by Theo Emery
Though the work: Letter from Maurer to Powell, Mar. 2, 1919.
“Washington was the gathering place”: Ibid.
One of the substances: “Dangers in the Manufacture of Paris Green and Scheele’s Green,” Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 5, no. 2. (Aug. 1917): 79.
Members of his unit: “Camp AU Scene of World War Training Trenches, Drill Field,” (AU) Eagle, Jan. 15, 1965, 6.
Will was grateful: Letter from Maurer to Powell, Mar. 2, 1919.
One morning in late June: “Loses Foot by Bomb: Surgeons Operate on One of Two Soldiers Hurt at University Camp,” Washington Post, July 1, 1918, 12.
A man named George Temple: (AU) Eagle, Jan. 15, 1965.
The ever-increasing number: Chemical Control of Man Tests, Aug. 15, 1918, USACE, Spring Valley–Baltimore District, Project C03DC0918.
With the organization: Minutes of the 8th meeting of the Medical Advisory Board, July 23, 1918, Frank P. Underhill Papers, numbered folders 80–106, group no. 514, box no. 6, Yale University Library Manuscript Collections.
One of the most recent: Dr. Warthin was an internationally renowned pathologist whose early groundbreaking research into cancer provided the foundation for future study of hereditary cancer.
As the doctors approached: Minutes of the 8th meeting of the Medical Advisory Board, July 23, 1918, Frank P. Underhill Papers, numbered folders 80–106, group no. 514, box no. 6, Yale University Library Manuscript Collections.
Over the fall: Bancroft, History of the Chemical Warfare Service, 229.
The work in gas plants: Memorandum from Gen. William Sibert to Chief of Staff Peyton March, Aug. 2, 1918, War Department, General Correspondence, Office of Chief, 1918–1940, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 459, NACP.
Johns Hopkins physiologist: Minutes of the Medical Advisory Board, July 23, 1918, appendix 2b, Frank P. Underhill Papers, numbered folders 80–106, group no. 514, box no. 6, Yale University Library Manuscript Collections.
The exasperated camp surgeon: Memorandum from surgeon, Experiment Station, American University, DC to Surgeon General, Sept. 28, 1918, USACE.
In either case: Letter from George Burrell to A. Bruce Bielaski, Mr. Richmond Levering, July 20, 1918, Investigative Case Files of the BOI, 1908–1922, NARA M1085, OGF, 1909–21, case no. 8000-97452, roll 473, NACP.
A former U.S. attorney: Letter from H. Snowden Marshall to Benedict Crowell, July 26, 1918, Investigative Case Files of the BOI, 1908–1922, NARA M1085, OGF, 1909–21, case no. 8000-97452, roll 473, NACP.
Levering moved from Manhattan: U.S. city directory, Washington, District of Columbia, 1919, 918.
There were still problems: Memorandum from L. G. Wesson to Major E. E. Free, Oct. 29, 1918, CWS Correspondence, 1918–1940, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 448, NACP.
New rules required all visitors: Circular letter to the chief of all divisions under the jurisdiction of the Director of CWS, Sept. 26, 1918, Gas Defense Production Division: subject file 1917–19, CWS, RG 175, finding aid NM-38, entry 4-K, NACP.
“disloyal persons”: Letter from Executive Officer, Research Division, to Catholic University, DC, Sept. 24, 1918, Gas Defense Production Division: subject file 1917–19, CWS, RG 175, finding aid NM-38, entry 4-K, NACP.
“We write no reports”: Memorandum from W. L. Lewis to Safety Engineer, Cath. Univ. Annex, Am. Univ. Exp. Sta., Washington, DC, Oct. 16, 1918, Technical Document Files, 1917–1920, Reports, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 8, box 4, NACP.
On July 4: Progress report from Bruce Silver to Richmond Levering for July 4–14, 1918, 1, Investigative Case Files of the BOI, 1908–1922, NARA M1085, OGF, 1909–21, case no. 8000-925, roll 279, NACP.
“Scheele for a period”: Letter from Charles DeWoody to A. Bruce Bielaski, Aug. 6, 1918, Investigative Case Files of the BOI, 1908–1922, NARA M1085, OGF, 1909–21, case no. 8000-925, roll 279, NACP.
After the meeting: Frank O’Donnell report for Aug. 3, 1918, written Aug. 15, 1918, Protection at Jones Point, NY.
On July 16: Memorandum from Surgeon General to Major General William Sibert, Transfer of Plants and Station, Gas Defense Service, July 16, 1918, Records of the CWS, RG 175, Technical Document Files, 1917–1920, finding aid PI-8, entry 8, box 6, NACP.
In Long Island City: Memorandum from H. N. Davis to Lieutenant Colonel R. A. Millikan, The Need for Discovering and Conserving Supplies of Argon Bearing Gas, July 31, 1918, AG&Depts, Interior, BOM, 1916–1918, NAS-NRC Central File, 1914–1918, Executive Committee: Projects, Helium Production, 1917, National Academy of Sciences Archives.
Edgewood was making: McPherson, “Historical Sketch,” 65.
On the last day: Memorandum from George A. Burrell to General William L. Sibert, Permanent Organization for Research Division, Chemical Warfare, July 31, 1918, USACE.
On August 2: Memorandum from William Sibert to the chief of staff, Aug. 2, 1918, USACE.
Chapter Thirteen: The Meuse and the Mousetrap
Soon the drenching swelter: “Many Driven by Heat to the Bathing Pools,” Evening Star, Aug. 7, 1918, 2.
Though the war: “Congress Summer Vacation Started,” Washington Post, July 16, 1918, 4.
As Scott chatted: “N. B. Scott ‘Gassed,’” Washington Post, Aug. 4, 1918, 1.
This time the gas: “The New Senator,” Wheeling (WV) Daily Intelligencer, Jan. 31, 1899, 7.
Wealth and fund-raising prowess: “Nathan Bay Scott,” The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: James T. White and Co., 1926), 59.
which urged thrifty customers: Continental Trust display ad, Washington Times, July 24, 1918, 8.
The cloud had: “Family Is Gassed in D.C. Home When Tear Gas Bomb Breaks,” Washington Times, Aug. 4, 1918, 1.
That evening: Confidential memorandum from Colonel Edward Schulz to General Frederic Abbot, Aug. 5, 1918, USACE.
When Schulz picked up: “N.B. Scott ‘Gassed.’”
Colonel Schulz dashed: Confidential memorandum from Colonel Edward Schulz to General Frederic Abbot, Aug. 5, 1918, USACE.
“It is an outrage”: “Family Is Gassed in D.C. Home When Tear Gas Bomb Breaks.”
By the morning: Confidential memorandum from Colonel Edward Schulz to General Frederic Abbot, Aug. 5, 1918, USACE.
Levering whipped up an apology: Letter from Richmond Levering to Nathan Bay Scott, Aug. 5, 1918, USACE.
It took almost: Letter from George Burrell to William Sibert, Sept. 5, 1918, Correspondence Relating to Military Affairs, 1918–1923, Camps, Posts, and Stations, OCE, RG 77, finding aid NM-78, entry 104, box 98, NACP.
Gas shipments to France: Memorandum from Director, CWS, to Chief, Embarkation Services, Directions for Gas Shell Handling on Shipboard, Aug. 5, 1918, Chemical Warfare Correspondence, Central Correspondence, 1918–1940, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 477, NACP.
In late August, the Oldbury: McPherson, “Historical Sketch,” 60.
Problems with manufacturing mustard: Memorandum to Chief, CWS, Data from History of Edgewood Arsenal re: Mustard Production, Mar. 22, 1934, Office of the Chief, Central Correspondence, 1918–1942, War Department, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 488, NACP.
Sibert asked: Memorandum from Chief, CWS, to Chief of Ordnance, Incendiary Darts,” Aug. 22, 1918, Office of the Chief, Central Correspondence, 1918–1942, War Department, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 528, NACP.
The overseas division: Memorandum from Chief, CWS, AEF, to Captain J. E. Zanetti, Liaison Service, Report Z-389, Aug. 21, 1918, Technical Document Files, 1917–1920, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 8, box 7, NACP.
In late August, Brigadier General: Memorandum from Brigadier General Hugh S. Johnson to Benjamin F. Leighton, Aug. 22, 1918, USACE.
Leighton’s reply arrived: Letter from Benjamin F. Leighton to Hugh S. Johnson, Sept. 3, 1918, USACE.
The experiment station architect: Memorandum from William L. Sibert, Director, CWS, to Director of Operations, American Univers
ity, 2, USACE.
The investigation also discovered: Memorandum from Major Paul V. Hyland to Captain Marlow, Additional Funds, American University Experiment Station, Washington, DC, Aug. 23, 1918, USACE.
Major General William Black: Letter from Major General William Black to Major General William Sibert, August 13, 1918.
In his letter to Black: Letter from Major General William Sibert to Major General William Black, Chief of Engineers, Sept. 11, 1918, USACE.
“My men were depressed”: W. Lee Lewis, “Certain Organic Compounds of Arsenic,” speech delivered to the American Chemical Society sectional meeting in Rochester, NY, Nov. 21, 1921, L. Philip Reiss Collection.
The YMCA in downtown Cleveland: Elroy McKendree Avery, A History of Cleveland and Its Environs: The Heart of New Connecticut, vol. 1 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1918), 645–48.
“You know what?”: Nate Simpson Papers, Lake County Historical Society, Willoughby, OH.
There was no mailing address: General Electric, National in the World War, 217.
James Bryant Conant had arrived: Memorandum from Frank Dorsey to James Bryant Conant, no date, call no. UAI 15.898, box 141, Papers of James Bryant Conant, 1862–1987, Harvard University Archives.
“The Mousetrap”: “Gas Intended to Wipe Out Hun Armies Dumped into the Sea,” Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine, June 15, 1919.
Dorsey requested: Memorandum from General William Sibert to Mr. Charles H. McDowell, Chemical Division, War Industries Board, War Department, Availability of Raw Materials, Aug. 21, 1918, Chemical Warfare Correspondence, 1918–1940, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 459, NACP.
“manufacturing something nice”: Harold French Davidson Letters, file 1-2 0001-2, Parks Library Special Collections, University of Iowa.
the plant had: “Man Killed in Accident at Ben Hur Plant,” Willoughby Republican, Aug. 16, 1918, 1.
While enlisted men: General Electric, National in the World War, 215.
Each morning: Ibid., 218.
On August 10: Ibid., 217.
Each morning: Ibid., 218.
The service had: Letter from E. P. Kohler to James Bryant Conant, Aug. 19, 1918, call no. UAI 15.898, folder “War Work at Willoughby Near Cleveland”—1918, box 142, Papers of James Bryant Conant, 1862–1987, Harvard University Archives.
Originally Conant had estimated: General Electric, National in the World War, 222.
And above all: Ibid., 221.
chemist named: Letter from Lieutenant Colonel W. G. Wilcox to Captain Lee G. Cover, Promotion, Dec. 21, 1918, Office of the Chief, Central Correspondence, 1918–1940, War Department, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 571, NACP.
Experimental units: Ibid., 220.
On August 15: Francis X. O’Donnell report for Aug. 15, 1918.
President Wilson signed an order: “Special Permits for Aliens Leaving U.S. after Sept.15,” Evening Star, Aug. 17, 1918, 8.
The calm lasted: Francis X. O’Donnell report for Sept. 16, 1918.
O’Donnell got: Francis X. O’Donnell report for Sept. 17, 1918.
The Germans’ long-range cannons: “Paris Region Again under Bombardment,” Evening Star, Aug. 9, 1918, 1.
As the days went on: “Boche Route in Picardy,” Washington Herald, Aug. 11, 1918, 1.
The official confirmation: Letter from Amos Fries to Bessie Fries, Aug. 11, 1918, Amos A. Fries Papers, 1896–1953.
As he rode: Ibid., Aug. 26, 1918.
“The Bosche is learning”: Ibid., Aug. 13, 1918.
They were the first: John C. Feeley, Special Order 246, Aug. 18, 1918.
“The Bosch is steadily”: Partial letter from Amos Fries to Bessie Fries, no date, Amos A. Fries Papers, 1896–1953.
Instead, there should be two: Letter from Amos Fries to General John Pershing, “Additional Gas Regiments,” Aug. 18, 1918, Records of the AEF (World War I), RG 120, finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
He also recommended: Memorandum from Amos Fries to Chief of Staff, Aug. 22, 1918.
“my conversion”: Memorandum from Amos Fries to Commander in Chief, Aug. 18, 1918, Records of the AEF (World War I), RG 120, finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
“I do not see”: Memorandum from V. D. Dixon to Assistant Chief of Staff, Additional Gas Regiments, Aug. 26, 1918, Records of the AEF (World War I), RG 120, finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
Another member: Memorandum to Assistant Chief of Staff, Additional Gas Troops, Aug. 28, 1918, RG 120, Records of the AEF (World War I), finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
Fries had a dim view: Amos Fries letter to Bessie Fries, July 7, 1918, Amos A. Fries Papers, 1896–1953.
Conner pushed Fries’s recommendations: Memorandum from Chief of Staff, Additional Gas Troops, Sept. 6, 1918, RG 120, Records of the AEF (World War I), finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
chief of staff quickly: Memorandum from Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, to Chief, CWS, AEF, Gas Program, Sept. 7, 1918, G-3 Reports, General Correspondence, Records of the AEF (World War I), RG 120, finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
Conner sent a draft: Suggested cablegram, Sept.7, 1918, G-3 Reports, General Correspondence, RG 120, Records of the AEF (World War I), finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
on September 5: Letter from Chief of Staff to E. R. Stettinius, Sept. 5, 1918, General Headquarters, G-3 Reports, General Correspondence, RG 120, Records of the AEF (World War I), finding aid NM-91, entry 268, box 3141, NACP.
“We are going”: Letter from Amos Fries to Bessie Fries, Sept. 4, 1918, Amos A. Fries Papers, 1896–1953.
an insignia: “Chemical Warfare Service,” American Society of Military Insignia Collectors, Oct.–Dec. 1917, 31. First Gas Regiment Collection, CCM.
the commander in chief recommended: Cablegram from General Pershing to Adjutant General, Sept.16, 1918, First Gas Regiment Collection, CCM.
The War Department snuffed: Memorandum from Brigadier General Henry Jervey, Sept. 23, 1918, First Gas Regiment Collection, CCM.
“The big American push”: Amos Fries letter to Bessie Fries, Sept. 12, 1918, Amos A. Fries Papers, 1896–1953.
All of the gas companies: History of the First Gas Regiment, part 1, section 4, “Report of Operations by (30th Engineers) First Gas Regiment during Saint Mihiel Operation of First Army.”
Saint-Mihiel was neither: Falls, Great War, 381.
On the night: Higginbottom diary entry, Sept.12, 1918.
On September 15: Ibid., Sept.15, 1918.
They were on the train: Ibid., Sept. 19, 1918.
He had commanded: History of the First Gas Regiment, part 3, section 3, “Report of Operations by (30th Engineers) First Gas Regiment on Château-Thierry Front.”
“Our company is”: Letter from Jabine to mother, Sept. 14, 1918.
He got a room: Ibid.
If the trunk line: “Our Drive Nearing Vital Supply Line,” New York Times, Oct. 6, 1918, 7.
As the deafening firestorm: Higginbottom diary entry, Sept. 25, 1918.
At five-thirty: Report of 21st Operation by First Gas Regiment, Sept. 27, 1918, Operational Reports, 30 Eng/1 Gas, 7–32, First Gas Regiment Collection, CCM.
Sitting atop the trench: Higginbottom diary entry, Sept. 26, 1918.
Chapter Fourteen: “All to the Mustard”
A hose led: Paul W. Carleton, Report on Field Experiments on Persistency of War Gases, Defense Chemical Research Section, Research Division, CWS, American University Experiment Station, Mar. 1919, USACE.
The security around the test site: Paul W. Carleton, Outline of Proposed Large Scale Field Experiments on Persistency of G-34, Defense Chemical Research Section, Research Division, CWS, American University Experiment Station, June 25, 1918, USACE.
American University was three quarters: Paul W. Carleton, Report of Field Experiments on Persistency of G-34, Defense Chemical Research Section, Research Division, CWS, American University Experiment Station, Sept. 27, 1918, USACE.
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br /> When the sun was out: G. W. Wilson, Report on Lewis Gloves to Be Used as Protection against G-34, Sept. 18, 1918; Tests of Lewis Suits for Protection in Spraying G-34, Sept. 18, 1918; Use of Protective Clothing While Spraying G-34 on Soil, Sept. 18, 1918, USACE.
Still, almost all the men: G. W. Wilson, Report of Casualties Caused on Weaver Farm by G-34, Sept. 19, 1918, USACE.
Some men’s feet: Use of Protective Clothing While Spraying G-34 on Soil.
After leaving American University: “Activities Galore Assured for Fall and Winter Season,” Retort, Oct. 6, 1918, 1.
some three hundred members: According to the Catholic University archives, the building referred to was most likely the administration building for the affiliated Catholic Sisters College. It was later renamed Brady Hall. It has since been demolished.
The newspapers trumpeted: “Americans Advance 7 Miles, Take 12 Towns, 5,000 Prisoners West of Verdun,” Washington Post, Sept. 27, 1918, 1.
The Star pointed out: “Americans Fight All Night,” Evening Star, Sept. 27, 1918, 1.
The Evening Star reported: “Bulgaria Asks Armistice and Peace,” Evening Star, Sept. 27, 1918, 1
The festivities at Catholic University: “Activities Galore Assured for Fall and Winter Season.”
Almost everyone working: John Bassett veteran questionnaire, CWS, World War I Veterans Survey, U.S. Army and Heritage Education Center, U.S. Army War College Library, Carlisle, PA.
They were doing their part: Letter from Burton Logue, Sept. 24, 1971, University Archives and Special Collections, American University Library.
In the fall: “Activities Galore Assured for Fall and Winter Season.”
It also asked for volunteers: “Influenza Report,” Record of Events, Camp Leach, Washington, DC, June, 1918, USACE.
The virus raced: “Influenza Brings Death to Three More,” Evening Star, Sept. 27, 1918, 1.
Public-health officials rushed: “6,139 New Grip Cases in Army,” Washington Herald, Sept. 27, 1918, 1.
Under the announcements: Obituary, Retort, Oct. 19, 1918, 4.
A relatively young woman: “General Sibert’s Wife Dead,” Washington Post, Oct. 9, 1918, 14.
Major General Sibert had little time: Memorandum from Captain Sidney Cadwell to General William Sibert, Projected Production of Gases, Sept. 30, 1918, Office of the Chief, Central Correspondence, 1918–1942, War Department, CWS, RG 175, finding aid PI-8, entry 1, box 448, NACP.