Tensas gazette., 1917-12-07
State Guard Is Eliminated
In The New Army Plan

GuardSmen have suffered disintegra-
ton. For instance, the men Of the
First New York Cavalry and Squadron
A find themselves today mere dough
boys" as in the past they termed the
infantry. They are bidding final fare
well to their horses, and the parting
Is n sad one, for many Of the former
cavalrymen have had the same mounts
for several years.
The officers and men of the old First
Cavalry are being split up among
three units. The One Hundred and
Sixth Machine Gun battalion will claim
$50 OF the enlisted personnel and the
One hundred and Second Trench Nor
tar battery, the first Of it's kind to be
organized in this country, takes One
Hundred and Eighty One. The One
Hundred and Second Ammunition
Train will also claim number Of Off
GERS and men of the old regiment.
Squadron A. too. has lost its mounts
| and the organization Is now the One
Hundred and Fifth Machine Gun bat
TALON.
In the Spartanburg camp of the
Twelfth and Seventy-first regiments.
there are not enough men left to make
decent sized company. The historic
commands have been drained Of
| their men that more fortunate regi-
ments I'm the first line might get their
war quotas.
| In some instances units from two
states have been combined or are
| about to be thrown together. These
are extreme cases, and they tend to
stir up even keener resentment than
the combining of units within single
state.
| Missouri Protests.
The Fourth Missouri and Third Kan
sas furnish striking Illustration
Both of these regiments were below the
strength required by the new organiza'
ton. Both contained large number
Of veterans.
When It was decided to combine
them, Missourians Immediately rose
and protested the case in person tC
Secretary Baker. pointing out the in
justice to both states and the damag
ing effect on the morale of the officers
and men.
He said this was true, also. Of thu
Second Missouri, which was slated t.
be carved up and transformed into ma
chine gun battaliOns.
Governor Gardner used all Of the ar
guments he could muster, but wOunt
up by declaring emphatically that !
the government could not do other
wise Mr.. Baker could count on Mis-
souri supporting him and doing 1t
duty to man. This case has no
yet been finally disposed of. but 1t l
entirely probable that Governor Gard
ner will lose.
Mr.. Baker personally regrets tn
necessity for breaking up state units
Ohio. his own state, has some crac
regiments. and the Buckeye state
| being treated exactly as every Othe
= state. The first consideration Is
: military one. The government want
I the best possible military machine an
, only efficiency was considered In pei
p fecting the organization plans.
After the War.
II there are any definite after-th'
! war plans for the National Guar
i they have not been revealed. Nil
; tary experts who discussed the matte
u declared that after the war the NJ
+ tional Guard naturally will revert
' its status under the national defens
y act, which was passed with vie
y to federalizing the Guard and ma
!. ing it more responsive to national a
!, thority.
II But what will be left of the \
+" tional Guard If the war lasts n lor
time, 1t is asked? When the Gual
was shaken together after its seryi
r on the border ii numbered appro,
Al mately 10000. Since that time maj
T. thousand Guardsmen have been di
Vt charged on account of dependent rel
h tivcs. It's strength at the time q
he United States entered the war may
le put nj 1o5,OOO officers and men.
= Men who have enlisted since tn
st time did so ''for the period of the W;
r and will be automatically discharg
r. when il ends. Meanwhile, II is fair
10 assume that many of the veter
Guardsmen will appear on casual
IS lists. At best, therefore. the Natior