The United States Since the Civil War

by Charles Ramsdell Lingley

The vital relation of the transportation system of the country to the winning of the war was apparent at the start. As soon as war was declared, therefore, nearly 700 representatives of the railroads formed a Railroads' War Board to minimize the individual and competitive activities of the roads, coordinate their operation, and produce a maximum of transportation efficiency. The attempt of the railroad executives, however, quickly broke down. In the first place, as has been seen, our entire body of railroad legislation is based upon the idea of separating the several systems and compelling them to compete rather than cooperate. The habits and customs thus formed could hardly be done away with in an instant. In the second place the cost of labor and materials was constantly mounting, and the demand for more equipment was insistent. The railroads could meet these greater costs only by raising rates, a process which involved obtaining the assent of the Interstate Commerce Commission and required a considerable period for its accomplishment. The roads were also embarrassed by an unprecedented congestion of traffic on the eastern seaboard, from which men and cargoes must be shipped to Europe. Accordingly, on December 26, 1917, the President took possession of the railroad system for the government and appointed the Secretary of the Treasury, William G. McAdoo, as Director General. As rapidly as possible the railroads were merged into one great system. The entire country was divided into districts at the head of which were placed experienced railroad executives. Terminals, tunnels and equipment were used regardless of ownership in the effort to get the greatest possible service out of existing facilities. The passenger service was greatly reduced in order to free locomotives and crews for freight trains, duplication of effort was done away with where possible, officials who were not necessary under the new plan were dropped, and equipment was standardized. Existing legislation allowed the government to change freight and passenger rates, and on May 25, 1918, these were considerably raised. The winter of 1917-1918 was memorable for its severity, and placed great difficulties in the way of the railroads; nevertheless, between January 1, 1918, and November 11 of the same year nearly six and a half million actual and prospective soldiers were carried for greater or smaller distances.

An important part of American preparation for war was the attention paid to the "morale" organizations, which were designed to maintain the courage and spirit of the fighting man. As far as legislation could do it, the most flagrant vices were kept away from the camps. Moreover the Commissions on Training Camp Activities attempted to supply wholesome entertainment and associations. Under their direction, various organizations established and operated theatres, libraries and writing-rooms, encouraged athletics in the camps, and offered similar facilities for soldiers and sailors when on leave in towns and cities near by. The Red Cross conducted extensive relief work both in this country and abroad; surgical dressings were made, clothing and comfort kits supplied, and money contributed. In France, Belgium, Russia, Roumania, Italy and Serbia the Red Cross conducted a fight against the suffering incident to war.

The legislation which established the system of allotments, allowances and War Risk Insurance was also designed in part to maintain the morale of the army and navy. The pay of the "enlisted man" or private was $30.00 per month. In the case of men with dependents, an "allotment" of $15.00 was to be sent home and the government thereupon contributed an "allowance" which normally amounted to $15.00 or more, and was graded according to the number of the man's dependents and the closeness of their relationship to him. Provision was made also for compensation for officers and men injured or disabled in the line of duty, and for training injured men in a vocation. In addition, the War Risk Insurance plan provided means by which both officers and men could at low cost take out government insurance against death or total disability. In this way, it was hoped, some of the distresses of war would be alleviated so far as possible and a repetition of the pension abuses of the Civil War somewhat guarded against.

The total direct money cost of the war from April, 1917, to April, 1919, was estimated by the War Department at $21,850,000,000, an average of over a million dollars an hour, and an amount sufficient to have carried on the Revolutionary War a thousand years. In addition, loans were extended to the Allies at the rate of nearly half a million dollars an hour. This huge amount was raised in part through increased taxes. Income taxes were heavily increased; levies were made on such profits of corporations as were in excess of profits made before the war, during the three years 1911-1913; additional taxes were laid upon spirits and tobacco, on amusements and luxuries; and the postage rates were raised. In part, also, the cost of the war was defrayed through loans. A portion of the amount borrowed was by the sale of War Savings This expedient was designed doubtless not merely to encourage persons of small means to aid in winning the war—a beginning could be made with twenty-five cents—but also to encourage thrift among all classes. Most of the borrowed money, however, was raised through the five "Liberty Loans," a series of popular subscriptions to the needs of the government. In each case the government called upon the people to purchase bonds, ranging from two billions at first to six billions at the time of the fourth loan. There were four and a half million subscribers for the first loan, but after a little experience the number was readily increased until 21,000,000 people responded to the fourth call. Popular campaigns such as never had been seen in America, campaigns of publicity, house-to-house canvassing and appeals to the win-the-war spirit resulted in unprecedented financial support. Isolated communities in the back country and people of slender means in the cities, no less than the great banks and wealthy corporations cooperated to make the Liberty loans of social and economic as well as financial importance.

Evidence seems to be sufficient to indicate that the resources of the United States were thrown into the conflict none too soon. When it was determined to place armed guards on merchant ships, Rear Admiral W.S. Sims was sent to Great Britain to keep the Navy Department informed on problems connected with the possible entry of the United States into the conflict. After the American declaration of war the Admiral was placed in charge of the naval forces of the United States abroad and thereafter worked in close cooperation with our European associates. The German submarine policy had been put fully into effect; no solution of the submarine menace had been reached; and English officials were fearful that England could not last longer than November 1. In taking this view the British were probably in harmony with the Germans who expected to crush England before the weight of the United States could be felt. Although insufficient for so great a conflict, the American navy was thoroughly prepared for active service, and six destroyers were sent to European waters for a prolonged stay, within eighteen days of the declaration of war. This early force was quickly followed by others until, at the close of the war, 5,000 officers and 70,000 enlisted men were serving abroad. A three-year naval construction program which had been adopted in 1916 was pushed forward and somewhat expanded; new craft were commandeered wherever they could be found; private citizens loaned vessels or leased them at nominal sums; and German ships interned in American ports were taken over. Existing stations for the training of seamen were enlarged and new ones established, and schools were set up in colleges and at other points for radio operators, engineers and naval aviators. By such means the number of vessels in commission was increased from 197 to 2,003 and the personnel from 65,777 to 497,030.

The most dreaded enemy of the navy, the submarine, was successfully met by two devices. When transports and merchant-vessels were being sent across the ocean, they were gathered into groups or convoys and were protected by war vessels, especially torpedo-boat destroyers. The depth charge was also used with telling effect. This consisted of a heavy charge of explosive which was placed in a container and dropped into the sea where the presence of a submarine was expected. The charge was exploded at a pre-determined depth by a simple device, and any under-seas craft within 100 feet was likely to be destroyed or to have leaks started that would compel it to come to the surface and surrender.

Aside from combatting the submarine, the greatest activity of the navy was the transportation of men and supplies to France. First and last more than 2,000,000 troops were carried to Europe, and although Great Britain transported more than half the men, yet 924,578 made the passage through the danger zones under the escort of United States cruisers and destroyers. The cargo fleet was substantially all American. The transportation of supplies alone required the services of 5,000 officers and 29,000 enlisted men, and involved the accumulation of a vast fleet, the acquisition of docks, lighters, tugs, and coaling equipment, as well as the establishment of an administrative organization, at the precise time when the shipping facilities of the world were being strained to the breaking point by submarines.

On the other side of the ocean naval bases were established in England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy; a considerable force operated from Gibraltar and others from Corfu, along the Bay of Biscay, in the North Sea and at Murmansk and Archangel. Besides cooperating with the navy of the Allies in keeping the Germans off the seas, the American navy laid about four-fifths of the great mine barrage which extended from the Orkney Islands to Norway, a distance of 230 miles. This astonishing enterprise—America alone laid 56,000 mines—together with a similar chain laid across the Strait of Dover was intended to pen the submarine within the North Sea.

In the main the raising of an army for European service rested upon the act of May 18, 1917. It provided for the Increase of the regular army from approximately 200,000 to 488,000; for the expansion of the strength of the National Guard; and for the selection of a National Army by draft from men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty years inclusive. The determination to raise a draft army was based upon the belief that in this way successive and adequate supplies of men could be found without disproportionate calls on any section of the country and without undue disturbance of the industrial life of the nation. Although the plan ran counter to American practice during most of our history, the draft army became deservedly popular as a democratic and efficient method of finding men. Officers were supplied mainly through training camps, of which the best known was that at Plattsburg, New York. A novelty in the new army was a plan for the appointment and promotion of officers on a scientific rating system which took account of ability and experience, thereby doing away with some of the favoritism formerly connected with our military system. At a later time an organization was perfected by which enlisted men were grouped according to their ability and occupations, so that each division of the army might have assigned to it the number of mechanics, carpenters, clerks and the like that it might require. For the housing and training of the enlarged National Guard, sixteen tent-camps were established in the South; and for the National Army, sixteen cantonments, built of wood and capable of housing 40,000 men each. A cantonment comprised 1,000 to 1,200 buildings, and was virtually a city with highways, sewers, water supply, laundries and hospitals.[4] The problem of obtaining supplies was as great as that of housing and training the army. An entire city was erected in West Virginia for the making of part of the smokeless powder required; the British Enfield rifle was modified to use American ammunition so that machinery already making arms for England could be utilized with a minimum of change; and European experience having indicated the value of the machine gun, a new and improved type was invented by John M. Browning. In many cases, however, it was impossible immediately to equip both the soldiers in training here, and those who could be sent abroad. Hence surplus equipment of certain kinds was supplied by France and England. Furthermore, actual combat had emphasized the vital importance of aviation and had developed warfare with poisonous gases and with tanks, so that it became necessary to establish new branches of the service to meet these needs.

Shortly after the declaration of war, General John J. Pershing, who had already experienced active operations in the Philippines and on the Mexican border, was sent to France to act as Chief of the American Expeditionary Force—the A.E.F. as it was commonly called. General Pershing was followed by a division of regulars in June, 1917, and by the "Rainbow" division of the National Guard, a body composed of guardsmen from various states so as to distribute widely the honor of early participation in the war. In France the American troops were detailed either for the Service of Supply or for combat. The former, with headquarters at Tours, developed port facilities, constructed ship berths, built railroads and warehouses, and took care of the multifarious duties that have to be performed behind the lines. Divisions destined for combat were usually given one or two months of training in France before going to the front, and were then kept for another month in a quiet sector before engaging in more active service.