RecordHunter

the most difficult sector, and they fought in the bloodiest of battles, in front of Metz and on the Meuse, in the Argonne country and at Verdun.

Always the 26th was given the most difficult task to do, for they were certain to do it right, as shock troops should. The post of honor was always theirs, and in war the post of honor is where the hardest, most resolute, most desperate fighting is to be done. The Y. D. earned the name given it by the Allied armies, the Sacrifice Division. Its men never complained. Incessant, nerve-straining danger, the terrible sufferings from exposure to cold and rain, from hunger and thirst and endless want of sleep; the disap­pointment of promised rest and pleasure again and again deferred—none of these affected the cheerfulness and fighting spirit of the Yankee lads. One has but to read their letters home to know this. When the full history is written of the Minutemen, as they came very near being called, there will be no more inspiring tale for red-blooded men of future generations to read.

Because the Y. D. had longest service of any American division in France, President Wilson selected it for his Christmas visit to the soldiers.

The 26th Division was made up entirely of the National Guard of New England. When it left the United States every man was a volunteer. Tens of thousands of replacements were made from the National Army, but most of these men were from Western states. And of course many of the new officers hailed from other parts of the country. But every one of those New England boys who went overseas with the Division was a volunteer. When hostilities ceased hardly 15 per cent of them remained. The names of most of the others are in the casualty lists.

The Division was called into service July 25, 1917. The infantry mobilized at Framingham, Worcester, Westfield and other camps, the artillery at Boxford. The old National Guard regi­ments had to be consolidated and readjusted to some extent in order to get the full strength of four infantry regiments on the new basis of organization, and to expand the artillery from frac­tions of regiments to three full regiments of six batteries each.

The Rainbow Division was organized to go over first; its composition of National Guard units of 38 states had that end in view. But it was not ready and the Yankee Division was ready and beat the Rainbows overseas by several months.

MOULDING A GREAT COMBAT DIVISION

The training progressed rapidly until, early in September, 1917, the first contingent, consisting of the 101st Infantry and the

CONTENTS
INDEX