New Britain herald., 1919-04-18
20 REASONS WHY
 26TH WON FAME
'. M. (. A. Booklet Praises Work
 Of Yankee Division

Boston, April 1S.-Twenty-siH req ] sons why the 26th I'D division Will ] remembered forever are given Ill 1 brochure just issued by Edward l Hearne, executive secretary Of 'l
 northeastern department. war WoFi
 council, Young Mems Christian asso 1 citation.
 The brochure, unusually attrac'iE v
 bound in khaki, with the title Let
 go. The immortal YD--26th. col'-
 talns not only these 26 reasons Du
 au autographed picture Of Maloi Gen. Clarence F. Edwards and pr'e1 history of the division, the vital s'a- Etistics, organization. battles, cltat'ohs land such facts.
 The 26 reasons set forth are these:
 Il. The 26th was made up entirely iof the national guard of New Eng land When it left the United states ievery man was a volunteer. When |of them remained.
 ''2. The division was called into service July 25, 1917. The infantry modified at Birmingham, Worcester, Westt1eld and other camps, the artll- lery at Boxford.
 ''3. Though the Rainbow division was organized to be the first division over, the Yankee beat them to 1t by several months
 A. The first contingent conslNtlh5 of the lelst infantry and the Aoi9' field artillery left camp for Hopoheh' early in September, 1917, ana diately embarked for France ai 1 ,1l7 in Brest about September ~ ino other regiments of the dlNlsloh lol- lowed in quick succession.
 "5. The first infantry tralhng camp was at Neufchateau. Wh1lc tlio artilleray units were stauohed a' Coetquidon, an ancient arullery tfaih- ing camp, stablished by Napoleoh'
 First Shot Fired.
 "6. On the afternoon Of FeDruafy i5, 1918, the guns of battery A, 1o1st field artillery, took position on the line and at 3:45 o'clock one of it's 7o's blazed forth for the division the first shot fired by the national guard in the, war. That night the 101st infan- try went through the artillery lines land was the first national guard con- tingcnt to enter the trenches. "7. On the battle line north of lTou1 the division took over a sector, early in April, 1918. of IS kilom eters. the longest that has been held by an American division on the western front.
 IS. The first real battle in which Am erican troops were engaged was Brule in the Toul sector. April 10, 12 and 13, 1918.
 "9 The 2d division fought tho first battle of Chateau -Thierry. The Yankee division relieved the I'd July 9. 1918. and fought the second battle of Chateau-Thierry.
 v,,J, infantry of the 26th went over the top and at the Huns From that in stant until the 25th of July the Yan- l1oe division was on the heels of the Huns licking him time and again.
 "11. Gen. Edwards was succeed ed on October 25. 1918, by Brig Gen. F. F. Bamford. who in turn, on No ven1bcr 19. was relieved by Maj-Gen. Harry C. Hale.
 '12 From October 2s, 1918, in the last two weeks of the war. more than 1000 splendid lads of the 26th fell, killed or wounded.
 ''13. The 26th was the first na- tional guard division, and, in fact, the first full division to arrive in France. Of fighting men it was pre- ceded only by part of the 1st di- vision of regulars. It's men are num- bored in the first 50,000 of American cNpcditionary forces. No other Amer ican division has seen so long and continuous service on the front. None has sustained such a total of casual ties, and for that reason, none has so many names on it's rolls
 "14 The Yankee division travelled over 1900 miles in France on it's deadly and successful mission.
 
 up a sector at the front as a divi- sion.
 "16. The YD earned the name given it by the allied armies. '"The Sacrifice division.''
 1O4th Decorated.
 ''17. The 104th infantry was deco rated as a regiment with the croix de gucrre, the only American regi- ment thus honored by the French, previous to the armistice. "18. The Yankees at St. Mihiel took 2,400 prisoners, many cannon, l much amm unition and stores of every kind, released hundreds of civilian prisoners and restored more than score of towns to French rule. "19. As the American field guns had been left at home the task was to master the French 75s. The Yan- kee went the French from 10 to i 5 shots better per minute by mastering the difficult and dangerous method of loading on the recoil, which accounts for the illusion of German officers that the Americans were using three-inch machine gun. "2O. While at Chemin des Danes the Yankee division was associated l with the 11th French army corps and Gen. Edwards issued an order stating that he was pleased to con- l sider the 11th corps the godfather of A ~T H C