Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/182

 THE United States of America need fear no war. If the sacred soil of that Nation is threatened with invasion, or her glorious name and honor defamed, a million men will spring to arms overnight to overthrow^ the most pow^erful and designing of invaders. Why be afraid? Have the armies of America ever been defeated by a foreign foe?

Shortly after the Civil War the germ of such reasoning took root and, as the country prospered, the more deeply did it become imbedded. Nor did the Spanish-American War halt this train of thought. It seemed to convince a multitude that the United States could subdue a great European aggressor w^ith a negligible amount of sacrifice and expense.

Then came August 14, 1914. The laws of humanity violated, the honor of treaties destroyed, and Europe plunged in blood. America stood aghast.

The months dragged on. The w^ar progressed. Its scope increased. Country after country became involved. The fact that, by the end of the year 1916, the United States had not entered the conflict w^as in itself lament- able in the estimation of honor-loving Americans, although not so inexcusably tragic as the refusal as a nation to take steps on a large scale for preparation in order to be ready w^hen the fatal day arrived.

The War Department chafed under the situation. They knew only too w^ell the difficulties ahead if war should come. They had extensive plans, but lacked the authority to carry them out. True, thanks to the untiring efforts of General Leonard Wood, training camps for college students w^ere inaugu- rated during the summer of 1913. These camps were so successful that similar instruction was given each succeeding summer through the year 1916, not only for college men, but for business men as w^ell. These camps w^ere responsible for the enthusiasm of the men w^ho established military instruc- tion in various universities, such as the formation of a Battalion of Field Artillery at Yale, and an Infantry Regiment at Harvard. Desire for prepared- ness alike spurred on the National Guard, an especial example of which w^as the development of the First Illinois Field Artillery and the First Cavalry of New York.

In 1916 came the Mexican trouble w^hich sidetracked temporarily interest in the European struggle but proved to be of benefit in exposing our deplor- able state of unpreparedness and in affording field training to the Regular Army, National Guard and some college organizations belonging to the National Guard.

The Mexican crisis passed in the Fall of 1916. Europe again became the point of interest. Germany, realizing our unpreparedness and imagining that we would never aw^ake, became bolder, extending her submarine warfare and paying scant attention to numerous presidential notes. The sinking of the "Lusitania" on May 7, 1915, was the turning point. How could the United States avoid w^ar w^ith honor after that? The answer to the tragedy

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