HOW THE AMERICAN ARMY GOT ITS WOOD 



BY PERCIVAL SHELDON RIDSDALE 



EDITOR OF AMERICAN FORESTRY MAGAZINE 



^<?X 7'UUR i)art in winning the war has been as impor- 

 I tant as that of any other troops in the American 

 Expeditionary Forces." 



This was the high commendation given right after the 

 signing of the armistice to the foresters and lumbermen 

 who had gone to France to get out the lumber needed 

 by the American Army. It was contained in a general 

 order issued by Col. J. A. Woodruff, "To the Officers 

 and Soldiers of the 20th Engineers and Attached Service 

 Troops." Colonel Woodruff was placed in command of 

 the 10th Engineers (Forestry) when that regiment was 

 organized shortly after the 

 United States entered the 

 war ; and later of the com- 

 bined Tenth and Twentieth, 

 Foresters and Lumbermen, 

 when they were united into 

 what constituted the larg- 

 est regiment the world 

 has ever seen. Its total 

 strength just before hos- 

 tilities ceased was 360 of- 

 ficers and 18,183 enlisted 

 men, an aggregate of 18,- 

 543 men engaged in the 

 production of lumber for 

 the American Army. 



General Pershing had 

 scarcely landed in France 

 before he realized that 

 great quantities of lumber 

 were necessary for the 

 army which was preparing 

 to follow. The short- 

 age of shipping at that 

 time due to the submarine 

 campaign made it impossi- 

 ble to ship the lumber from 

 this country. Fortunately, 

 France had the timber, al- 

 though she did not have the men who could cut it for 

 any forces other than her own. Accordingly, General 

 Pershing sent an urgent cable to the War Department 

 calling for lumberjacks and foresters to constitute a 

 force of trained men who could .get out an immense 

 monthly supply. He said in effect that it would be use- 

 less to send fighting men unless they could be supplied 

 with lumber and that forestry troops should be sent first. 

 Docks, warehouses and railroads had to be built, and 

 wood was needed for a hundred other purposes. 



The War Department, therefore requested the Forest 

 Service to assist in the formation of a forest regiment. 

 This was the beginning of the 10th Engineers, composed 



LIEUT. COL. GRAVES IN FRANCE 



The Chief Forester of the United States went abroad shortly after this 

 country entered the war to organize the work the American foresters 

 were to do in helping to get out the timber needed for war purposes. 



of two battalions of three companies each, which it was 

 thought at first would be sufficient for the purpose. 

 Plans for the organization of this regiment began in the 

 early summer of 1917, shortly after the United States 

 entered the war. Trained foresters and lumbermen were 

 gathered from all parts of the country. Through its dis- 

 trict representatives, the Forest Service was able to reach 

 the operators and the lumber companies, the sawmill 

 owners and the loggers, who had men skilled in all 

 branches of the profession. Graduates and students of 

 the forestry schools enlisted. These men came to the 



American University Camp 

 which was established at 

 Washington, District of 

 Columbia, in the midsum- 

 mer of 1917 ; and in the be- 

 ginning of September were 

 on their way to the other 

 side. They arrived in 

 France in the early days of 

 October, and were all at 

 their assignments by the 

 first of November. 



In the meantime plans 

 for sending over a much 

 larger army than had been 

 anticipated and for ship- 

 ping the troops with the 

 greatest possible speed, 

 necessitated the formation 

 of another forest regiment. 

 This was the 20th Engi- 

 neers, the first two battal- 

 ions of which were ready to 

 proceed to France early in 

 November, while the others 

 kept following as fast as 

 they were organized until 

 March, 1918. Another 

 regiment was being formed 

 at the time Germany quit. The 20th Engineers was com- 

 manded by Col. W. A. Mitchell, like Colonel Woodruff, 

 a regular army officer and a West Point graduate, whose 

 previous services fitted him admirably for this work. 

 Colonel Mitchell later was transferred to the 2d Engi- 

 neers, known at the front as the "Fighting Engineers," 

 and was cited for bravery. When the 10th Engineers 

 and the 20th Engineers were combined into one regiment. 

 Colonel Woodruff took command of the united force. 



The American foresters and lumbermen knew that 

 they had their work cut out for them when they arrived 

 in France, but they were impatient to get on the job. 

 Originally it was figured that they would have to get 



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