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Page 25
On June 10, when I rejoined General von Kluck's staff (to which I had
been assigned), I found that he was accompanied by the Crown Prince and
the venerable Count Zeppelin, both of whom seemed more interested in this
New England occupation than in the activities of von Hindenburg's army.
They realised, it appears, the great importance of controlling the
industrial resources, the factories and machine-shops of Connecticut and
Massachusetts. It was this interest, I may add, that led to the first
bloodshed on Connecticut soil.
Thus far not a shot had been fired by the invaders, who had been received
everywhere by sullen but submissive crowds. Only a small part of the
population had fled to the north and east, and the activities of occupied
towns and cities went on very much as usual under German orders and
German organisation. The horrible fate of Brooklyn, the wreck of the
Woolworth and Singer buildings were known everywhere; and if New York
City, the great metropolis, had been forced to meek surrender by the
invaders, what hope was there for Stamford and Bridgeport and South
Norwalk?
[Illustration: THEN, FACING INEXORABLE NECESSITY, GENERAL WOOD ORDERED
HIS ENGINEERS TO BLOW UP THE BRIDGES AND FLOOD THE SUBWAYS THAT LED TO
MANHATTAN. IT WAS AS IF THE VAST STEEL STRUCTURE OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE HAD
BEEN A THING OF LACE. IN SHREDS IT FELL, A TORN, TRAGICALLY WRECKED PIECE
OF MAGNIFICENCE.]
But in Hartford a different spirit was stirring. By their admirable spy
service, their motorcycle service, and their aeroplane service, the
German staff were informed of defiant Hartford crowds gathering in
Bushnell Park; of the Putnam Phalanx parading in continental uniforms,
and of the Governor's First Company Foot Guards marching past the
monument where the Charter Oak had stood facing the South Congregational
Church; and of patriotic speeches from beside the statue of Nathan Hale
on Main Street.
Also in New Haven, city of elms and of Yale College, the Second Company
of Governor's Foot Guards and the valiant New Haven Grays, followed by
cheering crowds, had marched down Chapel and Meadow streets to the Second
Regiment Armory, home of joyous Junior promenades; and here vehement
orators had recalled how their ancestors, the minute-men of 1776, had
repelled the British there to the west of the city, where Columbus and
Congress and Davenport avenues meet at the Defenders' Monument. Why
should not this bravery and devotion be repeated now in 1921 against the
Germans? Why not?
The answer was spoken clearly in a widely published appeal to the people
of New England, made by the Governor of Connecticut and supported by
Simeon E. Baldwin, ex-Governor of the State, and Arthur T. Hadley,
president of Yale, in which the utter folly and hopelessness of
resistance without army or militia was convincingly set forth. Professor
Taft declared it the duty of every loyal citizen to avoid nameless
horrors of bloodshed and destruction of property by refraining from any
opposition to an overwhelmingly superior force.
We entered New Haven on June 12, and for forty-eight hours there was no
disorder. German siege guns were placed on the sheer precipice of East
Rock, ranged alongside the grey shaft of the Soldiers' Monument,
dominating the city; machine-guns were set up at the four corners of the
Green, at points surrounding the college buildings, and at other
strategic points. Students were not allowed to leave the college grounds
without military permission.
To further insure the good behaviour of the city, twenty hostages were
taken, including ex-President William H. Taft, President Arthur T. Hadley
of Yale University, Thomas G. Bennett, ex-president of the Winchester
Repeating Arms Company, Major Frank J. Rice, ex-Governor Simeon E.
Baldwin, Edward Malley, General E. E. Bradley, Walter Camp, and three
members of the graduating class of Yale University, including the
captains of the baseball and football teams. These were held as prisoners
within the grey granite walls and towers of Edgerton, the residence of
Frederick F. Brewster. As staff headquarters, General von Kluck and the
Crown Prince occupied the palatial white marble home of Louis Stoddard,
the famous polo-player.
The trouble began on June 14, when the invaders tried to set going
the manufacturing activities of New Haven, shut down during the past
week--especially he Winchester Repeating Arms Company, mploying about
eleven thousand men, and the Sargent Hardware Manufacturing Company,
employing eight thousand. Large numbers of these employees had fled from
New Haven in spite of offers of increased wages, so that the Germans had
been obliged to bring on men from New York to fill their places. This led
to rioting and scenes of violence, with a certain amount of looting, in
various parts of the city; and toward evening German troops fired upon
the crowds, killing and wounding about two hundred.
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