Racine County, Wisconsin - Chapter 3: Preparing to Fight, 1920

Chapter 3: Preparing to Fight

THE United States army was unprepared for war on April 6, 1917. The country had plenty of warning that we might be drawn into the fray, but the administration felt that any public move to enlarge the army or actually prepare for battle might precipitate a crisis which could otherwise be avoided. The extent of the work to put the country in a position to operate against an enemy had been confined chiefly to the formulation of a plan for drafting the young manhood of the land into service; a hasty census of manufacturing plants to determine which ones might be quickly transformed into munitions and army supply factories; a quiet hunt to disclose the identity of as many German and Austrian agents in America as possible; and the plans of the general staff of army and navy for forming a large offensive and defensive force by using the regular personnel to direct the training of recruits.

Immediately upon the declaration of a state of war the draft bill, or Selective Service Act, as it was called, was introduced in Congress and after a lengthy debate was passed on May 17, 1917. The project was to require the registration of all men between the ages of 21 and 30, both inclusive, and to make all of these eligible to the draft as needed, excepting where exempted for causes to be determined. The polling booths were to be used for ths registration, and in Wisconsin it was decided to utilize the election machinery and officials to handle the work. June 5 was set as registration day.

Recalling the draft riots of Civil War days, many officials feared there might be trouble on June 5, but there was none. The young men of the nation quietly answered the call of the president. Over 218,000 were registered in Wisconsin alone. More than 10,000,000 registered in the country as a whole. There was less disturbance than at any general election ever held in the country. Th's fact did more to convince foreign observers of the unanimity

Following the registration, it became necessary to plan for the work of selection. For this purpose there was a local board appointed by the governors of states in each assembly district, whose duty it should be to review all questions of exemptions from the draft law. There was also a district board for each federal judicial district to review on appeal, and modify, affirm or reverse any decision of the local board.

After the registration, numbers were assigned at random to all registrants, and placed upon their cards. In each district these numbers ran from 1 to 10,500, if that many registered. It was decided to have a drawing at Washington to determine the order of liability of registrants for service. Numbers were drawn in a central lottery, and then put down in the order of drawing. This was the "master list" and as it was published every registrant could tell the relative order in which his serial number had been drawn. As soon as it was determined how many men must be raised by each district on the first draft, registrants would report in the proper order for physical examination and to have their claims of exemption passed upon if any were made. Wisconsin's quota was given as 28,199, but the state received credit for 15,274 already enlisted voluntarily, so only 12,976 were actually required to be furnished by the draft. In this respect Wisconsin was the ninth highest state in the union proportionate to population.

In the meantime, immediately after war was declared the National Guard of the various states was ordered to be recruited to war strength at once. This was completed, and the final muster rolls in Wisconsin showed 14,266 in the Guard. The Third regiment was ordered into federal service in April and put at

While these steps were being taken to provide the men for fighting, great cantonments were being constructed in record time to house the recruits. In southern camps the men usually depended upon tents for shelter. In the north two-story frame barracks were built, each camp being arranged to hold from 2.5,000 to 30,000 men.

Factories were taken over by the government for the manufacture of guns, munitions uniforms, foodstuffs, and other necessities. Steps were taken to conserve food and fuel. Alien enemies were sought out, listed and kept under observation, or interned. They were all required to register. Plans were made for raisingvast sums of money by the sale of government bonds to every American citiEen.

There seemed to be little cheering or bluster; not much wild enthusiasm for war. The people knew too well the horrors of the conflict which had already been raging for three years. Yet the whole country had accepted the war as a grim business which must be tackled; a duty which must be done; and it was proposed to perform the task as rapidly as possible, as thoroughly as possible and with as little lost motion as possible.

Perhaps the most significant feature of the conduct of the work at home is that almost every office was filled by men serving without pay. Volunteers stepped quickly forward to assume the work of selective service board members, resident secret service agents, fiscal agents, etc.

A few small units of troops were sent to France and England during the summer and fall of 1917. Several regiments of regulars were there by Christmas. At about that time National Guard divisions began to move toward the ports of debarkation. The Forty-second or Rainbow, division, containing three companies of Wisconsin guardsmen, was among the first to be sent across the ocean. All troop movements were shrouded in secrecy. By the middle of March 1918, the Wisconsin Nationai^ guardsmen were all in France. The First division, composed of the residue of many regular units, was in minor actions about that time.

methods of convoying transports across the ocean with reasonable safety against enemy attacks. Troop movements began at great speed. A hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand trained soldiers from American camps were put on ships and rushed overseas each month. The arms and equipment were provided, too. Despite the great distance from their base, there was always on hand in France from 30 to 60 days' rations for every soldier there.

At home the government proceeded upon the idea that the war might last for two or three years and all military, naval, financial and industrial plans were made with that thought in view. Huge factories were built to meet the needs of the distant future. Contracts were let for goods which would not be needed for many months. No stone was left unturned to insure the ultimate victory of our arms, and there was to be no let-up of effort if over-confidence should come. In fact, every branch of war work continued up to the very signing of the armistice just as though the end of the war was not yet a possibility.

The selective service law was modified to make it more perfect in the light of experience here and abroad. Rules for exemptions because of dependencies, work in essential industries, etc., were made clear. One main purpose of the law was to exempt married men who were actually supporting their families. This was deemed wise from an economic standpoint, as well as from the standpoint of the morale of the army and the folks at home. Wisconsin sent fewer married men to the National army (composed of selective service men) than any other state. While providing her full quota of men for every draft, she sent but 914 married men, or a percentage of 3.83 as compared with 10.37 in the country as a whole. To September 13, 1918, more than 23,- 908,000 men between the ages of 18 and 45 had registered and been classified in the United States.

By the first of November, 1918, the armed land forces of the United States numbered 3,893,000 men. There had been in France approximately 2,086,000 men, and of these 1,390- 000 had been in action

To show what this meant to the Allies in terms of figures, it is only necessary to refer to a confidential chart kept by the British General staff, published by Mrs. Humphrey Ward in her book, "Fields of Victory." The statistics reveal beyond question that had not that wonderful troop movement taken place from America in the spring and summer of 1918, the

Scenes From The First Big Loyalty Demonstration

In the upper picture is shown a portion of the first great loyalty parade which marked the opening of the first Liberty Loan campaign in May. 1917. The white clad figures in the other group are women members of the Red Cross, the banners showing the various auxiliaries of the organization. They were a part of the parade.

In July 1916 the British had 680,000 fighting men in France. In April 1917 the British combat force reached its maximum, 760,000, on the eve of the drive which was intended to win the war but failed. When the Germans started their second "march toward Paris" in March 1918, the British force numbered but 620,000, and this dwindles to 540,000 in May and 465,- 000 on November 11. In the battle of the Argonne-Meuse, the Americans had 546,000 men actually engaged besides an additional 112,000 at the same time in action with the British and French armies; a grand total of 658,000 actually fighting at one time. Just how large the French forces were at this time no one knows as the French government has never disclosed its exact strength on the fighting lines, but the belief of experts is that they were not much larger than the British.

In addition to this preponderance of fighters, and our possession of additional millions as reserves for use when needed the American nation was supplying in the last year of the war the bulk of all material needed by all the

Allies with the exception of artillery and aeroplanes, and these were being produced in large quantities at about the time the war ended. Had the conflict lasted until the spring of 1919 America would have been fighting the Germans in France almost single handed and was prepared to crush the foe by a tremendous superiority of everything that counts in warfare. The German military leaders saw this plainly after the battles near Chateau-Thierry and St. Mihiel. General Von Ludendorf, chief quartermaster and practically chief of staff of the German armies, admitted it frankly in his post-war memoirs and said he recommended the suing for peace as soon as he realized in September that the Americans were coming too rapidly to enable him to hope to ever put on another successful offensive.

The story of the military accomplishments of America in the war must be left to other hands. This work cannot pretend to do more than touch upon anything but Racine's part in the war excepting insofar as it is necessary to explain the greater things briefly so the purpose and effects of the local efforts may be made clear.