Smyrna times., 1917-07-18
DELAWARE NOW ASSURED
OF REGIMENT ALL ITS OWN
SMYRNA BOYS OF COMPANY C
DELIGHTED OVER PROGRESS
Third Battalion Will Bring up Full Quota
Regiment Will Mobilize at Annis-
ton, Ala, With 8 tn Division

-heSiment VIII MODlNZe at RnnIS-
ton, Ala, With 8 tn Division
The First Delaware Infantry now
numbers 1925 men. 1t is belief COM !
mon to the men in the ranks as we'll |
as among the "luffs,' although not |
so freely expressed by the latter, that
no matter what happens now, Della
ware will have a full regiment. 1t
means, if this is true, that when the
Blue Hens Chicks leave Camp Nc
Clellan with their colors cased and
kits slung on their backs for AN At
lantic Port. ," they will be led By Del
aware colonel, be accompanied bv
Delaware band and have a Delaware
chaplain. To the uninitiated, it
means much the same thing whether
a state is represented by two bat
taliOns or by regiment, but to the
men who did guard duty on the Mex
ican border last summer and fall it
has different significance. 1t meant
that the boys of Delaware had to be
commanded for the majority of the
time by an outsider. They were bri-
gaded with men from other states and
required men from other state organi-
cations to give them full regiment.
There was no band and consequently
no music for the Delaware boys. AS
a matter of fact, they were not sup
posed to have any regimental colors
but this was one thing that the pride
of Delaware's Own" could not stand,
and after repeated requests the Della
ware militia has the unique distinc-
/ tiOn of having the right to carry two
American and two state flags, one for
each battalion.
Need for Eligible Men to Enlist
But before Delaware can become a
regiment one of two things must hap
pen, the officers explain. The eligi-
BILE young men of the State, of whom
there are still many, must suddenly
awake to the fact that this is their
war and that their country is fighting
it, and, realizing this, enlist with the
Delaware boys, or the draft will dc
the enlistiDg for them. Before Della.
ware can have a full-fedged regiment
the following men must be appointed
One colonel, one lieutenant colonel,
one major, regimental adjutant, si2
captains, including one to take Cap
tain Carsw ellis place who has beer
assigned to the regular army, chap
lain, five first lieutenants, five secont
lieutenants, two doctors and oenta
surgeon. Other officers of lower grad
as we'll as many non-coms are ais
needed. 1t is expected that thes
places will be invariably filled by pro
motion from the now existing tw
battalions which will again leave va
cancies in these ranks.
Delaware Boys to Go to Admission, Ala
The ponderous war machine of tn
Government turned little bit NOR
Friday night and the result was tha
Delaware National Guardsmen nov
know the destination to which the
will be bound when the First Della
ware Infantry leaves Wilmington o
o August 5. The Eighth division, t
o which the Delaware troops are sti
+ attached, will go into mobilizatio
camp at Admission, Ala, hot, dust
= little city. slightly less than one hur
r. dred miles northeast of Birmingham
: in Calhoun county. The town,
- which it is now planned to send til
. Delaware troops, along with thos
=. from Maryland, District of Golumbi
g and Virginia, is of about 13, 900 il
C habitants, and has the military al
q vantage of being on two railroad
% each of which is capable of carryir
large bodies of troops at rapid pei
to a port on the Gulf of Mexico, fro
70 which it is probable that the Dell
wareans will later embark on the
"a way to France. Admission. Ala, is
III sleepy little place that in no wi
gives the appearance of a city of 13
600 inhabitants. But Admission wi
not always be thus, for in less thi
ne one month it is destined to have
fe concentrated dose of Delaware sh
into it that will materially change t
color of the place. The town, whi
all is a one street affair, is situated
fiat ground, but it is not far from t
slope of the Blue Ridge mountain
and consequently the climate is fair
IN dry and healthful. Should it
found impossible to brigade the Del
~ ware regiment with troops in t
Eighth division, however they W
probably be put in the Ninth divisiC
To- which consists of troops from Nol
k and South Carolina and Tennessee.
ry this case, Greenville, South Carolii
Is, will he the mobilization grounds.
ID. it is now understood that all pli