TH

HE National Guard Association of the United States meets at Indianapolis, Indiana, February 1, 2 and 3. An interesting program has been prepared for the 1923 session, including addresses by several well known speakers. General John J. Pershing has been invited to attend the convention and if he does not go in person he will send his aide, Brigadier General John McA. Palmer to address the body. Other speakers will include Major General George C. Rickards, Chief of the Militia Bureau, and Brigadier General Henry J. Reilly, editor of the Army and Navy Journal. General Rickards will be accompanied to the convention by other members of his staff from the Militia Bureau.

The Indianapolis convention will be attended by delegates from practically every state in the union, these having been elected by the various state conventions which have been held during the past month. The National Guard Association of the United States is the national body for the separate state associations, of which any National Guard officer, active or retired, may be a member. The total enrollment in the United States in the several state associations numbers several thousand. The National Guard Association of Philadelphia, acting in conjunction with New York, Ohio and some other states and individuals were the founders of the larger body and the history of the present organization dates back to 1903, when at a meeting at Columbus, Ohio, the National Guard Association was again made active. It has had much influence in National Guard matters since that time and is one of the most powerful organizations of its kind in existence today.

The object of the association is to promote the welfare of the National Guard. It is interested in the National Defense at large and has played a prominent part in the reorganization and development of the National Guard following the World War. The convention of the association held in New York in 1919 appointed committees to draft legislation for the reorganization of the guard and designated representatives to appear before the Military Committees of both the House and the Senate when the new National Defense Law was being drafted.

In 1921, the convention of the association was held at Richmond, Va., and in February of last year it met in joint session with the Adjutants General Association of the United States at New Orleans. Brigadier General Bennett C. Clark, of Missouri, presided at the meeting, which was addressed by the Chief of

Meets at Indianapolis, Indiana, February 1, 2 and 3

the Militia Bureau and many other prominent speakers and authorities on military

matters.

The New York delegation to Indianapolis this year, headed by the state association president, Colonel Thomas Fairservis, will extend an invitation to the national body to hold the 1924 meeting at Albany, New York.

National Guard officers of Indianapolis and of the State of Indiana are planning to give the delegates to the con

MAJ. GENERAL GEORGE C. RICKARDS Chief of Militia Bureau

vention a rousing welcome to the Hoosier capital, according to an announcement made at Indianapolis this week by the Adjutant General, Harry B. Smith.

The 1922-23 officers of the National Guard Association are:

President-Colonel G. M. Wilson, of Michigan; Secretary-Colonel M. R. McLean, of Kansas; Treasurer-Colonel E. Martin, of Pennsylvania.

Vice Presidents - Brigadier General Harry B. Smith, Indiana; General M. J. Forman, Illinois; Adjutant General J. J. Borres, California; Colonel T. F. Brown, Massachusetts; Adjutant General J. Lesle Kincaid, New York; Adjutant General Milton A. Reckord, Maryland; Colonel M. A. Carroll, Kentucky; Adjutant

General H. J. Paul, Nebraska; General Thompson, Oregon.

At the annual meetings of the association plans are discussed for the promotion and general upbuild ng of the National Guard and last year one of the most interesting addresses was made by Adjutant General Kinciad, of New York, whose subject was How to Make the National Guard Armory a Community Center." This speech was the first step in a campaign by General Kincaid to make the State military organizations not only more efficient but more popular throughout a greater portion of the community.

Major General George C. Rickards. a native Pennsylvanian, was the first Chief of the Militia Bureau to be appointed under the National Defense Act of 1920 which provided for the appointment of a National Guard officer to be the head of the bureau. The change in the law was probably made through the efforts of the National Guard Association and the Adjutants General Association. the reason given being that a National Guardsman would better understand the problems of that component of the Army.

Eligibility for appointment as Chief of the Militia Bureau is now confined to officers and former officers of the National Guard who also hold cominissions in the Officers' Reserve Corps, who have had not less than ten years' service in the National Guard. at least five of which has been in the line, and who must have attained at least the grade -of major in such service.

General Rickards has ever been a champion of the National Guard and regarding the work of the past year, says in his New Year's message: "With a feeling of satisfaction in the achievements of the past year and an abiding faith in the future, the Militia Bureau extends to all in the military service a New Year's Greeting.

"The marked development of the National Guard during the year just closed has been made possible by the loyalty of its personnel and the cooperation of all agencies of the military establishment; and in expressing an acknowledgment and appreciation of that fact, we trust that the same helpful attitude may continue throughout the present year and all of those to follow.

T

HE winter of 1862-1863 was the

darkest and saddest period in American history since the dreary days of Valley Forge. The loyal forces of the North, with few exceptions. had suffered one disaster after another. The hopes and expectations of the South were correspondingly heightened. by their military successes. They won Bull Run. They out-maneuvered McClellan in the campaign on the James River. They repeated Bull Run, and got a draw at Antietam. Their remarkable successes at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville emboldened them to the point of making the blunder of attempting an invasion of the North.

So long as they remained south of the Potomac they seemed invincible. Going north was a bold stroke upon which Lee staked the fortunes of the South.

Then came Gettysburg with all its carnage, slaughter and woe, both to North and South alike, and the long retreat back to the

river. From that hour the fortunes of the South began to decline and those of the North had risen almost to their crest. The historian has credited Gettysburg with being the turning point of the Civil War and one of the decisive battles of the world.

Because of the national and world importance of the results of th's memorable contest, the Congress of the United States passed a bill providing for the purchase of this battlefield for a National Park, dedicated to the memory of those who fought and died there. The purchase was made, and in November 1863, after a summer of glorious victories, a great multitude met for the dedication exercises. Hon. Edward Everett, president of Harvard College, and the President of the United States, were selected as speakers of the day.

Many great men of the nation were there as well as foreign diplomats. Mr. Everett spoke for two hours, delivering

a masterly address of great eloquence and power. He had been educated at college and university, at home and abroad. He was a polished and refined orator whose fame was nation wide. He had received over a half million votes for Vice-President of the United States. He held his audience spell bound. At its conclusion interest was heightened for the President was about to be introduced and speak.

Many thousands of veterans were there, and were anxious to see and hear Father Abraham whom they had followed through storm and sunshine. He was just the anthesis of Mr. Everett. He never had the advantages of college and university, even in the home land. His schooling was limited to less than twelve months in a log school house on the frontier. He had not enjoyed the advantages of the cultured and refined society which the world recognized. For the most part he was his own school master,

and he kept it up until he became the head schoolmaster of the intellectual giants of the nation, and the statesmen of the world are learning from him yet.

With his tall form towering, the President was introduced and delivered his speech.

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

"It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

"It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain- that this nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

It lasted just three minutes. So brief was it that the photographer who was about to take a negative did not have time to adjust his camera.

Ο

N January 25, at high noon, the American Flag, which has been flying since December, 1918, over the Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein at Coblenz, was lowered and the French flag hoisted in its place. Two grizzled veterans who fought at Chateau Thierry, hauled Old Glory down from a tall staff on the largest buttress of the ancient Rhine Fortress, marking the end of the occupation of the Rhine province by American troops. Today the French

hold the German stronghold again after more than a century. They captured Ehrenbreitstein in 1799 and destroyed it, and after the second Peace of Paris were obliged to pay 15,000,000 francs for restoration.

In a hundred years the American flag is the only one which has ever replaced the German banner on this historic spot. It has dominated the town and the country for miles around. Although the standard of conquerors the emblem of Liberty stands for something very different in the minds of the German people. Through their experience they have grown to look up to Old Glory on the high cliff as a symbol of right and justice and the Coblenz people were in no hurry to have it taken from them.

Now that the soldiers of the United States Army have left the Rhinelanders are depressednot only shopkeepers and others who have profited in moneybut the inhabitants in general who have become to a large degree Americanized. And more, our soldiers hated to leave. They have liked standing for the United States of America. They have been proud of the Star Spangled Banner on Ehrenbreitstein. But now it is down and no more will an Army bugler, standing on the ramparts sound retreat; no more will an American cannon boom across the Rhine Valley from hill to hill as the men in O. D. stand at attention.

The American Army in Germany was an Army for Peace, not an Army for War. Our weight was a moral weighta sort of finger pointing to the great Republic across the sea.

Of the withdrawal of the A. F. in G., the Newark (N. J.) Ledger pays this tribute to the Army:

"We are sorry to see you leave. We do not know how we can do without you.

"That is the way a farewell message of the Burgomaster of Coblenz on the part of the people of his city to the departing American troops begins.

Three Cheers But No Jeers for the American Forces in Germany

"What a wonderful tribute such words are to the conduct of the American Army of Occupation in Germany!

"Our doughboys went into enemy country. They come away from friendly country, from people who regret as much their leaving as they did their coming.

"That speaks eloquently of the bearing and good sense and fairness of American soldiers abroad."

Major General Henry T. Allen issued the following farewell bulletin to the A. F. in G., dated January 25, which was read at the ceremony of the relief of the Americans by the French troops:

"Today at noon, the American flag

will be lowered on Ehrenbreitstein, marking the end of the occupation of the Rhine province by American troops.

"For four years forces of the American Army have held a place on the Rhine beside their allies, and earnestly striven toward restoring peace under the terms adopted in the treaties. With deep affection in our hearts for our allies and sympathy for our former foes, our highest ambition has been to act with such justice toward all as to insure the lasting peace of Europe.

"Since the departure of the Third Army on July 2, 1919, the American forces in Germany have occupied the American zone, including the Coblenz bridgehead, which they have continuously supervised and controlled. All through this period there has been a consistent effort on our part to execute the important task with the maximum of effectiveness and a minimum of hardship to the population.

"My instructions to the command with regard to their correct personal conduct and attitude toward the local population

have been rewarded. The correctness of your conduct, in the general high standards of military efficiency set by the various organizations, has made it possible to leave behind an enviable record for justice, fairness and military excellence.

"I am confident this sp.rit of justness and fairness is applauded by our allies and will in days to come prevent any feelings of bitterness or rancor toward us in the minds of those among whom we have lived and will mark a forward step in the execution of genuine peace.

"It is, therefore, with much pleasure and pride that I congratulate officers and soldiers and the attached civilian person. nel of this command on the part taken in the stirring events of the last four years. particularly on the eminently successful accomplishment of your mission. You deserve well at the hands of your country. May you always carry in your hearts the consciousness of duty well done.

"HENRY T. ALLEN, "Commanding General."

The Saint Mihiel is bringing the last of the Army of Occu pation back to the United States and the ship resembles a department store, for officers and soldiers have accumulated a wealth of merchandise not equalled be fore in the history of the American Army. At the rates of exchange the pay of a private exceeded that of a rich German, while a second lieutenant drew a fortune in marks every month. The officers had a hunt club, played polo, trained horses and the like and the Adjutant General of the Army has granted authority to have 40 choice polo ponies shipped to the United States from the Rhine.

General Allen is not to return with the troops but will remain in Germany to sell surplus American property and settle any claims that may have been left behind.

The St. Mihiel will make one trip only. General Allen will utilize maximum capacity of this vessel for carrying personnel and all freight except officers' mounts. Excess supplies will be disposed of in accordance with law and regulations.

Excess personnel will be transported on commercial liner to New York. Approximate capacity of transport is 80 first class. 40 second class, 980 troop class passengers; cargo capacity with troops, 1,600 measured tons. Return voyage will be to Savannah, then Charleston, then New York. Organizations will return with individual equipment, colors. authorized household effects and records only...

ORT Wood is situated on Bedloe's Island, New York Harbor, and its site was named after Isaac Bedlow. In 1667 Governor Nicolls referred to Bedlow's Island as the "largest of our Oyster Islands." Governor Lovelace in 1669 issued a commission for Isaac Bedow (Bedloo and a year later conferred special privileges upon Love Island, which later became known as Bedlow's Island and is so called today.

On August 10, 1670, Lovelace gave the new name of "Love Island" to a "Certaine Little Island in ye Bay neare this Citty comonly called Oyster Island" for which Bedlow had had a patent graunted by Col Richard Nicolls and the Island was made a "Privileged place where no Warrant of Attachmt or arrest shall be made of force or served unless it be by ye Governors Speciall Warrant in Cases of breach of ye peace or Cryminall Mattrs."

The Island was originally one of the possessions of the Colonial Government of New Amsterdam and during the Revolutionary War called Kennedy's Island after Captain Kennedy, commander of the British Naval Station of New York who purchased it from the trustees of Mary Smith, a daughter of Bedlow, for 100 pounds. In 1750 it was sold to New York for a pest house site and in 1800 the state gave the Island to the Federal Government. The present star-shaped fort was constructed in 1841 at a cost of $21,300. Guns were mounted on the parapet and a garrison of approximately 350 men was stationed on the Island.

In recent years the United States Army Signal Corps has maintained a laboratory at the fort but this was abandoned on December 1, 1922, and at present Fort Wood is garrisoned by "B".. Company, 16th Infantry.

The real history of Bedloe's Island began about 1877 when it was designated to be the site of the Statue of Liberty.

Soon after the Franco-German War, during which the Americans had given many substantial proofs of sympathy to France, a party of men eminent in letters and politics, among whom were Laboulaye, Lafayette, Jules de Lasteyrie, Paul de Remusat, Wadd'ngton, Victor Borie, Leduc and Bartholdi, conceived the idea to unite, at the approaching one hundredth anniversary of the Independence of the United States, with their political friends in America in a joint demonstration. It was proposed to pre

Present Fortification Was

Built in 1841; Cost

$21,300.

sent the people of America at the celebration of the great event with a token of friendship in the shape of an exceptional monument glorify'ng the union between, the countries. The plan was adopted, and Frederick August Bartholdi, a young French sculptor, who had already given proof of exceptional talent, was sent to America to confer with prominent patriots and admirers of the French about the project. On his entering New York Harbor he was so deeply impressed with its natural Jeauty and grandeur that he conceive the idea of raising a statue symbolizing "Liberty Enlightening the World" on one of the islands in the beautiful bay. At night a resplendid aureole upon its brow should throw out upon the sea beams of light, greeting the newcomer and reminding him that he comes to the

"Land of the Free." Bartholdi proposed a plan of the monument which was accepted.

On the recommendation of President Hayes, a joint resolution was passed by Congress on February 22, 1877, authorizing the President to set apart a site for the statue on Bedloe's Island and to provide for its maintenance and to accept the statue when presented by the French people.

A committee was formed in 1874 to raise funds for the construction of the statue. The Monument of Independence, as it was called, was to be executed by two peoples, the French furnishing the statue and the Americans the pedestal. One hundred and eighty cities, forty general councils, many societies and thousands of people contributed to the statue. The New York World used its vast influence and circulation, and by a stirring appeal succeeded in raising $100,000 for the pedestal fund.

The total cost of the statue and pedestal was about $1,000,000.

The head of the statue was completed for the Paris Exposition in 1878, and the following year all necessary funds were obtained for the statue.

The forearm was completed and sent to America and shown at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. From there it was sent to New York and reposed in Madison Square until 1886, when it was taken to Bedloe's Island.

On October 24, 1881, the anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown, all the pieces of the framework and base were put in place in Paris. Levi P. Morton, U. S. Minister to France, drove the first rivet of the first piece which was to be mounted. The statue was completed in 1883. On July 4, 1884, M. De Lesseps, President of the French Committee, officially presented the statue to Minister Morton.

In the latter part of June, 1885, the French vessel Isere from Rouen, France, having aboard the statue in 210 cases, sailed into New York Harbor accompanied by the North Atlantic Squadron.

The cornerstone of the pedestal was laid on August 5, 1884. The work of putting the statue together was commenced in May, 1886, and completed in October of the same year.

Invitations were sent out on the occasion of the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty by the President of the United States, on October 28, 1886, signed by John Schofield, Major General, U. S. Army, Commanding Division of the Atlantic.

The Histories of Army Posts

The story of our Army posts is inextricably woven with the history of the United States. Few places in any community hold such a treasure of romance and tradition as do the old Army stations for these were the outposts of our early civilization. In the days of our country's infancy practically all these Army posts were located east of the Mississippi River in the area comprising the thirteen original states. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 a vast domain of 1,171,931 square miles was acquired, stretching through the heart of the continent all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. Into this vast expanse the Army pushed its way, opening up the country as it went and establishing its frontier posts wherever and however it could.

Still later in 1845 Texas was annexed and the Army penetrated that immense territory to the Rio. Grande and, by the Gadsden Purchase went still farther southwest the full length of the Mexican border. In 1848 by the Mexican Session the United States completed its march to the Pacific Coast by acquiring California and all the intervening territory to the east.

Next in order came Alaska; and with the present century there was ushered in an era of foreign possessions which again meant occupation by the Army with posts in Cuba, Panama, Hawaii, Philippines and Porto Rico. Thus it will be seen that the American soldier's work as a colonizer and stabilizer of embryonic governments has forced him to live in many climes where he has established stations that have a most fascinating and interesting story to tell, for in these widely scattered posts our soldiers have lived, fought and died, have drunk of life's fullness and yet known the tragedy of despair. Enough has already been written about Army life on our western frontier to give this period a picturesque page in our national life but many of the most interesting post histories are as yet untold.

Times and conditions are now rapidly changing, many of the old blazes on the trail of American civilization are already gone and still others have outlived their usefulness and are now being abandoned. Before any more of these old landmarks vanish the Recruiting News hopes to obtain their histories and publish them, the first one appearing

in this number. It is believed that they will be real interest and also constitute a valuable and per manent record that might otherwise never written.

Importance of Reenlistments

Successful recruiting is not only getting me into the Army but it includes keeping them. other words, reenlistments are of vital importance There is a vast difference in the records of post and organizations in this respect-some having high percentage of reenlisted men while others have practically none. Making due allowances for all the various local conditions or other reasons that make one station naturally more attractive than another the burden of proof still rests with many organization commanders to show that they fully realize the importance of this phase of their jobs. Obvious there can be no set formula for getting these results because practically no two posts are confronted by the same problem, but this much is certain: It is second in importance only to initial recruiting and no matter how difficult the particular case ma seem, it will invariably yield to serious thought and effort to improve the conditions.

And not the least of these efforts on the part of the responsible officers should be directed towards that human consideration for the welfare and contentment of their men that is perfectly consistent with the best discipline and is characteristic of the successful commander.

Just as the actual recruitment of their organizations came as something novel to many officers. so will the necessity to extend themselves to better their record of reenlistments seem a considerable problem at first. But as they have found organization recruiting a most healthy departure from the former system so will this complement of it prove to be, for its successful accomplishment will demand such a close study of personnel problems by the respective post and organization commanders that many beneficial results will surely follow.

Work of Army Y. M. C. A.

"For nearly sixty years the Young Men's Christian Association has shared in the moral and spiritual life of the soldier of the United States," says Colonel John T. Axton, Chief of Chaplains. At present fifteen Army associations are being operated in this country and for those serving outside the continental limits of the United States. About one hundred and forty secretaries are employed in Army and Navy Associations twenty being in Germany until recently. Figures from Army Associations for the year ended April 30, 1922 are of inter