Caissons Go Rolling Along

Johnson Hagood

Description

An engrossing portrait of war-torn Europe written by one of South Carolina's most distinguished military officers of the last century.

Major General Johnson Hagood (1873-1948) was one of South Carolina's most distinguished army officers of the twentieth century. An artillerist and a scholar of military science, Hagood became a noted expert in logistics and served as the chief of staff of the Services of Supply in World War I Europe. Taken from Hagood's wartime journal, Caissons Go Rolling Along describes his artillery brigade's march into Germany in 1918, the wartime devastation, his impressions of the defeated enemy and occupied territories, and his tour of the recent battlefields in the company of the commanders who fought there.

Written in a conversational style, the narrative focuses principally on Hagood's time in command of the Sixty-sixth Field Artillery Brigade following the armistice. The Sixty-sixth FAB was attached to the American Third Army, which later became the American occupation force in the Rhineland. Hagood recorded his impressions of the conditions in which he found his men at the end of the war and the events of a tour of the French, British, and American battlefields. More important, he set down a record of the devastation of the French countryside, the contrasting lack of suffering he found in Germany, the character of the Germans, and some predictions for the future.

"I have left the text as it was when we held these people at the point of the bayonet," he wrote in his preface years later. "The opinions we formed at that time are important because they were the basis of our action.... The scourge of the Great War took a heavy toll... and we Americans might as well keep in mind what we were fighting for." Hagood captures defining aspects of the American character at the close of World War I. He described a boisterous, optimistic people, sure of their new place in the world. Rome provided Hagood with an analogy for the new American empire, which he took for granted in his postwar memoir.

Completed during Hagood's lifetime but unpublished until now, Caissons Go Rolling Along is an engrossing portrait of war-torn Europe, a stark reminder of grim realities of the Great War, and a richly detailed look at the daunting task of occupying and rebuilding a defeated nation.

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• And babies
• Cult of the offensive
• Edward Clark Carter
• Johnson Hagood (general)
• World War I
• Nivelle Offensive
• Bixby letter
• Hunter Liggett
• Race to the Sea
• Bridgehead
• Auxiliary Units
• Operation Plunder
• Preparedness Movement
• Military
• Maginot Line
• Remagen
• Anthony McAuliffe
• Farbus
• Plan XVII
• Cormoran
• Poilu
• Joseph Joffre
• Première Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: University of South Carolina Press
• Date de parution: 05 décembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611172188
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Johnson Hagood
Caissons Go Rolling Along
A MEMOIR OF AMERICA IN POST–WORLD WAR I GERMANY
Maj. Gen. Johnson Hagood
Edited by Larry A. Grant

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS
© 2010 University of South Carolina
Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2010 Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina, by the University of South Carolina Press, 2013
www.sc.edu/uscpress
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13       10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Hagood, Johnson, b. 1873.     Caissons go rolling along : a memoir of America in Post–World War I Germany / Johnson Hagood; edited by Larry A. Grant.        p. cm.     Includes bibliographical references and index.     ISBN 978-1-57003-915-7 (cloth : alk. paper)     1. Germany—History—Allied occupation, 1918–1930. 2. Hagood, Johnson, b. 1873—Travel—Germany. 3. Germany—Social conditions—1918–1933. 4. Military government—Germany—History—20th century. 5. Military government—United States—History—20th century. 6. Reconstruction (1914–1939)—Germany. 7. Rhineland (Germany)—History—20th century. I. Grant, Larry A. II. Title.     D650.M5H24 2010     940.3'73—dc22                                                                                                                     2010005684
ISBN 978-1-61117-218-8 (ebook)
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
About Maj. Gen. Johnson Hagood
Editorial Method
Preface
Introduction
Being the Summary of a Previous Work— THE SERVICES OF SUPPLY , a Memoir of the Great War—By General Johnson Hagood—Houghton Mifflin Company, 1927
Chapter 1 Back with the Old Brigade
Armistice Day—Mailly-le-Camp—Haussimont—General Chamberlaine—Naval Guns—In Front of the Front—Prisoners of War—Étain—Metz—Marshal Pétain
Chapter 2 The Army Artillery
Visit to G.H.Q.—Luxemburg—Hotel Staar—66th F.A. Brigade—Blercourt—Getting Back to Normalcy—Brigade Mess—Robert
Chapter 3 On the Move
Out of Blercourt into Esch—Welcomed by the Luxemburgers—The Grand Duchesse—Cost of Living High—Mertert—Peasant Life in Luxemburg—First Glimpse of Germany
Chapter 4 Marching through Germany
Crossing the Frontier—Bitburg—The Count A…von A…n and His Wife—First Impressions Favorable—On to Hillesheim—America Crosses the Rhine—The Doctor's Office
Chapter 5 Bassenheim
The Château—The Knights' Hall—Extensive Gardens—Abundant Food—Well Trained Servants—Letter to the Burgomaster—General Hines at Neuwied—Christmas Eve among the Robber Barons—Over the Rhine at Coblenz
Chapter 6 Höhr-Grenzhausen
Journey's End—Fish—Army Artillery Commander—Our Area—Command—Pottery—Billets—Brigade Commander's Quarters—Servants—Office Space—German Prisoners
Chapter 7 Gott Strafe England—und America
Introductory—First Impressions—von Steuben—Ambassador Gerard—Hate—The Lusitania—Post War Attitude—Greeted with Flags—Servility—What Are We Fighting For?
Chapter 8 Squareheads
Our Attitude towards the Germans—Atrocities—Children—Schools—No Poverty—Motor Trucks—Precedence—First Division
Chapter 9 Welfare Workers
Soldiers Want to See Some Skirts—Letter to Carter—Miss Waller and Mrs. Stevens—Y.M.C.A. Building—Shows—Y.M.C.A. Entertainers—Saving the Boxing Game—Chaplains as Managers—Selling Cigarettes—Gift Tobacco
Chapter 10 The School at Trèves
Vocational Work—Dardanelles—Working on Hunches—Augustus Treverorum—Porta Nigra—The School—Politics Back Home
Chapter 11 Belgium
Brussels—“Ouf! Ils Sont Partis!”—Louvain Victim of Frightfulness—Liège—Ludendorff's Own Story
Chapter 12 Over the Battle Fields
Military Barriers—France and Germany—Area of the Somme, Marne and Meuse-Argonne—Order of Battle
Chapter 13 With the British
Vimy Ridge—General Morrison—Importance—Albert—Third Battle of the Somme—46th British Division—St. Quentin Canal—Bellenglise Tunnel—General Boyd—The Australians—Thiepval Heights—High Woods
Chapter 14 Who Broke the Hindenburg Line?
The Thirtieth Division—Abbéville Agreement—Plan of Operation—How It Came Out—Citations
Chapter 15 With the Americans
Sedan—Stenay—Grand Pré—Amiens—Cantigny
Chapter 16 With the Americans (Cont'd.)
Château Thierry—General Situation—Holding the Bridge—The Second Division—Who Signed the Chit?—Big Bertha—The Third Division—What Makes ‘em Fight?
Chapter 17 With the French
Soissons—First Visit to the Front—Chemin des Dames—Soissons' Last Fight—Laon and Rheims—Verdun—The Human Soup Bowl—Guests of the French Government—The Big Battle—Au Revoir
Chapter 18 Homeward Bound
Heavy Snow—Hôtel Porta Nigra—Waffles and Syrup—Back in Beastly Germany—Chamberlaine's Story—Shake-ups in the Brigade—Big News—Trip to Italy—Demonstration against Wilson—What about George Washington?—C'est Fini
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of General Hagood
Field Artillery's “Caisson Song”
Map—The Services of Supply
Your Head May be Hard
Hurry up! C'est la Guerre
Various Supply Plans for A.E.F
S.O.S. Poster. Signed by Pershing
General Pershing talking to British W.A.A.C. Generals Harbord, Hagood, Kernan and McAndrew in the background
Artillery Song—Gruber
Bucking Bronco of 146th F.A. Regiment
Map—Verdun to Coblenz, March of 66th Field Artillery Brigade
Hagood's Brigade Enroute to the Rhine
Soldier Sleeping under Gun near Verdun
Beaulieu—Our Château at Tours
My Billet at Oberehe in Germany
Pontoon Bridge at Coblenz
America Crossing the Rhine—Dec. 13th, 1918
Bassenheim—Our Château near the Rhine
My French aides in Front of my billet at Höhr-Grenzhausen
Map—Area assigned to Third Corps
German Medal to Celebrate Sinking of the Lusitania
They Greeted us with Flags—German Postcards
Our Soldiers Laughed at the Germans
Railway Artillery in Action
Soldiers Dressed as Girls at Y.M.C.A. Dances
Carpentier—French Heavyweight Champion, Staged by Y.M.C.A
Map—Our Trip through Belgium
Roadside Crusifix [ sic ] and Shrine destroyed by Germans
Returning French Prisoners—at Étain
German Proclamation—Posted in France
Map—Battlefields of France
Map—Somme Area
Map—British 46th Division at St. Quentin
St. Quentin Canal—Where the British Crossed
St. Quentin Canal—Where the Americans Crossed
General Boyd—British Commander 46th Division
General Passaga—French Commander at Verdun
Map—Hindenburg Line, Broken by 27th and 30th
American Divisions
Map—Meuse-Argonne
Map—March of First American Division on Sedan
Map—Marne Area
Map—7th Machine Gun Battalion at Château Thierry
German Castle on the Rhine
Vaux—French Village destroyed by Americans
Trajectory of German Long Range Gun
Map—38th American Infantry on the Marne
The Rheims Cathedral
Street Scene in Soissons
Map—Aisne Marne Offensive
Map—German Advance on Verdun
Italian Poster—Protest against Wilson on Fieume [ sic ] Question
ABOUT MAJ. GEN. JOHNSON HAGOOD
Lee Hagood (1846–1890), Johnson Hagood's father, was one of eleven children and a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. In 1863 Lee left school to join his older brother Capt. James R. Hagood, who was on his way to eastern Tennessee with the First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Failing to locate James, sixteen-year-old Lee was taken under the wing of Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins, the brigade c