1140 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



mittee of the Coniite Interallie de Bois de Guerre, which 

 was organized before Colonel Graves returned from 

 France to avoid competition among the British, French 

 and American armies in the purchase of timberland. 

 Captain Bruce and Captain Kittredge served under Lieu- 

 tenant Colonel Peck in the fuelwood project in the ad- 

 vance section. Caj)!. R. CHfford Hall served under 



Major Wool- 

 sey, and the 

 other men 

 n a m e d also 

 held important 

 posts. 



It was not 

 n e c e ssary to 

 give the men 

 of the loth and 



F. R. Barnes, of Missouri, the 9th ; and Major P. E. 

 Hinckley, of Maine, the 10th. 



"We are here, and mighty darned glad that we are ; we 

 are busy as beavers, and are going to do our bit and then 

 some in this war." This is what Capt. John D. Guthrie, 

 of the 20th Regiment, Engineers, wrote home shortly 

 after his arrival in France. 



That was the spirit which pervaded the entire regiment 

 of foresters and lumbermen. Their only complaint was 

 that they could not get into the actual fighting. Every 

 one of the more than 18,000 who were in the regiment 

 at the time the armistice was signed had been anxious to 

 get to the front. Any one of them would have jumped 

 at the chance any time it had been offered. Some of 

 them came very near getting there shortly after the big 

 spring drive of the Germans began in 1918. Plans were 

 on foot to mobilize every available man in the Service 

 of Supply for service at the front, 

 but the crisis passed without mak- 

 ing this action necessary. 



The fact, however, that they did 

 not get into the active military end 

 of the game does not detract in the 

 least from the invaluable service 

 they rendered. In the highest sense 

 it was of the greatest military im- 

 portance, for the army could not 

 have moved forward or maintained 



MAJOR F. M. 

 Commanding 14th Batt 



MAJOR P. E. HINKLEY 

 Commanding lOth Battalion, 20th Engineers 



20th Regiments any special training 

 in forestry or lumbering methods be- 

 fore they left the United States, for 

 they were picked men, chosen because 

 of their proficiency in their special 

 work, while the clerical force was 

 selected because of their actual knowl- 

 edge of keeping lumber accounts and 

 similar information. So during their 

 stay at .American University Camp the 

 men were given what military drill was required for ad- 

 ministrative and disciplinary purposes. Colonel Graves 

 reports one of the men to have remarked after they got to 

 the other side : "We're not much on drill, but we're hell 

 on cutting down trees." After they landed in France a 

 large part of their actual military equipment was left be- 

 hind at the various supply stations. As a rule they took 

 with them to their camps about one-tenth of their guns. 

 The 1st and 2d Battalions of the 20th Engineers, under 

 command of Major Hartwick, of Detroit, and Major 

 S. O. Johnson, of California, sailed in December, 1917; 

 the 3d and 4th, under command of Major R. A. Johnson, 

 California, and Alajor George H. Kelly, Oregon, sailed 

 the first week in January, 1918; and the other battalions 

 followed at approximately three-week intervals, with 

 Major Frederick Kellogg, New York, in command of 

 the 5th ; Major Benjamin F. Wade, of New Jersey, the 

 6th; Major C. E. Clark, of North Carolina, the 7th; 

 Major George W. Weisel, of Montana, the 8th ; Major 



BARTELME 

 alion, 20th Engineers 



itself without 

 the endless 

 streams of lum- 

 ber which were 

 turned out. It is 

 almost impossi- 

 ble to exaggerate 

 the value of 

 wood supplies as 

 a factor in mili- 

 tary operations. 

 In the general order which he issued after the signing of 

 the armistice, Col. Woodruff, after declaring that the 

 army at that time was "well supplied with lumber," 

 added : 



"When ties were called for in large quantities to sup- 

 port the advances of our troops at St. Mihiel and in the 

 Argonne, they were ready. At practically every dock 

 project, deliveries of piling and lumber were well ahead 



COL H. L BOWLBV 



Former Regimental .\djutant, 20th Engineers 



