Subsequent instructions from the War Department modified this arrangement by providing that a detachment of Coast Artillery candidates should be withdrawn from each of the sixteen training regiments after the first period. A letter from the Adjutant General of the Army, June 1, 1917 is as follows: "1. To conform to the changes in organization, armament and training found necessary with reference to the National Army to be raised under the Act of Congress approved May 18, 1917, the instructions heretofore issued from this office relative to the organization of provisional training regiments at training camps are modified as follows: "Before or at the conclusion of the 'First Period' (June 15) the reserve officers and candidates of each training regiment who are to be retained for 'Second Period' instruction will be assigned finally to organizations as follows: "(e) Coast Artillery contigent. See Paragraph 4. "4. Contingents consisting of reserve officers of Coast Artillery and candidates for commissions in that arm will be selected in time to be sent to new camps as indicated below, leaving their camps June 16, or the evening of June 15, 1917. "Coast Artillery officers of the Regular Army heretofore detailed as instructors at training camps from which any of the above contingents are drawn will accompany such contingents and will report to the commanding officer at their destination for temporary duty as instructors. "The Commanding Officer of the Coast Defenses of Chesapeake Bay will be the Commanding Officer of the Coast Artillery training camp hereby established at Fort Monroe. The Commanding Officer of the Coast Defenses of San Francisco will be the Commanding Officer of the Coast Artillery Training camp hereby established at Fort Winfield Scott. Each commanding officer will appoint a suitable staff and corps of instructors. The duties of Commanding officer, staff officers, and instructors will be in all respects the same as prescribed for commanding officers or corresponding officers of the present training camps. "In selecting contingents to be transferred to Coast Artillery training camps, commanding officers will take into consideration the fact that the Coast Artillery requires reserve officers for seacoast guns, mortars, and mines; also railroad artillery and heavy seige artillery to be organized as tactical units for use in the European theater of war." WHAT WAS THE COAST ARTILLERY TO DO? The decision to use the coast artillery mobile batteries in France, indicated in the final paragraph just quoted, had not been arrived at immediately upon the declaration of war. There was a period of considerable doubt as to the rôle of the Corps in the war, and it is said that the emphatic advice of the French Commission played a large part in determining the policy of the War Department in this particular. A letter dated so late as May 1, 1917, from the office of the Chief of Coast Artillery to the Commandant of the Training Camp, read as follows: "The course prescribed for the candidates for temporary commissions and the course for those who are candidates for commissions in the Officers' Reserve Corps should be such as to train them for their general duties as Coast Artillery officers. That would include not only the manning of the seacoast guns now emplaced, but also any railroad mounts which might be required in the future. "It is impossible to state at this time what action the Secretary will take with reference to the sending of Coast Artillery troops as such overseas. There is little doubt, however, that the Coast Artillery officers and enlisted men may be called upon for any duties for which the United States needs them, and I believe that a good proportion of the Coast Artillery officers will be detached for service with field artillery or that the Coast Artillery units may be required for manning some of the heavy artillery for use in Europe. It is very difficult to give any definite information at the present time, because policies are changing frequently during the process of forming the permanent policies." Though the decision to use the Coast Artillery to man heavy artillery in France was made before June, the definite statement of the policy to be followed came later. It was made in the form of an indorsement from the War Department, A. G. O., July 14, 1917, to the Chief of Coast Artillery. In part it follows: "1. During the present war all oversea fortifications and all mine defenses in the United States will be manned by the regular coast artillery. "2. The National Guard coast artillery, when drafted into the Service of the United States, will be employed for the present, in manning the gun defenses of the fortifications within the United States. "3. The remaining enlisted personnel of the regular coast artillery (deducting personnel specified in paragraph 1 above, and that for the railway brigade already authorized), together with the necessary number of officers, will be organized into provisional regiments of coast artillery for service as field artillery during the war, and as far as practicable the regiments will be equipped with guns and howitzers of 6-inch and larger calibers, heavy railway artillery, anti-aircraft guns, etc., and employed in supplementing the regular field artillery. "4. The necessary steps will be taken to organize 9 provisional regiments of coast artillery for service as field artillery, as soon as the new tables of organization, now being prepared, are issued and the Chief of Coast Artillery will submit complete plans, including lists of personnel, etc., for these organizations. "5. Until better material is available, such land defense cannon now assigned to coast defense commands, will be utilized in connection with the training of these provisional regiments and will be sufficient for the purpose. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: J. T. DEAN, 2207 |