454 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



during the Civil War. He was from South Carolina: 

 his father had tried to do, in a different way, what he 

 was accomplishing with ease and a plow and scraper 



MAJOR HKNRV S. (;RAVKS 



L'hicf iif tin- L'liitcil States Koi-cst Service, who has received a commission 

 as Major in the Reserve Engineer Corps hut has not been assigned to any 

 crtmmancl. For the -past two months he has heen in France preparing tor 

 the work which the Forest Regiments are to do when they arrivi . .M;i|i.r 

 (ir.-i\(". is ;i vice presiflent of the .-\nierican Forestry .Association, 



in the hands of two sweating negroes. This ground, 

 tortured into earth-works and riflepits for Fort Gaines 

 in 1861, was here being leveled off for the barracks 

 of a new army made up of the sons of those who had 

 fought against one another. The easy careless ca- 

 dences of southern speech here met the tight twang of 

 the northerner, and also the words of the westerner, 

 which were of neither variety. Only a short distance 

 away the earth was torn up 

 engineer forces were putting 

 learned in the present war. 



So here he was getting the barracks ready. 



Here, too, was Captain E. S. Bryant, helping to lay 

 out the company streets. Captain Arthur Ringland, 

 who had formerly watched over the destinies of the 

 National Forests of the Southwest, known to the 

 Service as District 3, was quartered in Number 4 bar- 

 racks nearby. Others were gathering from all over 

 the continent; Benedict from British Columbia, Chap- 

 man from Oregon, Guthrie from Arizona, Mason from 



anew, however, where 

 into effect the lessons 



California, Skeels from Montana. Some from the For- 

 est service, some from forest schools, some from lum- 

 ber companies. The head of the Forest Service, now 

 Major Henry S. Graves, was on this day already in 

 France, with Captain Barrington Moore, looking over 

 the ground to make plans for the actual work at the 

 front. Major Greeley, with some fourteen others, went 

 over early in August. 



Why a forest regiment? Any three of a number of 

 reasons will suffice. In the first place, the War Depart- 

 ment asked for such a regiment, being prompted to 

 make the request by a suggestion from the British 

 Commission, which visited this country soon after 

 hostilities between Germany and the United States 

 were officially recognized. In the second place it 

 could be readily seen that the work would be of great 

 use, not only to the United States and its Allies gen- 

 erally, but mainly to the French, whose forests were 

 being terribly devastated. This devastation was bad 

 enough in the zones of actual warfare, but it might 



M A.I OR 



of 



W. B. GREELKV 



.Assistant Fr)re.ster in charge of tlie branches of silviculture and research, 

 r. S. F'orest Service, who has heen active in the organization of the Forest 

 Regiment and wlnj led the party of fourteen officers which sailed for 

 Kurope early in August. Major Greeley is a director of tlic American 

 Forestry Association. 



be lessened if the forests back of the line, which were 

 furnishing timber imperatively needed for war pur- 

 poses, could be cut with the least of permanent dam- 



