Show e r ro ess d V nipa LIE r old 4 ARMY COP militar LJ abell y 5 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON L there was added to the war collections of R the national museum in the onlan institution in washington an exhibit that Is unique u in strange contrast to the imposing array of trophies and other relies relics of tile the N conflicts in which this na jj tion lias has engaged Is the stunted body of a sera scraggly tailed pigeon with one leg shattered red and twisted out of shape yet it Is mute testimony to one of the heroic deeds of the world war vor for this bird la Is president wilson the most famous carrier pigeon of all that served with the A E F and hero of innumerable ki numer long and dangerous flights during the world war it begun began at grand pre on oil the morning of november no Noi ember 5 1918 1913 advance malts of the americans were dismayed to find end their coan alloa I 1 lines ines dead radio failed too because of the overcrowded air at rampant rampont Kam pont 05 25 D miles 1 1 e s ast away was headquarters where abi e staff a 1 t officers anxiously noxiously awaited word from grand pre between tile lie two points lay an In inferno ferrio or of tire and smoke shot and shell cut but there was no other way the all important message was In trusted to president kisr riison n which aich was soon winging its aay ay toward rampant rampont Kam Ram pont twenty five minutes later inter the pant lug ing bird fluttered down lit in front of headquarters ut at Kao Itam pont the message intact dangling front from the torn tom ligaments of its leg L like ak e many a human canior wari or preside wilson had been safely through iti rough the fighting from the stait only to meet mishap with the armistice almost at hand that tb 11 t was the faithful little flyers last time under fire nursed back to st tre recovery covery IT resident jes ident winon wilson for the sev seven even airs hns has been an active et t cestr r of the aruby pigeon loft at 51 1 monmouth N J giving the 11 byr bir birds valuable pointers in the bearing under war con on ori I 1 death came quietly to the faits a abird bird while asleep recently and th theldis decided to have the body stu d and mounted an officer of the signal corps accompanied it to the smithsonian institution where it Is now enshrined but even though taps have sounded for this hero bird there are still living others of his tribe whose records are nearly as remarkable remar lible visit fort monmouth SIon mouth between red bank and long branch N J today and you can see some of them here you will see most of the famous war birds which rendered such valiant service with the signal corps in france among alioa them those two vet erans spike and llor ker almost as renowned as president wilson here also you ft ill bee it a number cumber of captured german birds but perhaps post interesting of all are the various pigeons which played an important role in the operations of the famous lost battalion the story of the lost battalion Is go familiar to most americans that it needs no retelling even though the name Is a misnomer and most amer icons therefore have a wrong idea about it for major out fit never wa was s really lost it was cut ott oft or bial beleaguered beleaguer eague red ed but be that as it may tile fact re mallis ti that bat had ha lt it not been tor for seven carrier pigeons which the commander of that devoted tand band sent out from time to time major whittlesey could not have sent yord word of his location back to hla his su officers they could not have rendered him such aid as they did the germans probably would have wiped die detachment out of existence before help arrived and it would have battalion indeed been a lost etwas it will s during the bubb of the 80 division in the ar janne OH october 2 that six compa sail aad second elds 1 11 I s ottlie first of the three hundred undred Il and eighth in fantry one company of the three hundred and seventh infanti rind und two see three hundred and from the sixth machine mac line gun battalion all wn con toll soil dated under the command colella cO lulla nil of maj churles charles W whittlesey Whittie sey disco V acied that behind them and german forces wee they were vere cut off flom communication with the rear at 80 8 GO a in on october 3 major whittlesey sent his first with this message we e are be pigeon shelled by GP german brillan artillery can ing ve artillery support hie fire we 11 at varl Is coming coul from tro northwest 4 y e gli aade cocy ous intervals that day he sent mes sages by pigeon keeping ills his regiment al commander informed of developments cy by the morning of october 4 lie he had only two pigeons left and about eleven he be sent one of these with a message telling of the growing seriousness of the situation for the detachment that afternoon the american artillery started to lay down a barrage but instead of falling upon the enemy it rained shell nid and shrapnel upon the beleaguer ed detachment detach ment then out of that inferno of noise dust and con fusion flew last pigeon late that evening a soldier in charge of the pigeon cote at head qu aiters came upon a pigeon blinded in n one eye by scattered shot and standing upon one on leg the other leg was almost severed and attached ti te the dangled dang din gling LID leg was the pellet containing calnin g this Pies message pressage sage we are alon along 9 the road paralleled 2764 1 our own artillery Is dron dropping ping a barrage direct ly on us for heavens sake stop it immediately the barrage lifted and men were no louger longer swept by tile the ire fire of their own artillery artI lIer Y A war bird of another type and more picturesque perhaps than these feathered veterans of the world war was the famous eagle old abe which served through three years of the civil war with a wisconsin regiment taking part in 22 battles and 30 skirmishes and being wounded in three of them thein old abe was captured by an indian chief sky on the banks of tile the flambeau river in northern wisconsin in 1801 the indian sold the bird and finally it came into possession of a company which was formed at eau claire ond arid which became company C of tile the eighth wisconsin regiment when it went into camp at madison there captain perkins of company C named him old abe lit in honor of the Prod president dent a standard was made tor for him and he was carried beside the regimental flag when the regiment went into action old abe gave evidence of the wild est delight in the smoke and roar of battle spreading his wings lie he would jump up and down on his perch uttering wild and piercing screams which could be clearly heard above the noises of the conflict but this berserker spirit was not the only evidence of old abes being a true soldier it if we tire are to believe the stories that have been told of him bim before he had been a year in the service he would give heed to the commands of the officers on pa rude or when preparations for a march began of his military habits one chronicler has written with his bis head obliquely to tile the front his bis right eye turned upon the commander he would listen and obey orders noting time carefully after parade had been dismissed and the ranks were being closed by the sergeant lie would lay aside his soldierly nin manner flap his wings loll 1011 about and make inake himself at home generally when there was an order to form tor for battle he and tile the colors were the first upon the line ills his actions upon those occasions were uneasy he would turn ills head anxiously from right to left lucking looking to see when the line was completed As soon as the re regiment ament got ready faced and began to march he would assume a steady and quiet demeanor lie ile could always be seen a little aboe the heads of the soldiers ol illers close by the hag flag that position of honor was never disallowed him at tile the battle of farmie farmington ton may hay 9 the wen inen were ordered to lie ile don down n on the gi ground aund the instant they did so old abe llew flew from his perch ile he Ins insisted sted upon being protected as well as they and flattened himself on the ground there until the men rose when with outspread wings X resident wibora Wil sori mounted ted he flew buck back to his place of peril and held it until the close of the contest at the battle of corinth the confederate general price discovered him and ordered his men to take him if they could not kill him adding that he would rather rapture capture that bird than ihan the whole brigade it Is of old abes abee conduct at this came same battle of corinth that another historian writes the regiment Is in 11 mowers brigade and old abe Is on perch looking out over the scene cannon are thundering around him there are long iong rolls of musketry the air is thick with bullets from the fank comes a fearful volley enfilading the lie line cutting down scores of men and nd severing the cord which holds old abe to the staff lie he flaps his bis wings uses aises above the two armies circles out ver the confederates then back again to Ms his friends and II 11 lights abts once more on ills perch the regiment Is in retreat ind and old abe goes with it to be in a score of battles and to come out of them all unharmed almost as reno renowned ined as old abe of the chil war in our national tradition Is s a game cock which enjoyed a brief moment of tame fame during the war of in 1814 thomas mac bloc donough was placed in charge barge of a 8 mall american fleet on lake chain plain to resist a strong british fleet which was moving down the lake to attack northern new york on the morning of september 11 the british attacked the americans in plattsburgh Platts burgh bay at the beginning commodore downie the british commander on ills his flag flagship hip the confiance Con fiance flance attempted to break the american title line but was met by a devastating fire ere from the saratoga tog a flagship thereupon the battle resolved itself into a sort of a duel due between the two flagships both of which dropped an hor and at a distance of yards from each other prepared to shoot it out the first broadside from the Con flance aich chich had heavier guns that than tile the saratoga all but wrecked the american vessel put but it did something else according to one of our school histories at the first broadside fired by the enemy a young game cock kept us as a pet on hoard board ship the saratoga flew up upon a gun flapping his wings he gave a crow of delance defiance that rang like the blast of a trumpet swinging their hats men cheered the plucky bird again and again ne ere had bad foretold victory that was enough they went into the light fight with such ardor and inan managed aged their vessels with nith such skill that in less than three hours all of the british ships that had not hauled down doii their rags flags were scudding studding scud ding to a place pince of safety as rapidly as possible cyrus townsend brady gives a slightly less theatrical version of the incident lie he says it has been fondly noted by various writers that the first terrible broadside of the confiance Con fiance flance smashed a chicken coop on one of the american vessels thus liberating a game cock which sprang into the rigging and with lusty crowing enczur aged the cheering crews inasmuch as nearly every writer puts the chicken lu in a dil different ship it Is safe to conclude that there must have been one chicken there and the incident ably did occur at any rate if it was an american chicken it would certainly crow upon being made free before the battle began macdon ough bade his waiting crews to prayer there at their stations with bowed heads they knelt down upon the white decks soon to lie be stained with their own blood while with ills his own lips in the fa familiar millar words of the book of common prayer the young commile der invoked the protection of the god of battles Patt les for the coming conflict al a rare and memorable scene indeed spears the naval historian in corn meriting enting in upon those two incidents says with nil all due respect to religion that for tile the purpose of rousing tile th seamen ft a rooster roaster in n the rigging it i worth more than a dozen on an the quarter deck i |