle of fifteen degrees, and spoke with a great voice.</p> - -<p>Eleven miles away a ton of steel rushed from the sky, crashed into the -water of the bay roaring, ricochetted, struck again half a mile beyond, -and again and again. Four times it rebounded, like a pebble, before it -disappeared at last; and each time it filled the air with its clamor, -like a suffering thing.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p>The ships’ wireless caught a signal from the aeroplane. The shot had -fallen short. The battleship steamed on, and another one in line opened -up the mouth of the harbor and fired.</p> - -<p>From the aeroplane fell a silver ball. It glittered in the brightening -sun, splendid. “Hit!” went the message to the turret; and the crew there -embraced and cheered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span></p> - -<p>It had hit the outer earth-works of the defenses. It had plunged down -with a shock that stunned men in mortar pits and gun-emplacements far -away—small wonder, for this thing falling from the sky had struck a -blow equal to that of New York’s obelisk plunging into Broadway from the -top of Trinity Church steeple.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>No Effect!</i>”</p> - -<p>“No effect!” reported the watchers in the coast defense to the -commandant. Though the impact had shaken the works and the very earth: -though the blast from the explosion of its charge had twisted three-inch -iron bars within the works, and bent the steel doors of casemates, it -had done no harm to the defenses. So well had they been built by the -engineers that the rending explosion left a crater for only a moment. -The earth rippled down and closed it. The steel and concrete facing -underneath held true.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span></p> - -<p>The enemy had the range. Ship after ship passed the entrance, delivered -its single shot, proceeded and returned to follow in the circling line. -These were the most modern dreadnaughts, firing from 16-inch guns. Their -shells tore the earth embankments away in tons and flung dirt high in -air and sent it down to bury everything in its way under mounds. But all -their fire and all their havoc was in vain, unless they could hit a gun. -And the guns were protected by steel armor and concrete and earth piled -on earth.</p> - -<p>To hit a gun was to attempt to hit a bull’s eye only a few feet square -at a range of eleven miles, farther than men can see.</p> - -<p>Still the bombardment went on, undeterred. More aeroplanes soared over -the defenses now, far out of reach from shots, and circled and signaled. -The fire grew. The ships were not hesitating now to wear out the rifling -of their guns. They meant to give the defenders no rest.</p> - -<p>They were trying for a prize that was worth all the guns in their -turrets. They knew that inside of the works there could not be more than -a few thousand men, if that much. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> knew that all the Coast -Artillery forces of the United States combined numbered only 170 -companies and that these 170 companies had 27 harbor defense systems to -guard. Even if the United States had stripped its other defenses to the -utmost, there could not be a sufficient force in these that were now -being attacked.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Only Enough Ammunition to Last Two Hours</i></p> - -<p>So they poured fire on fire and shot on shot. It was a one-sided duel, -for their great guns outranged the 12-inch guns of the defenses. The men -in there fired only occasionally, when their observers and range-finders -and plotters perceived an opportunity. There was another reason for -their slow fire, besides the inability to reach. Those perfect defenses, -those perfect products of engineering science, those results of millions -on millions of expenditure, contained only enough ammunition for two -hours of firing!<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span></p> - -<p>They waited till the enemy ships should try to force the passage and -come within range, that they might make those two hours two hours of -unspeakable destruction that should glorify their death with the fiery -splendor of bursting ships.</p> - -<p>The enemy did not try to force the passage. While they saved their -ammunition, these defenses were fearful gladiators to approach. None -could come within reach of their steel hands and live.</p> - -<p>But the gladiators were gladiators fearful only in front. -Steel-gauntleted, armored with steel breast-plates and shin-plates, -mightily visored—so they faced the sea. In the back they were naked.</p> - -<p>Fire, and noise, and bursting charges, and explosions that made hot -gales within the works and whirled men like dried leaves! An hour -passed. Still from the sea there came the coughing bellow, that made the -air tremble and rolled inland like summer thunder among hills.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span> Still -there fell the screaming steel from the sky. Another hour! And still it -came.</p> - -<p>The sun was over-head. Suddenly, into the naked back of the defenses -poured fire and steel that hammered and beat and tore through them. -Under it, through flame and smoke and flying dirt appeared shining rows -of bayonets. With a yelp 10,000 men poured in.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p>And through the United States, smiting it into the dumbness of despair, -went the news that the great Narragansett defenses had fallen, and that -the enemy fleet was entering the harbor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">NEW ENGLAND’S BATTLE</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">America</span> had lost Narragansett Bay, with all its defenses, great guns and -government stations, in less than two weeks after the declaration of -war!</p> - -<p>The generation that faced this disaster had faced many catastrophes -which had seemed great disasters. It had seen States razed by cyclones. -It had seen giant floods. It had seen magnificent cities thrown down by -a shaking earth. Unterrified, it had flung money and men to the stricken -places to make them whole. Destroyed cities rose in beauty almost before -the dust of their fall had ceased to veil the sun.</p> - -<p>Money, money, money! Men, men, men! It seemed that no disaster could be -so colossal that the wonderful resources and efficiency of the United -States could not mock at it.</p> - -<p>Before the news of Narragansett’s fall was an hour old, the cities of -the United States, including<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span> many towns so obscure that few Americans -ever had heard their names, had subscribed enough money to raise and -equip an army twice over and keep it in the field for months. But the -country that was so efficient, so intrepid, so resourceful, was facing a -disaster now that it could not conjure away with all the money and men -that ever were.</p> - -<p>Money, the magician, was futile now. It could not stamp its golden foot -and make guns and ammunition spring from the empty ground. It could not -send to the army in Connecticut cannon that did not exist or cartridges -that had not been made.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Not Enough American Ammunition for Two Days’ Battle</i></p> - -<p>An order had gone out from the American headquarters that morning—an -ominous warning<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> that, given in battle, would have indicated, surely, -the beginning of the end. It was:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT NO AMMUNITION BE EXPENDED -WITHOUT URGENT NEED. COMPANY COMMANDERS WILL ENFORCE THIS ORDER -RIGOROUSLY.”</p></div> - -<p>While the futile dollars were being flung to the Government for new -armies, the army that was already in the field was counting its -small-arms and artillery ammunition, knowing that it did not possess -enough for two days’ battle.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> - -<p>From ocean to ocean men with naked hands were crowding to enlist. The -generous Nation that never yet had denied a need when the need was made -apparent, was as generous with its lives as with its dollars. For two -and three blocks around the recruiting stations of regular army and -militia the streets were packed with men. They had come from work and -pleasure. They had come home from far places. They had dropped shovels -and tennis-rackets, pens<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span> and picks. They stood shoulder to shoulder, in -fine stuffs and in rags, made equal by one loyal purpose. And they were -as futile as the dollars.</p> - -<p>One million men, it was computed afterward, had offered themselves in -America in that one day. But there were no weapons for them. There were -not enough rifles. There were no uniforms. There were no tents. There -were no shoes.</p> - -<p>Keen-eyed men of trails and wilderness offered themselves for the signal -corps. There were no signal corps supplies. Telegraphers were there, but -all the field telegraph outfits that the country had were with the army. -Teamsters volunteered, but there was no reserve of army wagons. Men -trained in bridge building and engineering were turned away, because -there was no equipment to fit out sorely needed companies of miners and -sappers.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> - -<p>Cavalry was needed, urgently; and men who could ride tried to enlist. -But there were no mounts for them. Army officers in Texas and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span> New -Mexico and Oklahoma were buying, at unheard-of prices, rough horses wild -from the range, while in Connecticut were regiments of regular cavalry -whose troops were only three-quarters filled with either men or -horses.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>Money, money, money! Men, men, men! It was too late.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Newport’s Palaces Occupied by Enemy Officers</i></p> - -<p>The bulletins still were displaying the news of the loss of -Narragansett’s defenses when the mine-sweepers of the enemy, unhampered -now, completed their work in the channels of the great harbor and -signaled to their fleet that it was safe to enter.</p> - -<p>The big liners crowded in—ships that hitherto never had entered an -American harbor except New York or Boston. Followed by horse-transports -and vessels laden with artillery, they passed in a gigantic parade past -Newport.</p> - -<p>Only destroyers and light-draught gun-boats preceded them. There was no -further need of cruisers with shotted guns to protect them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span> The enemy -flag was flying over Forts Adam, Wetherill, Greble, Getty, and Philip -Kearney. The American guns which the garrison had not been able to -destroy now looked down the harbor to hold it for the invader against -American attack.</p> - -<p>Newport’s villas and palaces were occupied by officers of the invading -army and navy. The avenues and gardens and shores of the rich men’s -pleasure-place were thronged with bluejackets and marines. The famous -power-boats, rich with mahogany and cedar, were brought out of their -opulent housings and launched. Glittering steam yachts were being eased -down the ways, to take the water and go into commission under the -foreign flag.</p> - -<p>After the last of the ships had entered, an American sea captain, who -had been crouching in a hiding place on Sakonnet Point at the eastern -entrance to the harbor, clapped his telescope together, arose -cautiously, and straightened out his stiffened old limbs. Taking great -care to select by-paths, he went inland to the village of Little -Compton, where he found an automobile stage that took him to the -railroad station at Tiverton.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span></p> - -<p>Thence he telephoned to Fall River, and Fall River sent it on to Boston, -and Boston sent it on to Worcester, whence it went to the army, that an -old seaman had not only counted and identified the transports, but was -able to say approximately which ships had troops aboard and which -vessels probably carried only supplies.</p> - -<p>There were liners of more than 40,000 gross tons. There were three ships -of more than 25,000 tonnage. Each of them was a famous liner whose -character was known to its last details. It was a matter of only a few -minutes to figure out that the net tonnage of the troop-laden vessels -was 200,400. Under the foreign military allowance of one soldier for -each two net tons of ship capacity, it was indicated with fair accuracy -that the force that had entered the harbor was at least 100,000 men.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> - -<p>“With the ample landing facilities,” said the American Commanding -General to his staff, “the men can, no doubt, be disembarked within -twenty hours. Count in the work of landing supplies, artillery, -ammunition and horses, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span> organizing the army for effective -movement—we cannot safely figure on more than fifty hours before the -enemy will be ready to undertake important operations. He will, no -doubt, have occupied Providence and Fall River at once.”<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>An Incident of the Occupation of Fall River</i></p> - -<p>A gunboat was lying at that moment in the mouth of Taunton River, with -4-inch guns covering tall, smoky Fall River. Its officers were watching -the signalmen who had been left behind by a detachment of marines that -had been sent in to occupy the river streets.</p> - -<p>Crouching behind a third-story window of a square, multi-windowed -monster of a cotton mill, three men, roughly clad, watched the -bluejackets approach. “I tell you,” said one, “it is no use, no use. -Have you not read the order? It is that we must not do anything.”</p> - -<p>“We have been made citizens,” answered the other, savagely. “And shall -we not fight for this country? Go, then, you, if you fear. Peter and I -will kill these men. Is it not so, Peter?”</p> - -<p>The man addressed nodded, silently. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> had a bomb in his hand. The -first speaker, shrugging his shoulder, hurried out.</p> - -<p>“Now!” said Peter. His comrade raised the window, and Peter’s arm went -out swiftly. He tossed the bomb.</p> - -<p>It fell in front of the blue-jackets and burst. The detachment reeled. -But the smoke had not quite dissipated before the sailors were in order -again, running back, dragging their machine-gun and carrying two men, -one dead, one wounded.</p> - -<p>At the corner they stopped and aimed the gun at the mill. There was a -tearing scream, like the sudden yelp of a circular saw when it bites a -plank. A stream of steel-jacketed bullets blew against the building. The -windows vanished with a clash of splintering glass. Three men, their -heads bent low and their arms covering their faces as if to breast a -tempest of hail and wind, ran out of the door. They had not gone ten -yards when they were jerked, and tossed high, and flung forward, and -dropped into a heap that might have been nothing except a huddle of old -clothes.</p> - -<p>The man at the machine-gun grunted. Squatting comfortably behind his -little demon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> he turned it on the factory again like a man manipulating -a hose. Exactly as if he were sprinkling, he fanned the rows of windows, -systematically.</p> - -<p>Behind them the gunboat awoke. Its men had learned by signal what had -occurred. Their guns opened fire on the street. Four steel projectiles -struck the brick buildings, broke through them and tore up floors and -walls and girders. As the shells exploded inside, the walls bent -outward, seemed to recover, and then suddenly leaned out again and -toppled, with smoke and dust mounting into a column on a cyclone of -their own making.</p> - -<p>Through the smoke and thick dust sped another flock of shells. A -building at the head of a street moved. It seemed to jump, curiously -like a frightened man staggering backward. Then there was no building. -There was nothing but a pile of stone and twisted iron—with half a -dozen men under it.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Providence’s Handful of Desperate Men</i></p> - -<p>The gunboat lowered boats and sent more men ashore. They rushed machine -guns into the town. “Our men have been attacked,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span> their Commander, -appearing at the City Hall. “The town is subject to punishment under the -rules of war. Write a proclamation to your people at once. Inform them -that a single other hostile act will cause your immediate execution and -the complete destruction of your city.”</p> - -<p>“Fall River Destroyed!” was the news that went through the country. It -was spread by men who had seen the houses fall, and had run away in -terror with the roar of tumbling walls and exploding shells in their -ears, and who truly believed that they had seen the entire city in flame -and ruin.</p> - -<p>“Quick! Quick!” shouted a newspaperman in Providence when the news came -in. “Get this on the street with the biggest head you can and rush -copies to the madmen at the barricade. It’ll probably be the last thing -we print; but it may save Providence.”</p> - -<p>Behind the barricade, made of stones and wagons and all the useless, -pitiable defenses that desperate men in desperate cities have always -used, there were a hundred or more men who had lost their heads and -would listen to nothing but the voice of their own fury. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span> were -armed with old rifles taken from a plundered marine store’s -establishment whose dusty cellar was piled with condemned arms. From the -same place they had taken four automatic guns on rusty tripods.</p> - -<p>Lashing themselves to greater and blinder rage at every attempt at -opposition or argument, they had sworn to turn the weapons on their own -police. But the black headlines on the extras that were tossed to them -acted like the shock of ice-cold water on a drunken man.</p> - -<p>One by one they slouched away. When the enemy arrived, there was nobody -to oppose the files of bluejackets and marines that marched past the -silent, gloomy crowds to occupy the city for the troops.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Green Scouts for the American Army</i></p> - -<p>“Reports here that Providence is occupied,” Washington telegraphed to -the army. “Send details.”</p> - -<p>The General laughed sarcastically, and tossed the dispatch to his aide.</p> - -<p>“Blazes!” growled the latter. “Since they established their aviation -camp back of their lines at Narragansett Pier yesterday, every<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span> -reconnoisance we’ve attempted has been just like stirring up a nest of -yellow-jackets. I’m afraid that we’ve lost another machine, sir. It -should have been back here hours ago. If it’s gone, we have only six -left; and our crack aviation squadron from San Diego has been whittled -down to 14 officers and 90 enlisted men. They simply pile on top of -every machine of ours with half a dozen or more of their own.”</p> - -<p>“The mounted patrols that we pushed out toward the south last night got -good results,” said the General.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. But,” the aide selected a sheet of paper from the pile, “it’s -like trying to build up a monster from a single bone. Look at this, sir. -Here’s a green patrol—plucky, too, for they got in farther than most. -But see what they give us. They report a regiment of infantry at Exeter, -west of Wickford; and they say that there is positively no artillery -with it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course!” answered the General. “They didn’t know where to look for -artillery, or how it is concealed.”<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span></p> - -<p>“Nice man-trap that sort of scouting is!” grunted the aide.</p> - -<p>“Well, well!” The old General laughed again. “It’s late in the day to -kick. We’ve known long ago what sort of soup was being cooked for our -eating. The only thing to do now is not to let them ladle it into us too -hot.”</p> - -<p>An officer with the insignia of the aviation corps appeared before the -tent-flap and saluted. A trickle of blood was creeping down his forehead -and across one cheek. “Hullo!” said the aide. “Then we haven’t lost that -machine after all! Did you get anything?”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Report of the Air Scout</i></p> - -<p>“Cavalry and artillery have seized all the railroad and electric lines -to Providence,” reported the flier. “Apparently they are not moving into -the town, but holding tight so that the troops that are landing there -can complete their line. Couldn’t get details—three bi-planes got after -me within twenty minutes.”</p> - -<p>“What delayed you?”</p> - -<p>“They drove me south to the coast. Going over Kingston, I got touched up -with shrapnel. Then two other fliers came down on me, coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> from the -direction of our own lines. I had to hustle across the Sound and fly -around Montauk Point and inland before I could shake them off.”</p> - -<p>“What did you see on Montauk?” asked the General, quickly.</p> - -<p>“A small force is holding it, apparently for a supply and repair base,” -said the scout. “I saw a row of forges in one place.”</p> - -<p>“That’s better news, anyway,” said the General. “I’ve been anxious since -we heard that a force had been landed there. Feared it might be a second -army moving toward New York. Well, we’d better tell Washington what -we’ve gathered.”</p> - -<p>“Hostile line,” Washington learned, “is strongly extended through Rhode -Island along entire railroad system from Westerly northeast almost to -Providence. Enemy’s left flank at Westerly has been strengthened by -successful assault on Fort Mansfield near Watch Hill whose two-company -garrison was overcome before it could destroy the 5-inch guns.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span></p> - -<p>“The enemy holds in strength Westerly, Niantic, Wood River, Wickford -Junction and Landing, River Point and East Greenwich, thus maintaining -line that touches Narragansett Bay at one end and the ocean east of Long -Island at the other. Extraordinarily powerful artillery supports -reported along entire front.”</p> - -<p>“No important news from the front,” said Washington, transmitting this -information to the newspapers. “Providence appears to have been -occupied, as all communication with that place has ceased. It is -reported that two blocks of buildings in Fall River have been destroyed, -but the rest of the city is intact.”</p> - -<p>Washington had become the only source of news, for the time, after the -foe had effected a base in Narragansett Bay. The coasts of New Jersey -and Long Island suddenly had become as quiet again as if there were no -enemy within three thousand miles. No demonstration was made against the -ocean defenses of New York City. No ships threatened the defenses of -Long Island Sound.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Plight of New Bedford</i></p> - -<p>Simultaneously with the severance of communication with Providence, -Boston had been cut off from direct communication with southern New -England, and could telegraph or telephone only by way of Worcester.</p> - -<p>Late that night the city transmitted a dispatch that had come to it from -Fort Rodman, near New Bedford in Buzzards Bay. A strong force, numbers -unknown, had begun moving along the railroad out of Fall River, with -evident design against the town or the fort. Trains were being -assembled. “Send reinforcements,” said Fort Rodman. “No militia in the -city. We have in our defenses only 63 men, Fourth Company, New Bedford -Militia Coast Artillery, besides our own two companies of regulars and -the two companies that were sent here from Charleston and Mobile.”<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - -<p>The morning newspapers announced that New Bedford was in uproar and had -demanded of Washington to know if the Government intended to abandon its -sea-board cities utterly. The people had gone out to tear up the -railroad<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> tracks leading into the town, but one train of fifteen cars -had already advanced half way from Fall River, with another of twelve -cars behind it.</p> - -<p>Shortly afterward a dispatch from a station along the line informed -Boston that three other trains had just passed, close behind each other, -going slowly. One train had twelve, one had eight and the other had ten -cars.</p> - -<p>“Fifty-seven cars,” said the War Department, “would indicate that two -regiments with artillery were on the way.”</p> - -<p>Two hours later Washington gave out this bulletin:</p> - -<p>“New Bedford was occupied at nine <small>A.M.</small> by a regiment of infantry and -three batteries of heavy field artillery. Shortly before 10 <small>A.M.</small> this -force, augmented by a further regiment of infantry, a strong body of -sappers and miners, and a battery of howitzers, proceeded in the -direction of Fort Rodman. Since then it has been impossible to gain any -intelligence.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Demand of the Cities for Protection</i></p> - -<p>At noon an enemy force of unknown strength advanced toward Taunton, -Massachusetts, by way of the railroad running north from Fall<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_PEOPLE" id="ILL_THE_PEOPLE"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_152fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_152fp_sml.jpg" width="334" height="391" alt="Image unavailable: “The people had gone out to tear up the railroad tracks leading into the town.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The people had gone out to tear up the railroad tracks leading into the town.”</span> -</div> - -<p>River. It was reported that two companies of infantry, Massachusetts -Volunteer Militia, had attacked enemy cavalry outside of the town and -had defeated it. A little later came a report that the Americans had -been surrounded and forced to surrender.</p> - -<p>Then Taunton was cut off. Boston telegraphed to Washington: “We have -practically stripped ourselves of militia and demand help at once.”</p> - -<p>“Hold the army where it is!” said New York, promptly. “To move it toward -Boston would simply uncover us, and open all Connecticut to capture.”</p> - -<p>“Protect Boston!” demanded Lawrence and Lowell and Haverhill.</p> - -<p>“Hold the army in Connecticut!” telegraphed New London and New Haven, -Bridgeport and Hartford.</p> - -<p>“Most of our militia is with the army!” urged Philadelphia. “We insist -that our men be kept between us and the foe.”</p> - -<p>“What is the disposition of the enemy forces now?” Washington asked army -headquarters.</p> - -<p>“Disembarkation proceeding swiftly,” was the reply. “The line Providence -to New Bedford<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> appears to be strongly held. Main strength, however, -evidently being thrown to face our front. The original army is being -steadily augmented by additions from the forces now landing. Believe -that hostile line stretching across Rhode Island and threatening us is -now fully eighty thousand men, with preponderating artillery.”</p> - -<p>The news bulletin that the War Department in Washington gave out as a -result of this information was that the American army, though -numerically inferior, was holding the invader in check for the time. No -immediate movement, said the bulletin, was expected.</p> - -<p>To the General in command, however, the Department telegraphed: “It is -of the utmost importance to know if you can maintain present position, -and if so, how long. We wish to work Springfield arsenal to the last -moment. Must have twenty-four hours to dismantle it and ship machinery -away.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Two Days in Which to Make Ammunition for the American Army!</i></p> - -<p>Springfield Arsenal, lying behind the protecting army, was a-glare with -light at night<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span> and a-roar night and day with labor. It was toiling -almost literally over a mine; for the foundations were mined, ready for -the dynamite that was to blow them up when the need came.</p> - -<p>An army of workmen, each provided with his own specific instruction, -were ready, when the word came, to tear out what machinery they could -and load it on the trains.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p>Thus, with men standing ready to pull it apart, the great place was -being “speeded” to turn out rifles. Under civilian and military experts -all the workers who could find room were working in eight-hour shifts. -They had increased the output from the normal one hundred rifles an hour -to three thousand in the twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p>“Forces in our front constantly increasing,” the army leaders informed -Washington, after a council of war. “No doubt of offensive intention. We -believe, however, that no forward movement will be made until completion -of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> landing operations. The total destruction of all roads in our front -will then delay enemy for not more than two days. Think it safe to delay -dismantling works till expiration of that time.”</p> - -<p>“Thank God!” said one of the men in Washington. He was thanking God for -two days of grace—after fifty years of unused time. Two short days had -become suddenly precious. In that time there could be added to the stock -of arms 6,000 rifles before the Springfield works should have to be -abandoned and the country forced to depend on the output of the Rock -Island arsenal in Illinois, whose utmost capacity was only two hundred -and fifty rifles in each eight-hour day.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Militia That Had Come in Without Rifles</i></p> - -<p>Already, without a battle, the army had made requisition for 2,500 new -rifles. The militia had come in with many rifles corroded from the -powerful fumes and acid deposits released by smokeless powder. The -rifling of many was ruined by rust, due to lack of cleaning after use.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> -In more than one militia company there were men who had come in without -rifles.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p>Beholding this wastage that had occurred in peace, the authorities were -inclined to believe the dictum of some of the military men who insisted -that for every infantryman in the field there must be a rifle in -reserve. Certainly it was evident enough that when fighting should once -begin, the waste of small arms would be enormous.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> - -<p>Two days more! The word went secretly to Hartford and Ansonia, to -Bridgeport, to New Haven, to all the crowded world of Connecticut and -southern Massachusetts where machines were panting night and day, -buildings trembling with their steam fever, men toiling without sleep, -to take advantage of the days of grace.</p> - -<p>It was not only the brass cases for the fixed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span> ammunition, the fuses for -shells, the cartridges for rifles and pistols, the bayonets and -entrenching tools for which the army depended on New England. A hundred -places of peaceful manufacture were working as desperately as were the -manufacturers of quick-firing guns, to provide the food that war devours -with such monstrous rapacity when it begins to feed.</p> - -<p>There were shops that turned out chains, and shops that turned out -cooking utensils. There were workmen who never had done anything more -warlike than to make bootlaces. There were manufacturers of whips and -hats, and wheelwrights and makers of thread. Up and down all the river -valleys, and in all the crowded towns they were working to give the army -what it needed before the enemy should reach out and make the land his -own.</p> - -<p>Now that it was on the verge of being lost, the United States knew -suddenly what this New England meant to it. It realized all at once what -vast productiveness had enriched the entire Continent with its manifold -variety. So accustomed through long generations to the endless supply, -even the merchants of America had not realized how much they depended -on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span> Connecticut and Massachusetts factories for a thousand articles of -daily utility.</p> - -<p>From every point in the Union came orders. Had such a torrent arrived in -a time of peace, Connecticut might have built one unbroken factory -reaching from the Berkshire Hills to Stonington, to meet the demand.</p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>We Will Play Our Hand Out!</i>”</p> - -<p>And all that lay between this treasure-house of the United States and -capture was a bluff—a last, desperate American bluff.</p> - -<p>The American General knew that his adversary must know that it was a -bluff; but bluffing was an American game.</p> - -<p>“We will play our hand out,” he said to his staff. “No doubt he knows -that he could drive us back now, without waiting for his whole army to -land, and all that ungodly mess of artillery that he’s brought with him. -But he wants to play safe. He wants to clean the whole thing up in one -operation. He wants to lick us, true; but he wants still more to -accomplish his bigger job—the possession of the seaboard. We’ll sit -tight—and bluff him into going slow.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span></p> - -<p>The army sat tight. It sat tight while New England worked, and Chambers -of Commerce and Committees of Safety argued and resolved and argued and -could agree on nothing except that the whole thing was a hopeless mess. -It sat tight while a hundred millions stared at the mess, and hooted -their Congressmen and politicians who wandered around feebly to explain -that it was the fault of somebody else.</p> - -<p>In Ohio and Indiana the mess was typified. Here in great camps were -gathered the organized militia of the western States to be organized, -with 300,000 entirely raw volunteers who had everything to learn. These -green men were the pick of the country—physically perfect, intelligent, -quick to understand. But there was nobody to teach them.</p> - -<p>For years the United States had been warned that if the crisis ever -should occur, there would not be any officers available for the work of -organizing and training recruits. The warning had been whistled down the -wind. Congresses that could find ample time to debate about mileage and -constructive recesses and pork barrels had never found a time when they -could debate this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_ENTIRELY_RAW" id="ILL_ENTIRELY_RAW"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_160fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_160fp_sml.jpg" width="487" height="290" alt="Image unavailable: “Entirely raw volunteers, who had everything to learn.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“Entirely raw volunteers, who had everything to learn.”</span> -</div> - -<p>Congresses that could always find the money for increased pension rolls -never had been able to find the time to lessen the pension rolls of the -future by providing trained officers who would protect their soldiers -and teach them to stay alive as long as possible instead of rushing to -glorious and unnecessary death.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p>Even as it was, there were not enough officers for the army that was in -the field. For training the new men, the Nation had to call on every -aged officer in the land, on every otherwise qualified man who was -physically unfit for active service, and on foreigners from foreign -armies.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Land Lacking in War Efficiency</i></p> - -<p>This army in formation was placed in perfect surroundings. Its health, -its sanitation and its water-supply were excellent. It was fed on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span> the -best that money could buy. In everything that did not depend on military -efficiency, its maintenance was beyond criticism.</p> - -<p>Uniforms were being made for it in record time. Mills were producing -blankets at a speed never before reached. Wherever Americans could help -by the efficient execution of duties that they understood, the result -was magnificent.</p> - -<p>But in everything that demanded the efficiency of men trained to war, -the land was entirely lacking. Everything had to be improvised. There -were only a few men who knew anything about pitching tents, camp -drainage, and the management of large bodies of men. There were -practically no men outside of the army who were capable of managing the -work of supplying the great camps with what they needed. As in the -Spanish-American War, the utter inadequacy of the Quartermaster’s -Department under its civilian appointees had become a scandal within a -few weeks, and threatened already to demoralize the entire volunteer -body.</p> - -<p>Perishable provisions were left in freight cars till they rotted. -Requisitions for vitally<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> needed supplies were not made until it was too -late. Requisitions for one and the same thing were sent out by half a -dozen different officials, leading to inextricable confusion. There was -not an hour in the day when quartermaster’s transports did not block -roads where they had no business to be, and in situations that in war -would have made disaster for a hurrying army.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> - -<p>“Six months to train that mob!” said a retired General, reporting to the -President. “Well, Mr. President, let’s hope so. I should say nine -months, and not even then unless you can give ’em more officers to teach -’em.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The News the Spy Brought</i></p> - -<p>In Connecticut a spy was reporting to the staff. He was a Captain of -Artillery, and he had spent seventy-two hours behind the enemy’s lines.</p> - -<p>“They have completed their disembarkation and organization,” he said. -“There are at least 150,000 men, as was calculated. They are<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span> -magnificently organized, with reserves of everything. They have an -enormous supply of artillery—at least ten guns to every thousand -infantry and cavalry. Their machine gun companies also are -extraordinarily large.”<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> - -<p>“And what is their disposition?”</p> - -<p>“They were still moving men around to our front,” answered the spy. “I -should say, General, that you now have, or will have before the end of -the day, approximately one hundred thousand men facing you.”</p> - -<p>“And the others?”</p> - -<p>“Everything indicates that they are planning to move against Boston, -while the larger force attacks us, sir. Country people told me that they -are holding Taunton now with a strong force. They were moving men -through Pawtucket this morning on the Providence railroad line for -Boston.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span></p> - -<p>“Did you see any movement that might menace Worcester immediately?”</p> - -<p>“They have already repaired the railroad from Providence to Woonsocket.”</p> - -<p>“Then it’s time for us to get out of this. Gentlemen, you all know what -to do. Issue your orders at once.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Retreat of the American Army</i></p> - -<p>Eight hours later the enemy army advanced suddenly. Its southern wing -pushed forward, across Rhode Island and entered Connecticut. Its -northern wing, advancing more slowly because it had to repair railroads -and clear obstructed roads before it, extended itself gradually -northward toward Worcester.</p> - -<p>The extreme southern line, advancing from Westerly, took Stonington, -Groton and the new London Navy Yard, and held the eastern shore of the -Thames River. Another force took Norwich and crossed the Thames at that -place.</p> - -<p>Gradually the line straightened out and formed into the drive that was -to sweep the American army before it, or crush it. But the American -army, with everything lacking except<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span> transport, was not there, either -to be swept or crushed. It was retreating swiftly, in perfect order.</p> - -<p>As the last wheel rolled out of Springfield, the town shook with the -explosions that were wrecking the dismantled arsenal.</p> - -<p>Eastward, two divisions of enemy forces, perfectly appointed to act as -independent armies, were converging on Boston.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE RISING OF NEW ENGLAND</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">New England</span> was filmy red with bursting maple buds. Silver troops of -rain floated over the low hills in the dawn, and left April shining. The -orderly land lay lovely and serene under the tranquil blessing of the -New England spring whose memory draws its sons, soon or late, from all -the world’s places to go home.</p> - -<p>It was such a morning “promising to become hot” as had lain on -Massachusetts in the dawn of April 19, 1775, when men were gathering at -Concord and Lexington.</p> - -<p>The country was as still as it must have been in that far-off day. The -mill-towns were still and smokeless. The machineries were still. There -was no cry of plowmen in the fields.</p> - -<p>It was a supine New England, hushed, apprehensive and conquered. So, at -least, it seemed to the invaders whose patrols, spreading fanwise, were -beginning to pierce the country in all directions, pushing forward far -in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span> advance of their armies, and finding no opposition.</p> - -<p>Through New England the church and town clocks struck: Seven. The land -was peaceful as death. The hour passed. The lazy clocks began to strike: -Eight.</p> - -<p>In a village north of New Bedford stood a little crowd of farmers, -gathered around the general store and listening to the sheriff. He was -warning them that they must not attempt to resist the invading troops -when they came.</p> - -<p>“I know that you—and you,” said he, pointing to men as he spoke, -“brought arms with you. You’d better give them up to me.”</p> - -<p>“And you an American!” growled one of the men. The sheriff did not -retort. He was scarcely past middle age; but there was a great, slow -patience in his face that made him look old.</p> - -<p>He shook his head and said: “It’s only for your own sake.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Modern Paul Revere</i></p> - -<p>“Look!” cried a farmer. “Who is coming here?”</p> - -<p>The man who was coming was a man on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> motorcycle. Man and machine were -so coated with dust, were speeding so desperately, that even without war -in the land one would stare at this flying thing, one would wait with -eyes and lips open to learn what startling message it was carrying.</p> - -<p>Man, roaring motor, and their brother pillar of dust crashed by. They -had disappeared before the breathless watchers realized that the man had -waved an arm at them and had screamed: “Soldiers!”</p> - -<p>A farmer ran to his wagon and pulled out a rifle from its hiding place -under the wagon-seat. “Come on, boys!” he said.</p> - -<p>“Listen! Listen!” The sheriff shouldered forward. “Men! Neighbors! Old -friends! For God’s sake, listen! You have no right to fight.”</p> - -<p>“What?” The sheriff’s young brother, sturdy, handsome, suddenly -ferocious, brought his face close to him. “No right to defend our -country? Are you crazy, Jim?”</p> - -<p>The patient man shook his head again. “It is against the rules of war.”</p> - -<p>“Then curse the rules of war!” shouted the younger. “Are you a coward?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span></p> - -<p>The sheriff reached out and touched his brother’s arm. It was a secret, -almost a timid, act. The brother threw off the appealing hand.</p> - -<p>“Don’t touch me!” He spoke through set teeth. “If you are a coward and -traitor, may you be damned through all eternity! Again! For the last -time! Will you fight?”</p> - -<p>The sheriff raised his hands, dumbly. The men went to their wagons and -returned with arms.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>New England’s Stone Wall</i></p> - -<p>“To that stone wall yonder!” said one.</p> - -<p>He pointed into a field with a rough stone wall dividing its center -three or four hundred yards from the road. This man was an old hunter, -and the others had followed him often. He took command now as a matter -of course.</p> - -<p>The sheriff watched them flounder through the plowed field. He stood -still, for a minute. Then he hurried to his house, emerged with a gun, -and joined the party.</p> - -<p>Two miles away a squad of ten cavalrymen cantered over a ridge and -examined the country through their field-glasses. They studied the -ground foot by foot, almost inch by inch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span> Satisfied, they trotted -toward the village.</p> - -<p>Around a turn they came on a little knot of women and children who -scurried, screaming, into the ditch. A rider headed off a woman who was -carrying a child. He stooped to her from his tall black horse. Laughing, -he nodded and said something to her in a foreign language.</p> - -<p>Stooping still lower, he snatched the child suddenly and swung it out of -the trembling woman’s arm. He lifted it, and danced it up and down.</p> - -<p>He fumbled in his saddle-bag and brought out some chocolate which he fed -to the baby. Then he handed it back to the mother, roaring again with -laughter at her frightened face. The other riders, laughing also, waved -their hands at the group and cantered on.</p> - -<p>They entered the village, swiftly examined it, riding through gardens -and into alleys, assuring themselves that there was nothing there to -mask danger for the troops that were behind them. They passed out of the -other end and into the road leading past the plowed field with the stone -wall.</p> - -<p>It was still, and very lonely. There was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> a living being in sight -throughout all the softly tinted land. On a tree branch that hung over -the stone wall, a bluebird began to sing with all the power of its -little throat.</p> - -<p>It brought a hot choking to the throat of a farmer who was lying behind -the stone wall, just under the bird. Its song had welled out just as he -was raising his rifle. But his gray Yankee eye sought the sights, his -sinewy brown hand gripped the weapon, and he fired.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Firing of the First Shot</i></p> - -<p>He fired, and pumped another cartridge into the breech and fired again, -so quickly that his second shot had roared out before a cavalryman who -had pitched forward with the first bullet through his side, had quite -toppled from his saddle.</p> - -<p>All along the stone wall they fired, and pumped their magazines, and -fired. They were men who had hunted deer in early autumn cover and -learned to send bullets driving after them at hot speed on the jump. The -big horses and the big men, broad in the open road, were easy targets. -But they were not deer. They were men. More than one of the rifle -bullets<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span> went wild because the marksman’s horror shook his hand.</p> - -<p>In the road lay two men, lashing in the dust. Down the road went a -bleeding horse that screamed. It dragged its rider, smashing his face -against the ground. In the field was a soldier, trying to balance -himself on his saddle, with one hand gripping at his breast while the -other reached out grotesquely, as if groping for something to which he -might hold.</p> - -<p>A farmer behind the wall, unable to endure the sight of the men who were -rolling in the road like animals trying to bury their agony, fired at -them and made them lie still. “My God!” he said, and cried.</p> - -<p>The wounded man fell from the saddle and squatted in a queer hunched -posture in the field, his head between his knees. It was the cavalryman -who had fed the child.</p> - -<p>The others scattered, and charged toward the wall. Instantly, the -defenders became cool. Their nerves stopped jumping. These riders, -looming big, with swords out and fury in their eyes, ceased to be men. -They were killers. The farmers shot as steadily as if they were aiming -at deer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span></p> - -<p>Two riders escaped and galloped headlong down the road back to their -forces. The New England men arose from behind the wall, and ran across -the fields to gain the shelter of a wood-lot. Before they could reach -it, there was a yelling behind them and a dozen troopers were in the -fields, following them desperately.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>In the Stone House</i></p> - -<p>“To the house!” cried the sheriff. He led the way to an old stone house, -built in Revolutionary times. The cavalrymen reined up sharply. A glance -at the solid little building with window-openings as deep as embrasures, -showed them that it was dangerous. They opened out, remaining carefully -out of rifle shot, and surrounded the place where they could watch it -from all sides. Then one rode back, swiftly.</p> - -<p>The watchers sat, easy and careless, as if they had been halted during a -peaceful practice march. Half an hour passed. The immobility of the -soldiers, their passionless watch, was driving the farmers frantic. More -than once the old leader had to growl at a man who<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span> wanted to fire, -despite the hopeless distance.</p> - -<p>If the tension in the house had lasted much longer, some of these men -would have rushed out. But there came a great sound from the distance. -It might have been thunder, rolling far away. It might have been a river -in flood.</p> - -<p>“They’re coming!” said the sheriff’s brother. It was hard for him to -speak. The defenders were all violently thirsty, and they had not had -time to bring water from the well.</p> - -<p>They came. Horses, horses, horses! Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! They -came, and passed along the road, and more came on.</p> - -<p>They did not turn off to attack the house. They did not even turn their -heads to look at it. This infuriated the defenders.</p> - -<p>Horses, horses, horses! Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! If the men in the -stone house could have seen other roads, they would have seen each one -so filled with silent, steadily moving columns of men.</p> - -<p>A little party of men and horses turned off from the column and entered -the field. Before it was within the range of the rifles, it wheeled. A -shining, glossy little thing pointed at the house. It was field -artillery, sleek, beautiful.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span></p> - -<p>The sheriff’s brother, carried away by rage, fired and fired. He emptied -his magazine at the distant men.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The War Machine Rolls On</i></p> - -<p>Along the highway the column moved steadily, silently. No soldier -checked his foot for so much as an instant at the sound of the shots. -Bayonets, bayonets, bayonets! The machine moved on.</p> - -<p>It moved on, eyes front, while the captain commanding the cannon snapped -an order. It moved on, bayonets twinkling out of sight in front, and -twinkling past, and twinkling into sight from behind, while the little -gun tore the April morning.</p> - -<p>The stone house spouted clouds of dust and powdering stone. It -dissolved. It became a ruin that stared phantomlike through the cloud, -as if it were looking with horribly expanding eyes at the gun.</p> - -<p>If the besieged fired in return, the men at the gun did not know it. -Their steel beast drowned the farmers’ tiny efforts in roar and flame. -They passed as a breath. The cavalrymen cantered to the ruin. A half -wall was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span> standing, jagged. The rest was a mound of dirt. Under it lay -fourteen men of Massachusetts. The sheriff lay there, with his face more -patient than ever, and his arm around his brother.</p> - -<p>The little gun and its horses and men joined the horses and men that -were moving northward through New England.</p> - -<p>Over the field telegraph wire that unreeled behind the advancing force -went the report to the enemy headquarters: “Civilians estimated at about -a dozen fired from ambush, killing eight cavalry. Took refuge in -building. Annihilated.”</p> - -<p>It was a perfunctory report telling of a merely perfunctory incident. -But the commander-in-chief, sitting at his ease in headquarters in -Providence, stopped smoking for a moment. “See that the news does not -spread,” said he. “It might raise the country. Reënforce all patrols and -warn them.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>New England Ablaze</i></p> - -<p>He was a quick man. His officers were quick and his system of -communication was quick. But the news sped more quickly still.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> Over -every telephone that was intact, over every telegraph wire that still -worked in New England, by bicycle, on horseback, by men running, the -story was passed from man to man and village to village.</p> - -<p>They were fourteen humble men, unknown beyond their own township, when -they crouched behind the stone wall. They were fourteen shining names -before the ruins that covered them had ceased smoking. New England, like -a blazing forest, was ablaze with wrath and fury.</p> - -<p>Vain was it now for cautious men to warn or authorities to command. Men -who never in their lives had thought harm to any living thing, dashed -out with smoldering eyes to fight. Prudent men, who never in their lives -had acted on impulse, now acted without a second’s pause for reflection. -Men who had cared all their lives only for their own little affairs, -were all drunken now and thought it nothing to fire one shot for their -country and die behind a stone wall in the dirt.</p> - -<p>In Acushnet an old whaling captain, a prosperous, weighty citizen, -emptied his shot gun into a raiding party and was left dead under<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span> his -forsythias with the golden blossoms from the volley-torn shrubs covering -him.</p> - -<p>Between Taunton and Pawtucket a militia company of field artillery that -had been unable to move its gun because it lacked horses, got it from -its hiding place, and with a party of volunteers who had no firearms, -fought behind piled bags of cement against enemy cavalry till artillery -had to be brought from miles away to destroy them.</p> - -<p>South of Woonsocket a band, made up of thirty Massachusetts militia -infantry and sixty factory hands from the town, prevented two companies -of hostile infantry for almost two hours from crossing the Blackstone -River. It was not because they could shoot, or knew how to fight. It was -because they meant to stay there till they died. And it was not until -they were dead that the invaders succeeded in crossing.</p> - -<p>New England women who had spent their lives in homely, simple duties, -brought out dippers of water to parched men and cheered them on. They -hid fleeing men in barns and stood by, defiant, when pursuing soldiers -dragged them out and shot them before their eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>As the Men of Old</i></p> - -<p>Men took down old muskets that had been over chimney-places for a -generation. Their wives and mothers kissed them as they went out to -fight.</p> - -<p>Grandparents saw their sons and their sons’ sons lie in ambush in -ancestral pastures that had not echoed to a ruder sound than the lowing -of cows; and they saw them vanish away in red storm, and did not weep.</p> - -<p>Dynamite! Dynamite! went the word through Massachusetts and Connecticut. -This was something that the unarmed country had, and that it knew how to -use. Even the peaceful farmers had it, and were practiced in handling -it, from long work in blowing out stumps and rocks. Irish construction -gangs, Italian road-makers, workers of every tongue and race from pits -and quarries, joined the New England men.</p> - -<p>They blew up a sunken road through which artillery was lumbering. They -blasted away a steep bank and buried a troop of cavalry. They blew up a -mined road in front of infantry and when it retreated, sprang a second -mine<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> under the soldiers’ feet that exterminated a battalion.</p> - -<p>Railroads and roads were blown up before advancing troops and behind -them. Men blew up bridges and prevented their own escape so that the -armed forces caught them as in a trap and slaughtered them at leisure. -Viaducts and works were dynamited that never could have been of any use -to the enemy. It was formless, systemless destruction—but in that very -lack of system lay its danger to the enemy forces.</p> - -<p>Had all the men in New England who were engaged in this wild fighting -been gathered in one body, the trained, disciplined soldiers could have -disposed of them in an action so simple that they might scarcely have -named it a skirmish. But this was like a forest fire that, stamped out -in one spot, breaks into roaring flame in another. As it sweeps from -tree tops to tree tops and creeps underground, and flames out in quick -fury miles away, so the warfire raved through Massachusetts and -Connecticut to be crushed out only in detail with detailed, bitter work -through all that long, hot, dusty day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Serious to the Enemy</i></p> - -<p>It was serious. This uprising of an undisciplined population could not -defeat, or even damage seriously, the great army. But it could hamper -it. It would force a wide scattering of troops to break down the -sporadic opposition. It would make a dangerous country—dangerous in -front of the advancing soldiers, dangerous in their rear, continually -dangerous around them.</p> - -<p>In that sense it was more serious than deliberate, military opposition -by the American army would have been. Had the enemy commander faced only -a defending army, it would have been a quiet, technical matter of -advance guards against advance guards. These pawns in the old game of -war would have thrust each other back here, receded before each other -there, fighting only when it was forced on them, and so, gradually, -properly, they would have cleared the board that the great game might be -played.</p> - -<p>This incoherent uprising was disorganizing all his tactics. From the -western army that had set out to sweep through Connecticut, came<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THERE_HAD" id="ILL_THERE_HAD"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_183fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_183fp_sml.jpg" width="340" height="279" alt="Image unavailable: “There had been firing from mill-buildings, which had been destroyed for punishment.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“There had been firing from mill-buildings, which had been destroyed for punishment.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">word that everywhere patrols had been -attacked. Men in a swift power boat on the Thames River above New London -had succeeded in three places in firing on scouting parties with a -Hotchkiss rifle, apparently taken from a yacht.</p> - -<p>The line north of Norwich along the same river reported four men killed -from ambush. At Willimantic there had been firing from mill buildings, -which had been destroyed for punishment.</p> - -<p>The Commander of the brigade that was advancing on Worcester in -Massachusetts from Connecticut had halted his advance, and was asking -headquarters if the extent of the disorder were great enough to imperil -his communications.</p> - -<p>The eastern division, moving on Boston, reported that the patrols had -been ordered in from the line North Middleboro—East -Middleboro—Plymouth. “Our men can move only in considerable force,” -reported the Commander. “Small parties are constantly in danger of being -assassinated. The population appears to be in a frenzy. Seven cavalry at -Nemasket, engaged in foraging for their horses, were burned<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span> alive in a -barn. We have fired the town. It is still burning. Have shot ten -citizens.”</p> - -<p>“My men are getting out of hand,” telegraphed the Commander of a brigade -moving toward Mansfield. “Stern reprisals required at once.”</p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>Let Them Have It!</i>”</p> - -<p>“Let them have it!” said the Commander-in-Chief.</p> - -<p>“Instant retaliation!” said the field telegraph to the armies. “Order -all brigade commanders to execute disorderly civilians in most public -and exemplary manner possible. Attach placard to bodies proclaiming why -punishment was incurred. Divisional commanders are empowered in their -discretion to order partial or total destruction of offending cities.”</p> - -<p>The commanders transmitted the orders to their regimental commanders, -and these to the officers of their battalions and companies. “Crush all -disorder with utmost severity,” they said. What it meant was: “Kill, -burn and destroy!” It meant: “Set fury against fury!” It meant: “Let -your men go!”</p> - -<p>It meant what a war of soldiers against battling<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span> civilians in a -conquered country always has meant. Both sides had seen their dead. Both -sides were maddened. Now the men with arms, restrained no longer by cold -discipline, broke loose.</p> - -<p>Then New England saw such deeds as that quiet landscape never had framed -since the days of its old Indian wars, and perhaps not even then. It saw -housewives hanging from budding apple-trees, with placards pinned to -their breasts saying that they had helped to murder soldiers. It saw New -England people, who, twenty-four hours earlier would not have killed a -chicken without a pang of pity, surround solitary soldiers and do them -to death with their bare hands, while they begged for mercy. It saw -unarmed citizens seized on the roads and hustled to walls and shot while -they were screaming for somebody in authority, that they might prove -their innocence.</p> - -<p>The authorities of a score of towns were hanged in their town squares -because troops had been fired on. In many a park that never had seen -anything more formidable than children at their play, hung dead men in a -row—the executed hostages who paid for the acts of men<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a>{186}</span> whom they had -not known. A thousand men and women of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it -was reported later, were shot or hanged in that one afternoon.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>New England’s Funeral Curtain</i></p> - -<p>And over the two States, rising slowly and spreading until the sunny sky -was darkened, there hung, like a funeral curtain over the place of -death, the black smoke of burning villages and towns.</p> - -<p>When that April day ended, and the night came down, there was no place -in eastern Connecticut, in all the seventy miles north and south from -New London to Worcester where men could not see the fire of burning -towns or houses. In Massachusetts from New Bedford to Taunton, and from -Taunton north to Brockton, there were fires. All the sky around -Providence was red with it. The smoke drifted over Boston and the -strangling odor filled its streets.</p> - -<p>All night the country burned. All night wounded fugitives lay hidden, -gritting their teeth, or, forced by intolerable anguish, crawled out and -surrendered. All night long the troops<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>{187}</span> swept through town after town, -wreaking vengeance.</p> - -<p>It was finished in the morning. “The country is pacified,” were the -reports that went to headquarters. There were no gatherings of citizens -anywhere within the province of the army’s operations. They were -forbidden. There were no arms left in the hands of civilians. Houses in -which weapons were found had been destroyed. Men who had been found with -them in their possession were shot. Men with explosives were shot. In -all New England that morning, every man had to be ready, for his life, -to hold out his open hands whenever he met a soldier, and submit to -search.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Machine Shakes Down</i></p> - -<p>Through the two armies ran the orders to restore stiff discipline. The -soldiers came to leash and the big machine shook down. The patrols went -out grimly, with a new meaning in their peering, scrutinizing frowns. -They found a terrorized country, through which they moved unhampered.</p> - -<p>“Worcester Occupied” was the early news<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a>{188}</span> that went through the United -States. “Heavy Cavalry Body Enters Unopposed.”</p> - -<p>“Motor Raiders at Fitchburg,” was the next report. It was followed by -news of raiders east of Worcester.</p> - -<p>Bit by bit the enemy was cutting Boston and all Eastern New England off -from the rest of the United States.</p> - -<p>East of Providence the advance guard of the army that was threatening -Boston reached the line from Attleboro through Bridgewater and Silver -Lake to Kingston, thus extending across that part of Massachusetts all -the way to Plymouth Bay.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> - -<p>Taunton, according to rumors that reached Boston, was being made the -point for a heavy concentration of men and rolling stock.</p> - -<p>Washington received news of an enormous unfolding of cavalry. The -reports came from East Brookfield, half way between Worcester and -Springfield in southern Massachusetts;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a>{189}</span> from Willimantic in Central -Connecticut, and from New London on the Long Island Sound shore in the -south. Every road across the whole State north and south was held by -horsemen who were pressing steadily westward, converting all means of -communication to the army’s use and cutting off the population -completely from the outside and even from communicating with each -other.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p> - -<p>From Attleboro there was a sudden thrust along the railroad line Taunton -to Mansfield. From this point the enemy moved rapidly along the railroad -line to Framingham. In two hours he had in his possession six important -junctions of the railroad systems that connect Boston with the rest of -New England and with the United States.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Encircling Boston</i></p> - -<p>The enemy was making good a great line that extended in a semi-circle -from the west of Boston to the coast south of it.</p> - -<p>His grip on Rhode Island had not relaxed. That whole State was in his -hands. There was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a>{190}</span> not a village left in it that was not dominated by his -troops. Men were quartered in every house. Officers were quartered in -every hotel, every mansion. The town halls and churches were occupied. -In places where there were not sufficient stable accommodations, the -horses were placed in the churches.</p> - -<p>There were proud homes there, in “little Rhode Island,” where crossed -swords over the old-fashioned mantel-pieces bore witnesses to ancestors -who had fought on land and sea in the Wars of the Revolution and of -1812. Foreign soldiers sat under them, and spread out maps of the State -on the floors while they debated over the best use to make of roads and -houses and towns.</p> - -<p>Town and village authorities received orders, not from officers, but -from common soldiers, or, at the most, from sergeants or corporals. Only -in the most important places did commissioned officers trouble to -consult with the officials. Mostly, they limited themselves to sending -their requisitions and instructions in curtly written notes.</p> - -<p>So it was everywhere throughout the conquered country. Wherever the -invader set<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>{191}</span> foot, all old law ceased instantly and new law began. The -bulletin boards in town halls, court rooms and post offices were -covered, within half an hour after the irruption of soldiery, by -placards that were headed, each and every one, with the words: “An -Order.”</p> - -<p>The people were ordered not to be out of doors after nine at night. They -were ordered to bring in an accounting of all horse forage, all -food-stuffs and all accommodation they had in their premises for men and -animals. They were ordered to bring in all rolling stock for inspection. -They were ordered to leave their lights burning behind lowered shades.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Under Foreign Rule</i></p> - -<p>Their officials were ordered to report daily to the army for -instructions. Their judges were ordered to make reports of their cases. -There was no duty of the day to which a citizen could turn without -feeling the invader’s hand upon him. There was no road on which he could -move without being challenged by a sentry. There was no woman who dared -venture on the street, for fear of offense which her men could not dare -to resent, or for the worse<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a>{192}</span> fear of the fate that would be theirs if -they did.</p> - -<p>So, like a great fan opening out from Providence the armies expanded -over the conquered country, and each spoke expanded again. The divisions -unfolded their brigades, the brigades their regiments, the regiments -their battalions, the battalions their companies, and the companies -their detachments, reaching everywhere and everywhere keeping in touch -with the main body through the marvelous network of intelligence that -grew into being behind the soldiers.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> - -<p>It was as if a vast octopus had crawled from the sea at Narragansett -Bay. With its body clinging there, fast to its ocean base, it sent its -tentacles into every crevice of the land, and gripped tight.</p> - -<p>“It is plain now what he is doing,” said the Chief of Staff to the -President in Washington. “He is keeping a powerful retaining force in -Rhode Island, absolutely assuring his base and holding the gate open for -reënforcements. Westward he is throwing masses of cavalry—probably most -of the cavalry that he has—to clear the way for his infantry and -artillery to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a>{193}</span> march along the coast to New York. Northward those cavalry -masses are screening him against any attempt by our army either to fall -on his forces in Connecticut, or to move around north of him and attack -the rear of his divisions that are marching on Boston. It isn’t tactics. -It’s simple, commonsense use of numerical superiority.”<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Making a Fight for Boston</i></p> - -<p>The President played with a pile of dispatches. They were from Boston -and New York. “You say that those companies of coast artillery from the -south got through!”</p> - -<p>“I had a message from the Commander of the Artillery District of -Boston,” he said. “The six companies arrived at Fort Banks yesterday -morning. They had to go around by way of Lake Champlain and Vermont, but -they got through. That will at least give the men some relief if there -should be a sustained action.”<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a>{194}</span></p> - -<p>“You are sure it was not a mistake to—sacrifice them?” asked the -President.</p> - -<p>The General shrugged his shoulders. “There are some things that one -simply must do,” he said. “We had to give New York and Boston something. -We absolutely must make some sort of a fight for them.”</p> - -<p>The Commander of the harbor defenses of Boston was not concerning -himself about the occult reasons that had inspired the reënforcements. -He had been praying for men, for he needed half a dozen men wherever he -had one. He needed them for the searchlights, he needed men that he -might establish defenses to the land approaches, he needed men for -protection of base lines and cable stations. There were scout boats to -be manned, and outlying islands to be posted with lookouts to guard -against approach of ships in fog or darkness.</p> - -<p>Now that he had them, he waited for no orders and asked for no -instructions. He loaded quartermasters’ boats with detachments and -rushed them to the waterfront of Boston and Chelsea where he knew of -things he wanted. They returned with two tons of explosives and -miscellaneous ordnance material that had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a>{195}</span> seized from merchants. He -seized barb wire. From electric light plants and power works he -obtained, by the same simple method, some forty miles of lead-covered -cable for his mine-fields, and from ships in the harbor he took half a -dozen searchlights.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>To Hold the Defenses</i></p> - -<p>Before night, too, he had men entrenched behind entanglements with -machine guns on the narrow neck of land that leads to Nahant’s broad -cliff promontory on the north of Boston Harbor, to protect position -finding stations there and a great 60-inch searchlight.</p> - -<p>Southward at Point Allerton, on the long cape that juts toward Boston -Harbor from Nantasket Beach, to defend the stations and searchlights and -approaches of Fort Revere with its mighty batteries, he placed a strong -force with ample artillery.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a>{196}</span></p> - -<p>This was the point where he feared a landing most. He built an armored -train, seizing the material from the town of Hull, and armed it with -quick-firers that it might be sent to threatened places.</p> - -<p>Outposts were sent as far as Nantasket, for fear the enemy should try to -land there or cross the narrow neck and take boats over it into the bay -behind.</p> - -<p>Beyond Fort Revere he destroyed certain houses that would interfere with -the firing. At the far outlying islands called The Graves he posted men -with signal rockets. He sent scout boats to lie at sea beyond the fire -zone, from Nahant to the spot where the Light-ship was moored in times -of peace.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a>{197}</span></p> - -<p>Within forty hours he had doubled the strength of his defense because he -had the men. He looked up at a hostile aeroplane, flying well beyond -gunshot. They had become almost commonplace objects in Boston’s sky -during the past days. “Well, come on!” he said. “You and your ships! -We’ll give you a whirl.”</p> - -<p>He was awakened at one o’clock that morning. The “whirl” had begun. -Ships were standing in toward Nahant Bay in the north and off Cohasset -in the south. Fifteen minutes afterward the people of Boston and -Charlestown and Brookline, of Quincy and Weymouth, Hingham and Lynn, -were brought out of their beds by explosions that shook the houses. They -came from the sea, northeast and southeast and east. They were not only -incessant, but they came two and even three so close together at times -that they made a sustained roar as if the very air itself had turned to -thunder.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Boston’s Bombardment Begins</i></p> - -<p>Battleships with 15- and 16-inch guns were bombarding Fort Revere and the -fort was answering with its 12-inch guns. Armored cruisers were firing -on Standish. Armored<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a>{198}</span> cruisers and battle cruisers were throwing 12- and -14-inch shells into Deer Island and on Winthrop. Battleships lying north -of Nahant in Nahant Bay, and thus invisible to the Boston defenses and -not to be reached by searchlights, were bombarding Forts Banks and -Heath.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> - -<p>Fort Warren was firing at them, over Boston Light. Fort Andrews loosed -its batteries.</p> - -<p>There was bombardment from 3-inch guns along the beaches, north and -south, where destroyers were attacking the coast stations, under heavy -fire in reply from the defenders on the land.</p> - -<p>Southeast, on the horizon, there sprang up a dull glow that became -greatly red, and grew swiftly to pulsating flame. It was the town of -Hull, burning.</p> - -<p>The people in South Boston, looking seaward, saw lights appear in the -sky over the outer harbor islands. They slipped slowly downward, leaving -long trails of stars behind, that hung, burning, in the air as if they -had been fixed there.</p> - -<p>The falling lights opened, like monster<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>{199}</span> flowers, into glaring, -spectrally white flame just before they reached the earth. All the -harbor where they fell stood revealed as in a lightning flash; but this -flame did not go out like a lightning flash. It burned, steady, -inextinguishable, for long minutes.</p> - -<p>They were star-bombs that were being dropped on the forts by the great -war-fowl, the iron breasted aeroplanes. The white lights glaring below, -and the hanging lights in the air that stood like a lighted staff, -pointed out the forts to the hooded cannon of their iron sisters out at -sea.</p> - -<p>Fired at from sea and sky, the forts replied and shook the earth. Faster -and faster hurried the fire from the hidden ocean. Five ships were -firing their secondary batteries to destroy an out-lying searchlight at -a range of 6,000 yards. It was said afterward that at least five hundred -projectiles were expended at that one mark alone.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>{200}</span></p> - -<p>In a great semicircle around Boston Harbor, from Nahant out to sea and -curving in again toward Cohasset on the south, lay the flaming, roaring -line, firing at the defenses all night long, till the dawn began to -whiten.</p> - -<p>And behind Boston, inland, the other great armed semicircle was -contracting steadily, swiftly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a>{201}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE INVESTMENT OF BOSTON</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Boston</span> Harbor should have been impregnable to attack from the sea. Had -Nature been a modern army engineer, she could not have constructed an -oceanic gate more perfectly designed for modern defense against modern -ships.</p> - -<p>One might picture Boston as being protected by two great claws that -curve seaward and wait there on guard, pointing toward each other. The -northern claw would be Winthrop peninsula with its beach and summer -cottages. The southern one would be the long, narrow arm of land that -has famous Nantasket Beach on it, and ends northward at Point Allerton.</p> - -<p>Between these two claws, a prodigal hand has scattered islands. From -Deer Island, lying in the north close under Winthrop, to George’s Island -in the south, they form a stone wall with gaps that are the channels. -Far out, grouped around the portal, the sea is sown with ledges and -rocks whose kelp beards stream in an ever-heaving<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>{202}</span> sea. Here are the -Brewsters, the Devil’s Back, the Graves, the Roaring Bulls.</p> - -<p>Within, there is a glorious harbor great enough for a world’s armada. -But the entrance is a Pass of Thermopylæ.</p> - -<p>Commanding that pass and all approaches far out to sea with zones of -fire whose intersecting circles marked rings of sure destruction, were -defenses honestly built. They were ready to receive and withstand that -climax of destructiveness which man’s science has embodied in the -conical steel projectile fired from the rifled gun.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p> - -<p>The navy that invested the harbor entertained no illusions on that -score. It had not dared the attempt to force the passages of -Narragansett. It would not dare to force the passages of Boston. As at -Narragansett, its business was to occupy the defenders and wear them out -while the army fell on them and on Boston from the land.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a>{203}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_MAP_BOSTON" id="ILL_MAP_BOSTON"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<span class="caption">MAP ILLUSTRATING THE ENEMY ATTACK ON BOSTON AND NEIGHBORING CITIES</span> -<br /> -<a href="images/i_203_lg.png"> -<img src="images/i_203_sml.png" width="346" height="331" alt="Image unavailable: MAP ILLUSTRATING THE ENEMY ATTACK ON BOSTON AND NEIGHBORING CITIES" /></a> -<br /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a>{204}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Deadly Blind Man’s Buff</i></p> - -<p>The ships entered a shrouded, black sea where there was not a light to -warn of reef or shoal. Lightless themselves, they groped with deep-sea -leads and sounding machines till they assured themselves of safe -positions where they might have sea-room to swing around in great closed -circles at high speed.</p> - -<p>These circles would cut deeply into the circles of the fire zones of the -defenses. At close range the vessels, invisible to the forts, could send -a furious volley into them, and rush past before the guns could find -them, to return on their circle and fire from some other point. It was -the penalty that darkness lays on land defenses. But it penalized the -ships, also.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a>{205}</span></p> - -<p>They would have to fire without sighting their mark. They dared not -betray themselves to the waiting guns on land by throwing their -search-lights on the defenses, while the defenses could sweep the sea -incessantly, for their searchlights were disposed along miles of coast, -far aloof from the batteries.</p> - -<p>If the search-lights were effective, the ships should have to flee to -the farthest limit of the coast guns’ range. At that distance they, in -turn, could not deliver an effective bombardment of the land so long as -it was dark. So, then, all the ferocious game of war centered for the -time on the search-lights. The death-laden ships, the death-laden guns -on land, had to wait till it was learned what the lights would do.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> - -<p>The enemy knew that the American defenses<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a>{206}</span> had only about one-half the -search-light installation that was needed. The hostile sailors had not -been forced to depend on spies for this information. It was in American -reports that had been made to Congress session after session.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> - -<p>They had prepared for their game of blind man’s buff by long -consultations over charts. Every ship’s officer was provided with minute -instructions for every contingency that human wit could forecast in the -headlong game of chess that is played with cannon.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Defenders Stand Prepared</i></p> - -<p>The defenders were ready, too. In the human chain that began with the -battle commander, and reached from him through links of district -commanders to fire commanders and battery commanders, each man had his -orders for any one<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a>{207}</span> of a hundred things that might occur, however -quickly it might come.</p> - -<p>They knew what batteries to fire and when, at the extreme fire zone, at -the intermediate zone, and at the third fire zone which commanded the -mine fields. They had before them, worked out to the ultimate detail, -the order of fire if the enemy ships should come in column, in double -column, or in scattered formation. Far down the beaches, north and -south, they had every range plotted, that the great guns might be turned -on landing parties if the secondary shore defenses should fail to hold -them.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></p> - -<p>The ships struck simultaneously all along the line of defenses. They -fired close in north and south, and from battleships out at sea. A -plunging fire went over Nahant and across into Winthrop. The speeding -ships missed the defenses and their bursting shells wrecked the town -instead. As its flames reddened the sky,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>{208}</span> the flames of Hull, at Point -Allerton on the end of the southern peninsula, made a red reply.</p> - -<p>The quick search-lights caught the ships. Again and again the white -light-shafts fell on veering, speeding vessels and made them hurry to -get away before the fire-control of the defenses could cover them.</p> - -<p>Still they returned. Each time they approached at a new point in the -hope of developing a defect in the light-system. Each time they fired -all the metal that they could throw in the one instant before the beams -fell on them.</p> - -<p>There were few hits made by these running ships; but they could afford -to waste ammunition, since their continual attack forced the defenders -to use their own insufficient supply.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Game of Wits</i></p> - -<p>While half-naked men in ships’ turrets and half-naked men at coast guns -and in mortar pits were toiling to wreak brute destruction, a game of -wits was being played just as busily. This game was played, not on the -huge armored ships, not in the formidable engine-batteries of the forts, -but in places miles away from either.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a>{209}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_QUICK" id="ILL_THE_QUICK"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_208fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_208fp_sml.jpg" width="494" height="285" alt="Image unavailable: “The quick searchlights caught the ships.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The quick searchlights caught the ships.”</span> -</div> - -<p>They were insignificant little places from the point of view of -war—summer settlements on friendly beaches, harmless little coves, -pleasant shores beset with the fantastic hotels and fantastic towers of -American pleasure-places. In the summer days of peace, probably not one -in any thousand of the happy crowds that played and laughed there ever -imagined that these serene, careless places could have any importance -some day in battle.</p> - -<p>That night they were playing a part that was full of danger to the -venturesome ships. The American engineers had established portable -search-lights there, and made base stations and range-finding points of -them. Every one of these insignificant out-lying points was endowing the -guns in the distant defenses with an added deadliness of accuracy.</p> - -<p>The modern rifled gun is fired not by sight but by mathematics. The -position of its target is found not by guess but by triangulation. Far -away, on either side of land batteries are observers. The straight line -from one to the other is the base line. As soon as they sight a ship, -each turns his instruments on it and gets<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>{210}</span> the angle from his end of the -base line. The ship to be fired at is at the apex of the triangle thus -obtained.</p> - -<p>The men at the guns get this position by telephone instantly. They know -to a foot what their weapons’ elevation must be with a given charge of -powder and a given weight of projectile to reach that distant spot. They -set their mammoth piece, elevate it above the parapet on its lift, fire -it and bring it back into concealment again.</p> - -<p>To bombard these base-stations from the sea was nearly futile. The -shells that could sweep a fore-shore and make it untenable for an army -might never find these few scattered, concealed men or these scattered, -hidden, tiny stations. A whole fleet might rave at them for hours, and -in vain. There was only one sure, quick way to cripple them.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>{211}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Secret Attack on the Shore</i></p> - -<p>Far northward, miles outside of Boston Harbor, beyond the system of the -harbor defenses, two ships stood into Nahant Bay, until they were within -a line drawn from Fishing Point south of Swampscott to Spouting Horn on -Nahant. Here, in 7 fathoms of water, they stopped and lowered their -boats.</p> - -<p>Manned by crack bluejackets, whose oars were wrapped with cloth that -they should not make a sound in the rowlocks, the cutters moved toward -the beach at Little Nahant.</p> - -<p>Far away the harbor searchlights played like summer lightning. The -sailors moved on in utter darkness, toward the invisible beach. They -rowed in, in irregular formation, till they could hear the surf. Then -the foremost boats lay still, tossing on the swell, waiting for the -others to draw abreast. Formless, vaguely gray in the night, the line -made a dash.</p> - -<p>They were on the first lifting swell of the long waves that tumble -toward the land when a fierce white light tore terribly through the -night, and blazed on them, and around them. It held them, intangibly, -tightly, like the hand of a ghost.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a>{212}</span></p> - -<p>Orange flashes ripped through it. Little Nahant Beach quaked with -explosion. In the white light, as if the tossing boats were spectral -pictures in a dissolving view, they melted amid the roar of the -shore-guns. Black fragments whirled through the steady glare, and shells -chopped the sea where there were bobbing heads and clutching hands.</p> - -<p>The light stabbed the night, in and out. It veered to sea with enormous -speed. A long, black silhouette with three funnels appeared full in the -circle of its artificial day. A funnel vanished, and another. A spout of -water lifted alongside from a shell that had fallen short. Another, the -next instant, smashed into its side and made it reel. The destroyer -turned suddenly and rushed at the land. Its steering gear had been shot -away. Almost instantly it straightened out again; but Little Nahant was -raving. Little Nahant was flaming without pause. The searchlight held -the ship. It staggered, like a stumbling animal, pitched twice, each -time a little more wildly, and went down bow first.</p> - -<p>“Have repulsed attack on search-light station and observers at this -point,” went the word<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a>{213}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_A_LANDING" id="ILL_A_LANDING"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_213fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_213fp_sml.jpg" width="487" height="291" alt="Image unavailable: “A landing was attempted in greater force, with the assistance of a destroyer division lying close to the beach.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“A landing was attempted in greater force, with the assistance of a destroyer division lying close to the beach.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">from Bailey’s Hill on Nahant to the battle commander in Fort Warren. “No -losses. Destroyer and five ships’ boats with crews completely -eliminated.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Attacks Made Everywhere</i></p> - -<p>They did not have time to cheer at Fort Warren. On Nantasket Beach, as -far south as Nahant was north, a landing was being attempted in greater -force and with the determined assistance of a destroyer division that -was lying close to the beach.</p> - -<p>Here there were three hundred men of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, -Coast Artillery, behind barb-wire and sand-bag defenses with two pieces -of field artillery and three machine guns. They were being swept by -savage fire from the destroyers.</p> - -<p>“We can hold the ships’ boats off. Surf high, and landing will be slow,” -they reported to the battle commander by field telegraph. “But we must -have relief from naval fire, or cannot concentrate efforts on landing -parties.”</p> - -<p>Their officers sent the exact distance from the beach of the destroyers. -In the forts the fire commanders studied their charts, plotted with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>{214}</span> -diagrams of the shore in sections. They calculated the range. A dropping -shot from a 6-inch gun fell among the enemy vessels one minute later. -The next went over. The third struck a destroyer. Before it disappeared, -shells were falling among the division too fast to count. Three guns -were firing. They were throwing 12 shells in one minute.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> - -<p>Two destroyers were towed away, crippled. Another escaped from the fire -zone but sank at sea.</p> - -<p>Undeterred, the boat parties tried to run the surf and rush the -defenders. But the sea was heavy, breaking with a sharp over-fall. -Unprotected by fire from the sea, unable to work their own machine guns -in the rough water, the sailors were pounded in the breakers. The field -artillery blew their boats apart. The machine guns slashed them. Rifle -fire hammered them.</p> - -<p>“Attack beaten off,” reported the militiamen. In the surf there were a -few drifting pieces of wood, tossing oars and bodies pitching to and fro -as the undertow played with them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a>{215}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The “Hussars of the Sea”</i></p> - -<p>“Destroyer division off this point.” It was a report from Strawberry -Hill, south from Fort Revere. Point Allerton’s search-light swung down -the beach, the search-light from Strawberry Hill centered on them. The -reckless craft, the hussars of the sea, dashed in to a 400 yard range, -and, steaming parallel with the beach at full speed, sent in a heavy -broadside fire from all their guns. More than three hundred shells were -directed against the Strawberry Hill light in those few minutes. They -swung, and fled to the sea as the batteries of the fort opened on -them.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> - -<p>“Searchlight intact,” reported Strawberry Hill.</p> - -<p>“Men have landed on Marblehead Neck, according to reports from -Swampscott,” reported Fort Heath. “Three hundred men at least taking -road southward.”</p> - -<p>“Push forward and occupy Lynn Beach at narrowest part,” telegraphed the -battle commander<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a>{216}</span> to the force at Nahant. “Will send one hundred -reënforcements by boat to Lynn.”</p> - -<p>At Nantasket a second attempt at a landing was made. It was defeated, -and the boats withdrew. Two suspicious vessels were sighted almost -within Hull Bay and were destroyed by fire from a shore battery. A -landing party struck at Strawberry Hill. Another, probably the same that -had attempted the second landing at Nantasket, tried to haul three boats -over into the Weir River.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> - -<p>All were repulsed. There was hot fighting going on near Lynn. It was -difficult for the battle commander to judge what its result would be. -Once his forces sent to Fort Heath for more men. Later, they telegraphed -that they were holding their ground.</p> - -<p>The enemy struck again, and again. He made an attempt on Winthrop, and -lost two destroyers in the mine fields. The fleet opened heavy fire at -short intervals, to mask the attack of the landing parties. But the -telegraph and telephone system of the forts sent word everywhere, to all -the outlying posts, of the uniform success of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a>{217}</span> defense, with the -result of making their fight constantly more effective.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Defenses Hold Out</i></p> - -<p>The defenses were holding out. When word came at last that the raiders -who had landed at Marblehead Neck were retreating to their boats, the -end of the night’s fighting had arrived. The fleet called off its boats, -and took them aboard.</p> - -<p>It was near dawn. Once more, for the last time, the ships ran in, -passing the batteries at full speed, and fired from every gun that would -bear in the instant of their passing. Every huge turret gun, every -broadside battery, opened up at once.</p> - -<p>For many miles inland the air trembled and hummed. The hills growled -with rolling echoes. Windows in distant places blew inward and walls -trembled. But the defenses held.</p> - -<p>Ship after ship swung in that fierce circle and passed. It was the -climax of the night’s bombardment. When the dawn spread far on the ocean -horizon, the defenders saw the enemy fleet lying back against it, far -out of the zone of fire.</p> - -<p>The sea was bare between them and the forts, except for a rent ruin -hanging on the Outer<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a>{218}</span> Brewster where a shattered destroyer was aground. -Off Cohasset lay another, sprawling on the rocks called The Grampuses, -half out of the sea as if it were the torn body of a weird monster that -had thrown itself ashore in a dying agony.</p> - -<p>“No damage,” said Fort Revere. “No damage, except dismounted -searchlight,” said Fort Strong. “One 6-inch gun dismantled,” said -Standish. “No damage,” reported Andrews and Banks. In Fort Warren two -3-inch quick firers were destroyed.</p> - -<p>“We could hold them off forever,” said the battle commander, “if we were -protected from the land.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>It Was His Last Fight</i></p> - -<p>The successful fight of his defenses had made it only the more bitter -for him. He knew that this was the last fight. He knew that the army -that was sweeping northward would take him in the back before night.</p> - -<p>He looked at one of his 12-inch rifles. He walked over to it and patted -the beautiful thing, so shapely, so graceful that it seemed impossible -that it should weigh 35 tons. “If they had just<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>{219}</span> given you that little -extra elevation!” he murmured. “Then yonder ships wouldn’t dare lie -within 20,000 yards of us.”<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> - -<p>But “they” had not given the rifles that little extra elevation. “They” -had found time enough and money enough to pay for bridges over muddy -creeks, for printing millions of words of oratory, for hundreds of -private bills. “They” had been able to find money to pay themselves for -constructive recesses of Congress, and mileage for journeys that they -had not made. But they had not been able to find money for defense.</p> - -<p>Just a little foresight, and Boston, that now was trembling, might be -sitting behind that charmed circle of its great guns and laughing at all -the navies of the world.</p> - -<p>Haggard and pale, Boston’s people looked toward the sea and the dawn. -The sullen thunders still rolled out there, but slowly now, and far off. -The fleet was using only its heaviest<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a>{220}</span> guns, and firing deliberately, -though steadily. Having failed to destroy the effectiveness of the -defenses, it would content itself with long range fire, simply to wear -the defenders out till the army should arrive.</p> - -<p>All night long Boston people, moved to unendurable terror by the -bombardment, had tried to flee from the city. All night long other -crowds had tried to enter it. On all the roads these opposing crowds had -met and jostled.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Opposing Streams of Fugitives</i></p> - -<p>They warned each other, and tried to turn each other back. Shells were -falling into Boston town, said the people who were fleeing from the -city. Crazed by fear, they invented the most monstrous tales and -believed them.</p> - -<p>The in-coming refugees, too, invented tales. They told of soldiers who -had appeared in nearby towns, and who were burning and killing. Nothing -so well illustrated the effect of terror on the faculty of reason as the -fact that always, after this wild interchange of news, the city people -continued to press toward the country, fearing soldiers less than the -cannon-shots that had rung in their ears all night; and the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a>{221}</span> -people rushed into the city, so panic-driven by what they had heard of -the soldiers and their bloody day of vengeance, that they cared nothing -for the heavy thunder that was shaking all the air.</p> - -<p>Though the roads out of Boston were thus crowded, the fugitives were -only a small proportion of the population. Never before had humanity -realized how firmly men are chained to their habitat. Here was a city, -terribly beset by land and sea with unknown, terrible fate closing -steadily around it. Beyond lay the United States where there was -complete freedom still, and safety. Yet who could seek it?</p> - -<p>There were none who could go, except those temporarily mad with fear, or -those so abjectly poor that it mattered nothing to them where they -trudged. The workers could not go. They had to cling to the places that -they knew, to the scanty foot-hold that was all the more precious to -them for its scantiness. The rich could not go. Money had stopped. All -that they owned had become suddenly valueless for producing cash; and -without cash they could not flee. The merely well-to-do, whose whole -life depended on the town, whose whole possessions lay in real<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a>{222}</span> estate, -in homes, in shops—where could they turn?</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Boston in Hopeless Fear</i></p> - -<p>They stayed. They even tried, dully, to attend to business, though there -was no business. Mail was still coming in and going out, but in a vastly -circuitous way, as it had to go around by way of Burlington, and so -through Vermont and New Hampshire to its destination. Boston could -communicate still by telegraph and telephone with the United States -outside of southern and western New England; but this, too, was in an -equally circuitous way, and even such service as existed was constantly -in danger of being severed.</p> - -<p>Motor traffic had almost ceased on the streets. The trolley and train -services were cut down to the merest necessity. Gasoline and coal -shortage already had begun to make itself felt. Prices had gone up for -flour and for meat. The fish wharves held none except empty vessels.</p> - -<p>There was an unreasoning fear of the waterfront streets. People shrank -from them, and used the side streets, as if the tiny difference of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a>{223}</span> a -block or two could save them, should shells begin to fall.</p> - -<p>There was a fear, less unreasoning, of tall buildings. Most of the upper -stories in high office buildings were deserted, except for daring ones -who went in temporarily to look toward the harbor.</p> - -<p>A renewed fear of aeroplanes also had seized the city. For days they had -passed and repassed, till the people had become almost accustomed to -them, since they threw no bombs nor made other demonstrations. Now, with -the steady cannonading, the old fear returned. There were wild flights -when the whirring roar was heard. More than once, men and women were -trampled in those sudden dumb panics. Hypnotized by the impending of a -greater tragedy, the citizens scarcely noted these episodes that, in any -other time, would have shocked the town.</p> - -<p>A rumor went through the streets that the fleet had been driven off. -Survivors from Winthrop appeared in the city. They clutched at strangers -and told with quivering mouths how the shells had crashed into their -town, and how they<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a>{224}</span> and theirs in night clothes had fled between falling -walls through a night ruddy with fire.</p> - -<p>Refugees from Breed’s Island told how the ground was all ploughed by -shells falling wild. They told of the water tower, flung far down the -hill.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Cities Destroyed and Taken</i></p> - -<p>Hull was destroyed utterly. There was nothing left of it. All gay -Nantasket had vanished. Between it and Point Allerton the houses along -shore were thrown on each other and torn apart or burned.</p> - -<p>On the last train to come in from the direction of Brockton were some -who had fled from that city. It had been taken by the advancing army in -the small hours of the morning. The town authorities, ordered out of bed -by soldiers, had been escorted to the enemy commander, who had made them -write announcements. Before sunrise all the streets flaunted placards -ordering the inhabitants to continue their business. Other placards -warned them to deliver up all arms of any description.</p> - -<p>Twenty of the most prominent men, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>{225}</span> the fugitives, had been seized -as hostages.</p> - -<p>Every little while now Boston’s communication with some point was being -cut. These severed lines told of the advance of the hostile army as -eloquently as messages might.</p> - -<p>Up and down Washington street moved the multitude, waiting for news. The -Old South Meeting House that has looked down on so many dramatic Boston -spectacles never had looked on one so tragic as this—on a proud and not -timorous city that was waiting impotently to be taken and dealt with.</p> - -<p>Had the enemy come quickly, had the army advanced into Boston with a -swift rush, it would have been less agonizing for the waiting city than -this slow, systematic, machine-like advance like the jaws of a great -pincer that were closing down with cruel deliberation.</p> - -<p>The armed circle was contracting all the time, but it contracted slowly. -Though the enemy’s scouts had assured him long ago that the road was -free, he was taking no chances in that hostile land, whose sting he had -felt. Far as he might throw out his advance guards, he took care that -they should remain in constant touch with the main force and with each -other. He moved<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a>{226}</span> his divisions in fighting array. He kept an unbroken -line of communications.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Making Good His Possessions</i></p> - -<p>Wherever the army passed, it made good its possession wholly. It left no -village behind it in its march whose means of existence, communication, -food supply and machinery of labor and business it had not made entirely -its own.</p> - -<p>Where there were destroyed places, the invader organized the population -to rebuild them. He levied on every community, large and small, for -funds. He paid out nothing of his own, except written scrip. At one blow -the whole financial system of the conquered country was converted into -one great source of tribute.</p> - -<p>Suddenly there came a storm of news to the Boston papers. It came from -the country to the south of the harbor—from Cohasset and Hingham, -Weymouth and Quincy.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> - -<p>Heavy artillery was being unloaded all along the line of the south shore -branch of the Old Colony Railroad. Horses and limbers were<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>{227}</span> moving along -all the roads to the shore. Soldiers were advancing into all the towns.</p> - -<p>Before the Hingham wires were cut, the correspondent in that town -reported that enormous guns were being moved through it, on heavy -motors.</p> - -<p>Quincy telegraphed that troops had hurried through there and seized the -100-foot Great Hill, and also the yacht club house on Hough’s Neck. Then -Quincy, too, was cut off.</p> - -<p>Scarcely half an hour later the fire from the forts broke out furiously. -It was answered, with greater speed and fury, from the shore, where the -foe had posted his great guns to enfilade the harbor defenses.</p> - -<p>At Fort Revere the commandant cut away concrete emplacements and -succeeded in swinging one of his 12-inch guns around to fight the -assailants, putting a heavy howitzer near Hingham out of action.</p> - -<p>A second plunging shot fell near a gun behind Baker Hill; but the -assailants, from howitzer batteries concealed under Turkey and Scituate -Hills, concentrated a desperate bombardment on him that drove the -Americans from the works.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a>{228}</span></p> - -<p>Firing from heavy caliber weapons at short range, pouring explosives and -common shell and shrapnel from every vantage point along all the shore, -the hostile army swept the rear of the harbor defenses with such blasts -that the mere impact of the solid shells made a din like the pounding of -monstrous rivetters’ hammers.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></p> - -<p>From the sea all the big guns of the ships struck into the chorus. The -vessels pressed in as closely as they dared and opened with every cannon -that could get the range.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Boston Completely Isolated</i></p> - -<p>Boston’s populace, listening to the clamour from the sea, scarcely noted -that the bulletins were announcing that all the railroad lines of the -Boston and Maine Railroad leading north and northwest to Portsmouth, -Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell had been seized, and that Boston was -completely cut off.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a>{229}</span></p> - -<p>Silent policemen appeared all at once followed by men with posters and -paste-pails. The crowds saw posters go up on their walls, signed by the -Boston Citizens’ Committee.</p> - -<p>There was a poster in great red letters warning the inhabitants to -deliver any firearms that they possessed in the City Hall within six -hours.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Attention!</span>” said another placard. “In case of military occupation of -the city, a single disorderly act may mean the ruin of all. It is the -duty of all citizens to offer no resistance, and to report to the -authorities any plan toward resistance.”</p> - -<p>There was a great stir in the crowd. A cab was pushing its way through -Washington Street. Two dishevelled and blood-stained artillerymen, and -an equally dishevelled civilian were in it.</p> - -<p>While the soldiers went on to the City Hall, the civilian got out and -entered a newspaper office. He was a reporter.</p> - -<p>The rumor sped from man to man in the crowd before the building and from -street to street that news had arrived from the forts. There was a -tremendous press into Washington Street,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a>{230}</span> where men and women, crushed -together, stared at the building.</p> - -<p>The cab hardly had stopped at the City Hall before a bulletin went up.</p> - -<p class="c"> -FORT ANDREWS GARRISON<br /> -DIES AT ITS POST<br /> -———<br /> -IGNORES SUMMONS TO SURRENDER<br /> -———<br /> -ONLY THREE MEN ESCAPE FROM RUINS<br /> -——— -</p> - -<p>Ten minutes later the “extras” appeared and were whirled through the -town. They passed with the speed almost of the wind; for men passed them -from hand to hand. They shouted the news to people looking from windows, -in a delirium half of dismay, half of exultation. The newspaper man had -brought in such a tale as would live in American history.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Newspaper Man’s Story</i></p> - -<p>He had been writing his story during the night’s bombardments while the -mortar pits quaked around him with the eruptions of their steel -volcanoes. He told how, in the morning, there had come suddenly from the -shore the enfilading fire that caught the works in the back.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a>{231}</span></p> - -<p>The men at the mortars, unable to turn their ordnance against these -assailants, continued to fire at the ships, obedient to the instructions -from the range-stations, till the blasts from the bursting charges above -and around them tore away all the systems of fire control.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></p> - -<p>One enemy howitzer, trained at the very edge of a pit, threw shot on -shot till a group of mortars was buried under the débris that was hurled -down from the torn mounds.</p> - -<p>The mortars ceased action. The assailant, suspending his bombardment, -demanded instant surrender, with the condition that the works must be -delivered intact. The remnants of the garrison, black with smoke and -grime, wounded and burned, replied by manning such movable artillery as -was left. There was only one end to that. It was death. In twenty -minutes there were four men left alive in the defenses—two<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a>{232}</span> -artillerymen, the newspaper man and a noncommissioned officer.</p> - -<p>They lay flat under a mound. There was a small boat hidden below the far -end of the island. “Get out of this if you can!” said the -noncommissioned man, an electrician sergeant. “Hurry! I’ll give you five -minutes! Good-by!”</p> - -<p>He crawled back into the works. As they rowed away, they saw boats with -invaders leaving the mainland for the island. Then there came a lick of -flame out of the mortar battery that expanded instantly into a spraying -fountain. An enormous detonation nearly blew their boat out of the -water. The sergeant had found the firing key and touched off the hidden -mine to demolish the defenses.</p> - -<p>In the excitement over this news that had broken the dull strain of -waiting, the people of Boston scarcely noticed that all at once the -firing at sea had stopped.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Demanding Surrender</i></p> - -<p>Down the harbor a boat with a flag of truce was lying under Fort Warren. -An officer, led blind-folded into the works, presented a summons<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>{233}</span> -transmitted from the headquarters of the army. It called on the -commander to surrender the entire system of defenses without further -damage. It demanded also that a complete diagram of all the mine fields -be delivered at once.</p> - -<p>“You have four hours,” continued this summons. “At the end of that time, -we shall bring our artillery to bear on the city from every quarter. -Every five minutes thereafter we shall fire on a given section. You have -made a brave and magnificent defense. By surrendering now, you will save -your city from unnecessary destruction which you are unable to prevent -otherwise.”</p> - -<p>“I will reply in half an hour,” said the commander. At the end of that -time he sent this answer:</p> - -<p>“I shall surrender the defenses on condition that the city be left -inviolate: that no troops occupy it: that the civil authorities be left -in control: and that no levy be made on the municipality.”</p> - -<p>“Absolutely refused,” the hostile commander replied promptly. -“Unconditional surrender, or bombardment begins at time stated. If any<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a>{234}</span> -attempt is made to dismantle works, bombardment will begin at once.”</p> - -<p>This was at noon. The hour-hand of the Old South Meeting House clock had -not quite touched one, when artillery was passing through Waltham and -Newton Centre, and along all the roads crossing the Charles and Neponset -Rivers.</p> - -<p>There were cavalry and cycle and motor troops on these roads, and trains -full of infantry. But always and everywhere was artillery. The sleek -guns, pounding along New England’s highways, spoke so wickedly of -destructiveness, that they were more terrifying to the population than -long columns of heavily armed men.</p> - -<p>At Jamaica Plain big howitzers were detrained and taken to the ridge -running west by north from the line of the New York and New England -railroad. More guns were unloaded in Brookline and posted on the crests -from whose tops, 200 feet high, they had all Brookline, all Boston to -the bay, and Cambridge and Somerville under their long range fire.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a>{235}</span></p> - -<p>Infantry with field guns occupied Cambridge and Somerville, and laid -their ordnance on all points that covered Boston from there. A regiment -pushed quickly through Charlestown, took possession of the great grounds -of the Navy Yard and stationed a battery of 3-inch field pieces under -the Bunker Hill Monument.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Final Threat</i></p> - -<p>At quarter past three the hostile General sent a message to the American -commander at Fort Warren apprising him of the disposition of the guns. -“In one quarter of an hour,” said he, “the bombardment will begin. We -shall fire at Brookline first.”</p> - -<p>The commander walked to the shattered flagstaff of the fort, on whose -splintered top the American flag was waving in the wind from the -Atlantic. He bared his head, and with his own hand hauled down the -colors that he had defended so well.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later the colors on all the defenses dropped.</p> - -<p>Until then no soldiers had appeared in the city of Boston itself. The -armed ring had contented<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>{236}</span> itself with encircling all the suburbs. Now -the telephone bell rang in the City Hall, and a voice asked for the -Mayor.</p> - -<p>The voice was that of the hostile commander, speaking from Brookline.</p> - -<p>“Your defenses are in our hands,” he said. “Our guns command every part -of your city. I have the honor to demand unconditional and peaceable -surrender at once, with all property of every kind. I regret to say that -I can give you no time for discussion. I must request you to give me -your answer now.”</p> - -<p>The Mayor, with the instrument at his ear, looked around at the members -of the Committee. “It is the army commander,” he said. “He demands -unconditional surrender.”</p> - -<p>“There is only one answer to make,” said one of the Committee.</p> - -<p class="c"> -“<span class="smcap">We Surrender</span>”<br /> -</p> - -<p>The Mayor turned to the telephone. “We surrender,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” was the response. “A body of troops under a general officer -will enter the city at once. They will have orders to punish any -disturbance severely. I shall have the honor of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>{237}</span> calling on you shortly -after my men have occupied the town.”</p> - -<p>A little later the Citizens’ Committee saw cavalry with machine guns -approach the City Hall. Similar bodies were taking position in all the -squares and parks, and posting their little guns where they could sweep -the intersecting streets. Up and down Washington Avenue, and up and down -all the side streets, were sentinels and guard parties. A wagon train -was encamped on the Common.</p> - -<p>And a little later still, preceded by light cavalry, three automobiles -rolled through the streets to the City Hall. In each sat four men, -dressed in campaign uniforms. They were leaning back, smoking, and -looking with interest at the buildings. They seemed not to see the -silent crowds that lined the sidewalks.</p> - -<p>These sedate, cheerful, interested gentlemen were the commander and his -staff, arriving to take formal possession of the city. With machine guns -and rifles threatening all around them, the silent people of Boston saw -their conquerors enter the City Hall, and knew that their sovereignty -had passed into alien hands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a>{238}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">DEFENDING CONNECTICUT</span></h2> - -<p>“What is happening in Boston?” The question stood before the United -States and there was no answer. All communication with it had been -annihilated as if by a lightning stroke.</p> - -<p>Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire still were able to reach the rest of -the country with entire freedom, except that everything, mail, telegraph -messages and freight, had to pass by way of the Lake Champlain Valley -exclusively. But Boston, the richest half of Massachusetts, all of Rhode -Island and the whole eastern end of Connecticut were as completely cut -off as if all that great territory had been torn from the continent and -dropped into the sea.</p> - -<p>Of the 195 American cities with more than thirty thousand population, -twenty-two were in the section that had been lost by the United States. -The assessed valuation of those cities alone was more than two billions -seven hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>{239}</span> millions of dollars. Ten thousand manufacturing -establishments were in the grip of the conqueror.<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></p> - -<p>The grip lay on the captured country like a thing of iron. Telegraph and -telephone could be used only under the supervision of soldiers who -controlled every central operating station and scrutinized everything, -cutting out any expression that did not suit them or refusing -transmission altogether. Against these decisions there was no appeal.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Post Offices Occupied</i></p> - -<p>The post offices were occupied by censors. Every piece of mail passed -under their eyes and reached those to whom it was addressed only after -long delay and generally with parts of it obliterated by heavy daubs of -printing ink.</p> - -<p>All the springs of creative work were broken. Shops and manufactories -were open, under orders from the military commanders, but the owners and -managers did not know what to do. They continued to produce, dully and -without plan. They dared not make even the most unimportant<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a>{240}</span> contract, -for no man could guess what might happen next. There was no money to be -had, except for pressing needs. The banks throughout the conquered -territory had been commanded to hold all cash in their vaults. Every man -who applied for money had to prove to military officers that it was for -immediate subsistence.</p> - -<p>In the banks and trust companies’ offices everywhere there were posted -placards reading as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“Our conquest, having been completed, carries with it absolute -ownership of property conquered from the enemy State, including -debts as well as personal or real property.”<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p></div> - -<p>The richest man in New England was on a level with the poorest. However -much wealth he might have lying in the banks, he could draw only enough -for daily food. He could not take anything from his safety deposit -vaults. They were guarded by armed sentries who permitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a>{241}</span> access only -to those who came accompanied by officers.</p> - -<p>This condition would last, as the invaders informed the people, until a -complete list of all funds had been made.</p> - -<p>In every financial department of cities and towns were uniformed men -demanding cash statements and lists of assessed valuations for the -purpose of apportioning the amount of contribution to be levied on each -community.</p> - -<p>While the enemy was going thus systematically to work to ascertain the -full money value of his prize, he made requisitions for immediate needs -in every place occupied by him. The troops demanded hay, oats, corn and -other forage. They paid for the supplies with written papers that -acknowledged receipt; but it was noticed that these receipts did not -promise payment.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>$50,000 a Day Levied</i></p> - -<p>In Boston the municipal authorities were informed that the city was -subject to a cash levy for the support of troops at the rate of $1 -daily<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>{242}</span> for each man of the occupying army, making an amount payable in -bank funds of $50,000 a day.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> - -<p>The authorities had no recourse except to find the money. Nominally in -control, they were held rigorously to account for the obedience of their -city. The Headquarters Staff of the invading army had possession of the -State House, and from this point sent out brief orders.</p> - -<p>Prominent among the notices that were posted here and in all public -places of Boston was the announcement of the institution of the new -government. It was:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“On and after this date the City of Boston is under the rule of the -Headquarters Staff of this army. The present civil officials of the -city will continue their functions. A continuance of existing civil -and penal laws, and the exercise of legislative, executive and -administrative duties are permitted under the sanction and with the -participation of the military government.”<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p></div> - -<p>Had Boston town gone under in flame and terror, the very fury of the -catastrophe might<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a>{243}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_COUNTRY" id="ILL_THE_COUNTRY"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_243fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_243fp_sml.jpg" width="491" height="287" alt="Image unavailable: “The Country-Club had been turned into a Brigade Headquarters.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The Country-Club had been turned into a Brigade Headquarters.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">have carried men through it with less of despair than this cold -conquest. Instead of blows to be struck, or blood to be shed, there was -only humiliation—humiliation intensified hourly by the cool, -unimpassioned correctness with which the enemy treated the fallen city.</p> - -<p>He did not even fill the city with troops. Only four thousand infantry -and a regiment of cavalry were sent in to hold all Boston. The rest of -the army remained outside, encamped or quartered on the people of the -suburbs and the towns of the metropolitan district.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Unconcerned Conquerors</i></p> - -<p>Unconcerned, almost unguarded, the commander and his officers moved -about the town. They went in and out of the City Hall with the assurance -of superiors. They occupied the two largest hotels. Brookline people -reported that the Country Club there had been turned into a brigade -headquarters.</p> - -<p>Dazed, as if in the bonds of an ugly nightmare that must vanish if they -could only awaken, the people of Boston looked at this handful of men -who had so easily, so calmly, made themselves utter masters of a -metropolitan district of 39<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a>{244}</span> municipalities—13 cities and 26 towns all -within fifteen miles of the State House. From the State House this dozen -or two dozen quiet, business-like men in uniform ruled with a word or -two over 415 square miles with a population of more than a million and a -half of people, and a taxable value of more than two and one-half -billions of dollars.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> - -<p>In the city so helplessly given over to them, there were, according to -the certificate then lying in the City Clerk’s office, 124,000 men -liable to enrollment in the State Militia. These were part of those -“millions of men” of whom passionate orators had spoken so often—the -millions of heroic, strong, intelligent American freemen who would -instantly spring to arms at the call of need and sweep the most daring -invader back into the sea.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p> - -<p>They were heroic. They were strong. They were intelligent. But they were -confronted by the cold truth. It stared at them from all their squares, -from all their parks, from the approaches to all their bridges. It was -the cold<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a>{245}</span> truth—in the shape of cannon. Even the grounds of Harvard and -of Boston University were occupied by batteries. Sentinels were on watch -in Boston’s church towers with machine guns that pointed down into the -streets.</p> - -<p>Against that machinery of war, courage was as futile as a dream. -Strength was as helpless as an infant in a cyclone. Intelligence was -naked against the unintelligent steel.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Helpless as Any Village</i></p> - -<p>So this city, one of the richest of the world, next to New York in its -imports, with its enormous railroad terminals that drew together the -roads of a continent’s commerce, had dropped into the invader’s hand -almost for the picking, and lay in his grasp as incapable of resistance -as if, instead of being the fourth greatest city of the United States, -it had been a seaside village.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></p> - -<p>There had not been a shot fired after the last shot had sounded from the -harbor forts and the American flag had vanished from the harbor sky.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to do. Slowly, systematically as it had invested -Boston, so the army had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a>{246}</span> taken Boston. There was no commanding point in -all the country around it that was not crowned with heavy artillery. -There was no road to the city that was not held by troops who demanded -passes. Patrols moved constantly through the streets.</p> - -<p>Through the whole metropolitan district had been sent a proclamation -issued by the local authorities, warning the people that all intercourse -between the territories occupied by belligerent armies whether by -letter, by travel, or in any other way, had been interdicted and was -punishable by fine or imprisonment, or, in cases of serious infraction, -by death after summary trial. This proclamation was countersigned by the -military commanders of the various districts.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> - -<p>Another proclamation, issued from headquarters in the State House, said:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“The civil authorities, by and with the consent of the military -government, proclaim that troops will be quartered on the -inhabitants at the pleasure of regimental and company officers. The -troops are required to respect the persons and property of citizens -during the good behavior<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a>{247}</span> of the latter. Any treachery on the part -of citizens is punishable by death. Refusal to comply with any -provision of this proclamation will be punished with fine or -imprisonment, or in aggravated cases by confiscation of any -property whose use has been denied the troops.”<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p></div> - -<p class="chead"><i>Clearing the Wharves</i></p> - -<p>Along the water-front an order was given to clear all the big wharves. -Owners of vessels berthed there were instructed to have them towed to -basins or anchored in the stream. Provided with diagrams of the -mine-fields that had been surrendered under the conditions of -capitulation, the mine-sweepers cleared the harbor for the entrance of -the fleet.</p> - -<p>Floating from more than a score of warships and transports, the -Coalition’s flags moved toward the city. Cannon saluted them from the -forts, and they saluted in reply. Among the stricken thousands on shore -there were many who sobbed as they heard the foreign thunders peal -around their bay, and saw the foreign flags against their sky, with -never a starry banner on all those ancient American waters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a>{248}</span></p> - -<p>There were foreign ships lying under the forts, unloading spare guns to -replace those that were destroyed. All the works were busy with enemy -sailors, repairing the defenses to protect conquered Boston against -attack from its own navy.</p> - -<p>Naval and army transports steamed up to the city, and took possession of -the wharves and the Navy Yard basins. Destroyers and small craft moved -up the channel to the Mystic River and occupied the naval and marine -hospitals. Marines and sailors came ashore in South Boston and -established a signal station on Telegraph Hill.</p> - -<p>The naval commander seized all Federal property that had anything to do -with the conduct of the harbor. He assumed control of the quarantine and -pilot service and declared the port open under his supervision.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The News Shut Off</i></p> - -<p>All this, and all else of importance that was happening in their city, -the people of Boston could learn only slowly and in fragments, as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a>{249}</span> -news spread from man to man by word of month. The newspapers were under -armed guard, like all other important places that touched on public -business. Censors sitting at editorial desks permitted only the printing -of the most trivial routine news of local happenings that did not touch -on the real concerns of the invaded country and city.</p> - -<p>The first pages of all the newspapers were reserved by the military -government for its announcements. These were headed:</p> - -<p class="c"> -OFFICIAL!<br /> -———<br /> -ORDERS AND DECISIONS BY THE MILITARY<br /> -GOVERNMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND<br /> -THE CITY OF BOSTON<br /> -———</p> - -<p>There were so many of them that there was no room for news on the first -pages, even had news been permitted.</p> - -<p>Within twenty-four hours the city had been set back to its condition in -the seventeenth century when Boston’s first newspaper was throttled by a -reactionary legislature.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>{250}</span></p> - -<p>The people of Boston did not know if Connecticut had been conquered. -They did not know if New York had fallen. They did not know where their -army was or what it was doing. A great battle might be deciding the fate -of the entire country, but no whisper reached them.</p> - -<p>As in Colonial days, they were reduced to such knowledge as might come -from rumor or from information whispered by those who learned something -by chance.</p> - -<p>It was in this way that nearly everybody in Boston came to know that in -the State House there sat a council, dressed in uniform and bearing -military rank, but in reality a council of men learned in international -and United States law. Surrounded by great rows of books which they had -brought with them, these men were the real rulers of the conquered -land.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p> - -<p>The Commanding General and his field staff might act with summary -authority under the rules of war. The Commanding General’s name might be -signed to all the scores of orders<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a>{251}</span> that issued daily. But this council -of military lawyers acted as governors, judges and soldiers at once. -Their decisions in all mooted cases, their ingeniously worded orders, -were perfecting the enemy’s complete possession.<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Stripping Boston of Its Treasure</i></p> - -<p>No American, great or humble, might go a step beyond the prescribed and -routine affairs of the day without first learning what their orders -were. No man held property, whether it were priceless or beggarly, -except by their favor. No man knew at any moment what remaining -liberties might not be taken from him at a word from them.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> - -<p>With the impersonal coldness of a judicial machine they went about the -work of stripping the city of treasure. In all the departments of the -municipality were soldier experts, studying the books. In the Custom -House were half a hundred others searching the records of exports and -imports. Every financial institution of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a>{252}</span> city had been ordered to -present its accounts in the State House.</p> - -<p>During all this time the invader made daily requisitions for the use of -the troops or for other military purposes. He demanded for the navy a -supply of 10,000 pounds of smoking tobacco, 1,000 pounds of roasted -coffee, one ton of rice, 500 pounds of salt, and 50,000 pounds of fresh -meat. He made requisition for paint, cable, ropes, hose, and steel for -the ships.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p> - -<p>There were requisitions for medical supplies, for cloth and for shoes. -To the harassed officials, who remonstrated against the hardships that -were laid on the city, and pointed to the state of its trade, the reply -was that it was one of the richest cities in the world and that the -levies were modest. When a deputation of citizens pressed the protest, -the council printed its reply in the “official” columns of the -newspapers.</p> - -<p>“In regard to the requisitions made by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a>{253}</span> occupying army,” said this -statement, “attention is called to the fact that the United States -Supreme Court in the case New Orleans versus Steamship Company, 20 Wall, -394, decided that the military governing authority ‘may do anything to -strengthen itself and to weaken the enemy,’ and that the Court further -stated that ‘there is no limit to the powers that may be exerted in such -cases save those which are found in the laws and usages of war.’ ”<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Old Spirit</i></p> - -<p>Despite the cannon that glowered in all the streets, Boston’s fury at -this ironic rejoinder nearly broke through all restraint. In the old -city that had the famous Tea Party among its prized achievements, the -spirit of that past age awoke again, and spread, almost without -concerted thought or intention. Wherever men could meet they formed in -groups to ease their minds by free speech, if they could do nothing -else. In several quarters of the city there were incipient riots, -suppressed by the police only<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a>{254}</span> just in time to avoid bloody interference -by the soldiers.</p> - -<p>“We must curb this town,” said the Commanding General to the military -council in the State House. “It is not one to remain cowed for long, -without repressive measures.”</p> - -<p>The council nodded. Next morning’s newspapers had on their first pages -an announcement that made many readers rub their eyes and stare -incredulously at the printed page, for on it was such a proclamation as -might have been read in Boston town in the reign of Charles I. It was -headed:</p> - -<p class="c"> -SEDITION LAW<br /> -<br /> -1. Every person resident in the territory occupied by<br /> -the power exercising sovereignty by right of conquest, who<br /> -shall utter seditious words or speeches, or write, publish or<br /> -circulate scurrilous libels against the governing authority,<br /> -or who shall conceal such practices that come to his knowledge,<br /> -shall be punished summarily and severely.<br /> -<br /> -2. Every person who joins a secret society or attends a<br /> -secret meeting for the purpose of advocating sedition or<br /> -rebellion shall be punished summarily and severely.<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a><br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a>{255}</span></p> - -<p>Again the citizens’ committee protested. Boston lawyers represented to -the military council that American citizens could not be held guilty of -sedition or rebellion if they adhered to their country.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Citizens of No Country</i></p> - -<p>“The inhabitants of conquered territory,” answered the council, “are -citizens of no country. They are under the jurisdiction of the occupying -army; but they are not even entitled to the privileges of citizens of -the country which controls that army.”<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> - -<p>“But mere conquest does not entitle you to treat them as rebels,” urged -the committee. “They are within their rights to preserve their -allegiance, so long as they do not violate the rules of war by opposing -you with arms.”</p> - -<p>One of the officers smiled. He opened a book. “Once more I must -respectfully refer you to your own court decisions,” he said, and read -from a United States Supreme Court verdict: “ ‘Conquest is a valid title -while the victor<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a>{256}</span> maintains exclusive territory of the conquered -country.’ ”<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p> - -<p>“There is nothing that we can do,” the committee reported to the people. -It was the refrain that sounded in all the United States just then. To -the wild projects for desperate defense that were being broached every -day in the city of New York, to the frenzied demands that the volunteers -in the western camps be rushed into the field, to the curses directed at -the American army because it refused to fight, the same answer -formulated itself because there was no other. Always, from all quarters, -to all demands and imprecations, the only answer that was possible was: -“There is nothing that we can do!”</p> - -<p>The city multitudes surrendered wearily to the situation; but there were -men whom the helpless reply drove frantic.</p> - -<p>There were hundreds of these men in New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, -Newark, and all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a>{257}</span> the towns eastward from there into Connecticut. They -were militiamen who had not been able to join their organizations when -they went to the front, or whose organizations had been merely paper -ones. There were members of sportsmen’s clubs, accustomed to the use of -heavy-caliber fire-arms and to the trail, and there were many men who -were moved simply by the recklessness of courage.<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></p> - -<p>During the days while there drifted through the United States the -broken, incomplete but ever-growing story of New England’s uprising and -its fearful suppression, these men had begun to assemble in -Connecticut’s country between New Haven and Hartford, urged by no -settled plan but moving to that district simply because it was the last -American front between New York and the invading army.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Foe’s Slow Advance</i></p> - -<p>The enemy was moving westward slowly. He had to hold out a mighty screen -northwestward against the American army that now lay beyond<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>{258}</span> the -Berkshire Hills, holding the land between western Connecticut and -Albany. That army, intact and out of his reach, was a constant, acute -danger. It endangered his communications, it endangered his base, it -endangered his divisions that occupied Boston. It forced him to advance -only in continual readiness for battle on flanks and rear-lines.</p> - -<p>During the slow approach the men who had gathered between New Haven and -Hartford began to form some sort of an organization. Almost it evolved -itself.</p> - -<p>The enemy pushing forward along the north, took Springfield with cavalry -and artillery. The undefended city surrendered without a blow.</p> - -<p>From New Haven and Hartford, to the factory cities of Wallingford and -Meriden, Middletown and New Britain, along all the factory-lined -valleys, there passed a word that gathered workers from shops and idle -men from streets. All one long day, and all one evening, they moved -toward the two cities. They seemed aimless enough; but there were -leaders who put themselves at their head secretly in the night.</p> - -<p>Suddenly they were angry, determined, united<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>{259}</span> bodies of men. Suddenly, -like a suddenly awakened wind, they stormed the great arms factories of -the two towns.</p> - -<p>They came with guns and pistols. They came with crowbars and picks. They -came with stones, and with nothing except their bare hands. They hauled -their dead aside and withered under the fire of the guards, and burst -through and took the works.</p> - -<p>In Hartford they seized a whole train-load of rapid-firers and machine -guns that had been loaded for the American army. In New Haven they took -almost four thousand sporting rifles.</p> - -<p>The riot fever spread to Bridgeport. The mob arose and seized the -cartridge factories.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Mad Adventure</i></p> - -<p>It was a mad thing, springing less from purpose than from the insanity -that invasion had laid on men’s minds. It could have but one mad end. -Yet this army of madmen was moved and molded by a touch of the American -ability to “do things”—that very ability on which the people might, -indeed, have depended with perfect assurance, if only they had not -depended on it wholly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a>{260}</span></p> - -<p>America did, truly, have men who would fight. They were here; and they -were to fight such a fight as would be remembered many a long day. -America had the men to lead, too. Though they knew that this was a -hopeless thing, they “took hold.”</p> - -<p>They took hold of men armed with magnificent rifles, but of a score of -different patterns for different kinds of sport, and demanding a score -of different shapes and calibers of cartridges. They took hold of -infantry militia fragments whose companies had had only two or three -assemblies a year for target practice with average attendances of only -11 or 12 men. They improvised scout detachments of volunteers with -bicycles and motors.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p> - -<p>Young doctors took hold with nothing but emergency kits, without -ambulances, without litters, without even helpers who would know how to -find a wound or apply a first aid bandage.</p> - -<p>The army of madmen went forward to the Connecticut River to hold the -western bank from Hartford to Middletown.</p> - -<p>They did not know how to dig trenches.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a>{261}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_ARMY" id="ILL_THE_ARMY"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_260fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_260fp_sml.jpg" width="492" height="288" alt="Image unavailable: “The army of madmen went forward to the Connecticut River to hold the western bank.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The army of madmen went forward to the Connecticut River to hold the western bank.”</span> -</div> - -<p>They dug ditches. They did not know how to make defenses for their -machine guns. They piled trees that would skewer them with splinters -under shell fire, or heaped up rocks that would fly into fragments and -kill like shrapnel.</p> - -<p>They were all of three thousand men. They were the kind of men whom -America has expected always in times of peace to call to its defense. -They were callous-handed workers in metal and wood and leather; bleached -workers from woolen mills and cotton spindles; ‘longshoremen from the -harbor cities of the Sound; professional men resolute with the fervor of -the time; road-makers and teamsters and shoemakers; hunters, yachtsmen, -and football players.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What Americans Could Have Done</i></p> - -<p>That day along the Connecticut River they showed what America’s men -could have done had they learned how to do it in advance and had they -been armed for the work.</p> - -<p>They lay behind their pitiable defenses, with their motley weapons, -commanded by men who did not know war. They bore the shock of machine -gun assaults from advance patrols. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>{262}</span> bore the shock of cavalry -charges from scouting detachments.</p> - -<p>At Middletown they were attacked in force by heavy cavalry that crossed -under cover of gun-fire and outflanked them, and charged in mass. They -sent the charge back, broken, with many empty saddles.</p> - -<p>They lay under the fire of a 3-inch gun at Cromwell for an hour, and -endured, and died—but they denied the river crossing to a battalion.</p> - -<p>For two long hours they held the river along their whole line. It seemed -to them that they were fighting a great battle. Surely their dead -testified to it, and the hot fire that beat on them testified to it, and -across the river, or floating down with the stream, were many enemy dead -to testify to it.</p> - -<p>They cheered and shouted to each other hoarsely that they were winning. -They watched, with ever-growing savage lust, for more assailants.</p> - -<p>In the headquarters of the advancing army there was received this report -from the brigade commander: “Two or three thousand raw but determined -Americans disputing passage of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a>{263}</span> Connecticut River with our advance -guards. They have machine guns, no artillery. Am sending field guns -forward. Shall have passage clear in an hour.”</p> - -<p>“Use ample force,” answered the commander. “These Americans!” he said to -his aid. “They aren’t to be underestimated. A little more preparation—”</p> - -<p>“And we wouldn’t be here!” laughed the aid.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Thirty Minutes Later</i></p> - -<p>Thirty minutes afterward, from points wholly invisible to the Americans, -there burst the shattering thunder of field-artillery. Explosive shells -flew over and into the trenches. Shrapnel screamed at them, and burst -like sentient things right in their faces, to drive rattling bullets in -all directions.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p> - -<p>Their machine guns were useless. There was nothing in sight at which to -fire. The men lay face down, clutching dirt, choking with fumes and -smoke, stunned by the blasting things that burrowed into their -earth-works and blew them apart and tore living bodies to pieces.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a>{264}</span></p> - -<p>At Rocky Hill a militia company of artillery tried to move its gun into -better shelter. The plow-horses that had been seized to drag it, wild -with terror, became entangled in the traces and fell. Cutting them away, -the men wheeled the cannon into position by hand. But their armory never -had been fitted for sub-caliber practice, as it never had been fitted -for mounted instruction. None of the men had been qualified as first -class or even as second class gunners. They fired, and their shots went -wild, serving only to betray their situation to the enemy. They did not -know how to place themselves for protection from indirect fire. So they -died.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p> - -<p>A troop of militia cavalry, trying to move forward near Hartford, was -cut off by an advance patrol of enemy cavalry that had crossed the river -to outflank the defenders from the north. The Americans charged. But -they were mounted on horses never used before for cavalry work. The -enemy riders were men trained to swordsmanship. The American troop had -averaged only 13 men in mounted drill in a whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>{265}</span> year, because they had -possessed neither horses nor armory.<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> - -<p>The green brutes reared at the sight of weapons. They pitched into each -other as the enemy cavalry dashed at them, and added their iron hoofs to -the mêlée. For one brief moment eyes stared into eyes, and it was hack -and thrust. Then the enemy riders were through them, and whirled like a -gale and swept through them again, and killed and killed.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Massacre of the Connecticut River</i></p> - -<p>“Annihilated,” reported the scout cavalry a little later, when its -squadrons came up. “Our loss one dead, three slightly wounded.”</p> - -<p>Annihilated! Yes, gentlemen of Congress, sitting in Washington at that -moment and passing resolutions and appropriations, and uttering fine -sentiments about millions for defense and not one cent for tribute! -There were ugly things there on the Connecticut River shore that -answered you more loudly in their eternal silence than if they had -spoken with a thousand angry tongues.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a>{266}</span></p> - -<p>That day’s battle that filled the fields of Connecticut with dead men’s -bones to be plowed up in many a year afterward, went down in American -history as the massacre of the Connecticut River. A massacre it was—an -American massacre, carefully prepared by elaborate carelessness through -many a year before.</p> - -<p>Less than a thousand men, it was said afterward, escaped from the -massacre. They crawled away down gullies or swam down the river, and hid -under weeds and panted, and tied up their wounds with rags from their -ragged garments. They were never able to tell what had occurred. They -knew only that they had thought there was victory—and then, in front of -them, and on their flanks, and behind them, there had come flames as if -a hot line of blast furnaces had opened to blow in their very faces, -wherever they turned.</p> - -<p>“We have taught them their lesson!” said the hostile commander. “We -shall have no more trouble.”</p> - -<p>It was true. Western Connecticut was broken under the invader’s rod as -Eastern Massachusetts had been broken. That night the army occupied -Hartford, Meriden, New Britain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a>{267}</span> and New Haven, though not before the -arms factories had been blown up, to welcome the soldiers with flaming -ruins.</p> - -<p>The next morning cavalry detachments began cautiously to scout into the -Berkshire Hills, to feel for the American outposts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a>{268}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE CAPTURE OF NEW YORK CITY</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">When</span> the news of the Battle of Connecticut went through the United -States, there was a temporary end to all patience, to all calculations -of prudence. There was an end to everything except blind passion. The -United States was not a patient Nation, but no Nation, however patient, -could have remained so at such a time. No man, however deeply admired, -could have counseled wisdom then. No interests, however great, could -have controlled.</p> - -<p>All the knowledge that had gone to the public about the utter -unreadiness of the freshly enlisted volunteers to take the firing line; -all the information that had been given to the people about the -condition of their army; all the proofs that the foe had given with -blood and fire of his immense superiority—all these were as nothing. -That the army, if it had fought now,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a>{269}</span> must be destroyed, was as nothing. -The cry was that the army must fight!</p> - -<p>Trusted leaders pointed in vain to the history of the United States to -prove that whenever its raw forces had hurried into battle in obedience -to popular demand, the result had been only to hurry disaster. In vain -they pointed to the Civil War and the hideous death-tolls paid by both -sides without military advantage to either.</p> - -<p>Men would not listen. They would not reason. They hated those who -remained cool enough to reason. It was the human equation that, at some -time or another, defies all the combination of man’s intelligence.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The President Goes to the Army</i></p> - -<p>No administration, however determined, could have ignored it. Secretly, -a special train was made ready in Washington. Secretly, in the night, -the President of the United States with his advisers and staff boarded -it and were taken northward.</p> - -<p>No dispatches went ahead of it, except railroad orders to clear tracks. -After passing Baltimore, it went by way of Harrisburg and Wilkesbarre, -avoiding Philadelphia and the city<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a>{270}</span> of New York. Through the sad, black -iron and coal country of Pennsylvania it passed to the New York State -line without a welcome anywhere.</p> - -<p>“We might be fugitives,” said the President, looking out with sleepless -eyes.</p> - -<p>At Jefferson Junction an armored train with machine guns and a 3-inch -rifle slid in ahead of them from a siding where it had been waiting. An -officer entered the President’s train and requested that all shades be -kept down. Thus, furtively, the Nation’s ruler entered Albany.</p> - -<p>Army Headquarters had been a target, like the White House, for messages -that had shaken those to whom they were addressed. More than once the -Commanding General had felt that it was more than human men could bear. -More than once, in council, officers, infuriated by the veiled -accusations of cowardice in the dispatches, had spoken in favor of -giving the army the fatal order to go into action.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What the Commander Faced</i></p> - -<p>The President, when he looked at the General’s deeply lined features, -knew that the old soldier had more to gain from a battle, however<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a>{271}</span> -disastrous, than from life. “If he does not interpose between the -invader and New York City,” thought the Chief Magistrate, “he will live -only to see his name blasted. There will be a thousand tacticians in -future years who will assert that he was a blunderer, if not a traitor.”</p> - -<p>“The country demands a battle! I know!” The soldier laid before the -President a sheaf of papers. “Some reports, sir, bearing on the matter.”</p> - -<p>The first sheet was a report from brigade headquarters. “Twenty -batteries of 5.1 inch artillery moved westward through New Haven last -night,” it said. “Our spy reports that these guns appear to be of the -type that is known to have a range of seven miles, far outranging our -field guns. Accompanied by heavy convoys of shrapnel and explosive -shell.”<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></p> - -<p>“They are bringing up heavier guns still,” said the General, selecting -another report. “Between New London and Saybrook Junction flat cars were -seen with 11.02 inch howitzers, which, we presume, must be the type that -throws<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a>{272}</span> a 760-pound projectile. We have nothing near that type in our -artillery to oppose them. As they have a range of 12,000 yards, they can -be placed wherever it may please the enemy, and we might as well bombard -them with roman candles as with our guns.”<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Men Disabled Before Battle</i></p> - -<p>The President, without replying, picked up a third report. It was from a -major of the Medical Corps, and ran:</p> - -<p>“A considerable proportion of militia infantry still suffer severely -from blistered feet after only a few miles of march over rough country. -More men are being disabled from ill-fitting shoes and unsuitable socks -(thread and cotton) than from all other causes combined. Habit of -prophylactic care of the feet almost wholly lacking. Few regimental or -infirmary supplies include foot-powder.”<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p> - -<p>“If you take men from their office chairs or from seats by the side of -machines in shops,” growled one of the staff, “you can’t expect them<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a>{273}</span> to -hike the same day. Men who insist on living near trolley cars, which is -a great American habit, must expect to get sore feet after walking three -miles. In a fifty mile march, sir, this army in its present condition -will lose fifteen per cent. of its militia strength from straggling and -falling out.”<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p> - -<p>“But they have improved very greatly, have they not?” asked the -President.</p> - -<p>“Some of them,” answered the General, “notably the New York, -Massachusetts and Pennsylvania troops, are excellent and can go into -battle with the regulars at any time. But—” he turned to an artillery -officer. “Will you tell the President about yesterday’s field artillery -practice?”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What Untrained Batteries Did</i></p> - -<p>“We sent five untrained batteries to an indicated position,” said the -officer. “They had practiced only about half a dozen times in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a>{274}</span> last -year, and then they had merely drilled in the motions of handling their -pieces, as their armories were equipped neither for mounted drill or -sub-caliber practice. When they reached the positions that they were to -hold, they had lost the locations of their own side, and within half an -hour they were blazing into cover occupied by their own infantry. If -they had been using shell instead of blanks—whew!”<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p> - -<p>“We are only just getting several organizations to learn how to deploy -as skirmishers from close order,” said the Commander. “You know how -vital that is under fire. Their company commanders appear to have had no -previous experience at it, and the corporals let their squads get out of -hand hopelessly. There have been some sad mix-ups. The result in battle -would have been sickening.”<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> - -<p>“But I tell you,” said the President, “the country is wild! The people -know that you have the whole of a magnificent railroad system from here -to New York at your disposal. They know<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a>{275}</span> that the invading army must -have been spread out tremendously to hold all the territory that it -occupies. They cannot understand why you should not be able to engage -the force that is advancing on New York.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What the Public Did Not Know</i></p> - -<p>The General walked to the wall map. “The enemy is thinned out. Yes!” He -laid his finger on the chart. “But to meet him, we must move due south -140 miles down the Hudson Valley, with the river on one side of us and -the Berkshire and Litchfield Hills of Massachusetts and Connecticut on -the other. We cannot leave men behind us to protect that length of line -and hold open our road for us if we have to retreat. When General -Sherman marched to Atlanta, he left 115,000 men behind him to guard his -300 mile line back through Chattanooga to Nashville. We have less than -fifty thousand men in our whole army, even if we scrape together all the -very latest green arrivals.</p> - -<p>“The moment we leave our base,” continued the Commander, “the enemy -headquarters will know it. They will instantly begin a big shifting of -their New England forces. They will<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a>{276}</span> push them across into New York -State behind us, and we’ll be trapped.”</p> - -<p>“You think that they can concentrate swiftly enough?” asked the -Secretary of War.</p> - -<p>The soldier pulled a paper out of the pile, and read: “Observer at -Providence reports that hostile forces entrained cavalry, field and -heavy artillery and ammunition columns at regular rate of two hours for -full military train. Time for loading siege material, 3½ hours.”<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Officers Had Never Handled Men</i></p> - -<p>He tossed the papers aside. “When did any of our officers ever have to -handle thirty thousand men?” he asked. “How many of them ever handled as -many as ten thousand? Last week, two regiments were left without food -for two meals on a practice march because their commissary failed to -supply travel rations. Day before yesterday seven boxes of provisions -were found lying in a company street without any one to claim them. -Those were militia; but our own officers equally lack experience in -handling<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a>{277}</span> such a big contract as a whole army.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> - -<p>“Do you know what it means to see that an infantry division gets its -material? Do you know what we’ve got to send into battle with it? It -means an ammunition train of 165 4-mule wagons, and more than 700 mules -and horses. Then there are the other supply trains, the pack trains and -the engineer trains—135 more wagons and 600 animals. There are ninety -ambulances and wagons with their animals. And this is without counting -the horses for the cavalry and the signal corps! I tell you, Mr. -President, if we unload that mess in the face of an enemy like the one -down there,” he pointed southeastward, “it will never get back -here!”<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> - -<p>“And if you stay here! Won’t you be attacked?” asked a member of the -President’s party.</p> - -<p>“I think not.” The General turned to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a>{278}</span> chart again. “See here! He’s -got a great big territory to hold already. When he has New York City and -Harbor to control also, I think he’ll be too well occupied to attack us -until he brings reënforcements across. At any rate, he can’t come at us, -except from the direction of New York City up the narrow river valley, -or from the direction of Massachusetts through the Berkshire Hills. We -can make the banks of the Hudson a difficult place for him. And the -longer we can hold on here, the longer the ordnance works at Watervliet -can continue to turn out the heavy guns that we need so sorely. -Watervliet, Mr. President, in my eyes, is the most precious thing we’ve -got to guard just now.”<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>“Stay!” Says the President</i></p> - -<p>The President arose and walked to the window. For a quarter of an hour -he looked out over the rolling country to the East where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a>{279}</span> soft blue -curves of the hills were cloud-like against the April sky. Then he -returned. “Stay where you are,” he said, “as long as you can, or think -wise. New York will have to fall. Good-by. We’ll go back to Washington -and do our best. Good luck to you, and to your Berkshire Hills.”</p> - -<p>“They are good American hills,” said the General, smiling for the first -time. “They are giving our men the only protection they’ve had against -aeroplanes since this thing began.”</p> - -<p>The spreading, crowding groves that crowned them and made them famous -for their loveliness, now made the multi-folded Hills a welcome cover -for the harassed American troops. They reduced to a minimum the -effectiveness of scouting from the air, and increased to a maximum -extent the efficiency of cavalry and motor troops that knew the country. -Among their laureled slopes and in their vales and intervales, was good -territory for artillery defense.</p> - -<p>The rich men whose pleasure grounds they are gave the army their motors, -their horses and themselves. Quick-witted and keen, aware of every foot -of the ravines and roads and by-roads, they helped the picked men who -had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a>{280}</span> selected by the commanders to guard and hold the “escapes” -through the Hills.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Americans Hold the Wall</i></p> - -<p>At the southern end, on the open summit of Mount Everett that old -settlers prefer to call “The Dome,” whence the sight can command the -sweep of the Housatonic Valley through the Hills, all the approaches -from Massachusetts in the eastward, the Litchfield Hills south in -Connecticut, and the basin of the Hudson River to the west, a signal -corps had erected its wireless and its heliograph. At their feet, on the -lower slopes, hidden in the great wild laurel that is most beautiful -there, was artillery.</p> - -<p>There were guns at Great Barrington. At Stockbridge gleaming batteries -guarded the road from Hartford, which once had been the stage coach road -between Boston and Albany.</p> - -<p>Limbers and guns jolted past the great houses and estates of Lenox and -vanished in the cover on both sides, to be posted on the hilly ground -that commanded the Housatonic Valley. More guns passed under the elms of -high Pittsfield. Motors and cavalry and cannon held North Adams and -Williamstown, where Williams College<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a>{281}</span> stood almost deserted because -students and professors had volunteered to act as sentinels and patrols.</p> - -<p>On the old trail that had been the trail of the Mohawk Indians of New -York when they went on the war-path against Massachusetts, men in olive -drab were scouting and lying in cover with machine guns.</p> - -<p>On the green hills behind Bennington, Vermont, where Yankee breastworks -had been thrown up in the Revolution, there were more batteries. Here -outposts and patrols guarded the road leading to Lake George, the last -gateway to the territory held by the American forces in New York State. -North of this were Vermont’s Green Mountains—barriers indomitable as of -old when Ethan Allen, wroth at Congress, threatened to retire into those -fastnesses and “wage eternal warfare against Hell, the Devil and Human -Nature in general.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Impassable by Rail</i></p> - -<p>The long barrier thus running northward from Connecticut like a wall -separating New England and New York, would check any except a powerful, -well-supported force, advancing with the determination<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a>{282}</span> to break -through. Long before such an army could make its way, the Americans -could either front the enemy in battle, or retire safely beyond his -reach.</p> - -<p>The invaders could not break through the wall by rail. The railroad line -that led from Greenfield, Massachusetts, to Troy and Albany, had in it a -famous link that was vital to its operation. This link was the -celebrated Hoosac Tunnel, bored for 4¾ miles through Hoosac Mountain. It -was now a solid mass of blasted and piled rock that could not be cleared -away in the time demanded by any military operation.</p> - -<p>In the south, on the Long Island Sound coast of Connecticut, were other -ruins almost as big and as costly. They were the wreckage of -Bridgeport’s big cartridge factories, blown up as the hostile patrols -entered the outskirts of the town.</p> - -<p>It was the last source of ammunition and arms supply in New England. -With it there were lost, too, three submarines that were on the stocks -in the harbor ship yards, and the works that had been manufacturing -naval sea-planes and military tractors for the army’s flying scouts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a>{283}</span></p> - -<p>The aerial motor works of Hyde Park in Massachusetts, the Marblehead -factory that made gun-carrying convertible land and marine flying -machines, and the Norwich factory for tractor biplanes and -hydro-monoplanes had been captured almost in the beginning.<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>New England’s Conquest Complete</i></p> - -<p>As the army entered Bridgeport, another column advancing parallel with -it captured the great manufacturing city of Waterbury in the North. With -these two cities, the invader’s conquest of New England was complete. -Excepting only Portland in Maine, he now possessed every city of more -than 30,000 population. He possessed every source of manufacture. He -held every port on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. He held the -three great harbors of New England. In addition to the vessels building -in Bridgeport, he possessed Fore River, with a battleship and two -destroyers on the ways; Quincy, with eight submarines in course<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a>{284}</span> of -construction, and the Portsmouth Navy Yard with one.<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p> - -<p>The division that had taken Waterbury turned southerly to the coast -after it passed through that town, to join the division that had taken -Bridgeport and was pressing westward.</p> - -<p>An hour later the American army, apprised by its spies, began to block -the rock cuts on all the New York Central systems leading northward out -of New York City.</p> - -<p>When New York heard this news, it knew that it had been abandoned.</p> - -<p>In that moment of despair, the population would have done what every -loosely knit, heterogeneous multitude does almost spontaneously in the -face of catastrophe. It would have grown into mobs to riot against -itself. If the huge population had been organized, if it had possessed a -single will, nothing could have prevented it and nothing could have -withstood it. But facing the overwhelming numbers were a few thousand -men who were moved by a single will and who were firmly welded together -for its accomplishment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a>{285}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Power of Organized Discipline</i></p> - -<p>They were the police. Whatever their faults were, they possessed the one -thing that all the city and all the United States lacked. It was -Organized Discipline. In the face of millions unorganized and -undisciplined, the 11,000 policemen of the city, armed with no visible -weapons except clubs, maintained the peace. They scarcely needed the -assistance of the ten thousand men who had been enlisted hastily as -volunteer militia and deputy sheriffs, and who patroled the streets with -clubs and riot guns.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></p> - -<p>Their work was facilitated by the fact that for many days past there had -been a great disarmament in the city. Under the autocratic latitude of -martial law, all suspected individuals had been searched wherever they -were met. Houses had been visited. Warned by the riots in Connecticut, -the authorities had stripped every sporting goods shop and every -pawnbroker’s establishment of weapons, and stored them under heavy guard -in the armories.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a>{286}</span></p> - -<p>It had been a necessary precaution. During the days that came after the -enemy forces had begun to land, factory after factory and industry after -industry had stopped. Now the greater part of the city was dead. -Seventeen thousand longshoremen and stevedores loitered in the -water-front streets, with ten thousand sailors of all nationalities, -whose ships were tied up. Fifty thousand unskilled laborers wandered -around town with nothing to do. Altogether it was estimated that on this -day there were 200,000 people in New York whose occupations had been -lost, and fully as many again who were working on half time.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Wholly Helpless Metropolis</i></p> - -<p>The leaders of commerce and finance, the most resourceful of the city’s -business men, were utterly unable to suggest anything. The Chamber of -Commerce, that had met many crises and evolved practical plans of -action, could suggest nothing now.</p> - -<p>The banks were practically closed. The United States Treasury Department -already had declared that the center of the Second Federal<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a>{287}</span> Reserve -District would be considered as temporarily merged with the Third -District in Philadelphia.</p> - -<p>The fire insurance companies were refusing all new business, and had -called attention to the fact that existing policies on every kind of -property provided that they were not liable for loss “caused directly or -indirectly by invasion, insurrection, riot, civil war or commotion, or -military or usurped power.”</p> - -<p>There were thousands of other contracts and agreements that would lapse -automatically the moment the first hostile soldier set foot in the city. -Men had laughed for a generation at the mediæval expression in many -printed legal forms that provided that the signers were not responsible -for anything that might occur under “the acts of any foreign Prince or -Potentate.” Now, suddenly, these mediæval words were alive.</p> - -<p>The mails were piled high in the Post Office and in every substation. -The whole United States was striving to settle urgent affairs with the -city, and the city was trying as desperately to settle with the United -States. It was impossible to handle the mass. It remained in bags for -days, untouched, while the postal forces, heavily<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a>{288}</span> increased from -near-by cities, struggled with the accumulations of days before.</p> - -<p>The long distance telephone systems were so crowded that connections -could be obtained only by asking for them many hours in advance. -Telegraph dispatches were twenty-four hours old before they could be -forwarded, and steadily their increasing accumulation was leaving the -armies of swift operators farther behind.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Days of Frantic Perplexity</i></p> - -<p>During the days of frantic perplexity there had been talk of dismantling -the factories and shipping their machineries to the interior. But when -the owners of the city’s 26,000 manufacturing establishments faced the -problem, they realized that it could not be done. They were not like the -government that could afford to pull plants apart and move them at more -expense than would be involved in building new ones.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> - -<p>They were as helpless as their 500,000 employees. To leave their city -meant for owners<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a>{289}</span> and workers alike to go away bare-handed and -pauperized. There was nothing to do except to stay.</p> - -<p>All these manufactories and industries of the city had labored so -furiously in the last weeks to produce merchandise and ship it that at -last the railroads were unable to handle the rush of freight. Every yard -was piled high with goods destined for the interior that could not be -loaded. All the sidings were clogged. There were lines of freight trains -with not a gap between them stretching from the Hudson River straight -across the New Jersey meadows and on into the yards and sidings of New -Jersey towns miles from New York.</p> - -<p>No freight was coming in. For three days everything had been -side-tracked far away from the city, in order to clear the tracks for -provisions. The authorities, with the Citizens’ Committee, unable to -guess what the enemy might do, had decided that all efforts must be -subservient to the effort to stock the town with food.</p> - -<p>Already the city had taken over the entire business of distributing -food-stuffs. Nothing could be sold except in quantities and at prices -fixed by ordinance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a>{290}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Edge of Famine</i></p> - -<p>The city’s people often had been told by their statisticians that they -always were within a few days of famine. Now they realized what it -meant. The congested tracks had cut down their coal supply. All -interurban transportation had to be reduced to save power. Somewhere in -the narrow valleys leading from Lake Champlain on crowded rails were the -enormous rolls of paper needed to feed the city’s presses. The morning -newspapers had to be cut down to four pages of small size. There was no -sporting news in the papers, no foreign news and no financial news.</p> - -<p>Within the short time that had elapsed since the occupation of New -England’s mill cities, the city had used up a great part of its stocks -of textiles. There was shortage of coffee, of spices, of all the stuffs -that ordinarily came in by sea.</p> - -<p>Hostile cruisers and destroyers patrolled all the Atlantic coast, taking -the precaution merely to stay out of range of the harbor defenses. They -captured every vessel, large or small, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a>{291}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_ONLY" id="ILL_THE_ONLY"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_291fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_291fp_sml.jpg" width="488" height="292" alt="Image unavailable: “The only activity that remained in full progress was the activity of the bulletin-boards.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The only activity that remained in full progress was the activity of the bulletin-boards.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">ventured to leave a port, and sent it into Narragansett Bay or Buzzards -Bay as a prize.</p> - -<p>So thoroughly had New York’s sea-gate been locked, that it had trouble -even to dispose of its garbage, because tugboat captains feared to -venture far enough to sea to dump it.</p> - -<p>Wherever men turned, whatever they tried to do, it was as if there lay a -great, dead hand on the city.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Closing in on New York</i></p> - -<p>The only activity that remained in full progress, apparently, was the -activity of the news bulletin-boards. The newspapers had erected them -everywhere, in all the squares. Far into the night they were served.</p> - -<p>Almost continually since the Battle of the Connecticut they had been -announcing the names of New England places successively taken by the -approaching army. Now, suddenly, their news shifted. A bulletin went up -dated from Eaton’s Neck, Long Island. “Large fleet of steamers,” it -said, “crossing Long Island Sound from direction of New Haven, -apparently bound for this shore.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a>{292}</span></p> - -<p>“Two passenger steamers of New Haven Line,” said the next bulletin, -“five large freighters, eight lighters. Making for coast east of Oyster -Bay.”</p> - -<p>From Oyster Bay came a dispatch: “Fifteen vessels putting into Cold -Spring Harbor, with large number of troops. It is believed that these -are forces convoyed over the Sound in vessels captured at New Haven, to -move against New York through Long Island.”</p> - -<p>“Village of Cold Spring occupied. Troops approaching Oyster Bay,” was -the news that grew in great letters on the boards an hour later. Nothing -more came from either of these two points. Evidently the enemy had cut -communications at once.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Along the Connecticut Shore</i></p> - -<p>News began to arrive now from the Connecticut shore. The advancing -forces, having joined west of Bridgeport, were moving in mass along the -contracted coastal plain of southwestern Connecticut. Troop trains, -preceded by armored pilot engines, rolled in long procession along the -whole system of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, all the -tracks of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a>{293}</span> which had been repaired by civilians impressed to do the -work. On all the many tracks there was traffic in only one -direction,—westward, toward New York. The trains, moving in echelon, -went forward steadily as clock work.</p> - -<p>Along the magnificent motor road that was the old Boston Post Road, -cavalry and motor patrols and detachments advancing in the same -direction, seized town after town.</p> - -<p>They occupied Fairfield, where Paul Revere stopped over night on his way -to report to Washington. They entered with swords clanking and imperious -motor horns croaking into old Saugatuck, where the Colonials had fought -General Tryon when he landed to burn Danbury. They took Norwalk and -South Norwalk. They quartered men in the estates of Darien.</p> - -<p>They swept on through rich Stamford, whose inhabitants are Connecticut -people by residence and New Yorkers by occupation. They took Greenwich.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Invaders of Long Island</i></p> - -<p>From Roslyn, Long Island, came word that all the invading vessels that -could find room at the Cold Spring wharves were unloading material.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a>{294}</span> The -character of the derricks that had been rigged, said the report, -indicated that extremely heavy guns were being handled.</p> - -<p>A bulletin that went up immediately afterward announced that the army -was crossing the State line from Connecticut into New York, and that -advance patrols already were passing through the New York State town of -Port Chester.</p> - -<p>The enemy was now only twenty-five miles from New York City. This, and -the actual entrance into State territory, caused a senseless, headlong -fright. It spread even into the councils of the Citizens’ Committee and -city officials in the City Hall. Men jumped to their feet and exclaimed -that the bridges over the Harlem must be dynamited at once. Others -proposed to demolish the great suspension bridges by cutting away the -suspending rods and letting the roadways fall into the East River, that -the Long Island invader might be kept from crossing.</p> - -<p>It was only the final flare-up of nerve-rasped, helplessly cornered men. -The least intelligent people in the streets could perceive that nothing -except cannons, and cannons again, could stop this invader who came with -a war-machine that made war a matter of systematic business. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a>{295}</span> Boston -had learned it, so New York was learning it. There could not be even the -barren relief of desperate, futile activity. The city, richer than many -a kingdom, more populous than any State in the Union except three, was -as utterly unable to ward off its doom as a trapped animal. Trapped by -its own wealth, it could only wait for the hunter to take it.</p> - -<p>If any men adhered to the belief that the city might gain anything by -destroying its approaches, a telephone message that came through from -Port Chester presently was sufficient to convince even the most -recklessly daring that it would be madness in the face of the iron will -that actuated the enemy. The telephone call was from the corps -commander, who asked for the Mayor.</p> - -<p>“I have the honor,” he said, “to inform you that the American army, -having abandoned the defense of the City of New York and surrounding -territory, all military resistance against us has ceased, and we claim -occupation. Under the rules of war, your civilian citizens lay -themselves open to penalties if they destroy bridges, railways, or other -lines of communication. Should such destruction occur, I shall have to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a>{296}</span> -exact compensation for any suffering that it may cause to the troops -under my command.”</p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>Invader Can Do What He Pleases</i>”</p> - -<p>“He is straining the law!” cried one of the Citizens’ Committee who was -an authority on international law. “He has not yet occupied the -territory contiguous to the city.”</p> - -<p>“I think that he has made his occupation good,” said another. “In our -own Army’s Rules of Warfare, paragraph 290 expressly states that ‘it is -sufficient that the occupying army can, within a reasonable time, send -detachments of troops to make its authority felt within the occupied -district.’ ”</p> - -<p>“It makes little difference,” interposed the Mayor. “We can’t take him -before a Court of Appeals to argue hair-splitting distinctions. He has -us, and can do to us what he pleases. He needs only the color of law to -go to any extremity. We should be insane to argue with him. The only -thing to do is to give renewed and urgent orders that the population -must absolutely avoid any act of violence.”</p> - -<p>Again the cold logic of inexorable circumstances forced humble -submission. Through all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a>{297}</span> the districts north of the Harlem and through -Westchester County almost to the line of the enemy patrols, there was -sent by every possible method of communication the following warning:</p> - -<p>“The invading forces assert occupation of the territory in which you -reside. Under this occupation, any act of disorder involving raiding, -espionage, damage to railways, war material, bridges, roads, canals, -telegraphs or other means of communication is punishable by death as war -treason. Communities in which such acts occur may be punished -collectively. All persons are warned earnestly to yield full obedience -to the occupying military forces and to abstain from all offensive -acts.”<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Matter of Lawyers’ Logic</i></p> - -<p>Thus for the men of New York war was no matter of glorious resistance or -of a splendid death. It was a matter of cold lawyers’ logic with -imprisonment or execution as felons the only answer should they try to -assert their manhood.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a>{298}</span></p> - -<p>The knowledge held all the territory passive. Men and horses and motors -moved into Westchester County with no more opposition than if they were -pleasure-seekers moving through friendly country. Guns jolted along the -highways with their artillerists sitting at ease. The Westchester hills -and valleys echoed no shots, no cries of battle.</p> - -<p>In every village and town the American flag fluttered down from the -flag-staffs of schools and town halls.</p> - -<p>The corps commander that evening established his headquarters in one of -the great houses in the famous residence colony of Orienta Point, -Mamaroneck. His columns, advancing along the shore, spread out, occupied -New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, and encamped for the night in a great -line that stretched from the Long Island Sound to the Hudson River, -fencing New York City on the north with a wall of men and artillery.</p> - -<p>It was a wall of silence. Not a word came through to the city from -Yonkers, from Mount Vernon, from Pelham, or from any of the other places -already taken.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a>{299}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Battle in the Night</i></p> - -<p>Only the harbor defenses of the city were still speaking to each other. -From the forts on Throgs Neck in Westchester County and from Fort Totten -on Long Island, the commanders at Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth in the -Narrows received requests for more men. Large forces, said the Sound -defenses, were closing in rapidly to invest them on land from the rear. -It would be an artillery and infantry fight in which the mammoth coast -guns could take little part, if any. The end was certain if -reënforcements could not be sent through the East River and the Sound.</p> - -<p>The commanders of the Narrows were helpless to give aid. The commanders -of the Sandy Hook defenses were helpless. All the men, regulars and -militia, of the coast artillery who could be obtained, were not enough. -Fort Hamilton, being on the Long Island shore itself, dared not denude -itself further than it had done. At any moment there might be an attack -on it, too. The southern defenses had no choice but to tell the eastern -defenses that they must do the best they could.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a>{300}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_NEW_YORK" id="ILL_NEW_YORK"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<span class="caption">THE ATTACK ON THE NEW YORK DEFENCES</span><br /> -<a href="images/i_300_lg.png"> -<img src="images/i_300_sml.png" width="344" height="448" alt="Image unavailable: THE ATTACK ON THE NEW YORK DEFENCES - - -A. Attack on Ft. Totten. -B. Attack on Ft. Schuyler. -C and D. Course of Troops Capturing New Jersey Manufacturing Cities. -EE. Attack on Sandy Hook Forts. - -" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="captionnorm"><span class="sans">A.</span> Attack on Ft. Totten. -<span class="sans">B.</span> Attack on Ft. Schuyler. -<br /><span class="sans">C and D.</span> Course of Troops Capturing New Jersey Manufacturing Cities. -<span class="sans">EE.</span> Attack on Sandy Hook Forts. - -</span> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a>{301}</span></p> - -<p>It was about one o’clock in the morning when the people of northern Long -Island, and the inhabitants of the Borough of the Bronx and Westchester -County, sprang from their beds in wild alarm. Without warning, as if a -hurricane had struck with instant concentrated force, all their windows -had crashed. Their walls were shaking, and pictures and plaster falling. -The air itself was shaking like a throbbing pulse.</p> - -<p>It was like no gun-fire that men ever had imagined. It was not a series -of explosions. It was like one explosion, whose crescent violence would -not dwindle. The people of far Brooklyn and the people of lower -Manhattan heard it. To their ears it was as if all the thunders of a -storm-riven Heaven had been loosed to roll incessantly.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Bands of Flame</i></p> - -<p>Men on vantage points along the Sound that night saw the attacking lines -from end to end plainly as if it were day. So continuous was their fire, -that it painted their positions with broad, unwavering bands of flame. -It needed not the star bombs and rockets that curved everywhere under -the sky to fall glaring into the defenses. It needed not the magnesium -lights<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a>{302}</span> that floated from parachutes dropped by aeroplanes. On both -sides of the Sound the night was a red sea.</p> - -<p>Into the mortar pits and gun emplacements of the defenses, like a red -surf from that red sea, beat the unending fire. Shrapnel that wailed -like the bride of the storm, and flew apart in the air, and flung -bullets as if mines had burst inside of the defense! Eleven inch shells -that hammered into concrete facing, and split it apart with the -irresistible agony of their explosion! Five inch shell and solid -projectile! Bombs from the air, and every agency that man had yet -devised to wreck and destroy!</p> - -<p>As suddenly as it had begun, the fire stopped. The night became utterly -still. The rockets ceased curving. But in all the defenses there shone -white glares, from search-lights and magnesium flares, illuminating -rushing masses of men who clambered over the ruins of guns and mounds, -and took the works. There was none left to oppose them.</p> - -<p>When the dawn came, the watchers rubbed their eyes. The great defenses -lay apparently unharmed. Their mounds and embankments betrayed nothing -of the ruin that the night’s battle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a>{303}</span> had worked within. But against the -brightening sky there arose a visible sign of what had been done. The -flag of the Coalition floated over them and greeted the American -sunrise.</p> - -<p>Within a few hours after dawn, artillery began to move through Long -Island’s boulevards toward Brooklyn. North of the city, the army began -marching through the Borough of the Bronx toward the Harlem River. -Before noon, guns were posted along the Harlem Heights, on University -Heights, at High Bridge, and down past the mouth of the Harlem River. -The Long Island Railroad brought guns to the high ground behind Newtown -Creek, to the summit of Eastern Parkway, and to the Prospect Park Slope.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Captured Vessels Enter River</i></p> - -<p>Through Hell Gate into the East River came a motley fleet—Sound and -River steamers captured at New Haven and Bridgeport, wall-sided -freighters and lighters, side-wheelers and screw propellers, and a -flotilla of motor boats, the pick of the beautiful little navy of -pleasure that filled all the Sound harbors.</p> - -<p>This fleet anchored in a long line below Blackwell’s Island close under -the Manhattan shore.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a>{304}</span></p> - -<p>All the larger vessels had guns on their forward and upper decks. As -soon as the craft had swung to the tide, the weapons were pointed at the -city.</p> - -<p>Then the telephone bell in the City Hall called the Mayor again. The -corps commander, speaking from temporary quarters in the University of -New York buildings, announced that he wished to send commissioners into -the city to treat with the authorities for the terms of capitulation. He -desired that the Mayor send an escort to meet them at the Lenox Avenue -Bridge over the Harlem.</p> - -<p>None of the people in the streets realized that the automobiles that -sped down Lenox Avenue a few hours later, through Central Park and down -Broadway, were bearing enemy soldiers. The population had become -accustomed to men in field uniforms hurrying through the city.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Demand Surrender of Forts</i></p> - -<p>Arrived in the City Hall, the commissioners presented a demand signed by -the commander, for unconditional surrender of the city. The Mayor and -his advisers read it, and turned to the soldiers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a>{305}</span></p> - -<p>“What does this mean?” asked the Mayor, pointing to a clause that called -for the surrender of all fortifications with troops and munitions of -war. “We possess no fortifications.”</p> - -<p>“It means Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth, on the Narrows,” answered the -Chief Commissioner.</p> - -<p>“But those are United States property,” said the Mayor. “We have no -authority over them.”</p> - -<p>“Then I should advise you to consult with the commandant of these places -at once,” answered the Commissioner. “Their surrender is an -indispensable condition in the terms of capitulation.”</p> - -<p>The Mayor reached for the telephone. “Stop all other business, however -important,” he said to the operator. “Connect me with the Commandant at -Fort Hamilton.”</p> - -<p>His conversation with that officer was brief. “He declines absolutely to -surrender any part of the defenses or other government property,” he -reported.</p> - -<p>“Then, sir,” said the officer, rising, “I regret to inform you that we -shall shell the city. We are authorized to give you twenty-four hours.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a>{306}</span> -Precisely at the end of that time, we shall order the firing to begin. I -call your attention to the fact that our artillery, as at present -placed, commands the Borough of Manhattan to about 59th Street, and that -our guns in Brooklyn command a great part of the most valuable sections -of that borough. You will take note, also, that guns on the vessels -anchored in the river can sweep both the New York and Brooklyn streets.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Claims That City Is Unfortified</i></p> - -<p>“But,” exclaimed an old Judge who was on the Citizens’ Committee, “we -are willing to surrender the city without opposition. As a matter of -fact, it lies wide open to your entrance. You cannot possibly mean to -bombard an undefended and unfortified town!”</p> - -<p>Without hesitation the officer drew a paper from his pocket and -presented it. It read: “The City of New York, having Forts Hamilton and -Wadsworth not only within its harbor limits, but actually within its -municipal limits, is plainly a fortified place under all accepted -definitions. Also, while troops occupy these forts the town clearly -falls under the definition<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a>{307}</span> of a ‘defended place,’ under the clause that -‘a place that is occupied by a military force is a defended -place.’ ”<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> - -<p>With a bow he handed the paper to the Mayor.</p> - -<p>“We shall bombard the city within twenty-four hours,” he repeated.</p> - -<p>The New York men looked at each other. “We are quite helpless, sir,” -said the old Judge, then. “We cannot force United States officers to -surrender. I propose to my colleagues that a deputation shall go to -Washington at once to lay your terms before the President as -Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. I assure you that we shall -represent to him, most strongly, the advisability of yielding. Will you, -for your part, give us more time?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot go beyond my orders,” answered the officer. “Twenty-four -hours, I fear, is the extreme limit. It will give you ample time, since -the matter to be considered is most simple. You might inform His -Excellency the President,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a>{308}</span> if you wish, that we have succeeded in -reducing and taking Forts Schuyler, Slocum and Totten. We shall proceed -to invest Fort Hamilton before to-morrow morning. Surrender will prevent -useless loss of life and destruction of property.”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Government Surrenders Forts</i></p> - -<p>A special train brought the deputation into Washington before daylight -next morning. The New York men went at once to the White House where -they were received by the President, who had not been in bed. “You have -no doubt that they mean to make good their threat of bombardment?” asked -the President, after receiving their report. “Then, gentlemen, there is -only one action for this Government to take.” He sighed, and echoed the -refrain of all the past days. “There is nothing else that we can do.”</p> - -<p>An hour later the wires to New York, cleared by orders from the War -Department, carried a dispatch to the commandants at Fort Hamilton and -Fort Wadsworth. It ordered them to surrender.</p> - -<p>From his headquarters the enemy commander<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a>{309}</span> ordered detachments to go -down the harbor in boats and occupy the captured defenses. Then he sent -his troops forward into the City.</p> - -<p>And now the New Yorkers who had expected that their streets would be -flooded by a great army, were amazed at the ease and simplicity with -which the city fell into military control. Instead of brigades entering -the city, there were not even regiments. Troops of cavalry, companies of -infantry, single machine-gun detachments, moving separately down -separated avenues, with big intervals between them, were all the force -that entered.</p> - -<p>Some boatloads of men and artillery passed down the river and landed in -Brooklyn, some to occupy the Navy Yard and others to reënforce the men -who had come in through Long Island; but the army remained outside, -holding the northern districts from the Sound to the Hudson, and -guarding the Hudson River and Putnam Valleys against surprise attack -from the direction of Albany.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>An Easy City to Occupy</i></p> - -<p>The officers in charge of the men who entered the city asked no -questions and required no<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a>{310}</span> directions. Unhesitatingly each led his force -to the point that he wanted. Within two hours New York was wholly in the -hands of the soldiers.</p> - -<p>Nobody had thought of it before. Now, all at once, when it was -accomplished, it amazed the people of New York to learn how easy it was -to control the city’s whole life, civic and commercial.</p> - -<p>A battalion of infantry occupied the Grand Central Terminal. Another -battalion took the great Pennsylvania terminal with its under-river -tunnels to New Jersey and Long Island. Detachments appeared at the -Twenty-third Street and Forty-second Street ferries over the Hudson -River and by that one seizure controlled all railroad connections with -the West from uptown. The occupation of half a dozen other Hudson River -railroad ferries down-town, and of the Hudson Terminal Tube System, -completed the entire control of all the city’s railroad traffic in every -direction.</p> - -<p>Equally simple was the control of its communications. Men appeared at -the two great telegraph buildings and at the telephone building. Within -half an hour they had every trunk<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a>{311}</span> line of wires in their hands and -could strike the city dumb at will.</p> - -<p>Thus less than three thousand men had their fingers on the big town’s -spinal nerves, and could paralyze it with a slight pressure.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Still Easier to Guard</i></p> - -<p>It was still easier to control the city from a military point of view. -The citizens who had expected to see their streets commanded by cannon -on limbers, did not at first comprehend why there were hardly any of -these to be seen, while machine gun detachments scattered and -disappeared as soon as they got well into the town. Only gradually did -the citizens discover that their big, sprawling metropolis was being -held subject by a very simple utilization of the city’s characteristic -feature.</p> - -<p>This feature was the sky-scraper. To the eye of the soldier, these high -buildings were nothing so much as inviting and magnificent eminences for -controlling the street-valleys and their population below.</p> - -<p>Four men with a machine gun and abundance of ammunition in one of these -stone and steel summits could control more area than half a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a>{312}</span> dozen heavy -field gun batteries posted in the streets could command.</p> - -<p>These sentinel watchers were as aloof and as sure as fate. They could -neither be rushed by a mob nor sniped from concealment. At a word from -the telephone in their eyries, they could start death dancing among the -pygmy hordes far under them.</p> - -<p>From the top of the Woolworth Building two of the little guns pointed -down into Broadway. Turned southward, they could sweep the town as far -as the Battery. Eastward, they could rain their steel-jacketed bullets -into the river front streets and over the two lower bridges that cross -the East River. Northward, they had Broadway as far up as Canal Street -under their fire.</p> - -<p>They were supplemented by a gun on top of the great Municipal Building. -It held a good part of the crowded tenement house district of the Lower -East Side under its zone of fire, notably the doubtful sections of -Cherry Street and other areas known to the police.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Church Towers as Gun Stations</i></p> - -<p>On the tall towers of the suspension bridges themselves were other -detachments with a gun<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a>{313}</span> each. The churches were not forgotten by the -soldiers. The graceful steeple of Grace Church, standing at an acute -angle of Broadway so that it can be seen from far down town, had been -before men’s eyes so long that they had ceased, almost, to note its soft -beauty. Now they looked at it with a new and acute perception, for its -steeple held a gun that pointed down Broadway, whose southern zone of -fire would just about reach to where the northern zone of fire from the -Woolworth Building would end.</p> - -<p>Trinity, too, had a gun in its tower, pointing down Wall Street. North -and south on upper Broadway, guns on the Flatiron Building could reach -any important street or any place where dangerous crowds might -conceivably form. This eminence controlled both Madison and Union -Squares. The tower of Madison Square Garden, near-by, also was armed. -From it men could watch and reach any part of the East Side that was out -of reach of the detachments in the bridge towers. Uptown New York was -governed more easily still. The wide, geometrically regular streets with -many open squares, were overlooked by tall apartment buildings and -hotels that commanded long<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a>{314}</span> sweeps of avenue. As a result, many of the -city squares and smaller parts had no artillery in them at all, and -others had only half a battery.</p> - -<p>The people knew that wherever they might move, they were within the -range of cannon that were loaded and ready. Their Citizens’ Committee -and their officials worked under guns. Every foot of their Great White -Way could be changed into a Way of Death at a moment’s notice. Their -women could not shop, their children could not play, except under the -menace of weapons.</p> - -<p>Small need was there in New York City of the many placards and notices -warning the people against disorder. Every man’s eye was on every other -man; and had one plotted mischief or rebellion, there would have been a -hundred witnesses ready to suppress him, to betray him—anything to -prevent those steel devils in the city towers from setting death loose -in the streets!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a>{315}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X<br /><br /> -<span class="courb">THE PRICE THAT HAD TO BE PAID</span></h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="smcap">Not</span> until the City of New York actually was surrendered did the people -of the Middle and Far West become startled into a really acute -perception of the catastrophe that had fallen on the whole country.</p> - -<p>Though they were fiery with patriotism and anger, and though they were -giving not only lavishly but extravagantly of their wealth and men, they -were free, unconquered and untouched. They had seen no invader. With a -suddenly freshened realization of the hugeness of the country, they had -attained the conviction that there was little danger that any foe -possibly could reach them from the Atlantic.</p> - -<p>They were willing to defend the East with all that they had. They were -willing to toss to the air all their royal plans for the splendid future -that was all but built. They were the real America, and they were -willing to ruin themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a>{316}</span> and die for America. But—the men of Chicago -were a thousand miles from an enemy. Three thousand miles separated the -men of the Pacific from the armed enemies in New England.</p> - -<p>So their customary life and their business had continued. They continued -to work and barter and plan. The loss of the industries of New England -had made itself felt at once, but there was an enormous land left. Even -the locking of all the Atlantic and Gulf ports with the attendant -calamities could not wholly shatter their great web of trade.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Pacific Remains Open</i></p> - -<p>Their commerce could go and enter through their own ports unimpeded, for -happily in this crisis there was no danger threatening from across the -Pacific.</p> - -<p>Therefore, though the surrender of Boston had shaken them, it had not -terrified them. The great inland country clung to the belief that the -army would do something. During the enemy’s slow movement through -Connecticut in the advance toward New York, the people of the West -remained inspired by that hope, as men in past<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_317" id="page_317"></a>{317}</span> ages, stricken dumb by a -darkened Heaven and a smoking mountain, still clung to the belief that a -kindly miracle would interpose to save them, though the earth of their -market places was trembling under their feet.</p> - -<p>That spiritual self-defense with which men armor themselves against -inevitable fates had not given way until the Administration announced -the surrender of the City of New York and its two great forts, with the -statement:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“The President assumes full responsibility. After a careful -examination of the situation in person, he issued orders, as -Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States, that -the army in the field should offer no opposition.”</p></div> - -<p>Then the West began to fear with a great fear that its Pacific coast was -not safe, after all. It thought, appalled, that an enemy so formidable -and successful, confronting opposition so futile, might succeed in -breaking the defenses of the Panama Canal as easily as he had broken the -defenses of the Atlantic.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Panama Canal Safe</i></p> - -<p>But the Panama Canal was being held. The United States fleet, having -failed to prevent the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_318" id="page_318"></a>{318}</span> hostile landing on the New England coast, had -turned at once to defend the one vital spot that it could protect even -against superior numbers. That was the Caribbean entrance to the Canal.</p> - -<p>It raced there under forced draught. It surprised and destroyed an -inferior force of cruisers and battleships that the enemy had stationed -there for blockade. Again it was mathematics. The foe, forced to assure -himself against attack on his transports off the New England coast, had -held all his powerful ships north of the American fleet. The weaker -blockaders in the South, facing guns of superior range, ships of -superior speed, and superior volume of gun-fire, went down to -destruction without even the satisfaction of biting hard as they died.</p> - -<p>Now the country that had been sick with humiliation because its navy -would not fight, thanked Heaven that the fleet had kept itself intact: -that instead of going down in glorious disaster, it had worked out a -scientific problem coolly. The big navy, intact to its smallest torpedo -boat, was lying fully potent under the strong defenses of Limon Harbor.</p> - -<p>The guns of the fortifications protected the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_319" id="page_319"></a>{319}</span> ships, and the ships -protected the fortifications. Three thousand naval officers and sixty -thousand sailors and marines, added to the land forces in the defenses, -made a force of highly trained, completely efficient men.<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Defenses Perfect</i></p> - -<p>The defenses were perfect. This precious possession was one American -possession at least that could be held to the last. Its guns were fully -installed. It had ammunition. Its range finding systems and its systems -of fire control were complete. Without the navy, it, too, would have -been sorely weak in men and would have been open, like America’s -continental defenses, to attack from the land. But with the naval -forces, it was able to hold out.<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></p> - -<p>The navy was ready to throw men ashore to meet any attempt at landings -along the coast. The navy’s torpedo boats and destroyers crept to sea in -the night and guarded all weak places. The American submarines, with a -safe harbor<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_320" id="page_320"></a>{320}</span> for a base, worked under ideal submarine conditions. When -the hostile navy, freed from the task of protecting its army, at last -appeared in force off the Isthmus, it dared not institute anything like -a close blockade.</p> - -<p>It dared not even venture in to bombard. There were 16-inch guns at -Panama. It was an object lesson for the United States. Exactly thus, had -there been an army to protect them, the Atlantic coast defenses could -have defied any attempt from the sea to force a harbor.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Hostile Navy Powerless</i></p> - -<p>The enemy navy, overwhelming as it was, could do nothing except to wait -and watch. It cruised up and down, far out in the purple Caribbean. Its -only trophies in the South were Porto Rico and the United States Naval -station of Guantanamo in Cuba. It had taken the latter by the simple -method of steaming in, for this “naval station” was only an unfortified -harbor.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p> - -<p>The news of Panama’s safety was the first and only good news that had -been given to the country since the declaration of war. The relief<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_321" id="page_321"></a>{321}</span> that -it gave was so great that the people received almost with equanimity the -news which followed—that word had come from spies of the arrival of -more transports in Boston Harbor and Narragansett Bay, bringing forces -estimated at figures varying from 50,000 to 100,000 more men.</p> - -<p>Soon after this landing had been accomplished, cavalry and light -artillery moved northward through Vermont. They seized and occupied in -force Bellows Falls and the White River, Wells River and St. Johnsbury -Junctions of the Vermont railroads. This cut the last communication of -New England with the United States. It gave the invader absolute command -of the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad, the Central Vermont, -the Maine Central, the Boston and Maine and the Rutland branch -railroads. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were in his power like the -rest of New England. Blockaded from the sea, and cut off from railroad -connection with the interior, they were subjugated even without the -unfolding of forces that now began through their area.</p> - -<p>Here, too, the invaders, despite their grown power, moved slowly, -cautiously. They cut districts<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_322" id="page_322"></a>{322}</span> from each other, and occupied them one -by one systematically, making united action by the population impossible -even had it been feasible. By the simple method of disorganizing all the -accustomed political and governmental affiliations, they turned to their -purpose the ever-present lack of coherence between State governments and -city governments, township authorities and County authorities. The -machinery fell apart; and the enemy dealt with the bits as he chose.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Conquest Complete</i></p> - -<p>The few big cities of the three States could offer no resistance. Within -a few days the conquest of all New England was complete. Not a word came -out of it to the rest of the United States. The City of New York was -equally sealed. Nothing was permitted to pass out of the gagged and -fettered town. The messages that stormed at it were delivered to censors -who did what they pleased with them, and passed practically none to the -persons for whom they had been destined.</p> - -<p>In this sealed city, for the first time in men’s memory, there were no -crowds on the streets.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_323" id="page_323"></a>{323}</span> Broadway from 59th Street to the Battery was -almost naked of people by day and by night. Its electric signs were -dark. Its hotels and theaters were all but dark.</p> - -<p>Whenever, by chance, people found themselves in a given block in numbers -sufficient to make a throng, there always was a hasty scattering, as if -they feared to touch each other. As these little knots scattered, they -cast swift glances of apprehension at the high roofs.</p> - -<p>There had been an official notice on the front pages of all the New York -newspapers on the morning after the occupation:</p> - -<p class="c"> -ALL ASSEMBLAGES OR GATHERINGS ON THE<br /> -STREETS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN<br /> -<br /> -By Order of the Military Government.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a><br /> -</p> - -<p>There was no threat as to penalty for infraction. None was needed. The -machine guns in all the towers and sky-scrapers were sufficient warning.</p> - -<p>The shape of the island on which the Borough of Manhattan lay, with -immensely long straight streets running north and south through its -narrow width, made it a simple matter to isolate all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_324" id="page_324"></a>{324}</span> sections in which -there were populations who might become unruly. The crowded tenement -districts of the East Side were cut off from those in the West. They -were separated into units within themselves. Very soon, the soldiers -moved around the city with the ease of careless visitors. Officers, -mounted and in automobiles, went where they pleased. They paid -apparently no attention to the people, and these, in turn, could not -guess anything that the conquerors had in mind or what would be their -next act in the next minute.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Surrounded by the Unknown</i></p> - -<p>The city’s newspapers, like those of Boston and all New England, were -controlled and edited by military censors. They were permitted to tell -their readers nothing of importance. This utter ignorance in which the -multitudes were kept, made them more helpless than did even the guns -that watched them everywhere.</p> - -<p>It was a city surrounded, perpetually confronted and oppressed by the -unknown. The veil of secrecy and silence was lifted only when newspapers -or placards printed some new proclamation in formal, legal verbiage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_325" id="page_325"></a>{325}</span></p> - -<p>The first one to be issued had proclaimed the occupation, and the -institution of a Military Government. It had added that the existing -civil authorities had been empowered and ordered to continue their -administration with the sanction and participation of the Military -Government, and that all civil and criminal laws remained in effect -subject to changes demanded by military exigency.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p> - -<p>But immediately under this announcement was a paragraph headed:</p> - -<p class="chead">LAWS SUSPENDED</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>On and after this date the following Classes of Laws are Suspended. -(1) The Right to Bear Arms. (2) The Right of Suffrage. (3) The -Right of Assemblage. (4) The Right to Publish Newspapers or -Circulate Other Matter. (5) The Right to Quit Occupied Territory or -Travel Freely in same.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></p></div> - -<p>Another announcement that struck home after the people saw its real -meaning under its smooth wording was:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“The municipal and other civil and criminal laws as administered by -the civil authorities, are for the benefit and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_326" id="page_326"></a>{326}</span> protection of the -civilian population. Their continued enforcement is not for the -protection or control of officers and soldiers of the Occupying -Army, who are subject to the Rules of War, and amenable only to -their own Military Government.”<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p></div> - -<p>At first this announcement seemed to the citizens to be for their -protection, but the sharper readers soon pointed out that it was only a -skillful way of intimating that the soldiers were above all the laws -that controlled the conquered population.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>A Mysterious Flotilla</i></p> - -<p>A few days after the surrender, people along the water-front noticed a -great movement of vessels. The big Fall River Line and other Sound -steamers moved down the Upper Bay in long procession, with some -steamships seized at the wharves.</p> - -<p>They were full of troops. Some of the vessels towed railroad floats with -flat cars on which were lashed cannon so big that even from the shore -the eye could perceive their unusual size. Other craft towed strings of -small scows, and still others towed floating derricks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_327" id="page_327"></a>{327}</span></p> - -<p>The flotilla passed down the Upper Bay, but it did not go out through -the Narrows. It disappeared in the narrow water-way of the Kill von Kull -that winds between Staten Island and the mainland of New Jersey, and -connects with the Lower Harbor through Raritan Bay.</p> - -<p>The story of the mysterious flotilla spread quickly through a city whose -lack of newspapers made its apprehensive curiosity only the more keen. -Robbed of its news and bulletin service, the people, without any -conscious plan, had organized a news service of their own. They had -fallen back on the primitive method of circulating information from man -to man.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>New York’s “Bush Telegraph”</i></p> - -<p>Within twenty-four hours of the suppression of the liberty of its press, -the highly modern, highly artificial city had in operation the same form -of news-transmission that has so often puzzled and even awed travelers -in savage lands. Under the sky-scrapers the “bush telegraph” carried its -messages with almost the same astonishing swiftness as in the jungle.</p> - -<p>It was done by hasty whispers and by furtive conversation, for among the -Orders and Regulations<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_328" id="page_328"></a>{328}</span> that were promulgated daily there was a little -warning that severe punishment would be inflicted on any person who -“spread false news, communicated the movement of land and sea forces, -made noises or uttered outcries of a nature to disturb troops, or -inspected, sketched, photographed or made descriptions of views on land -or sea without authority.”<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p> - -<p>There were enough ominous elasticity and inclusiveness in this Order to -cover almost any exchange of words. Yet men, even though they were -mortally afraid while they did it, could not resist the human impulse to -transmit anything that they learned.</p> - -<p>The news merely puzzled the great mass of the population. Accustomed all -their lives to turn to their newspapers for knowledge about everything, -they were quite helpless with their one means of enlightenment shut off.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>To Open the Harbor</i></p> - -<p>The Citizens’ Committee and the city officials, however, were able to -guess pretty clearly what this movement of troops and heavy artillery<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_329" id="page_329"></a>{329}</span> -meant. There was nothing in the lower harbor that possibly could demand -such force except one place—the forts on Sandy Hook, the last remaining -harbor defense that still was under the American flag. Solitary though -it was, so long as it remained intact it forbade the entrance of New -York Harbor to any hostile vessel.</p> - -<p>There had been wonder before because the enemy commander had not -demanded the surrender of the Sandy Hook defenses under threat of -bombarding the city, as he had demanded and forced the surrender of -Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth.</p> - -<p>“Because Sandy Hook is not within the city, as the other two forts -were,” was the solution at which the city’s lawyers arrived, after -considering the rules governing military action. “The invader plainly is -adhering carefully to all the accepted Rules of War. By doing so, he -can, and does, hold us to account rigorously under the same Rules. This -is profitable to him, for despite all their apparent stipulations in -favor of a conquered territory, the Rules of War are made, after all, to -facilitate war.”</p> - -<p>It was impossible to warn the commander at Sandy Hook. Private service -over the telephone<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_330" id="page_330"></a>{330}</span> and telegraph systems was suspended entirely. The -fire alarm system was operated under the watchful control of soldiers. -In Police Headquarters sat a Colonel of Cavalry whose countersign was -necessary for every order issued by the Police Commissioner.</p> - -<p>This was a stern officer, who held the police force in a hard, masterful -hand. The men were accountable more than ever for strict enforcement of -all laws, but they were subject also to summary control by every -military officer. Even guards and posts of private soldiers had some -authority over them.</p> - -<p>There were many daily experiences and sights in their streets that -served to make the people tractable, but few things were so powerful as -the daily spectacle of their pugnacious police yielding sullen but -complete obedience.</p> - -<p>“It is unlawful to disobey orders given by our army.” This short -regulation covered a great deal. It tied the police and the citizens -hand and foot.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_331" id="page_331"></a>{331}</span></p> - -<p><a name="ILL_THE_BIG" id="ILL_THE_BIG"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/i_331fp_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/i_331fp_sml.jpg" width="492" height="289" alt="Image unavailable: “The big guns behind them made no despicable sentinels.”" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“The big guns behind them made no despicable sentinels.”</span> -</div> - -<p class="chead"><i>Taking of Sandy Hook</i></p> - -<p>On Sandy Hook, fifteen miles down the harbor from the Battery, there -were being demonstrated the inexorable mathematics of war that had been -demonstrated at Narragansett, at Boston, at Forts Schuyler and Slocum in -Westchester, and at Fort Totten in Long Island.</p> - -<p>Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook, almost invulnerable to ship-attack from the -sea, was being reduced from the land. The fort commander had disposed -his men in the most formidable positions possible, and they made the -narrow sandy neck of the Hook that led from the mainland to their -fortifications a pass that no force, however contemptuous of death, -would attack hastily. Barb wire and great sand mounds, rapid fire guns -and big guns behind them, made them no despicable sentinels. But the -Americans numbered companies where the enemy numbered battalions and -regiments. The American mobile guns numbered pairs where the enemy’s -artillery was counted by dozens.</p> - -<p>The steel mass of fort that could protect harbor and city could not -protect itself. The motley flotilla, emerging into Raritan Bay, landed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_332" id="page_332"></a>{332}</span> -its men on the New Jersey shore at Keyport inside of the lower harbor, -and behind Sandy Hook. The defenses had not been devised or built to -withstand attack from their own bay. The great rifled guns and the steel -mortars were ponderous. They were mounted on complex engines, equally -ponderous, whose bases were firmly anchored in concrete and steel. These -mammoths were not things that could be swung around to all points of the -compass. They were set in their solid beds for the one purpose of -fighting things out at sea.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Open Back of the Fort</i></p> - -<p>The commander had succeeded, with desperate labor, by blasting away -concrete emplacements and facings, in turning two of his big guns around -to face the land and protect the open back of the fort. But the giant -steel guns with their 1,000-pound projectiles that could fight -30,000-ton battleships, could not fight little two-legged men. They -might, by chance of fortune, find and destroy one of the siege guns that -were attacking them. But if they missed a gun and fell merely among -soldiers, they would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_333" id="page_333"></a>{333}</span> scarcely more murderous than a little field gun -that fires bursting charges or shrapnel.</p> - -<p>The enemy did not try to rush the works. He had time and means and did -not need to sacrifice men. To the heights of the Atlantic and Navesink -Highlands, that ascend so strangely out of the sea and out of the -flat-sea country there, he lifted guns of great caliber. He placed guns -in cover behind every undulation. When he had placed all these weapons -with scientific precision, they began to fire.</p> - -<p>None of the mobile artillery installed for the defense of the fort -against land attack could reach the invaders’ heavier artillery with any -hope of effect. The men in the defenses, cowering under bomb-proofs and -in pits, held out for a day and a night. They held out for another day. -Then there was nothing left to defend. Dismounted and broken, their -armament was destroyed. The survivors surrendered.</p> - -<p>New York City did not know that the Sandy Hook defenses had fallen till -three light enemy cruisers appeared in the upper bay and steamed through -the East River to the Navy Yard. Then the city knew that its harbor was -open.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_334" id="page_334"></a>{334}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Enemy Invades New Jersey</i></p> - -<p>The army that took Sandy Hook did not return to New York. The flotilla -took the troops and their light artillery aboard at the Atlantic -Highlands, and steamed back through Raritan Bay, through the narrow -sound behind Staten Island and into Newark Bay. Here other boats met it -with cavalry and motor troops from Yonkers.</p> - -<p>Troops landed at both sides of the entrance to the bay, taking Bayonne -and Elizabethport, with their oil refineries and tanks, and their ship -yards. Then the flotilla moved up the bay, and put great bodies of -soldiers of all arms ashore at the great factory town of Newark. A big -city, and a difficult city to control, it kept the commanders occupied -for three days before they had made their footing good; but then it was -an admirable and a vastly valuable base. From it the troops spread out -and took Rutherford, Passaic, Hackensack, and Paterson.</p> - -<p>It was rich commercial territory that complemented the value of -possessing New York, for these factory cities were a part of the -Metropolitan District counted with New York City in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_335" id="page_335"></a>{335}</span> every National -estimate of industrial wealth. This district contained almost thirty-two -thousand factories. In wealth and productiveness, it was as choice a -prize as New England.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Army Ceases Operations</i></p> - -<p>Having made good its hold on the new conquest across the Hudson River, -the invading army ceased to expand. Even with the accretion that had -been made to its forces, it had none to spare for further operations, -for it now had under its charge 62,000 square miles of domain with more -than thirty millions of people.</p> - -<p>This was a Kingdom. The victor set himself to the task of organizing his -government, which meant the task of turning it to profit.</p> - -<p>From the beginning, he had taught the conquered people that an invading -army lives on the country. Wherever his troops entered, the inhabitants -were ordered to supply all that was needed by men and horses.</p> - -<p>The occupying troops demanded lodgings and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_336" id="page_336"></a>{336}</span> stable-room. They demanded -accommodations for everything belonging to the army. They requisitioned -fuel and straw. They called for teams, cars, motors, wagons, boats, and -claimed the services of their owners. They occupied flour mills and -bakeries. They took machinery, material, tools and equipment for -repairing their munitions of war, bridges, and roads.<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p> - -<p>In all the towns they seized parts of the hospitals and set them aside -for the care of their men, impressing the hospital attendants into the -service. For the use of their own medical service they forced the towns -to contribute drugs and medicines.</p> - -<p>They seized all appliances on land, on water or in the air that might -serve for the transmission of news. Under the allegation that they were -susceptible of use in war, they took all sorts of subjects of peaceful -commerce or industry, from telegraph wire to houses.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_337" id="page_337"></a>{337}</span></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Putting on the Screws</i></p> - -<p>Already they had subjected Boston to a levy of $50,000 a day for the -maintenance of the troops. They laid on New York and the factory cities -of New Jersey a joint levy of $100,000. They laid another impost for the -same purpose on the big cities of New England of seventy-five thousand. -This one levy alone amounted to 1 million, 575 thousand dollars a week; -and it was only one of many.<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></p> - -<p>They confiscated outright all the cash, funds, realizable securities and -notes belonging to the state, city and local governments. Every bank was -warned under threat of condign punishment to deliver over everything -that might be considered public property. In New York City they seized -from a bank $100,000 that was deposited by a State Department to pay a -draft; and they issued a warning that if the holder of the draft -attempted to collect the amount or permitted it to pass from his -possession, his house and lands would be confiscated.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_338" id="page_338"></a>{338}</span></p> - -<p>They declared themselves possessed as absolute owners by right of -conquest of all public property besides cash. Thus in New York they -asserted ownership of ninety-nine million dollars’ worth of suspension -bridges and in Boston they took bridges to the value of ten and a -quarter millions. They took the New York City armories valued at fifteen -millions. They declared that they owned the subways valued at 100 -millions.</p> - -<p>All United States property, comprising fortifications everywhere in the -conquered territory, navy yards, post offices, customs houses, -lighthouses, treasury buildings, and court houses were listed in -proclamations throughout the occupied country as good and legal prizes -of war. The property so seized in the city of New York alone amounted to -sixty-six millions.<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Working Furiously for Defense</i></p> - -<p>The United States was working furiously for defense. In the steel -country of Pennsylvania<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_339" id="page_339"></a>{339}</span> and the West, all the works were being altered -to turn them into factories for shells, shrapnel, big guns and gun -carriages. At Watervliet and Indian Head the capacity of the shops had -been enlarged immensely and there was not a moment in the day or the -night when there was a pause in the headlong labor. Powder was being -made in the Middle West, in places safe from any possible attack by -aeroplanes. The flying machine works of Hammondsport, and Buffalo, in -New York, San Diego, and Overland Park, were turning out machines at the -rate of one and sometimes two a month. Half a dozen other factories were -being erected.<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p> - -<p>A group of automobile factories had agreed to turn out 2-ton trucks at -the rate of forty a day, and, indeed, already were producing thirty a -day. One concern was working under a contract to produce enough -automobiles every day to carry one regiment, each machine capable of -making 100 miles an hour with four men and ten days’ rations of food and -ammunition. Others had agreed between them to produce enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_340" id="page_340"></a>{340}</span> motors in -every working day to carry five or six regiments.<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Handicap of Unpreparedness</i></p> - -<p>The efficient land was rising to the occasion with magnificent ability -and temper. So far, those were justified who had said that America could -meet a crisis with miraculous speed. But there were things that could -not be met with speed—and these things were vital.</p> - -<p>All the industrial efficiency on the land could not provide 35,000 -trained and experienced officers: and that number was needed if the -country was to put half a million volunteers into the field.</p> - -<p>All the efficiency of men and engines could not correct, except by -tedious, slow training, the defects in an army system that had made it -impossible in peace times to concentrate 16,000 men and officers at the -San Antonio border of Texas in less than three months after the order -was issued.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_341" id="page_341"></a>{341}</span></p> - -<p>All the efficiency could not alter the fact that of the whole militia -force of the United States, enrolled as “men armed with the rifle,” -exclusive of the four divisions already with the army, there were only -24,000, or 38 per cent., who could shoot well enough to make them -suitable for battle purposes.<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></p> - -<p>The capture of Massachusetts and Connecticut had cut off at one blow the -source of 68 per cent. of all the ammunition and weapon works of the -United States. The army, already short of cartridges, would have to -remain short till all the complicated and minutely accurate machinery -for making them could be built and established.<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_342" id="page_342"></a>{342}</span></p> - -<p>There were only 425,000 rifles in reserve. The volunteers would have to -drill without arms till factories could be put into operation.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What Had Been Lost</i></p> - -<p>Seven militia mobilization camps were in the territory lost to the -United States. One thousand acres of powder works in New Jersey were in -the possession of the invaders.</p> - -<p>The volunteers needed shirts, breeches, underwear. The four leading -cities in the manufacture of cotton goods, the four that led in making -woolen goods and the leaders in making clothing were cut off from the -United States.</p> - -<p>The volunteers needed shoes. More than all, they needed shoes. Shoes, -shoes, and again shoes! Americans realized with heavy hearts how these -unromantic things were making them helpless—what a blow it had been to -their defense when the great Massachusetts factories of Lynn, Brockton, -Haverhill, and Boston with their un-replaceable machinery had been -taken. These cities and cities scattered through the rest of lost New -England, had produced 57 per cent. of the boots and shoes for the United -States.</p> - -<p>The army was short, even under its old, economical<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_343" id="page_343"></a>{343}</span> estimates of more -than 500 field artillery. To put the army of 300,000 volunteers into the -field, it would need at least 1,500. In the days of peace it had been -calculated that the shortage then existing could not be made good in -less than two years. Now, with half a hundred factories toiling, with -blackened Watervliet roaring and clanging as never a factory had labored -before, guns were being turned out at a rate that promised to reach -surprising dimensions when all the shops were fully at work.</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Six Months of Helplessness</i></p> - -<p>But at best there were six months during which nothing could be done -except to prepare. During those six months, while the country poured -forth its money prodigally to make up in wasteful speed what it had -neglected during long years, the invader could sit in the conquered -seaboard cities and suck them dry.</p> - -<p>Nothing on earth could alter it. The volunteers had to learn everything. -They had to learn to shoot, to survive slush and rain and cold, to dig -trenches. They had to become hardened enough to march twenty and more -miles a day with blankets, half a tent, frying<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_344" id="page_344"></a>{344}</span> pan, plate, knife, fork, -water bottle, first aid kit, an emergency ration, an intrenching tool -and bayonet, a heavy rifle and ninety heavy cartridges.</p> - -<p>The militia regiments had to be raised from peace strength to war -strength. That meant that into every company of 65 trained or partially -trained men there would have to be an influx of 85 utterly untrained -ones who would, of course, instantly destroy the original efficiency of -the organization till they were trained up to it.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></p> - -<p>“Six months at the very lowest possible estimate!” said the Secretary of -War. “And it will be six months of such work as this country never did -before in its history.”<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>Six Months of Bleeding</i></p> - -<p>“Six months with the North Atlantic Seaboard amputated,” said the -President, “means six months of bleeding to death.”</p> - -<p>Even without the mortal blow that was struck at the country’s commerce -by the locking of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_345" id="page_345"></a>{345}</span> Atlantic and Gulf ports, this severance of New -England and the metropolitan district of New York did, indeed, cause a -huge, bleeding wound.</p> - -<p>Of the seventy-five manufacturing cities of the United States whose -manufactured product ranked highest in value and played the greatest -part in the industrial wealth of the country, the invader possessed -twenty-seven, or more than one-third.</p> - -<p>Fifty-six thousand manufacturing establishments were in his control. -Those of the New England States had produced 30 per cent. of the total -wealth of the country in manufactures. When they were cut off, the blow -struck every human being in the continent who needed their products, and -every human being who depended directly or indirectly on the income from -their purchases of raw material.</p> - -<p>The United States had lost the source of 65 per cent. of its woolen -manufactures in value, 48 per cent. of the cotton manufactures, 45 per -cent. of the bronze and brass products.</p> - -<p>All the amounts involved were enormous. The annual value of the raw -material used by the conquered territory was beyond 2 billion<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_346" id="page_346"></a>{346}</span> dollars. -The value of the completed products was 5 billions, 642 millions.<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>An Incalculable Prize</i></p> - -<p>The Nation, thus maimed, stared aghast at the value of the prize that -had been wrested from it for lack of a little insurance. Its individuals -had paid scrupulously each year for insurance against fire and crime and -had scrutinized their policies with the utmost care. But they had -permitted their chosen representatives in Legislatures and Congress to -do as they chose about insuring against war, to spend money as they -would or not at all, and to accept a worthless policy obtained at an -extravagant price.</p> - -<p>Now they faced a loss that, for the time at least, might well be called -total. The value of Boston and the city of New York alone in taxable -property was 9 billions and 880 millions. Five cities of Connecticut -were worth 483 millions. Massachusetts had 22 cities exclusive of Boston -whose value was 1 billion and 415 millions. Counting all New England, -with New York and Boston, and leaving out the New Jersey conquest, the -enemy’s loot was 15 billions<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_347" id="page_347"></a>{347}</span> and 386 millions, exclusive of the public -city, State and Federal property that he had seized.<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></p> - -<p class="chead"><i>What Can He Do With It?</i></p> - -<p>“But what can he do with it?” the people of the rest of the United -States began to ask each other presently.</p> - -<p>Men had prophesied in the beginning that the conqueror with his guns -turned on the great cities, would extort vast tribute under threat of -leveling them. But there had swept through the land a spirit that would -face anything rather than to purchase safety and ignoble peace. “Let him -destroy the cities and all the land!” said America. “We will build the -sea-board up again, better than before. We will recompense our -fellow-citizens for every scrap that they lose. But we shall never pay -blackmail!”</p> - -<p>Had the invader entertained any such plan, this spirit that flamed -unmistakably through the continent would have daunted him. But he had no -such puerile design as to turn his wonderful prize into ashes. If his -errand was one of brigandage and robbery, it was brigandage<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_348" id="page_348"></a>{348}</span> and robbery -in the most scientific modern terms. It was brigandage that enlisted in -its conception and prosecution the brains of a world’s financiers, the -keen wit of a world’s merchants who wanted to win back the markets of -the earth and the far-sighted policy of international diplomats.</p> - -<p>For almost a month the conqueror did not show his hand. For almost a -month the seaboard from the end of Maine to New Jersey remained sealed. -Then, suddenly, he gave the United States his reply to the question: -“What Can He Do With It?”</p> - -<p class="chead"><i>The Invader’s Reply</i></p> - -<p>He opened the wires. He did not send out a word over them. The people of -New England and New York did it. They sent out a flood of dispatches -that were like a great cry for help. It was the invader’s reply, through -them. The reply was “Starvation!”</p> - -<p>“We need coal! We need iron and steel! We need cotton!” cried the people -of New England. “We have used up all our raw materials. We cannot work -any longer unless you ship to us.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_349" id="page_349"></a>{349}</span></p> - -<p>“We must re-open our banks!” said Boston and New York and the hundred -other cities. “We are paralyzed without our exchanges and relations with -the financial system of the country.”</p> - -<p>“We need foodstuffs!” said they all.</p> - -<p>The first quick decision of the country was one of wrathful refusal to -furnish the supplies that the enemy might fatten himself. But the -importunities from the conquered places grew. They went to all the land, -west and north and south. They came at the White House like a storm.</p> - -<p>“We are on the edge of panic! We have three millions of factory workers -who will starve unless we can instantly reëstablish our industries and -our finances!”</p> - -<p>“It is intolerable!” said the President, his face white with anger. “It -is simply a disguised form of blackmail. He means to make us finance -him; for, of course, he will levy contributions on the country as soon -as money begins to flow in.”</p> - -<p class="chead">“<i>He Has Us!</i>”</p> - -<p>“He has us!” said the Secretary of the Treasury. “As we were helpless -against his cannon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_350" id="page_350"></a>{350}</span> so we are helpless against the new weapon that he -has drawn—the starvation of our own people. All the messages that we -have received prove that. He has shown them that their fate is wholly in -our hands—that if we refuse to send them money and foodstuffs and raw -material, they will have to blame us for the consequences.”</p> - -<p>The President of the United States arose. “Gentlemen,” he said, “they -are our own people. There is nothing else that we can do!”<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></p> - -<p class="cb"> . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . -</p> - -<p>That is the story of The Invasion of America. There was nothing else -that we could do!</p> - -<p>How the land labored heart-breakingly to put an army into the field; how -the invader for eight long months held the conquered land, and under his -efficient mastery made its soil produce prodigally, its manufactories -pour forth their wealth in redoubled measure; how he laid tax<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_351" id="page_351"></a>{351}</span> after tax -on the men whose necks were under his foot; how, toward the end, he -gathered his transports in all the harbors; and how, when three American -armies, each 500,000 strong, began to move toward the coast from three -grand bases, he embarked all his men within one hundred and twenty hours -and sailed away unscathed—these things were but inevitable -consequences.</p> - -<p>The United States of America never knew how much wealth the -Conquestadore had squeezed from the conquered territory in requisitions, -in fines, in license fees, in taxes on imports and exports, and in war -levies. Statisticians figured for years afterward to discover from the -wildly tangled accounts how much he had extorted. They figured and -quarreled for a generation over the vast amounts that the United States -had lost by losing the markets of the world; for when her ports were -opened, she found that the markets were gone.</p> - -<p>Men said that from first to last the invading army had taken a sum not -short of four billions of dollars. But whatever the sum, it was as -nothing to the wound that had struck America near the heart—a brave -Nation, a greatly capable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_352" id="page_352"></a>{352}</span> Nation, made to grovel for her life because, -in a world of men, she had failed to prepare for what men might do.</p> - -<p class="c"> <br /><span class="courb">THE END</span></p> - -<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The reader will recall Nast’s skeleton representing the -Regular Army with the legend, “Match it for grit if you can” or words to -that effect.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Statement based on statistics.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Authorities concede these matters.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> See War Department Reports, 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Taken from actual stations of various troops at various -times. The army post system is considered indefensible among military -men.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Speed of embarkation of a mobilized and prepared army as -calculated by European military staff officers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> One thousand rifled cannon could be enumerated from the -naval lists of less than four Powers. Less than four Powers could match -our Navy with battleships.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This is exactly what happened during the Spanish-American -War.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> From U. S. War Department Reports for 1915 on Militia -Organization.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> This statement does not betray a military secret. It is -well known to all foreign governments that we cannot defend our coast -defenses against land attack.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Certain naval experts, basing their opinion on study of -the recent naval battles, claim that a difference of as little as 10 per -cent. in efficiency between fleets otherwise absolutely equal means -inevitable destruction for the inferior fleet.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> A tactical necessity for an outnumbered fleet.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> This statement is based on official army calculations.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> From tabulated returns by the militia departments of -twelve Eastern States.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> From annual reports of rifle practice for 1914, militia -organizations.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See tabulated returns published by War Department, 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Under-stated. Annual reports for 1915 show many -practically useless batteries.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Annual report Militia Organization, 1915. (An Eastern -seaboard State.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Tables given in War Department statistics, 1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Extracted from tabulated returns to War Department. -(Report on Militia Organization, 1915.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Official figures: 12 Army aeroplanes, 13 Navy aeroplanes, -no dirigibles, two aeroplanes not serviceable, total effective, 23.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Block Island men helped in the capture of a troopship -during the War of the Revolution.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> A landing party seizing an outlying island for a base, as -Block Island would infallibly be seized, always destroys everything that -might enable the inhabitants to communicate with the mainland.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> A submarine cannot attack until it has risen near enough -to the surface to lift its periscope above water. Having thus obtained -its aim, it submerges again only deep enough to conceal the periscope. -It fires its torpedo blind when submerged. If it dives too deep, it -might send the weapon harmlessly under the ship’s keel. Hence, it is -possible, often, to “spot” the disturbed, whitened water above a -submarine even though it is sunken out of sight.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Target practice near the land has been found to so affect -all life nearby that it seriously injures the commercial fisheries. The -fishermen of Cape Cod have opposed fleet-firing several times. On one -occasion it is recorded that the fishing for lobsters (exclusively -bottom-haunting crustacean) was quite ruined for months owing to the -firing of big guns.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> As a matter of fact, the extreme range of the present -armament of American harbor defenses is 23,000 yards. This is not a -reliably effective fighting range, and is merely stated as being the -extreme range, “under crucial test,” of the 12-inch steel rifled -mortars. The rifled guns as now mounted have a range of not more than -13,000 yards. Battle-ships now being constructed are armed with 15 and -16-inch guns that can outrange the extreme theoretical range of the -mortars.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Harbor defenses are not constructed, necessarily, to -protect places near them. Their purpose is to prevent a naval force from -occupying an important harbor whose possession would open the way to -rich territory or lay commerce prostrate. Therefore it is no defect in -the construction of the Long Island entrance defenses that it is -possible to bombard coast places near them. It is physically impossible -ever to defend all the places on our coast with fortifications.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The Army War College has repeatedly called attention to -the urgent need of the mobile army for siege artillery and for the -organization of an efficient body of troops trained in its use to be -<i>available whenever needed</i>. “Ammunition on hand for artillery, 38 per -cent. of amount required.” (See report of Army Board, and Secretary of -War Garrison’s statement to House Appropriations Committee, 1915.) -Another estimate in the possession of the author would indicate that the -ammunition on hand for <i>heavy</i> artillery is only about 15 per cent. of -the amount required.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Troops cannot be landed with as little delay as this. But -naval tactics assume as a matter of course that an advance body of -bluejackets, trained for beach and surf work, can effect an immediate -landing if protected from attack.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Lord Cochran landed 18,000 men on the open coast of Chile -in five hours, with some guns. The surf conditions there are extremely -hazardous.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> American submarines now in commission do not carry more -than one 3-inch rapid fire gun. It is set in a watertight compartment -from which it is elevated when the vessel is on the surface. Armaments -of destroyers are: Ammen class, five 3-inch rapid fire 30 cal. rifles; -Aylwin class, four 4-inch rapid fire 50 cal. rifles; Bainbridge class, -two 3-inch rifles and five 6-pounders rapid fire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Submarine wire entanglements are being used effectively -for the protection of harbors during the present war. The wire cannot -resist cutting much more than twine can. It stops the submarine by -menacing it with being entangled and trapped. A submarine caught under -water cannot be cleared by its crew. The utmost the men can do is to try -to reach the surface by putting on “special escape helmets” and emerging -through the air-locks.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> With periscopes shot away, a submarine, even though -uninjured, is quite helpless. She may escape, if she is in deep water -and the assailant is far enough away to give her time to dive and flee, -deeply submerged. See loss of U-12 on March 10 merely through -destruction of periscope, which permitted enemy destroyers to ram her.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Even steam vessels of high power often are rendered -helpless by jamming a trailing hawser around the shaft. The revolution -of the shaft so macerates and binds the fouled material that the engines -are unable to turn the propellor in either direction and only a diver -can clear it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> The reserve buoyancy of a submarine when awash -(technically known as “diving-trim”) is so delicate that 100 additional -gallons of water would sink a 300-ton vessel.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> “From an altitude of 2,000 feet the movements of a -submarine torpedo boat may be easily observed unless the water is very -muddy”—Capt. V. E. Clark, Aviation Corps, U. S. A., December issue, -<i>Coast Artillery Journal</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Important cities in this territory besides New York and -Boston are Fall River, Providence, New Bedford, New London, Bridgeport, -New Haven, Hartford, Worcester, Springfield, Willimantic and Pawtucket.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Colonel Abbott, U. S. A., one of the leading Chiefs of -Engineers who constructed the U. S. harbor defenses, stated that the -fire of the sixteen mortars, “like one giant musket throwing a charge of -buckshot, each pellet weighing ¼ ton,” could drop their sixteen -projectiles into a space 800 feet long by 300 feet wide. The author was -present at a test of a 16-mortar battery on Sandy Hook when the sixteen -shells were fired simultaneously at a deck-plan of the United States -cruiser <i>San Francisco</i>, the plan being outlined with stakes on the New -Jersey beach five and a half miles from the battery. Each projectile -struck inside of the staked outline.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> “It will thus be seen that there are now provided about -one-fourth of the officers and one-half of the enlisted men necessary -for this purpose,” i.e. manning the defenses of the American -coast—Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., to Chief of Staff, -September 19, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> “It is certain that present-day coast defenses could not -withstand an energetic attack from the land side,” i.e. they must be -defended with a mobile army—“Over-Seas Operations.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> The present war has made evident to military observers -that in the future the “aeroplane screen” will play a vital part similar -to the “cavalry screen.” It is based on the simple principle of -overpowering the adversary’s attempts by vastly superior numbers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Estimates that were transmitted confidentially to this -country by observers in Europe and are now before the writer are that -the European Nations had raised their aeroplane efficiency to the -following magnitude: France 1,400, Germany 1,000, Russia 800, Italy 600, -England 400 (probably greatly increased since then), Austria 400, Spain -100, Belgium (in the beginning) 100, Switzerland 20 and Servia 60 -aeroplanes. The United States has at present 12 army aeroplanes, 13 -naval planes, no dirigibles, 2 aeroplanes old model, total effective 23. -The first aero squadron of the army has just been formed at the Signal -Corps Aviation School, San Diego, Cal. It will contain twenty officers -and ninety-six enlisted men. The last House of Congress refused to -consent to the Senate’s appropriation of $400,000 for military aviation, -and the amount available this year was cut down to $300,000. The Navy -Department is making specifications for a small dirigible, and on -February 27 opened bids for the construction of six hydro-aeroplanes, -bi-plane sea-going type, armored, to carry two men, wireless, guns and -ammunition at speeds of from fifty to eighty miles an hour.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Strength of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, 1914, as per -returns of inspecting officers, 5,369 men, 424 officers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Only eleven States had on hand at the time of the last -annual inspection one complete uniform (less shoes) for each enlisted -man of the authorized minimum strength.... “In the opinion of the -Division of Militia Affairs the States could have by this time, by -proper economy and care in the use of property and the expenditure of -funds, acquired stores sufficient to equip the militia at war -strength.... The militia is not now equipped with supplies sufficient -for peace strength.... In no State is the prescribed minimum peace -strength maintained.”—Pages 206, 283 and 287, Organization and Federal -Property, Annual Reports, War Department, June 13, 1913 to October 1, -1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> “We are still without an adequate reserve system either of -officers or men.”—Leonard Wood, Major General, Chief of Staff, U. S. -A., official report, January 20, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> So stated in instructions issued to foreign armies for the -event of disembarkation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Landing barges of this capacity are possessed by at least -three Powers and have been tested in maneuvers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> All these details, and many more, are systematically -worked out in European army instructions, both confidential and public.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Under average conditions it is possible to land 25,000 -infantry, 1,000 cavalry and 60 guns in six hours.... In the Crimean War -45,000 men, 83 guns and 100 horses were disembarked and set on shore in -less than eleven hours, without modern appliances.—“Over-Seas -Operations.” See also British and French records.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> This quotation is a literal quotation from the War -Department report on “The Organization of the Land Forces of the United -States,” August 10, 1912.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> This point has been emphasized in practically every War -Department report on organization for many years back. Congress never -has acted on the matter. The Chief of Militia Affairs, U. S. A., was -forced to report in his last report that: “Little or no progress appears -to be making toward correct Divisional organization.”—Part III, 1914, -Report on Organization. Only two States have approachably organized -their militia in correct proportions.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> The Division is the fundamental army unit.... The mobile -elements of the Regular Army should have a Divisional organization in -time of peace.—Office of the Chief of Staff, U. S. A., January 20, -1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Tables 17 and 18, pages 228, 229, Annual Report Division -of Militia Affairs, U. S. A., October 1, 1914.... “The States which send -their Infantry into active service without having made every possible -effort to supply it with an adequate Field Artillery support, will see -in the needless sacrifice of that Infantry the cost of their -short-sightedness in time of preparation.”—A. L. Mills, Brigadier -General, General Staff, U. S. A.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Page 26, Organization of the Land forces of the United -States, U. S. Army report.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> “While the men who wish to spend the Army and Navy -appropriation upon unnecessary army posts or unfit navy yards have such -a voice as well as a vote,” i.e. in the Houses of Congress, “a great -deal of waste and extravagance is sure to result.”—Henry L. Stimson, -former Secretary of War.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Only the most perfectly organized intelligence department -can extract from the incredible mass of reports that come in during army -movements, the few true and important facts on which the final orders of -the commander may be based. An inadequate scouting service is worse than -merely weak. It betrays its own forces to disaster.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> The Long Island Sound defenses are built to prevent the -entrance of a hostile fleet into Long Island Sound. By thus closing Long -Island Sound they protect all the Sound cities and the City of New York; -but they cannot and do not protect all the possible landing places. Long -Island, the land highway to New York City, is entirely undefended. The -War Department desires to erect proper defenses on or near Montauk -Point, but has still to get the authority.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Trinitrotol, now being used in Europe largely for -under-water work, is one of the most violently acting explosives known -to-day.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> The latest type of 16-inch naval gun has a range of 23,000 -yards or eleven and a half nautical miles, which is a little more than -thirteen statute miles.... A projectile from a 12-inch rifled gun (U. S. -A. coast-defense type) which was fired in the presence of the author, -ricochetted seven times.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Not a fanciful description. The impact of a 12-inch -projectile was calculated exactly by Major General Abbot, Chief of -Engineers, U. S. A., in order to formulate a precise comparison.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> The writer has seen iron bars two and a half inches wide, -which locked the steel doors to a casemate, buckle and bend outward from -the vacuum created by the blast of a rifled gun.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., September 19, -1914, pages 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The ammunition now on hand and under manufacture is 73 per -cent. of the allowance fixed by the National Coast Defense Board. Last -report to the Chief of Staff, U. S. A.... “The actual supply of -ammunition at present is very considerably behind even that modest -standard,” i.e. the minimum allowance, “and in many cases of our most -important sea-coast guns would be sufficient for only thirty or forty -minutes of firing.”—Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War, March 1, -1915.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Army and naval officers, both American and foreign, -believe that 5,000 men would be more than sufficient to take such works -if they are manned only by their Coast Artillery companies and -undefended by a mobile army.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> We have less than one quarter of the ammunition considered -necessary as an adequate supply and reserve for our full number of -small-arms. (Author’s Note.) ... “We are less adequately supplied with -field artillery material than with any other form of fighting -equipment.”—Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, 1911.... “A full supply -of this type of material must be stored and ready for use before war is -undertaken.”—W. W. Wotherspoon, Major General, Chief of Staff, U. S. -A., November 15, 1914, Annual Report.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> It has been said authoritatively that if all the guns of -the army should have to go into action at any one time there is not -enough ammunition for a single day’s engagement, even at a conservative -estimate of the amount of shells expended by each gun. In some of the -European battles, more guns than our whole supply were engaged on each -side.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> There is only enough material on hand to keep our present -mobile army (at its present low peace strength) in the field for six -months in the event of war. There is nothing to spare.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Cavalry troops in the regular army as now constituted are -under law rarely filled to a number of more than 70, while their proper -complement is 100.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> A comparatively small number of modern liners would be -enough to aggregate this net tonnage.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Based on foreign army calculations.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Modern artillery is almost invariably concealed. -Experienced soldiers would suspect that an infantry regiment hardly -would be without at least one battery, and more probably two, of field -artillery support.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> “Unless provision is made in the near future for -additional Coast Artillery personnel, it will be necessary to reduce the -garrisons to mere caretaker establishments at some of the defenses.”—E. -M. Weaver, Brigadier General, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., -September 19, 1914, Annual Report.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Actual manning detail for New Bedford defenses, 1914, one -company regular Coast Artillery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> There is said to be only one firm in the United States -that can produce the rifling tools, jigs, gauges and other exact and -intricate machinery needed to make a rifle. Consequently, the loss of -the Springfield Arsenal would be disastrous.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Official statistics.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Large numbers of guns and large numbers of ammunition are -liable to capture and destruction.... To start into field operations -with the expectation that the proper proportions will be maintained -without large sources of manufacture, would be fallacious.”—Chief of -Staff, U. S. A., 1914.—See Report on Militia Organization, 1914, for -comments on the great loss and destruction of equipment and material.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Some observers of the European War declare that the -reserve of one gun per man has proved itself necessary for the proper -equipment of an active army.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> “He,” i.e., Secretary Garrison, present Secretary of War, -“asks for an increase in the number of officers to take the place, in -time of peace, of such officers as are serving with the militia or on -detached duty, and in time of war to assist in the organization of the -citizens’ army. The necessity of these requests is self-evident. Yet the -House of Representatives has completely ignored each and every one of -them, and the pending appropriation bill contains no provision for -them.”—Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> The scandal caused in 1898 by appointing incompetent -civilians to the Quartermaster’s Department and the ensuing difficulties -with commissariat, etc., have been the subject of much discussion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Our War Department has asked for only about five guns to -every thousand men, but has not yet been able to have this quota -finished. European practice has been to increase the number of guns to -the thousand rifles and sabers steadily. Before the war it was at least -five. It has been enormously increased as a result of the experience -gained during the recent fighting, in which it was established that -infantry or cavalry without absolutely dominating gun protection were -hopelessly weak.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> These movements of advance bodies and patrols have been -carefully worked out as a campaign problem. The lines of advance -mentioned are those that present themselves to military observers as the -ones most likely to be selected by an invading army moving toward Boston -from a base on Narragansett Bay or Buzzards Bay.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> So laid down as the most likely movement to be made by -invading armies with heavy cavalry supports.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> The elementary tactics for the procedure of every army -that has to hold any extended territory.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Worked out from a consensus of opinions and plans by -tactical experts both here and abroad.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> “When the defenses outside the Continental United States -are provided for, there will remain for home gun defenses 176 officers -and 7,543 enlisted men, <i>which is about one-third of one relief</i>.”—Page -15, Report, Chief of Coast Artillery, U. S. A., for year ended June 30, -1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> “The searchlight project is approximately 50 per cent. -completed.... The fire-control system may be said to be approximately 60 -per cent. completed.... Installation of power generating and -distributing equipment is 25 per cent. completed.... Submarine mine -structures are 83 per cent. completed.”—Report, Chief of Coast -Artillery, U. S. A., for year ended June 30, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Regular manning detail for Boston defenses, twelve -companies of Coast Artillery. These have seven systems of defense to -maintain. The companies are not enlisted to their full strength. Even if -they were, there would be less than two hundred men to each defense. -This is not sufficient for any sustained action at the big guns alone. A -sufficiently energetic enemy, even if he might not damage the works, -could wear out the men by incessant attack for a few days and nights. -There certainly would not be men enough to provide for outlying defense -against landing parties.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> These are all vitally necessary parts of the defense of -the Boston harbor forts. They are only a small part of what would have -to be done in case of naval attack. The data used here are not -theoretical. They have been developed by actual test.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> So developed in sea and land maneuvers undertaken for the -purpose of establishing the very points here mentioned.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> It is estimated, from careful calculations, that to put -out of action a searchlight at night with shipfire at a range of 6,000 -yards, more than a thousand shots from 3-inch guns should be required. -The fact is mentioned here to illustrate the great strength of harbor -defenses against fire from the sea, if there be enough mobile troops on -the land to prohibit destruction by landing parties.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> That the American harbor defense system and construction -are of the very highest type, has been acknowledged many times by the -technical experts of the world. More than once the author has heard -foreign officers express the belief that they were practically -impregnable to naval fire, providing they were fully supplied and -equipped with the material necessary for continuous defense.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> A generous system of reliefs is imperative in harbor -defenses during war. Peace time maneuvers have developed the fact that -the mere strain of incessant watchfulness while waiting for an enemy who -may appear at unexpected points suddenly, is so great that unless the -men have frequent relief, they cannot exert that concentrated energy -which is needed instantly in the crisis.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> This system of night attack has been developed and tested -by actual trial, and is such as is now laid down for battle practice in -the tactics of most navies. “The ... squadron will enter ..., and will -maneuver at range of about 9,000 yards from Fort ..., firing heavily, to -induce the defense to expend as much ammunition as possible.”—Extract -from actual orders in author’s possession, given to a squadron of -battleships and cruisers for night attack. It will be noted that this -distance is less than one-half the range of the 12-inch rifled mortars -in a harbor defense battery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> The search-light system, recognized as a vital part of -harbor defense by the Endicott Board on harbor defense (appointed in -1885) has grown steadily in importance with the steady increase in ship -armament and ship speed. A thoroughly efficient installation of -search-lights for modern harbors demands as much scientific calculation -and interlocation as do the gun-systems. If the search-lights cannot -infallibly find any vessel that may approach within range, the guns of -the fortification are useless.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> The inadequacy of the installation has been made the -subject of continuous reports. It is a fact that a few years ago, when a -mock attack on one of the most important Atlantic defenses was ordered -by the War Department, the commander had to requisition search-lights -from other coast defenses, and that during the maneuvers the -search-light defense, because of its inadequacy and temporary character, -failed at several critical points, permitting attacking ships to come -within less than 4,000 yards of one important battery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Usually the firing zones are: first, 6,000 yards to the -extreme range of biggest guns; second or intermediate, 3,000 yards to -6,000 yards; third (mine field zone), 3,000 yards. The order of fire is -worked out absolutely for every condition that is possible. The -movements of attacking ships, and their combinations, although very -numerous, can be predicated with some accuracy beforehand.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Estimated number of shots required at night from ships -afloat at 6,000 yards: to destroy position-finding tower which is -visible, 22 12-inch shells, 250 4-inch shells or 2,500 3-inch shells; to -destroy invisible station without tower, 400 12-inch shells, 5,000 -4-inch shells; to destroy search-light, 24 12-inch shells, 300 4-inch -shells or 3,000 3-inch shells. This fact makes it feasible to protect -outlying and secondary range stations perfectly if sufficient troops can -guard each station to fight off landing parties. An enemy will surely -land men to destroy them unless he knows they are well defended.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Actual records of American harbor batteries: three 6-inch -guns on disappearing carriages, 15 shots in 1 minute, 27 seconds.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> From an actual maneuver performed successfully by a -destroyer division attempting to destroy a base station during a mock -battle on the Atlantic coast.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> The Weir River would enable assailants to reach the inner -harbor and take the defenses in the rear.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Mr. Garrison, Secretary of War, again represented to -Congress at its last session that changes in the 12-inch gun carriages -are absolutely necessary to give them an elevation of 15 degrees. This -matter has been so well established that all military engineers are -unanimous both as to the urgent need for the change and the excellent -result that will follow.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> These are points lying south of the southern defenses of -Boston Harbor, and so near them that modern siege guns planted there -could fire into them at short range.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> The primary harbor defense batteries (12-inch, 10-inch -and 8-inch guns and 12-inch mortars) are not emplaced for anything -except sea-ward fire, nor should they be. To use them against land -attack would be only a matter of desperation, as in the case here -described. As a matter of fact, they would be rather inefficient against -smaller guns that are more mobile and durable.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> “Firing at speed, the shots from a dozen guns shooting at -successive intervals, would not have five seconds between them.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> The tremendous air-compression in fortifications during -gun-action almost always tears out parts of the general installation -even in mere target practice. If fire-control installation, wiring, -telephone systems, etc., are efficient only to the minimum degree, and -there is no adequate reserve supply of material for repairs, they are -certain to break down in any attack that is pressed with vigor. An -attacked harbor-work is subjected to the most terrible destructive -attempts that humanity has been able to devise.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Long range investment with modern artillery serves the -double purpose of commanding the ultimate target, and commanding all the -territory in between, thus giving the artillerist possession of many -miles of area.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Financial Statistics, Department of Commerce, Bureau of -the Census, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> In Brown versus the United States, the U. S. Supreme -Court decreed that “war gives to the sovereign,” i.e. the conquering -power, “full right to take the persons and confiscate the property of -the enemy wherever found.—Humane mitigations may affect exercise of -this right but cannot impair the right itself.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> “The so-called exemption of private property from capture -or seizure on land may be called almost nominal.”—Rear-Admiral -Stockton, Outlines of International Law.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Napoleon made Valencia pay $100,000 for the support of -his army. Receipts were provided for originally when troops made -requisitions, not necessarily to insure pay to the despoiled -inhabitants, but merely to prevent unauthorized plundering.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> A universally accepted form of military rule, and -distinguished from merely martial law.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> U. S. Census Bureau Report, 1914; also Boston City -Manual.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> So certified to City Clerk, Boston, by Board of -Assessors, June 30, 1914, exact number 123,657.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Statistics of Cities of the United States, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> From “Instructions for Government of Armies of the United -States in the Field” (with exception of statement as to specific -punishment for infraction. Punishment mentioned here, however, is such -as all military authorities will claim the right to inflict.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> The right of quartering troops on the inhabitants of -enemy country is unquestioned and universally exercised. Equally -universal is the military commanders’ right to punish treachery by -death.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> “Complete conquest carries with it all rights of former -government.”—U. S. Supreme Court.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> Benjamin Harris’ “Publick Occurrences,” suppressed after -one issue.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> There is an immense literature on military law, and every -army contains officers who have taken degrees in law, for the purpose of -expounding and administering it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> The legal and technical correctness of all acts is of -extreme importance in the peace settlements.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> All authority in conquered country is only by and with -the authority of the military conqueror. His power, practically, is -limited only by his motives of policy or kindness.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> This requisition is taken almost verbatim from a -requisition issued by a belligerent army in the field. It is an accepted -and acknowledged principle of war that the conqueror may force the enemy -to pay his expenses to as large an extent as possible. A commander may -waive the right, but it is held unimpaired.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> This decision covered a case that arose during the Civil -War, and was cited by the Law Office, Division of Insular Affairs, on -several occasions to fortify United States procedure after the -Spanish-American War.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> A literal extract from the Sedition Act (No. 292, etc.) -of the Philippine Commission, except that the act provides for specific -imprisonment and fine.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> So laid down by nearly all writers on military law who -touch on this subject.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> This principle was laid down in regard to territory -subjected to military occupation by the United States during the war -with Mexico. The United States claimed (and sparingly exercised) the -right to court martial and execute as rebels certain leaders of an -insurrection against the military government in New Mexico, 1847-8.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> “In many instances the deficiency has reached such a -figure as to leave militia organizations such in name only.”—Page 206, -last report, General Mills, U. S. A.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Table No. 9, Report, Division of Militia Affairs, U. S. -A., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Range of four miles.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Page 231, Report on militia field artillery, General -Mills, U. S. A., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Table 9, militia cavalry statistics, Division of Militia -Affairs, U. S. A. Annual Report, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> From statistics, gathered before the present European -War, of the armament then owned by at least four of the great Powers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> From statistics, gathered before the present European -War, of the armament then owned by at least four of the great Powers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> A literal transcript of the report of two medical -officers on the conditions existing among good militia troops who were -ordered out for maneuvers distinctly specified as war maneuvers to be -conducted under war conditions.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> This figure is purposely placed below what is actually -expected. During the Connecticut maneuvers, 1909, the straggling was a -subject for comment among both militia and regular officers, though the -troops did well considering their softness. One officer reported that -the straggling amounted to 15 to 25 per cent. of some regiments.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> From the report of an umpire at a maneuver under war -conditions. He reported that the batteries of both sides fired into -woods actually occupied by their own troops.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> So reported by a General of Militia, as the result of his -observations in field practice.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Schedule laid down by General von Bernhardi as the -maximum time that should be expended by properly trained troops under -experienced officers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Army heads have called the attention of Congress and the -public repeatedly to the fact that officers cannot possibly be prepared -for the complex work of handling an army if they never get an -opportunity to learn by actual experience. The post system is to blame -to a considerable extent.... Remarks about commissary troubles in this -paragraph are based on actual occurrences in the field, as set forth in -an official report.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> From “The Army in Action.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Watervliet, situated near Troy, N. Y., is one of the most -important Government gun factories in the United States. It produces the -12, 14 and 16-inch all steel rifled guns for the harbor defenses and is -fitted out with enormously expensive machinery for making many other -different types of ordnance. Its exposed situation, under our present -conditions of defenselessness, has long been a cause for anxiety.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> It has been pointed out often that within a radius of -less than a hundred miles around New York City there is a large -percentage of the works and factories on which the Government depends -for much of its war material.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Vessels actually building in places named when the last -annual edition of the Navy Year Book was published.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Strength of total force, including all individuals, -October 1, 1914, 10,740. It is held that New York’s conformation, long -and narrow, makes it an unusually easy city to control, as it is -possible to prevent mobs from combining, and trouble can be confined to -limited areas.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> Bureau of Census, U. S., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Census Office Tabular Statement issued in 1911. Figures -are for all boroughs of Greater New York, and include only -establishments conducted under factory system. Building and similar -industries and small establishments producing less than $500 worth of -products a year are not counted.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> Paragraph 373, Acts Punished As War Treason: Rules of -Land Warfare, published for the information and government of the armed -land forces of the United States, April 25, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> “A town surrounded by detached forts is considered -jointly with such forts as an indivisible whole, as a defended place. A -place that is occupied by a military force or through which such a force -is passing, is a defended place.”—Bombardments, Assaults and Sieges, -Rules of Land Warfare, U. S. A.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Office of Naval Intelligence, July 1, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> Practical completion of battery construction and -armament, power plants, fire control, searchlight installation and -supply of ammunition reported by Chief of Coast Artillery, September 19, -1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> Congress has appropriated comparatively little for the -needs of Guantanamo Harbor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> Usually one of the first orders given to the occupants of -occupied territory.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> The practice laid down for our own army and followed in -the Insular campaigns.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Paragraph 301, Rules of Land Warfare, U. S. A., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> This is one of the rules accepted among all nations and -followed by all armies.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Issued during the Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria and -cited by recent writers as acknowledged precedents.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> “While a military government continues as an instrument -of warfare, used to promote the objects of invasion, its powers are -practically boundless.”—Magoon, Law of Civil Government under Military -Occupation, U. S. Bureau of Insular Affairs.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Table 4, 13th Census, Volume 8. The Metropolitan -District, as referred to in this sense, comprises Greater New York and -the New Jersey manufacturing counties that contain Newark, Bayonne, -Paterson, Hackensack, Passaic, Rutherford, etc.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> Spaight, an authority, says that “practically everything -under the sun” may be requisitioned and cites the case of a boot-jack -being demanded for army use. See quotation and rulings of U. S. Army.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Under Hague Rule, Article LIII, it is held that -“everything susceptible of military use” may be requisitioned, and -modern army practice defines this as meaning anything from telegraph -wire to canal boats.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> Not a large sum as compared with some imposts laid on -quite small and unimportant towns in wars during the past century. One -such levy was $1,000,000 from one town in one day, according to European -writers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> See case of seizure by Major General Otis of $100,000 -from Philippine bankers, being money owned by insurgents and payable on -presentation of a draft held by insurgents. Report, Charles E. Magoon, -Law Officer, Division of Insular Affairs, 1902.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> List of non-assessable Federal property, N. Y., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> At present it is considered that one military flying -machine in two months is good speed of production.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Result of inquiry made by U. S. Army after tests on Texas -border had developed the high value of motor trucks for war.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Orders issued by War Department, March 6, 1911, for -concentration at San Antonio, Texas, of maneuver division of three -infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade, an independent cavalry -brigade and the necessary auxiliary troops. Strength should have been -15,669 officers and men. On March 31 the division mustered only 11,254 -men. On April 30 it had reached a strength of 12,598. On May 30 it -numbered 12,809. It never reached its full required strength and it did -not reach its maximum actual strength until three months after it had -been ordered out. On Feb. 21 and 24, 1913, three brigades of the second -division were ordered to mobilize at Texas City and Galveston. This -force did not reach its maximum strength till June 30, 1913. See Report -of Major General Carter, U. S. A.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Table 26, page 262, Report, Chief of Division of Militia -Affairs, U. S. A., October 1, 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Census of Manufactures, U. S., 1910.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> Report, Brigadier General A. L. Mills, U. S. A., 1914.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Secretary of War Garrison says: “It will require six -months at the lowest possible estimate to equip, organize, train, drill -and make ready our volunteers.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> Census Bureau, Volume 8.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> From Tax Lists, New York City and Boston, and assessable -values of New England, U. S. Census Bureau.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Many so-called “non-intercourse acts” were passed during -the Civil War. These authorized the President both to prohibit and to -license and permit intercourse and trade with belligerent territory. -Under these acts President Lincoln permitted the purchase of cotton in -the south, and his procedure was upheld by the United States Supreme -Court on the ground that “the United States has power to permit -intercourse with an enemy during the time of war.”</p></div> -</div> - -<p><a name="transcrib" id="transcrib"></a></p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;"> -<tr><th align="center">Typographical error corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td align="center">one of the men in Wash-ton=> one of the men in Washington {pg 156}</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Invasion of America, by -Julius Washington Muller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION OF AMERICA *** - -***** This file should be named 52038-h.htm or 52038-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/3/52038/ - -Produced by MWS and Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/colophon.png b/old/52038-h/images/colophon.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index aef5880..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/colophon.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 95544d7..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index caa6790..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b50fe42..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_014fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b482b55..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4d696ae..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_028fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7805c22..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 61eadd2..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_033fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bc3b416..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b987e4d..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_046fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0694558..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b4d3f37..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_048fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 04e5448..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e1214c5..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_060fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 358405b..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5fdea15..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_083fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3890b78..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 40ace37..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_092fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0fe25fa..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 852d1bb..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_100fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d3b6e3a..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1b3ab1e..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpa_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f4ec1a0..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ee0e9ec..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_109fpb_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_123_lg.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_123_lg.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a056bb2..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_123_lg.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_123_sml.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_123_sml.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2875201..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_123_sml.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 623b59e..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 58e0cd6..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_129fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3f393a9..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7f14a55..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_152fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 51a988a..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 697be74..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_160fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9f91c1b..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c3079f0..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_183fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_203_lg.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_203_lg.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a434c46..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_203_lg.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_203_sml.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_203_sml.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6688fcd..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_203_sml.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 73f442c..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3c244d4..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_208fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index cfba480..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bd91aff..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_213fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f2418f3..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7056bfd..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_243fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dba47b8..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5aa6899..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_260fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 765bc90..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 471e75b..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_291fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_300_lg.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_300_lg.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 76adcc2..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_300_lg.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_300_sml.png b/old/52038-h/images/i_300_sml.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a84e541..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_300_sml.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 816e23e..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 55e71b7..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_331fp_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_lg.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_lg.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6348a6e..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_lg.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_sml.jpg b/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_sml.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4c8bfd5..0000000 --- a/old/52038-h/images/i_frontis_sml.jpg +++ /dev/null |
