Throughout the wars of the Republic, it has been a tradition that the New England troops are always among the first on the scene of action, that they hold their own with the regiments of other sections of the country. Whether it be the Minute Men at Concord, the Volunteers of Putnam and Warren at Bunker Hill, or the 2nd Massachusetts breaking its way through Baltimore to the defense of Washington in 1861, the New England men have been called upon among the first, and have answered that call with readiness and valor. And in this war the tradition has been more than fulfilled.

The New England men of the Twenty-Sixth Division were the first of the National Army to leave the United States; they fought at Chateau Thierry, St. Mihiel, in The Argonne and in countless skirmishes; they won more decorations than any other National Guard Division.

In 1916 regular army officers were agreed that there were only two National Guard "Outfits" equal to the regulars. These were Battery A of Boston and Battery A of Providence, and both of them are in the Twenty-Sixth Division.

There are few of us who regard our friends of the Twenty-Sixth without a certain degree of envy. What are the rigors of a western army post, the monotony of a southern training camp to what these men have seen? Harvard University will do its best to extend to the Twenty-Sixth Division, and the Harvard men in it, a welcome worthy of its achievements.