Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1919-01-03
THE.OLD HICKORY DIVISION.
From The Columbia State.


"Nnw'come> The Evening Sun o
New York, >perpetuating the error
of confusing the Thirtieth American
Division of the United States Army |
with the Wildcat Division and pro-
ceeding to draw a variety of absurd
differences. The spenuid fighting
of the Thirtieth Division" The Sun
says truly has wen repeated and
glowing praise from the British" and
then it plunses headlond to say that
The famous Wildcat Division, as ii
is called, led the way In bres king the
Hindenbarg line between Cambrs.
and st. Quentin and since Oct has
advanced IL miles into enemy Ter
ritory.' The Wildcat Divisi""
composed chiefly of men fir, m t
mountain districts of Tennessee,
North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Sun asserts with a measure of
accuracy, and then describes this
division as made up Of illiterates,
which is in the maia, untrue.
The Thirtieth Division, the divis
ion that broke the Iindenburg line,
is not the wildcat Division" TIE
Thirtieth Division, correctly de-
scribed by the soubriquet of the
odd Hickory Division" was trained
at Camp Sewer. Greenville, S. C. and
the mountaineers in it are relatively
few. The division is composed o.
former National Guardsmen o. the
two Carolinas and Tennessee aHd
the company units come from the
cities, towns and villages of the
three states. Col. Luke Lea, eX-
United States Senator, of Nashville,
commands d Tennessee regimen,
and two of its South Carolina col
onels are McCully. of Anderson, and
Springs, of Georgetown. Prepon-
derantly, the composition of the
companies is of Youths who have
grown up in the towns, clerks in
stores, young lawyers, artisans
farmer boys from the vicinity of the
towns and cottol mill workers. A
considerable proportion of one oil
the, South Carolina regiments is
made up of the latter. AS large
towns in the mountains are very
few, there were ccrrespondingly few
National Guard companies in tht
mountains.
The Sun, with unconcealed glee
talks of the mountaineers havin.
been largely Federal soldiers in tn
War between the States and it ex
aggerates that description, but tn
boys OF the Thirtieth Division ar
almost exclusively from the local.
ties wher. the men in the eos wer
Confederate soldiers. 1t would b
safe to say that 80 per cent of tn
men of the Old Hickory Divisio
are sons or grandsons of Confedel
ate Veterans. Moreover, these tow
lads are about as familiar wit
rifles and shotguns as are the mouI
taineers, they have been hlntin
rabbits, squirrels and partridg,
from the time that they were kne
high to ducks.
Gen. Charles j. Bailey's viii,
cats" the Eighty-frst Division, wi
took their soubriquet from tt
Wildcat Road leading to Cam
Jackson. in the suburbs of Colun
bia, where they were trained, a
first class soldiers. too, which Il
Boche will discover. Certain
Columbia has in them particul
pride and nothing too good can
said of them. The Sun does the
no kindness in endeayoring to il
press upon them the character
unanimous ignorance aud dislike
oh,rparts of the South and we G.
well imagine how its description
them would be; resented by t,
young officers. one a captain a
the other a lieutenant in the div
ion. who happen to be, in civil Ii
members of the staff of this new