Albert Leopold Mills
Albert Leopold Mills was a United States Army Major General, a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action on July 1, 1898, near Santiago, Cuba. An 1879 graduate of West Point, he served in the Army until his death in 1916. Following his service in Cuba, he was appointed Superintendent of West Point, jumping in rank from First Lieutenant to Colonel, his final posting was as the Chief, Division of Militia Affairs, a precursor to the National Guard Bureau. Albert L. Mills was born in New York City, he was appointed to West Point, graduating with the class of 1879. He joined the 1st United States Cavalry after graduation, serving on the American frontier, alternating between being a cavalry instructor and participating in the conflicts with the Plains Indians. In 1886, he was posted as an instructor at the Citadel. Mills receive a promotion to First Lieutenant in 1889. After the Spanish–American War began in 1898, he was promoted to a Captain of Volunteers, served as Assistant Adjutant General of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade.
He received the Medal of Honor for his bravery at the Battle of San Juan Hill near Santiago, Cuba on July 1, 1898. Though shot through the head, temporarily blinded, he continued to command his men, he was absent from duty until August 1898 while recovering from the effects of his wounds. "Distinguished gallantry in encouraging those near him by his bravery and coolness after being shot through the head and without sight." After recovering from his wounds and returning to duty, President William McKinley appointed him as the Superintendent at West Point, a posting that advanced him from his Regular Army rank of First Lieutenant to the rank of Colonel. He served as superintendent until August 1906, receiving a promotion to Brigadier General in January 1904. During his long term at West Point he initiated numerous changes including suppression of hazing, the expansion of the size of the Academy. After the academy, he served in the Philippines and as Commandant of the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
He served as Chief, Division of Militia Affairs from 1912–1916, being promoted to Major General in July of the latter year. General Mills struck ill and died while serving as Chief of the Militia Bureau, on September 18, 1916. Mills is buried at the West Point Cemetery at the United States Military Academy. Mills married Ms. Alada Thurston Paddock of Brooklyn, New York, in 1883, they had Chester P. Mills and Gertrude W. Mills, his son was an Army officer and his daughter was the wife of an officer, Maj. Emil P. Laurson. List of Medal of Honor recipients This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History
Western Front (World War I)
The Western Front was the main theatre of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium gaining military control of important industrial regions in France; the tide of the advance was turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this front; the attacks employed massive artillery massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery inflicted severe casualties during attacks and counter-attacks and no significant advances were made. Among the most costly of these offensives were the Battle of Verdun, in 1916, with a combined 700,000 casualties, the Battle of the Somme in 1916, with more than a million casualties, the Battle of Passchendaele, in 1917, with 487,000 casualties.
To break the deadlock of trench warfare on the Western Front, both sides tried new military technology, including poison gas and tanks. The adoption of better tactics and the cumulative weakening of the armies in the west led to the return of mobility in 1918; the German Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that ended the war of the Central Powers against Russia and Romania on the Eastern Front. Using short, intense "hurricane" bombardments and infiltration tactics, the German armies moved nearly 100 kilometres to the west, the deepest advance by either side since 1914, but the result was indecisive; the inexorable advance of the Allied armies during the second half of 1918 caused a sudden collapse of the German armies and persuaded the German commanders that defeat was inevitable. The German government surrendered in the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the terms of peace were settled by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. At the outbreak of the First World War, the German Army, with seven field armies in the west and one in the east, executed a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, moving through neutral Belgium to attack France, turning southwards to encircle the French Army and trap it on the German border.
The Western Front was the place where the most powerful military forces in Europe, the German and French armies and where the war was decided. Belgian neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain under the Treaty of London, 1839. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914. Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August; the first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège. Liège was well surprised the German Army under Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, falling to the Germans on 20 August. Although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur; the French deployed five armies on the frontier. The French Plan XVII was intended to bring about the capture of Alsace-Lorraine.
On 7 August, the VII Corps attacked Alsace to capture Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with the First and Second Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine. In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew while inflicting severe losses upon the French; the French Third and Fourth Armies advanced toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau but were repulsed. The French VII Corps captured Mulhouse after a brief engagement on 7 August but German reserve forces engaged them in the Battle of Mulhouse and forced a French retreat; the German Army swept through Belgium, razing villages. The application of "collective responsibility" against a civilian population further galvanised the allies. Newspapers condemned the German invasion, violence against civilians and destruction of property, which became known as the "Rape of Belgium". After marching through Belgium and the Ardennes, the Germans advanced into northern France in late August, where they met the French Army, under Joseph Joffre, the divisions of the British Expeditionary Force under Field Marshal Sir John French.
A series of engagements known as the Battle of the Frontiers ensued, which included the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons. In the former battle the French Fifth Army was destroyed by the German 2nd and 3rd Armies and the latter delayed the German advance by a day. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes at the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Battle of St. Quentin; the German Army came within 70 km of Paris but at the First Battle of the Marne and British troops were able to force a German retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the 1st and 2nd Armies, ending the German advance into France. The German Army retreated north of the Aisne River and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front, to last for the next three years. Following this German retirement, the opposing forces made reciprocal outflanking manoeuvres, known as the Race for the S
42nd Infantry Division (United States)
The 42nd Infantry Division is a division of the United States Army National Guard. The 42nd Infantry Division has served in World War II and the Global War on Terrorism; the division is headquartered at the Glenmore Road Armory in Troy, New York. The division headquarters is a unit of the New York Army National Guard; the division includes Army National Guard units from fourteen different states, including Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont. As of 2007, 67 percent of 42ID soldiers are located in New Jersey; the 42ID came to be known as the "Rainbow Division". When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, it federalized National Guard divisions to build up an Army. In addition, Douglas MacArthur a major, suggested to William A. Mann, the head of the Militia Bureau, that he form another division from the non-divisional units of several states. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker approved the proposal, recalled Douglas MacArthur saying that such an organization would "stretch over the whole country like a rainbow."
The division was created using units from the District of Columbia. The name stuck, MacArthur was promoted to colonel as the division chief of staff; the 42nd Division adopted a shoulder unit crests acknowledging the nickname. The original version of the patch symbolized a half arc rainbow and contained thin bands in multiple colors. During the latter part of World War I and post war occupation duty in Germany, Rainbow Division soldiers modified the patch to a quarter arc, removing half the symbol to memorialize the half of the division's soldiers who became casualties during the war, they reduced the number of colors to just red and blue bordered in green, in order to standardize the design and make the patch easier to reproduce. Description: The 4th quadrant of a rainbow with three bands of color: red and blue, each 3/8 inch in width, outer radius 2 inches. Background: The shoulder sleeve insignia was authorized by telegram on 29 Oct 1918, it was authorized for wear on 27 May 1922. It was reauthorized for wear when the division was reactivated for World War II.
On 8 September 1947, it was authorized for the post-World War II 42nd Infantry Division when it was reactivated as a National Guard unit. The 42nd Division was activated in August 1917, four months after the American entry into World War I, drawing men from 26 states and the District of Columbia; the 42nd went overseas to the Western Front of Belgium and France in November 1917, one of the first divisions of the American Expeditionary Force to do so. The AEF was commanded by General John Joseph Pershing. Upon arrival there the 42nd Division began intensive training with the British and French armies in learning the basics of trench warfare which had, for the past three years, dominated strategy on the Western Front, with neither side advancing much further than they had in 1914; the following year, the division took part in four major operations: the Champagne-Marne, the Aisne-Marne, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In total, it saw 264 days of combat. While in France, the division was placed under French control for a time, commanded by various French commanders, including Henri Gouraud and Georges de Bazelaire, of the French VII Army Corps.
Casualties: total 14,683. Commanders: Maj. Gen. W. A. Mann, Brig. Gen. Charles T. Menoher, Maj. Gen. Charles D. Rhodes, Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Maj. Gen. C. A. F. Flagler, Maj. Gen. George Windle Read; the 42nd Division was inactivated after World War I. Headquarters, 42nd Division 83rd Infantry Brigade 165th Infantry Regiment 166th Infantry Regiment 150th Machine Gun Battalion 84th Infantry Brigade 167th Infantry Regiment 168th Infantry Regiment 151st Machine Gun Battalion 67th Field Artillery Brigade 149th Field Artillery Regiment 150th Field Artillery Regiment 151st Field Artillery Regiment 117th Trench Mortar Battery 149th Machine Gun Battalion 117th Engineer Regiment 117th Field Signal Battalion Headquarters Troop, 42nd Division 117th Train Headquarters and Military Police 117th Ammunition Train 117th Supply Train 117th Engineer Train 117th Sanitary Train 165th, 166th, 167th, 168th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals The Division was composed of the following units: Activated: 14 July 1943 Overseas: November 1944.
Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe. Days of combat: 106. Prisoners of war taken: 59,128. Presidential Unit Citation: 1. Awards: MH-1. Commanders: Maj. Gen. Harry J. Collins commanded the 42ID during its entire period of federal service in World War II. Deactivated: 29 June 1946 in Europe. Headquarters, 42nd Infantry Division 222nd Infantry Regiment 232nd Infantry Regiment 242nd Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 42nd Infantry Division Artillery 232nd Field Artillery Battalion 392nd Field Artillery Battalion 402nd Field Artillery Battalion 542nd Field Artillery Battalion 142nd Engineer Combat Battalion 122nd Medical Battalion 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop Headquarters, Special Troops, 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division 742nd Ordnance Light Maintenance Company 42nd Quartermaster Company 132nd Signal Company Military Police Platoon Band 42nd Counterintelligence Corps Detachment Wh
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the United States of America's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to recognize U. S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U. S. Congress; because the medal is presented "in the name of Congress", it is referred to informally as the "Congressional Medal of Honor". However, the official name of the current award is "Medal of Honor." Within the United States Code the medal is referred to as the "Medal of Honor", less as "Congressional Medal of Honor". U. S. awards, including the Medal of Honor, do not have post-nominal titles, while there is no official abbreviation, the most common abbreviations are "MOH" and "MH". There are three versions of the medal, one each for the Army and Air Force. Personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version; the Medal of Honor was introduced for the Navy in 1861, soon followed by an Army version in 1862.
The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States armed forces. The President presents the Medal of Honor in Washington, D. C. at a formal ceremony, intended to represent the gratitude of the U. S. people, with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin. According to the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States, there have been 3522 Medals of Honor awarded to the nation's soldiers, airmen and Coast Guardsmen since the decoration's creation, with just less than half of them awarded for actions during the four years of the American Civil War. In 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as "National Medal of Honor Day". Due to its prestige and status, the Medal of Honor is afforded special protection under U. S. law against any unauthorized adornment, sale, or manufacture, which includes any associated ribbon or badge. The modern-day Medal of Honor had a number of precursors; the first medal for military service in the United States was issued in 1780, after its creation in the same year by the Continental Congress.
Known as the Fidelity Medallion, it was a small medal worn on a chain around the neck, similar to a religious medal, awarded only to three militiamen from New York state. They received it for the capture of John André, a British officer and spy connected directly to General Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War; the capture saved the fort of West Point from the British Army. The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by U. S. soldiers was established by George Washington when he issued a field order on August 7, 1782, for a Badge of Military Merit to recognize those members of the Continental Army who performed "any singular meritorious action". This decoration is America's first combat decoration and was preceded only by the Fidelity Medallion, the Congressional medal for Henry Lee awarded in September 1779 in recognition of his attack on the British at Paulus Hook, the Congressional medal for General Horatio Gates awarded in November 1777 in recognition of his victory over the British at Saratoga, the Congressional medal for George Washington awarded in March 1776.
Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. Armed Forces had been established. After the outbreak of the Mexican–American War a Certificate of Merit was established by Act of Congress on March 3, 1847, "to any private soldier who had distinguished himself by gallantry performed in the presence of the enemy". 539 Certificates were approved for this period. The certificate was discontinued after the war and reintroduced in 1876 effective from June 22, 1874, to February 10, 1892, when it was awarded for extraordinary gallantry by private soldiers in the presence of the enemy. From February 11, 1892, through July 9, 1918, it could be awarded to members of the Army for distinguished service in combat or noncombat; this medal was replaced by the Army Distinguished Service Medal, established on January 2, 1918. Those Army members who held the Distinguished Service Medal in place of the Certificate of Merit could apply for the Army Distinguished Service Cross effective March 5, 1934.
During the first year of the Civil War, a proposal for a battlefield decoration for valor was submitted to Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the army, by Lt. Colonel Edward D. Townsend, an assistant adjutant at the War Department and Scott's chief of staff. Scott, was against medals being awarded, the European tradition. After Scott retired in October 1861, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. On December 9, 1861, U. S. Senator James W. Grimes, Chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted Bill S. 82 during the Second Session of the 37th Congress, "An Act to further promote the Efficiency of the Navy". The bill included a provision for 200 "medals of honor", "to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seaman-like qualities during the present war..." On December 21, the bill was passed and signed into law by P
Joyce Kilmer
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American writer and poet remembered for a short poem titled "Trees", published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his Roman Catholic religious faith, Kilmer was a journalist, literary critic and editor. While most of his works are unknown, a select few of his poems remain popular and are published in anthologies. Several critics—including both Kilmer's contemporaries and modern scholars—have disparaged Kilmer's work as being too simple and overly sentimental, suggested that his style was far too traditional archaic. Many writers, including notably Ogden Nash, have parodied Kilmer's work and style—as attested by the many parodies of "Trees". At the time of his deployment to Europe during World War I, Kilmer was considered the leading American Roman Catholic poet and lecturer of his generation, whom critics compared to British contemporaries G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc.
He enlisted in the New York National Guard and was deployed to France with the 69th Infantry Regiment in 1917. He was killed by a sniper's bullet at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31, he was married to Aline Murray an accomplished poet and author, with whom he had five children. Kilmer was born December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the fourth and youngest child, of Annie Ellen Kilburn, a minor writer and composer, Dr. Frederick Barnett Kilmer, a physician and analytical chemist employed by the Johnson and Johnson Company and inventor of the company's baby powder, he was named Alfred Joyce Kilmer after two priests at Christ Church in New Brunswick: Alfred R. Taylor, the curate. Christ Church is the oldest Episcopal parish in New Brunswick and the Kilmer family were parishioners. Rector Joyce, who served the parish from 1883 to 1916, baptised the young Kilmer, who remained an Episcopalian until his 1913 conversion to Catholicism. Kilmer's birthplace in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family lived from 1886 to 1892, is still standing, houses a small museum to Kilmer, as well as a few Middlesex County government offices.
Kilmer entered Rutgers College Grammar School in 1895 at the age of 8. During his years at the Grammar School, Kilmer was editor-in-chief of the school's paper, the Argo, loved the classics but had difficulty with Greek, he won the first Lane Classical Prize, for oratory, obtained a scholarship to Rutgers College which he would attend the following year. Despite his difficulties with Greek and mathematics, he stood at the head of his class in preparatory school. After graduating from Rutgers College Grammar School in 1904, he continued his education at Rutgers College from 1904 to 1906. At Rutgers, Kilmer was associate editor of the Targum, the campus newspaper, a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. However, he was unable to complete the curriculum's rigorous mathematics requirement and was asked to repeat his sophomore year. Under pressure from his mother, Kilmer transferred to Columbia University in New York City. At Columbia, Kilmer was vice-president of the Philolexian Society, associate editor of Columbia Spectator, member of the Debating Union.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated from Columbia on May 23, 1908. Shortly after graduation, on June 9, 1908, he married Aline Murray, a fellow poet to whom he had been engaged since his sophomore year at Rutgers; the Kilmers had five children: Kenton Sinclair Kilmer. In the autumn of 1908, Kilmer was employed teaching Latin at Morristown High School in Morristown, New Jersey. At this time, he began to submit essays to Red Cross Notes and his early poems to literary periodicals. Kilmer wrote book reviews for The Literary Digest, Town & Country, The Nation, The New York Times. By June 1909, Kilmer had abandoned any aspirations to continue teaching and relocated to New York City, where he focused on developing a career as a writer. From 1909 to 1912, Kilmer was employed by Funk and Wagnalls, preparing an edition of The Standard Dictionary that would be published in 1912. According to Hillis, Kilmer's job "was to define ordinary words assigned to him at five cents for each word defined.
This was a job at which one would ordinarily earn ten to twelve dollars a week, but Kilmer attacked the task with such vigor and speed that it was soon thought wisest to put him on a regular salary."In 1911, Kilmer's first book of verse was published, entitled Summer of Love. Kilmer would write that "...some of the poems in it, those inspired by genuine love, are not things of which to be ashamed, you, would not be offended by the others."In 1912, Kilmer became a special writer for the New York Times Review of Books and the New York Times Sunday Magazine and was engaged in lecturing. He moved to Mahwah, New Jersey, where he resided until his service and death in World War I. By this time he had become established as a published poet and as a popular lecturer. According to Robert Holliday, Kilmer "frequently neglected to make any preparation for his speeches, not choosing a subject until the beginning of the dinner, to culminat
Fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, is used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From early history to modern times, walls have been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest; some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress; these constructions served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called "castrametation" since the time of the Roman legions.
Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble and command a specific defensive territory. Roman forts and hill forts were the main antecedents of castles in Europe, which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire; the Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were vulnerable, so the walls were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes to improve protection; the arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification.
Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosive, the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be disrupted by explosive shells. Steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the early 20th centuries; however the advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, providing a buffer between hostile militaries. Many US military installations are known as forts. Indeed, during the pioneering era of North America, many outposts on the frontiers non-military outposts, were referred to generically as forts. Larger military installations may be called fortresses; the word fortification can refer to the practice of improving an area's defence with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but are not called fortresses; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castrametation since the time of the Roman legions.
The art/science of laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it is called siegecraft or siege warfare and is formally known as poliorcetics. In some texts this latter term applies to the art of building a fortification. Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. Permanent fortifications are erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of constructive and mechanical skill, are built of enduring materials. Field fortifications—for example breastworks—and known as fieldworks or earthworks, are extemporized by troops in the field assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable and with materials that do not require much preparation, such as earth and light timber, or sandbags. An example of field fortification was the construction of Fort Necessity by George Washington in 1754. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification; this is employed when in the course of a campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample resources and skilled civilian labour being available.
An example of this is the construction of Roman forts in England and in other Roman territories where camps were set up with the intention of staying for some time, but not permanently. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. An example of this is the massive medieval castle of Carcassonne. From early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for many cities. In Bulgaria, near the town of Provadia a walled fortified settlement today called Solnitsata starting from 4700 BC had a diameter of about 300 feet, was home to 350 people living in two-storey houses, was encircled by a fortified wall; the huge walls around the settlement, which were built tall and with stone blocks which are 6 feet high and 4.5 feet thick, make it one of the earliest walled settlements in Europe but it is younger than the walled town of Sesklo in Greece from 6800 BC.
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