Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-01-12
BROADER
GENERALCY
FOR MCCOY
Sparta Man Head of
County Con1panyGiUen
High Rank.
RECRUITED VOLUNTEERS

Col. Robert B. Mccoy of Sparta, has
been promoted to the rank OF brigad-
Ter general in the Wisconsin Nation
al guard. Col. Mccoy, we'll known i'm
Grant county. is the first guardsman,
to receive this rank in time of peace.
The new general has been active in
the state guard for % years past. He
organized company Of Wisconsin in
fantry during the Spanish-American
war and served as its commander in
Porto Rico in 1898.
In 1917 when America got into the
World war Col. Mccoy went on re-
cruiting campaign throughout the
state. In each town visited he endeav-
ored to raise a company or at least
platoon. He finally organized Is COM
panies and later became their colon
Ell in the 4th Wisconsin regiment.
1t was during this time that he came
to Lancaster. The little old town up
in the hills had not fully awakened to
the fact that America was in war to
the death 1t was like lot OF other
sleepy little towns in this respect.
1t seemed that the little colonel came
Under the impression that the town
wanted company recruited. The er-
or was unintentional and unfortunate
but it made the colonel fighting mad.
What he said that night wouldn't do
to print 1t made some hard feelings
among the local people who proved
afterwards that they were just as
patriotic as anybody. And after
wards they forgot the sting of the
colonePs remarks and realized that
- hitf a onnA
he woke us up. One thing-someone
asked the colonel about enlisting in
the guards. The colonel was all
smiles. You mean the National
Guard?" well, no, meant the Home
Guard" The colonel's look Of disdain
was impolite but magnificent Il don't
know very much about the Home
Guard" he said and his tone implied
that the latter institution was q sort
of a wet-nurse affair. | want men
! for the National Guard" he said res
onantly. II want fighting men!"
The Colonel got his fighting men
/ and a good many of them came from
Lancaster and more from Platteville
and other points in the county They
were the Argonauts in the overseas
contingent the RainboWs from the
hills of Wisconsin. Some came back
and some didn't. Some sleep in France
and some are with us. Those who
came back don't talk much about war
they saw too much OF it.
During the war Colonel Mccoy
successfully commanded the 125th,
the 127th, the 128th regiments and for
period in the training area, the 107th
train. He took part in the Alsace de-
fensive, the Marre-Aisne offensive, the
Oise-Aisne offensive and other now
famous conflicts. On the Meuse-Ar
gonne, while in command of the 12Sth
infantry, he was decorated with the
French croix de guerre with the two
palms and the United States disting
uished service medal. While in Ger
many he was elected the first presi-
dent of the 32d division veterans as
sociation.
Finally the war was over althO the
| peace remains to be signed. and the
colonel and his boys came home. The
dapper and virile man who talked to
crowds in the recruiting campaign of
II had grown to be an old man. Wor-
nv and strain of war had done 1t, they
told us. It proved that commanding
officers lot in war is not an easy one.
Then the colonel ran for governor
on the democrat ticket and lots OF
good republicans voted for him. But
that's another story,as Kipling says
! Anyhow the little colonel is now
! brigadier general and no one
begrudges it to him.