Show a r 13 P r d s IA oak v W Z 4 K ARMY cos co s ome fi e X by ELMO SCOTT WATSON there was added y to the war collections of R r I 1 the national auf museum in the smithsonian institution in washington an exhibit that Is unique in strange contrast ra to the imposing array of trophies and other relics of the conflicts in wh which ich this nation tins has engaged Is the stuffed body of a scraggly pigeon with one leg and twisted out of shape yet it Is mute testimony to one of the die heroic deeds of the world war F for or this bird Is president wilson the most famous amous carrier pigeon of all that served ith the A E F and liero hero of la langmer tanu numer mert able long and dangerous nights flights during the world war it began at grand pre on the morning morale of november 5 1918 advance wits units ot of the americans were dismayed to find their communication lines dead radio failed too because of the overcrowded air at rampont rampant Ram pont 25 miles awall away was headquarters where staff officers anxiously awaited word from grand pre between the two points lay an inferno of fire and smoke shot and shell but there was no other way the all important message was In trusted to president wilson which was soon winging its way toward Ram rampant rampont Ra pont twenty five minutes later the pantin inc bird fluttered down in front of headquarters at rampont rampant Ram pont the message mei intact froni the torn ligaments of its wounded leg like many a human warrior president wilson had been safely through the lighting fighting from the start only to meet mishap with the armistice almost at band that was the faithful little flyers last time under fire nursed back to recovery president winon tor for the past eleven years has been an active member of the armi army pigeon loft at fort monmouth N J giving the younger birds valuable pointers in the art of message hearing bearing under war conditions dit ions lons death came blute quietly ely to the famous bird while asleep recently and the army decided to have the body stuffed and mou mounted an officer of the sigual signal corps accompanied it to the smithsonian institution where it Is now cow enshrined but even though taps have sounded for this liero bird there are still living others of his tribe whose records are nearly as remarkable visit fort monmouth MOD mouth between red bank and long branch N J today and you can see some of 09 them here you will III see most of tile the ta fa emous war birds which rendered such valiant service with the signal corps in n nance france ance among them those two veterans spike and mocker almost its as renowned as president wilson here also you will hee fee a number of captured german birds but perhaps most 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 so 0 o familiar to most americans americana that it needs no retelling een though the dome dame Is in a misnomer and most americans therefore have a wrong idea about it for major whittlesey s outfit never dever was really lost it was wag cut off or beleaguer ed but be that as it may the fact remains that had bad it not been for seven carrier pigeons which the commander of that devoted band sent out from time to time major whittlesey could not have sent word of his location back to his bis superior officers they could not have rendered him such aid as they did the germans probably would have wiped the detachment out of existence before help arrived and it would have been a lost battalion indeed it was wa during the push of the seventy seventh division in tile the argonne on october 2 that six compa les of the first sad aud second battalions of the three hundred aud and eighth in lantry fantry one company of tile the three hundred and seventh infantry tir and two sections from the three hundred and sixth machine gun battalion all consolidated soli dated under the command of MO maj charles IV whittlesey Whittle aey discovered that german forces were behind th them em and they were cut oft off from with the rear at a m enoc on october 3 major whittlesey sent gent his first pigeon with this message we are being shelled by german artillery can ie not have artillery support sup fire Is coming from northwest at vari w 41 i q pr resident M bunted Y J decock ous oas intervals that day be sent mes sages by pigeon keeping ketil ng his regimental commander informed of developments by the morning of october 4 he had bad only two pigeons left and about eleven he sent one of these with a message telling of th growing seriousness of the situation to for the detachment that afternoon the american artillery started to lay jay down a barrage but bul instead of falling upon the enemy it rained shell bud and shrapnel upon the beleaguered beleaguer ed detachment then out of that inferno of noise dust and con fusion hew flew last pigeon late that evening a soldier in charge of the pigeon cote at division head quarters came upon a pigeon blinded in one eye by scattered shot and standing upon on one leg the other le leg 9 was almost severed and attached to the dangling leg lee was the pellet containing this me message esage we are along the road paralleled 2704 our own artillery Is dropping a barrage direct ly on us for heavens sake stop it immediately the barrage lifted and men were no longer swept by the fire alre of their own artillery 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 L skirmishes and being wounded in three of them old abe was captured by an indian chief sky shy on the ban banks Is of 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 and which became company C of the eighth wisconsin regiment when it went into camp at madison there captain perkins of company C named him old abe la in honor of the president a standard was made for him and he was carried beside the regimental flag when the regiment went into action old abe gave evidence of the wild wt est delight in the smoke and roar of battle spreading ills big wings he would jump up bp and down oo on his perch uttering wild and piercing cing screams which could be clearly heard above the noises of the conflict but tills this berserker spirit was wag not the only evidence of old abes being a true soldier if we are to believe tile the stories that have been told lold of him before he lad bad been a year in tile the service he would give heed to the commands of the officers on parade or when preparations for a march began of ills his military habits one chronicler has bus written with his hend head obliquely to the front ills right eye turned upon tin tho commander he would listen and obey orders noting time carefully after parade bad been dismissed and the ranks were being closed by the sergeant he would lay aside his soldierly manner flap his bis wings loll 1011 about find and make himself at home generally when there was an order to furm form for battle he and the colors were the first upon the line ills hl actions upon those oce occasions lons were uneasy he would turn his head anxiously from right to left looking to see when the title line was completed As soon us as tile the 1 regiment got ready faced and began to march be would assumes aas umea steady sten dy and quiet demeanor he could always be seen a little above the heads of the soldiers cloe cloae by the flag that position of honor was never disallowed wed him at the battle of farmington may 9 1802 the men were ordered to lie yown down on the ground the instant they did so go old abe flew from his bis perch lie he insisted upon being protected as well as they and flattened himself on the ground remaining there until the men rose roge when with outspread wings wing lie he flew back to tile his place of peril and held it until the close of the contest at tile 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 ihan the whole hole brigade 1 I it Is of old abes conduct at this same battle of corinth that another historian writes the regiment to Is in mowers brigade and old abe Is on ills perch looking out over the scene cannon are thundering around him there are long rolls of musketry the air Is thick with bullets from the fank dank comes a tearful fearful volley enfilading the line cutting down scores ot of men nd ind severing the cord which holds old abe to the staff ile he naps flaps his wings ases above the two armies circles out ver the confederates then back again to his friends and lights once more on his perch the regiment Is I 1 in retreat and old abe goes with it to be in a score deore of battles and to come out of them all unharmed almost as renowned as old abe of the civil war in our national tradition is a a game cock which enjoyed a brief moment of fame during the war of 1812 in 1814 thomas macdonough was placed in charge of a small american fleet on lake champlain 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 his alg flagship the contance Con nance flance attempted to break the american line but was met by a devastating fire from the alie saratoga flagship thereupon the battle resolved itself into a sort of a duel between the two flagships both of which dropped an chor and at a distance of yards from each other prepared to shoot tt it out the first broadside from the confiance Con fiance flance which had heavier guns guna than the saratoga all but wrecked the american vessel 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 board ship tire saratoga flew up upon a cun aun lapping flapping his wings he gave a crow of de defiance flance that rang like the th blast of a trumpet swinging their hats men cheered the plucky bird again and again he had foretold victory that was wa enough they went into the fight with such ardor and managed their vessels with such baril that in less than three hours all of the british ships that had not hauled down their flags were scudding studding scud ding to a place of safety as rapidly as pox pos bible cyrus townsend brady gives a slightly less theatrical version of tin tile incident pe be says it has been fondly noted by various writers that the first terrible lb roadside of the it mashed a chicken coop on one of the american vessels thus liberating a game cock which sprang into the rigging and with lusty crowing encouraged the cheering crews inasmuch Inn as nearly every writer puts the chicken in a different ship it Is sate safe to conclude that there must have hare been one chicken there nod and the incident ably did occur at any rate it if it wil was 3 fin an american chicken it would ly IY 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 be stained their ow own blood while with his big own lips in the familiar words of the book of common prayer the young commander invoked the protection of the go god of battles for or the coming conflict a rare and memorable scene inde indeed edi I 1 spears the naval historian in corn coin upon these two incidents denta says with all due respect to religion that for the purpose of rousing thir th seamen a rooster to in the rigging li it worth more ore than a dozen prayers 0 oil the quarter deck |