Every Regiment in a combat division has a similar story, if any one of its members has the knowledge and patience to tell it. “The Irish 69th” had naturally its own special flavor of race with the buoyant spirits, the military élan, and the religious ardor that mark the race. No picture of the regiment would be complete that did not give a generous place to this phase of its life.
Happily, the Irish spirit has always managed to combine generous tolerance with its fervors. As a result, there are no more enthusiastic adherents of the Irish 69th than those of its members who did not share in the blood or the creed of the majority.
As for myself, I liked them all. I am a very Irish, very Catholic, very American person if anybody challenges my convictions. But normally, and let alone, I am just plain human. My appreciation of patriotism, or courage, or any other attractive human trait, is not limited in any degree by racial or religious or sectional prejudice. That was the spirit of our Army; may it always be the spirit of our Republic.
Joyce Kilmer was to have written this book. I took over the task after his death in battle. The manuscript he left had been hurriedly written, at intervals in a busy soldier existence, which interested him far more than literary work. I have taken the liberty of adding his work, incomplete though it is, to my own; because I feel that Kilmer would be glad at having his name associated with the story of the Regiment which had his absolute devotion; and because I cannot resist the temptation of associating with my own the name of one of the noblest specimens of humanity that has existed in our times.
I wish to thank Major Meaney, Major Bootz, Captain Allen, Lieutenants Harold Allen and Thomas C. P. Martin, Sergeant Major O’Connell and the Company Clerks for data for this book; Sergeant William Halligan, Privates John F. McLoughlin and Arthur Shea, Mr. Paul Shea, and Father John B. Kelly for assistance in preparing the manuscript for publication; and Sergeants T. C. Ranscht and R. L. Clarke for the maps that appear in this volume.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I | Preparations at Home | [13] |
| II | In Training Abroad | [36] |
| III | The Lunéville Sector | [60] |
| IV | The Baccarat Sector | [85] |
| V | The Champagne Defensive | [119] |
| VI | The Battle of the Ourcq | [158] |
| VII | After the Battle | [207] |
| VIII | The St. Mihiel Offensive | [232] |
| IX | The Argonne Offensive | [261] |
| X | With the Army of Occupation | [306] |
| Historical Appendix by Joyce Kilmer | [331] | |
| Appendices | [355] | |
| Regimental Record | ||
| Decorations, 165th Infantry | ||
| Officers Who Served in the 165th Infantry | ||
| Citations, 165th Infantry | ||
| Officers of New York Chapter “Rainbow” Division | ||
| Board of Trustees of the 165th Infantry | ||
| Woman’s Auxiliary to the 165th Infantry | ||
ILLUSTRATIONS
| Colonel Donovan in Fighting Trim | [Frontispiece] |
| PAGE | |
| Francis P. Duffy, Chaplain, 165th Infantry | [22] |
| General Lenihan, Lieutenant Grose, Colonel Mitchell, Father Duffy, Mr. George Boothby of the “Y,” and Judge Egeman of the K. of C. | [142] |
| Map of the Battlefield of the Ourcq | [181] |
| At Quentin Roosevelt’s Grave. The Central Figure is Colonel McCoy | [238] |
| Map of the St. Mihiel Salient | [245] |
| Map of the Battle of the Argonne | [295] |
| Operations Map: 165th Infantry, 1917-1919 | [354] |
FATHER DUFFY’S STORY