On Wednesday, August 15 the period of instruction for the Reserve Officers Training Corps conducted by the University since last spring was brought to a close by appropriate exercises in Sanders Theatre. Although the War Department found it impossible for reasons technical and otherwise to officially recognize the Corps by giving commissions at that time to those men qualified to receive them, the success and value of the work accomplished has been acknowledged not only by the unofficial statements of Generals Wood, Edwards, Hoyle, Johnson, and McCain, and Secretary Baker, but also by the attitude of the Government towards the men who completed the course. In spite of the fact that the general rule for the examining boards of the Second Officers' Training Camps was to accept no men under 31 years of age, a special order from the Adjutant General to these boards required that serious consideration be given to all R. O. T. C. applicants for admission; the result was that all members of the Corps who applied and who were physically fit and older than 20 years and nine months were, with few exceptions, accepted. Over a hundred others successfully passed the examinations for provisional second lieutenancies in the regular army. The rest of the men, though at present not in the service, are in a position to advance rapidly when they become of age.
Probably the greatest recognition by the Government of the value of the training was shown by the fact that 550 Reserve Officers were ordered to Cambridge on August 19 for a three weeks course of training under the officers of the French Mission. This period was later extended to September 15, at which time the officers received orders to report at their respective divisional cantonments where they will in turn act as instructors in French tactics.
1139 Undergraduates in Corps.
The final report of Professor C. N. Greenough '98, the Aide for Assignments, shows that the total enrolment of the Corps between February and August was 1885. Of this number 1139 were undergraduates in the University, 209 were graduate students, and 100 were University alumni, making a total of 1448 Harvard men. In addition there were 290 men from other colleges and universities and 147 non-college men. The class of 1920 led the undergraduate enrolment with 300 men. An abstract of the statistics follows:
623 Men Discharged During Training.
During the period of training 623 men were discharged to enter the federal service and the first series of Officers' Training Camps. These men were divided as follows:
The remainder of the discharges were made for business or physical reasons, or on account of parental objection.
Intensive Work Began May 7.
On Monday, May 7, the period of intensive training began. Previous to that time drill had been held nine hours a week. For a month the work consisted of close and open order drill, gallery practice, and bayonet instruction under the supervision of Captains Cordier, Shannon and Bowen, and Sergeants Bender, Boyd, Brown, Kennedy and Lynch of the regular army. Gradually the officers of the French Mission--Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Azan, Major de Reviers de Mauny, Captain Adolph Dupont, Lieutenant Andre Morize, and Lieutenant Jean Giraudoux--took the regiment in hand and began the instruction in French open order formations and tactics of defense and attack. There was begun the valuable series of lectures which extended through the course, treating in turn such various important phases of modern warfare as the grenade, the automatic rifle, the machine gun, field fortifications, trench routine, principles of infantry in modern combat, and the role of the high command.
On June third the first battalion marched to Wakefield where for a week they camped on the range, and were put through a course in rifle firing. Their place was taken the following week by the second battalion, which in turn was relieved by the third. At the conclusion of the academic year on June 25 the companies moved into barracks in the Freshman Dormitories. Captains Cordier and Bowen and also the regular non-commissioned officers were at this time ordered away from Cambridge by the War Department, but the French officers and Captain Shannon remained. During the month in barracks the time was taken up with maneuvers on Soldiers Field, military map sketching, trench construction at Fresh Pond, and combat exercises at Waverly and elsewhere. Section meetings in the mornings and afternoon were devoted to the study of the Infantry Drill Regulations, the Field Service Regulations, the Small Arms Firing Manual, Bjornstad's "Minor Problems for Infantry," and map sketching. Lectures by the French officers continued; in addition Dr. E. A. Darling '90 lectures on first aid and Major Eugene Wambaugh '76 on military law. Three Weeks Camp at Barre. On the 23rd of July the command proceeded by train to Barre, Mass., where three weeks were spent in camp. Wall tents were secured from the National Guard for the staff and company officers, but the rank and file live in shelter tents. The weather was fortunately dry and little inconvenience was experienced. Maneuvers under the French Officers were held throughout the period of the encampment, by night as well as during the day. Due to the improvement in the organization and discipline of the companies as well as to the character of the terrain around Barre, these exercises were made the most instructive feature of the course. Map sketching continued under Professor J. E. Wolfe and his assistants, and Captain Leslaby, the University fencing coach, was in charge of the bayonet work. The return trip to Cambridge was made on Saturday, August 11, and on the following Wednesday the closing exercises were held in Sanders Theatre. Addresses were made by President Lowell, Lieutenant Colonel Azan and Captain Shannon; the certificates of attendance were distributed to the company commanders for distribution, and the men were dismissed. Although the instruction given by the French Mission, their interest and zeal in the work and their skill in conducting the exercises were responsible for the great success of the R. O. T. C., no less credit is due to Captain James A. Shannon, who was in charge of the regiment for the greater part of the three months. Less known to the University at large, but hardly less deserving, was the part played by Major Theodore Lyman '93 in handling the finances of the Corps. Had it not been for his work at several critical periods in the earlier part of the year it is doubtful if the training could have been carried through the summer. In the end, however, the credit for the results obtained by the Reserve Officers Training Corps belongs to President Lowell, whose foresight in asking the French Government on the day when diplomatic relations were broken off with Germany to send officers to this country to train prospective American platoon leaders and captains not only gave the Corps the benefit of the only modern instruction in the country at the time, but also brought the value of this form of training to the attention of the Government
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