Securing the Homeland, 1917-1918

During the Mexican Border Crisis of 1916, several states had invoked provisions of the National Defense Act of 1916 that provided authority to organize “state police or Constabulary.”  These were usually built around elements of the National Guard that had not been called into federal service, such as coast artillery units.  These forces worked out quite well.  As a result, when the U.S. moved toward a declaration of war against Germany, several states laid plans to form a temporary militia for service during the war.   When war came, on April 6, 1917, these states began implementing their plans as their National Guardsmen began entering federal service.  Altogether about half of the 48 states, and several of the territories, raised a home defense force.  Totaling about 100,000 men, these forces bore different names in different states, but have generally come to be known as “State Guard” or “State Defense Forces”.   

Recruited from men ineligible for military service by reason of age (too young or too old for the draft), moderate disability, or special exemption, most state guard forces were built around a cadre of old soldiers who were no longer fit for overseas service.  They served in much the same way as the National Guard did in peacetime, performing periodic training and being called up occasionally for special for duty.  But in New York, some of these troops performed almost full-time service.

The “New York Guard”, largest of the state guard forces, was authorized in April of 1917, and formally activated on August 3, 1917.  It reached a strength of 25 regiments and separate battalions (totaling some 20,000 men) distributed among four infantry brigades, an artillery brigade, a cavalry regiment, and supporting services. Three regiments of coast artillerymen served as infantry as needed.  Though most units were built around cadres of National Guardsmen, old soldiers, or members of The Veteran Corps of Artillery, an Historic Military Command, the bulk of the troops were new recruits.

On July 30, 1916, a bombing of Black Tom Island, New Jersey killed seven and injured hundreds and caused $22 million in damage to shipping, rail lines, cargo, and the Statue of Liberty. Blamed on German saboteurs (which was confirmed, post war), the bombing created fears that enemy agents could attack some of the state’s vital installations, notably the Erie Canal and the New York City water supply system.  As a result, in August of 1917, the state decided to activate two “provisional” regiments to provide full-time security for these facilities.

• The 1st Provisional Regiment guarded the New York City water system.  This involved the complex of 267 vital installations -- reservoirs, pumping stations, water tunnels, gate valves, bridges, dams -- that stretched from the city over 150 miles into the heart of the state. 
• The 2^nd Provisional Regiment guarded the Erie Canal and the State Barge Canal between Albany and Niagara Falls, vital waterways for the movement of goods and materials between the Great Lakes and the port of New York, as well as railroad lines, bridges, and power plants across the upstate region.

These regiments (each consisting of 1250 men and officers, later increased to 1500) were built around a permanent cadre of experienced old soldiers with the balance of the personnel being filled by drafts on the other units of the NYG.  Troops would serve tours of several weeks with one of the regiments, and then rotate back to their home stations.   

Although promptly taking over from the National Guard beginning on August 10, 1917, the regiments faced many problems.  Equipment was in desperately short supply, as the National Guard had cleaned out the state's stockpiles.  Even the cots supplied to the men turned out to be more suitable for cub scouts than adults.  At first the only machine guns were Colts, while many men were initially issued the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, both dating from the Spanish-American War. Some even toted the .45 caliber "trap door" Springfield, originally introduced shortly after the Civil War.  Far more serious, as far as the troops were concerned, was that the state did issue their first paychecks until September 24^th.

As time passed these deficiencies were resolved.  For example, the troops were issued modern Russian-model Remington rifles or the army's standard Springfield '03.  As they settled into their duties, the two regiments became rather proficient, each developing its own military culture.  The 1^st Provisional, for example, had a bull dog for a mascot, a regimental march, a newspaper, and so forth. The First also had 550 summary courts martial and 25 general courts for infractions of regulations, including one man sentenced to 14 months hard labor for negligently shooting a teenager.

During the 19 months that the regiments were on duty, although there were no proven cases of sabotage, there were two serious incidents involving the discovery of explosives: a considerable cache of dynamite in one case and some vials of nitroglycerine found near the aqueduct in the other.  NYG personnel who were New York City police detectives investigated the incidents and determined only that the explosives had not been mislaid by any of the construction companies who had recently been working on the aqueduct.  It thus seems likely that the explosives had been cached by German saboteurs, anarchists, or some locals with a grudge against the New York City Water Board, which had exercised broad powers during the construction of the water system, at times condemning entire villages. 

Although the men who served with the regiments did not face hostile forces, they often endured considerable hardship. In addition to standing guard on isolated posts through an upstate New York winter, they suffered through the "Spanish Influenza" pandemic of 1918-1919, during which about 9 percent of the troops ended up on sick call, roughly double the normal winter disease rate.  The death rate from disease in the 1^st Regiment was 30 from the flu and three from other illnesses, totaling about 2.5 percent of personnel (which was roughly "normal" for a stateside unit hit by the epidemic).  There were also three dead in firearms accidents, one in a railroad accident, and one by suicide.

The Armistice of November 11, 1918, brought the need for the NYG to an end.  The two provisional regiments were stood down on February 1, 1919, while the NYG was officially disbanded on January 16, 1923, not to be revived until July 10, 1940, when the National Guard was called up for an even greater emergency.

Shortly after the end of World War I, the Aqueduct Guard Citizens' Committee, which had been formed to provide support to the 1^st Provisional Regiment, arranged for a monument to be erected at Sleepy Hollow to the memory of those who had died while on active duty.  A memorial service is held each year to commemorate their sacrifice.

"The Sleepy Queen’s"

For many years the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot was nicknamed the “Sleepy Queen’s Royal Regiment.”

This curious nickname came about as a result of the escape of the French garrison from Almeida, Spain, on the night of May 10-11, 1811, of which we once took note in ". . . There is Nothing on Earth So Stupid as a Gallant Officer", back in April of 2009.

Despite allowing the French to escape, the men of the Queen’s Regiment, as well as those of the 4^th and 36^th Foot (all of whom had been tasked with keeping the enemy bottled up) had laid on an impressive pursuit, even abandoning much equipment in order to lighten their burdens. They actually managed to catch up with the French, albeit just as the latter were crossing the River Puerco into the safety of Marshal Massena’s army.

News of this untoward development was brought to Lt. Gen. Thomas Picton by an Irish officer.  Picton, who had a fiery temper, bellowed, “What the devil were the 2^nd doing?”

“Faith,” replied the Irishman, “I suppose they were asleep.”

“Asleep!  What, then, was the 36^th about?”

“Devil a one can tell, but maybe they were watching the 2^nd, for fear somebody would waken them.”