566 JOURNAL OF rOREiJTRY 



perhaps such a monument commemorating foresters and lumbermen 

 could fittingly be placed on one of the National Forest peaks in the 

 Western United States (as, for example, the San Francisco Mountain 

 Peak in Arizona). 



This little history fittingly emphasizes the services of the men 

 who underwent the drudgery as contrasted with the ofiicers who with- 

 out doubt led easier lives and received the tangible rewards earned by 

 the hard work of these faithful soldiers. The book contains a well 

 deserved tribute to Captain Howard Y. Williams, Regimental Captain, 

 who unquestionably had the confidence of the men of the regiment and 

 who was clearly a friend to the "unsung, uncited bucks of the Twen- 

 tieth Engineers." 



The biggest regiment in the world's history contained perhaps the 

 finest lot of workmen ever assembled on one job at a dollar a day and 

 it is entirely proper that their work should be heralded ahead of a 

 technical story of what the men higher up accomplished at their desks. 

 In reading this history, however, the outstanding fact of the war and 

 of American participation — namely, victory attained — should not be 

 clouded by the citation of hardship and inefficiency, lack of equipment, 

 early lack of organization, tough work on burned timber after the 

 armistice, repair of roads, and the technical inefficiency of many of the 

 officers in charge. Backed up by fine sets of photographs, the editors 

 have presented a breezy, interesting statement of the Twentieth En- 

 gineers and related organizations (including the Tenth Engineers which 

 beat the Twentieth to France). The First and Second Battalions 

 of the Twentieth sailed on November 11. 1917, and the last Battalion 

 sailed for home on July 5, 1919. 



From a historical standpoint the most interesting story is that of 

 the Sixth Battalion, ordered organized December 7, 1917, which sailed 

 on the Tuscania on January 23, 1918, and probably few realize they 

 "discovered that the boat tackle in many cases to be fouled or rotted 

 and unfitted for use'' and that the Tuscania floated for an hour after 

 the last survivor had left the ship ; or that "out of more than sixty 

 men in one of these boats there were but eight saved" ; or that "a few 

 swimming alone and helpless were left." One cannot help but feel 

 thankful that the German submarines were not more efficient than 

 they were if men were hurried to France in ships ill-prepared for 

 submarine attack. 



