ROBERT BACON
LIFE AND LETTERS
BY
JAMES BROWN SCOTT

 

Footnotes

Introduction

Translation: "When the war had broken out, the first telegram to come to me from America was from him: "France is fighting, I'm on my way!" We went to fetch him at Le Havre, on the very eve of the Battle of the Marne."

Chapter One

1. Frederick Freeman, The History of Cape Cod (1858), vol. i, p. 178.

2. Ibid., p. 179.

3. Frederick Freeman, The History of Cape Cod (1858), vol. i, p. 180.

4. Transcribed from the Reverend John Lothrop's original manuscript and published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1856), vol. x, p. 39.

5. Ibid., p. 37.

6. New England's Memorial, by Nathaniel Morton (sixth edition, 1855), p. 143.

7. Julian Sturgis, From Books and Papers of Russell Sturgis (Oxford, n. d.), pp. 1748.

8.. Julia Bacon, Captain Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 20-21, 38-39.

9. Constitution of the Cape Cod Association with an Account of the Celebration of its First Anniversary at Boston, November 11, 1851 (1852), pp. 57-58

10. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), p. 42.

11. Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast (new edition with subsequent matter by the Author, 1869), p. 413; (edition of 1899), pp. 380-381.

12. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 64-65.

13. John S. Sleeper, Jack in the Forecastle, or, incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale (1860), pp. 145-146, 148, 156.

14. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 195-196.

15. Ibid., p. 105.

16. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 59, 60, 185-186. 86.

17. Ibid., p. 186.

18. What Master William B. Bacon, aged twelve, thought of being away from home is contained in a letter from Exeter, of October 18, 1835, addressed to his mother, some two years prior to being quartered on Doctor Perry:

"When is Father coming to see me. It is almost a month since I came away from home and Father has not come to see me. I hope he will come pretty soon, as I shall be homesick when he goes away and I want to have it over as quick as possible. I have received a considerable many letters but not so many as Edward Reed."

19. A year earlier Mr. Bacon had ended a letter to his first-born "Remember always to be my manly little Chevalier Bayard." Men of this kind were Mr. Bacon's models.

20. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 133-134.

"Two famous Boston firms of Cape Cod origin were Howes and Crowell, who owned the Climax, Ringleader, and Robin Hood, and D. C. and W. S. Bacon, who owned the Game-Cock, Hoogly, and Oriental. Daniel C. Bacon was a link between the Federalist and the clipper periods, having been mate under William Sturgis in the old Northwest fur trade. In 1852 he was elected president of the American Navigation Club, an association of Boston shipowners and merchants, which offered to back an American against a British clipper for a race from England to China and back, £ 10,000 a side. Although the stakes were subsequently doubled, no acceptance was received." (Samuel Eliot Morison, The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860 (1921), pp. 348-349.)

21. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), pp. 199-200.

22. Ibid., 198.

23. Daniel C. Bacon (MS. Life), p. 109.

Chapter Two

24. 'Harvard College, Class of 1880, Report IX, 1920 (Privately Printed for the Class), pp. 14-15.

Chapter Three

25. The presidential election referred to was that of November, 1880, which resulted in the choice of James A. Garfield, of Ohio, over his Democratic opponent, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, of Pennsylvania.

26. Mr. Frank Low, his mother's brother and favourite member of the family. He was only thirty years of age at the time of his death.

27. The proprietor of the first Atlantic Cable between the United States, Newfoundland and England, laid in 1858, and successfully operated in 1866 and thereafter.

28. Mr. Edward Low.

29. This letter was addressed to William B. Bacon, Jr., Mr. Bacon's brother.

30. The particular Whitneys referred to were Edward F. Whitney, later a partner of J. P. Morgan & Co., Frederic Whitney, and Frank Whitney. They were uncles of Mr. Bacon's future son-in-law, George Whitney, likewise a member of J. P. Morgan & Co.

31. The massacres at Cawnpore, some forty miles from Lucknow, and the relief of that place are two famous incidents in the Indian mutiny of 1857. The immediate cause of the revolt of the Bengal native army, commonly called the "Indian mutiny," was the great disproportion between the numbers of British and native troops in India, which gave the Sepoys an exaggerated notion of their power; its immediate causes were a series of circumstances which promoted active discontent with British rule.

Alike to the Hindus and Mahomedans, the fat of cows and pigs was anathema. The Minie rifle had been introduced into India. The greased cartridges for this weapon had to be bitten to be used. Rumour had it that the grease of the cartridge was from the fat of one or the other of these animals. "No attempt, in fact, had been made to exclude the fat of cows and pigs, and apparently no one had realized that a great outrage was thus being perpetrated on the religious feelings of both Hindu and Mahomedan Sepoys." The natives refused to lose "caste" as they would by using the cartridges. The native troops rebelled. The mutiny spread and became general in Bengal.

In June of 1857, a handful of British troops in Cawnpore held out for three weeks against Nana Sahib, Rajah of Bithur, the moving figure in the mutiny. On the 27th, the garrison surrendered on the promise that their lives be spared and that they be given a safe-conduct to Allahabad. They were massacred. By an even greater act of treachery women and children were murdered. A few weeks later, on July 15th, some two hundred women and children who had been spared were massacred on the approach of General Havelock's relieving army, and their bodies thrown into the famous well of Cawnpore, where stands to-day a memorial surrounded by gardens. This, in Mr. Bacon's opinion "the saddest memorial in English history," is crowned by the figure of an angel in white marble, and on the wall of the well itself is the following inscription:

Sacred to the perpetual Memory of a great company of Christian people, chiefly Women and Children, who near this spot were cruelly murdered by the followers of the rebel Nana Dhundu Pant, of Bithur, and cast, the dying with the dead, into the well below, on the xvth day of July, MDCCCLVII.

The siege of Lucknow to which Mr. Bacon refers began on the last day of June of the same year. The soul of the defense, Brigadier-General Sir Henry Lawrence, was killed on July 4th. On September 25th General Havelock's relieving columns entered.

"The garrison consisted of 1,720 fighting men, of whom 712 were native troops, 153 civilian volunteers, and the remainder were British officers and men. This small force had to defend 1,280 non-combatants . . . During the 87 days of the siege the strength of the garrison had diminished to 982, and many of these were sick and wounded. Against these were arrayed six thousand trained soldiers and a vast host of undisciplined rabble. For nearly three months their heavy guns and musketry had poured an unceasing fire into the residency entrenchment from a distance of only fifty yds. During the whole time the British flag flew defiantly on the roof of the residency. The history of the world's sieges contains no more brilliant episode." [Quoted or paraphrased from the Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, articles "Indian Mutiny and Cawnpore."]

In the second series of letters Mr. Bacon notes with satisfaction that he was serving on the Western front with Sir Herbert, one of the Lawrences, a son of Lord Lawrence, and a nephew of the famous Sir Henry Lawrence (186-1857), "the noblest man that has lived and died for the good of India."

32. The Greek Army mobilized in order to force Turkey to accord Greece an increase of boundary recommended by the Congress of Berlin (1878) ending the Russo-Turkish War, approved by a Conference of Ambassadors at Berlin (1880) and actually agreed to by Turkey in July, 1881. Greece received an increase of 13,395 square kilometres and a population of 300,000. Mr. Bacon's phrase was accurate, "almost inevitable" was correct at the time.

Chapter Four

33. The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, New and Enlarged edition of Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography (1915), vol. i.

34. Letter of General Sherman to Mrs. Cowdin, written shortly after her husband's death, April 12, 1880. Memorial of Elliot C. Cowdin by E. P. Whipple (Printed Privately), p. 29.

35. Favourite Thought Series (Dodge Publishing Company, New York), pp. 26, 30.

Chapter Five

36.The account of this very important transaction was originally based upon the information contained in the testimony of the chief actors before the Sub-Committee of the Finance Committee of the United States Senate for the investigation of the sale of Government bonds during 1894-1895, 1896. (Senate Document No. 187, 54th Congress, 2nd Session.)

Mr. Carl Hovey's Life Story of J. Pierpont Morgan (1911) was consulted. It was noted that Mr. Hovey's version was more personal and contained details which rarely find their way into official reports and documents. In a review of this book in the New York Nation, February 22, 1912, p. 184, it is said that certain portions of the narrative are based upon "inside information," and that incidents, and details, particularly those relating to the loan to the Government, "could hardly have been otherwise ascertained." With Mr. Hovey's permission, some of these "incidents and details" have been used either in the text of or in the notes to this section.

37. Hovey, Life Story of J. Pierpont Morgan, p. 178.

38. Senate Document No. 187, 54th Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 222-243.

39. Review of Mr. Hovey's Life Story of J. Pierpont Morgan in the New York Nation for February 22, 1912, pp. 184-185.

40. Senate Document No. 187, p. 293.

41. Senate Document No. 87, p. 293.

42. Hovey's Life Story of .7. Pierpont Morgan, pp. 173-177.

43. "At a word from the President, Attorney-General Olney stepped out of the room and in a moment returned with the book of Revised Statutes. He told the President that what Mr. Morgan had said was perfectly true, that this act was known as 'Section No. 3700,' and that from a casual examination he thought it was still in force. Mr. Cleveland quietly took the book from his hand and with deep concentration read the act to himself. . .

"Everyone in the room sat in the silence of deep suspense. When the President had concluded the reading of the section, he laid the book slowly on his desk, and then his face lighted up with almost a smile of relief and he said: 'Mr. Morgan, I think the act is ample for our needs and that it will solve the situation'." Hovey's Life Story of J. Pierpont Morgan, pp. 179-180

44. In George F. Parker's Recollections of Grover Cleveland (1909), pp. 324-5, Mr. Cleveland's opinion of Mr. Morgan's ability, character, and services is thus stated:

When it came to dealing with him on the bond issues for the purpose of replenishing the Government's stock of gold, I had a feeling, not of suspicion, but of watchfulness. . .

I had not gone far, however, before my doubts disappeared. . . . In an hour or two of the preliminary discussion I saw he had a clear comprehension of what I wanted and what was needed, and that, with lightning-like rapidity, he had reached a conclusion as to the best way to meet the situation. I saw, too, that, with him, it was not merely a matter of business, but of clear-sighted, far-seeing patriotism. He was not looking for a personal bargain, but sat there, a great patriotic banker, concerting with me and my advisers measures to avert peril, determined to do his best in a severe and trying crisis. . .

When the negotiations were over I was also interested in getting from him some idea as to how he did it, so at one of our concluding sittings I asked: "Mr. Morgan, how did you know that you could command the coöperation of the great financial interests of Europe?" He replied: "I simply told them that this was necessary for the maintenance of the public credit and the promotion of industrial peace, and they did it."

Chapter Six

45. In an address delivered at a meeting held in the City of New York, April 25, 1920, in memory of the life and work of Andrew Carnegie, the Honourable Elihu Root said, "He belonged to that great race of nation builders who have made the progress and development of America the wonder of the world." Year Book of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1920, p. 196.

46. "Thirty-three and an income of $50,000 per annum! By this time two years I can so arrange all my business as to secure at least $50,000 per annum. Beyond this never earn---make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes. Cast aside business forever except for others. . . .

"Man must have an idol---the amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry---no idol more debasing than the worship of money. Whatever I engage in I must push inordinately; therefore should I be careful to choose that life which will be the most elevating in its character. To continue much longer overwhelmed by business cares and with most of my thoughts wholly upon the way to make make money in the shortest time, must degrade me beyond hope of permanent recovery. I will resign business at thirty-five." Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie (1920), pp. 157-158.

47. MS. Report of Hearings before the Special Examiner.

48. Herbert N. Casson, The Romance of Steel (1907), p. 191.

49. The alleged motives which actuated Mr. Schwab and those for whom he was acting have been given in a vivacious manner by Mr. Arundel Cotter, in his United States Steel---A Corporation with a Soul, 2nd Edition 1921, pp. 18-21, 25.

50. Pp. 1. pp. 255-56. "This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community---the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren." The Gospel of Wealth.

51. Herbert N. Casson, The Romance of Steel (1907), pp. 189-190

52. Ibid., pp. 220-221.

53. 223 Federal Reporter, 55.

54. 251 United States Reports, 417.

Chapter Seven

55. The account of the Northern Securities case is based primarily upon two publications, and confirmed by personal information furnished by a member of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company.

The first of the publications is Joseph Gilpin Pyle's [Authorized] Life of James J. Hill (1917), 2 vols. In a letter of December 30, 1922, giving permission to use his work, Mr. Pyle adds, "I may say that the chapters in the Life which deal with the Northern Securities case rest upon unquestionable documentary or personal authority and are bomb-proof."

The second of the publications is George Kennan's E. H. Harriman (1922), 2 vols., the use of which was authorized by Mr. Kennan in a letter of December 29, 1922.

The various suits to which the Northern Securities Company was a party have been read, and in addition, the briefs of counsel and testimony given in official hearings.

56. President Cleveland came closely into contact with Mr. Hill during both of his administrations, and he was, according to his biographer, Mr. George F. Parker, "wont, in later days, to speak oftenest" of him. This was what Mr. Cleveland thought:

"Mr. Hill is one of the most remarkable men I have seen, especially in his wide knowledge of a great variety of questions, and his far-sight into industrial conditions. . .

"He knew more about Oriental trade and its relations to the business of this country than any man I ever saw. . .

"When any information about freight rates on railroads was needed , there was little occasion for Mr. Hill to refer to reports or statistics. Nor was this all. I verily believe that he could have told me the rates on all the leading classes of freight between two stations on his railroad, a hundred or two hundred miles apart. I am perfectly sure that I have never known a man who was at once familiar with so many big things and also had the gift of carrying about and comprehending what most persons so situated would deem too small for their attention." George F. Parker, Recollections of Grover Cleveland (1909), pp. 326-327

57. Northern Securities Company and Others v. The United States, Brief for Appellant Great Northern Railway Company, Supreme Court of the United States, October term, 1903, No. 277, p. 8.

58. Pyle's Life of James J. Hill (1917), v. ii, p. 125.

"It is true we pay a great price for the property. This could not be avoided. Seventy-five million dollars or $80,000,000 of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy is held by small holders, many of whom got it by inheritance. The average holding of the stock by the company's books is 68 shares, in the hands of nearly 15,000 stockholders." Mr, Hill to Lord Mount Stephen. Ibid., p. 126.

The price was high, but not excessive. "It was the only price," to quote Mr. Morgan, "at which it could be bought and we had great difficulty in getting it at that; and, in the next place, I felt, and Mr. Hill must have felt also---because he does not think of making transactions he does not think are profitable---that it was worth a great deal more than that for the purpose for which we wanted it, and it would pay a large profit. He thought it would pay both the Northern Pacific and Great Northern a profit on that price." Pyle's Life of James J. Hill, vol. ii, pp. 122-123.

59. Pyle's Life of James J. Hill, vol. ii, p. 129.

60. Ibid., pp. 131-133.

61. St. Paul Globe, December 22, 1901. Pyle's Life of James .J. Hill, vol. ii, p. 105.

62. George Kerman, E. H. Harriman, vol. i, p. 296 (1922).

63. Life of James J. Hill, vol. ii, p. 144.

64. E. H. Harriman, vol. i, p. 305

65. McKennan's E. H. Harriman, vol. i, p. 302.

66. E. H. Harriman, vol. i, pp. 303-304.

Mr. Pyle states in his interesting and "authorized" Life of James .J. Hill, vol. ii, pp. 138-139, that:

The Union Pacific people knew what was in the wind, for Mr. Hill had advised them of it himself. He wrote to one of those interested with him in the negotiations, May 16, 1901: "So as to remove any ground for the charge that we were working secretly to acquire the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, I said to [one of the representatives of the Union Pacific interests] in January that if he at any time heard that we were conferring with the 'Q' board of directors looking to the joint acquisition of that property, I wanted to be the first one to tell him that we intended to take up the matter seriously. In April, after Mr. Morgan had gone abroad and the Burlington matter was taking definite shape, I again told him that matters were progressing toward a close. He said he should have bought Burlington in the market and saved the advance." Mr. Hill replied that the other side had tried that method themselves, and "found themselves up against a stone wall," consisting of the great body of small shareholders, "who would not even give him one director, and who resented his attempt to buy into their company." "I told him our plan was an open and fair attempt to agree with the 'Q' board, as the only means of gaining control of that property."

Upon this statement Mr. Kennan (vol. i, p. 296) thus comments:

If the unnamed person to whom Mr. Hill made this statement was really a representative of Union Pacific interests, he did not pass on the information to the men who were actively in control of Union Pacific affairs, namely, Harriman and Schiff. Neither of these gentlemen had any knowledge of the Hill-Morgan negotiations until some time in March, 1901.

In a conversation, Mr. Pyle has recently confirmed the statement that the information was given, as he stated in his life of Mr. Hill.

67. Brief for Appellant Great Northern Railway Company, p. 35.

68.. E. H. Harriman, vol. i, p. 305.

69. Ibid., p. 306.

70. E. H. Harriman, vol i, pp. 307-308.

71. In an interesting letter of December 29, 1922, Mr. Kerman gives some personal information regarding the relations of the participants in the struggle which he has so admirably portrayed.

"My recollection is that Mr. Harriman and Mr. Schiff always regarded Robert Bacon with respect and esteem, even although their business interests often conflicted. I remember distinctly that Mr. Schiff, shortly before his death, spoke to me with cordial appreciation of Mr. Bacon's behaviour during the struggle for control of the Burlington, and Northern Pacific panic. He asked me also, I remember, to omit, if I could, some unfavourable comments on the firm which I had quoted from Evarts---and I did omit them. Morgan & Co. had defeated his and Harriman's plans, but he didn't want to see them treated with what he thought was injustice.

"Most of Mr. Harriman's letters and papers were destroyed in the Equitable Building fire, but in those that survived I did not find any unkind references to Morgan, Bacon, Hill, or any of the other big men who opposed him. His relations with them seem to have been always pleasant, and on the day of the Northern Pacific panic, when the outcome of the tremendous struggle for control of that road was still in doubt, Dr. Henry S. Pritchett found Harriman and Hill together, in Harriman's office, chatting amicably about other things! Bitterness and rancour seem to be characteristic only of petty minds."

72. In the course of the hearings in the Northern Securities Case Mr. Morgan said:

"It was always considered, and always known, by everybody connected with the Northern Pacific, that the amount of preferred stock which was outstanding was simply a temporary loan until we should issue the common stock at par and take it up, and, consequently, in dealing with the question, the question simply was when the directors of the Northern Pacific should decide that it was expedient to do it." Brief for Appellant Great Northern Railway Company, p. 21.

73. Mr. Charles Stee!e, a partner of J. Pierpont Morgan & Company, and who was associated with Mr. Bacon in this entire transaction, said in his testimony of the case:

"It has been intended from the time of the reorganization to retire the preferred stock as soon as the company became financially able to do so. The voting trust by its terms continued until January, 1902, but in the fall of 1900 the company had become very prosperous; it was very strong, and it was deemed by the voting trustees that they had fulfilled the purpose of their trust, and that they could properly dissolve the voting trust on the first day of January following, which was 1901. The only uncompleted object of the reorganization was the retirement of the preferred stock and they intended at the time that the voting trust was dissolved that the preferred stock should be retired on the first of January, 1902, that being the first date when it could be retired under the provisions of the charter, by-laws, and stock certificates." E. H. Harriman, vol. I, p. 22.

74. For a very interesting account of this episode, see Mr. Kerman's Life of Mr. Harriman, vol. I, pp. 313 et seq.

75. In his testimony Mr. Hill said: "It was a question whether we controlled our property or whether the Union Pacific controlled it through the Burlington & Northern Pacific. If that stock had not been redeemed, and the Union Pacific controlled the Northern Pacific and half of the Burlington, they would very soon have controlled the Great Northern." Brief for Appellant Great Northern Railway Company, p. 34.

76. United States Statutes at Large, vol. xxvi (1891), p. 209.

77. United States v. Northern Securities Company (1903), 120 Federal Reporter, 721.

78. Northern Securities Company v. United States (1904), 193 United States Reports, 197.

79. History of the Northern Securities Case (1906), pp. 253-254, 305-306.

The failure of "competition as a regulative principle" gives added interest to Mr. Hill's suggestion based upon the experience of a life-time.

"His idea was 'competition by groups.' This meant that each integral geographical and commercial section of the country, comprising states and parts of states bound together intrinsically by situation, industrial interest, and relations to markets, should have its own independent system of railroad lines working either under one ownership or in complete community of interest. These groups of states or sections, these systems of railroads naturally concreted, will compete for business. It will be a competition between homogeneous productive areas, seaports, great through routes, and widely separated sources of supply. The evolution of the railroad interest of this country is the living proof that Mr. Hill's view was scientific as well as practical. He said: 'Our Company will continue to maintain a conservative and firm position, having proper regard for the revenue of other lines without any disposition on our part to interfere with their local rate at intermediate points.' He felt all the delight of a successful general in his ability to dispose of any kind of competition that might wander his way and try a tilt with him." Pyle's Life of James .J. Hill, vol. ii, p. 342.

Chapter Eight

80. Mr. Bacon's admiration for Mr. Root began with the first days of his Assistant Secretaryship. In a letter to his father under date of November 8, 1905, he thus confesses it,

"I am in love with my new chief, Elihu Root, who is a tremendous worker and who has a fund of human sympathy and humour which make him one of the most attractive men I have ever met. It is a privilege to work with him in the public service."

81. During Mr. Root's absence in South America in the summer of 1906, negotiations as to the right of Americans to fish in Canadian and Newfoundland waters were particularly troublesome. A modus vivendi acceptable to Great Britain and the United States on the one hand and the British colonists and American fishermen on the other had to be agreed to before the fishing season began. This Mr. Bacon succeeded in arranging, although he held up the final draft until Mr. Root's return, so that it might have his approval. The modus vivendi of 1906 was fully approved by Mr. Root, and it proved so satisfactory that it was maintained with slight modifications until the arbitration of the North Atlantic Fisheries disputes at The Hague, in 1910, tendered a temporary adjustment unnecessary.

82. Thus, Lord Bathurst, Secretary of War, and Acting Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the absence of Lord Castlereagh, said in behalf of Great Britain; "She knows of no exception to the rule, that all treaties are put an end to by a subsequent war.".American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iv, p. 354.

83. Letter of Lord Bryce to Mrs. Bacon, shortly after Mr. Bacon's death.

84. The above account is taken, with slight modifications, from an editorial comment contributed by J. B. Scott, to the American Journal of International Law, vol. i, 1907, p. 141, which had the good fortune to be read and approved by Mr. Bacon, in advance of its publication.

85. As indicating the relations between the President and the Acting Secretary of State, and the free and easy way in which President Roosevelt communicated with his colleagues, which recalls the personal touch of George Canning, the following endorsement to an official paper relating to the Algeciras Conference of 19o6 may be instanced:

"The White House,
Washington,
June 28, 1906.

"My dear Mr. Secretary:

I send you the accompanying note from Senator Hale about the Algeciras Treaty, and invite your attention to the endorsement thereon in the President's handwriting.

Very truly yours,

Wm. Loeb, Jr.
Secretary to the President."

Hon. Robert Bacon,

Acting Secretary of State.

Enclosure.

The enclosure in question was: "Referred to Robert Bacon for his profane consideration. T. R."

86. The Platt Amendment is an attempt on the part of the United States and of Cuba to maintain the independence of the latter Republic against invasion from without as well as within. It consists of eight articles, which, in Secretary Root's opinion, would justify the United States in withdrawing the army of occupation from Cuba, and in turning that devoted little country over to its own people.

Secretary Root's conditions formed Articles I, II, III, IV, and VII; Major General Leonard Wood's provision concerning sanitation forms Article V, and Article VI, concerning the Isle of Pines, and Article VIII, requiring further assurance by treaty, were inserted by the Senate Committee on Cuban Relations, of which Senator Orville H. Platt was chairman.

It is called the "Platt Amendment" after Senator Platt, who, at the request of President McKinley and Secretary Root, proposed the amendment to the Army, Appropriation Bill of 1901, when it was under consideration in the Senate.

By Article II of the Amendment it is provided:

That said government [of Cuba] shall not assume or contract any public debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking-fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which, the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current expenses of government, shall be inadequate.

By Article III,

That the government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the Government of Cuba.

The Amendment as a whole was adopted by the Constitutional Convention of Cuba of 1901. It is the sole subject-matter of the Treaty of May 22, 1903, between the free, sovereign, and independent republics of Cuba and the United States. Its purpose is to preserve, not to menace the independence of Cuba, much less to destroy it.

87. The Roman Catholic Apostolic Church v. The People in Porto Rico (1906), II Porto Rico Reports, 466.

88. Municipality of Ponce v. Roman Catholic Apostolic Church in Porto Rico (1908), 210 United States Reports, 296.

Chapter Nine

89. Senate Document No. 742, 60th Congress, 2nd Session.

90. Letter of Alvey A. Adee, Acting Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Officers Abroad, February 19, 1909. Foreign Relations, 1909, pp. 1, 2.

Chapter Ten

91.The Outlook, January 1, 1910, vol. 94, no. i, p. 5.

92. L'Illustration, January 29, 1910, Tome 135, p. 88.

93. See, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1910, p. 508.

94. The person thus affectionately addressed was his friend, Henry Fairfield Osborn, a distinguished paleontologist, and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, in the City of New York.

95. The peace prize, one of five created by Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), a distinguished Swedish scientist and the inventor of dynamite, was to be awarded annually to the person who had done the most to advance the cause of peace. On December 10, 1906, the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament awarded the peace prize to President Roosevelt.

96. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-), French littérateur, and deeply interested in international and popular sports. Among some of his writings are L'Education en Angleterre; Universités transatlantiques; Souvenirs d'Amérique et de Grèce; L'Evolution française sous la IIIe République, and l'éducation des Adolescents au XXe Siècle (3 volumes.).

Colonel Roosevelt was probably more drawn to him because of his interest in sports, manifested in his la Gymnastique utilitaire; Essais de Psychologie Sportive, and still more by the fact that he was the founder of the Olympic Games (1894) and president of the International Olympic Committee.

97. Paul Deschanel (1856-1922), Member of the French Academy, repeatedly President of the Chamber of Deputies, President of France for a few months in 1920, when he was unfortunately obliged to resign because of ill health. Famous as an orator, he also has a number of books to his credit, among which may be mentioned Figures de Femmes (1889), Figures littéraires (1889), and Gambetta (1920).

98. Gabriel Hanotaux (1853- ), Member of the French Academy; French statesman and man of letters. Minister of Foreign Affairs, with but a slight interruption, from 1894 to t898, developing the rapprochement of France with Russia. As an historian he is best known for his Histoire du Cardinal de Richelieu (2 vols., 1888); Histoire de la Troisième République (1904, et seq.). He is editor of the elaborate Histoire de la Nation française (17 volumes; vol. i appeared in 1920).

99. André Paul Michel (1853- ), Member of the Institute of France; Director of National Museums; Professor at the École du Louvre, a distinguished art critic and author, especially of Histoire générale de l'art depuis les temps chrétiens, in course of publication since 1905.

100. René Bazin (1853- Member of the French Academy, man of letters, especially noted as a novelist of great charm and delicacy. Une tache d'encre (1888); La Terre qui meurt, Croquis de France et d'Orient (1899), etc., etc.

101. He had been elected December 18, 1909, a Foreign Associate of the Institut de France, but had not yet taken his seat.

102. Pierre de la Gorce (1846- ), Member of the French Academy; author of Histoire de la Seconde Republique Française (1887), Histoire du Second Empire (1896-1905), and Histoire religieuse de la Revolution (1909).

103. Baron Paul d'Estournelles de Constant (1852- ), Deputy and Senator; Representative of France to the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907. Awarded (with M. Beernaert, Minister of State of Belgium) the Nobel Peace Prize for 1909. It was upon his suggestion that President Roosevelt, in 1902, referred the dispute between Mexico and the United States concerning the Pius Fund of the Californias to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. This was the first case to be submitted to that tribunal.

Among his many writings maybe mentioned Les États-Unis d'Amérique (1913, new edition, 1917); America and Her Problems (English translation, 1915, by George A. Raper).

104. Mr. Roosevelt often said of himself that he knew only two tunes: "Yankee Doodle," and "Glengarry." In 1905, at the twenty-fifth reunion of the Harvard Class of 1880 he was asked to lead the procession, with Mr. Bacon, who was Class Marshal, as he had been on the occasion of their graduation. Mr. Bacon chose "Glengarry" as the marching tune, and joyously President Roosevelt stepped forth. Suddenly recognizing the melody, it dawned upon him that it had been chosen for his benefit, and, turning to Mr. Bacon, he exclaimed, "Bob, you chose that!"

105. Musée Carnavalet or Musée Historique de la Ville, contains collections illustrating the history of Paris from the early Roman period, and the French Revolution. It was at one time the Hôtel des Ligneris, and then the Hôtel de Kernevenoy, from which the name of the museum is derived. During the last eighteen years of her life (1677-96) it was the residence of Madame de Sévigné.

106.Henri Joseph Brugère (1841-1918). General Brugère was Military Governor of Paris, 1899-1900; Vice-President of the Superior Council of War and Generalissimo (1900-1906). He was placed on the inactive list in 1906. At the outbreak of the World War he was, notwithstanding his advanced age, restored to active service; and in September, 1914, commanded a group of territorial divisions which assisted in stopping the German drive between Amiens and Béthune. Among his numerous military writings is the classical treatise, la Tactique de l'artillerie.

107. Mrs. Edith Wharton (1862- ). One of the reasons for Mrs. Wharton's "most attractive set of people" was her distinction as a novelist. The best known of her works with which Mr. Roosevelt could have been familiar at the time of his visit to Paris were, The Valley of Decision (1902), The House of Mirth (1905).

108. Victor Bérard (1864- ). A distinguished classical scholar and author of many works. Colonel Roosevelt doubtless referred to his two volume work, Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée (1902-1903). Among his more recent are Humanités et Démocratie; La Serbie; L'Eternelle Allemagne, and Un Mensonge de la Science Allemande.

109. To understand this matter it need only be said that Colonel Roosevelt had very properly wanted to pay his respects to the Pope, upon his arrival in Rome. The Holy Father was pleased with this courtesy on the Colonel's part, but imposed the condition that he should not meet the Methodists. The Colonel refused to accept this condition and in the end he saw neither. For his own account of the "elegant row" see Joseph Bucklin Bishop's Theodore Roosevelt and His Time, vol. ii (1920), pp. 194-200.

110. Colonel Roosevelt has given an interesting account of his stay in Paris.

"From Vienna I went to Paris, where I joined Mrs. Roosevelt at the Bacons'. Bacon, old college friend of mine, was then, and is now [1911], Ambassador to Paris. He and his wife are dear people, and staying with them was an oasis in a desert of hurry and confusion. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Paris, but by the end I began to feel jaded. Jusserand had come across the ocean to meet me. We are very fond of him. Frenchmen, thank heavens! do understand a liking for the things in life that are most interesting . . .

"Besides various formal functions such as dinner and receptions by the municipal government and by the Institute (of which I had been made a member and where, by the way, I genuinely enjoyed myself), I was also given two or three private breakfasts and dinners at which I met Briand, and various other members of the Government, and the Opposition, in intimate and informal fashion. These I especially liked. In France I also met a number of men of letters whom I had really wished to see, men like Victor Berard and De la Gorce and Boutrous. What a charming man a charming Frenchman is!" [Colonel Roosevelt to the Right Honourable Sir George Trevelyan, Bart. Letter written from Sagamore Hill, October 1, 1911. Contained in Joseph B. Bishop's Theodore Roosevelt and His Time (1920), vol. ii, pp. 231-233.

Chapter Eleven

111. The Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed.,1910),vol. xxvii, Article "Amerigo Vespucci."

112. In his address at Saint-Dié, Mr. Bacon apparently referred to the unwritten alliance of common aim, of common purpose, of common sentiment, due to the participation of France in the independence of the United States.

A written alliance there was, which is usually referred to as contracted at Versailles, although it appears to have been signed at Paris. If Mr. Bacon referred to this, he doubtless had in mind Articles 2 and 11, of the Treaty of February 6, 1778, to which his great predecessor, Benjamin Franklin, had put his hand and seal:

The essential and direct end of the present defensive alliance is to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and independence absolute and unlimited, of the said United States, as well in matters of government as of commerce. [Article 2.]

The two parties guarantee mutually from the present time and forever against all other powers, to wit: The United States to His Most Christian Majesty, the present possessions of the Crown of France in America, as well as those which it may acquire by the future treaty of peace: And His Most Christian Majesty guarantees on his part to the United States their liberty, sovereignty, and independence, absolute and unlimited, as well in matters of government as commerce . . . the whole as their possessions shall be fixed and assured to the said States, at the moment of the cessation of their present war with England. [Article 11.]

113. Alexander Petrovich Isvolsky (1856-1919). After a distinguished diplomatic career he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia (1906), resigning that position four years later to become Russian Ambassador to Paris.

Of him as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a diplomatist, it is said by a competent authority,

"Slowly he restored the national prestige, for he asserted loyalty to France as the first principle of policy . . . An accomplished man of letters, a competent critic of art, a linguist of rare perfection and charming in manner . . . he was certainly one of the chief diplomatic personages in the reign of the last of the tsars." [Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xxxi (12th edition, 1922), p. 595.]

114. "Address at the Dedication of the Building of the Pan-American Union," Washington, D. C., April 26, 1910. Addresses by Elihu Root, Latin America and the United States (1917), pp. 231, 233.

115. José de San Martin (1778-1850). This Argentinean soldier and statesman secured the independence of the southern portion of South America, leaving to Simón Bolivar (1783-1830) the task and the glory of securing the independence of the north. With the exception of Brazil, the independence of South America is due to one or other of these two remarkable men.

116. See New York Sun, January 14, 1912, p. 7. Printed in part in the New York Times, January 14th, p. 4.

117. Concilation Internationale. L'amitié Franco-Américaine, Bulletin Trimestriel No. 3, (1912), p. 37.

118. Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Noted French sculptor and one of the greatest masters of modern times. Among his many works may be mentioned "The Burgesses of Calais"; "The Thinker"; and "The Kiss" (representing Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini). The year before his death he presented to France all the works remaining in his possession.

119. Eugène Carrière (1849-1906). French painter. Among his most celebrated paintings are "Christ on the Cross," "Théâtre de Belleville," and groups of mothers and children. For his career and characteristics see an article by Mrs. Arthur Bell in The Art.Journal (1906), p. 325.

120. Concilation Internationale, p. 39.

121. Ibid., p. 42.

Chapter Twelve

122. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours---A Journey to South America. Robert Bacon (1916), pp. 16-17

123. Letter of President Lowell to Mrs. Bacon, dated June 3, 1919.

124. Letter of President Lowell to James Brown Scott, dated April 1, 1921.

125. Dr. Henry Jackson, referred to in an earlier part of the present volume as Mr. Bacon's college chum and life-long friend, refused to accept the Chair in his honour. The money was therefore given in honour of Doctor Jackson's father, long honourably connected with the University, and the income is used to provide a suitable annual salary for the Curator of the Anatomical Museum and for maintaining its efficiency as an aid to medical and surgical education and research, in such manner as is recommended from time to time by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School.

126. p. 87.

127. Among Mr. Bacon's papers was found the following letter from a distinguished lawyer, lover of learning and the fine arts, typical of the man and men of means in these United States.

June 5, 1905

40 Wall Street,
New York.

MY DEAR SIR:

I see that an effort is being made to raise a considerable sum for Harvard. I am not a Harvard graduate, but a sort of adopted son through the Law School.

Nevertheless---and although my own College Mother---Princeton---is always dead poor---and we have a hard time to keep the old lady out of the Poor House---still my feeling and debt to Harvard is such that I am unwilling to have such a movement take place without a modest participation on my part---and so I enclose you a cheque for Five Thousand Dollars.

Faithfully yours,

JOHN L. CADWALADER.

ROBERT BACON, Esq.

128. Letter of Bishop Lawrence to Mrs. Bacon, undated, written shortly after Mr. Bacon's death.

129. President Lowell to James Brown Scott, April, 1, 1921.

Chapter Thirteen

130. Under a hurried line, written after Mr. Bacon's death, Ambassador Morgan thus speaks of him,

Rio de Janeiro
Embassy of the United States

MY DEAR MRS. BACON,

I was startled and shocked by the press telegram which appeared the other day and announced your great loss in which all your friends share. How can we spare such a man when he is so greatly needed? Mr. Bacon and Mr. Roosevelt must be grouped together, each contributing in his own sphere and according to his special gifts to the common good. His magnificent services during the war both before and after we entered it topped his public career. I cannot but feel that he like so many civilians, were victims of that stupendous conflagration.

Mr. Bacon was appreciated in South America where his services at the State Department as well as during his South American tour made him well known. The note from the Paraguayan Minister in Rio which I enclose is a proof, if such was needed. Da Gama has asked me to express his condolences to you. We never had so considerate an Under Secretary and all of us in the service are his friends . . .
EDWIN MORGAN.

131. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours: A Journey to South America. By Robert Bacon (Washington, 1915), p. 1.

132. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 2.

133. Ibid., p. 3.

134. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, pp. 3-4.

135. Mr. Bacon was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at its first meeting upon his return. He would have been an original member, but at the time of its organization in 1910 he was absent from the United States as Ambassador to France.

136. The South American had the best authority for his warning, for had not our own Benjamin Franklin, the philosopher of the worldly wise, already written:

"It is in human nature that injuries as well as benefits received in times of weakness and distress, national as well as personal, make deep and lasting impressions; and those ministers are wise who look into futurity and quench the first sparks of misunderstanding between two nations which, neglected, may in time grow into a flame, all the consequences whereof no human prudence can foresee, which may produce much mischief to both, and cannot possibly produce any good to either. [Letter of Benjamin Franklin, dated December 22, 1779, to R. Bernstorf, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Denmark, Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii, p. 435.]

137. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, pp. 63-64.

138. Ibid., p. 70.

139. The New York Evening Post, December 13, 1913.

140.. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 50.

141. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 52.

142. Ibid., pp. 52-53.

143. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, pp. 11-12.

144. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 13.

145 .Ibid., p. 14.

146. Minutes of the International American Conference, Washington, .1889 (1890), p. 297.

147. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, pp. 14-15.

148. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 19.

149. Ibid., p. 20.

150. For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, pp. 20-21.

151. Ibid., p. 21.

152. It is due to Mr. Bacon and his interest in "Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours" to note that although he made his long trip to South America under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he not only refused any compensation, but also personally assumed and paid the expenses of himself and party.

153. New York Evening Post, December 13, 1913, For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours, p. 52.

Chapter Fourteen

154. Jules Claretie (1840-1913). Member of the French Academy; Director of the Théâtre Français; historian, essayist and dramatist. Among his many volumes may be mentioned, La Vie de Paris (1913), published in 21 volumes in 1914; reprints of articles to the weekly press extending through many years. His interests were broad and his activities covered a large field, including the libretto to Massenet's opera La Navarraise.

155. The Honourable William G. Sharp, formerly a member of Congress from Ohio, had been appointed Ambassador to France to succeed Mr. Herrick---also from Ohio. Mr. Herrick was so familiar with the conditions and had the situation so completely in hand; his presence was so pleasing to France and his services so acceptable to the Government which was replacing him for political reasons, that he was asked to remain until Mr. Sharp could become familiar with conditions and the duties of his post. Mr. Herrick did so until December, 1914.

156. James A. Logan, Jr., figures prominently in Mr. Bacon's correspondence, and later in his activities in France. He was a Major in the Quartermaster Corps (1912); Lieutenant Colonel (temporary, 1917; permanent, 1918.)

157. Henry Breckinridge (1866- ). Later Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of Infantry in the American Expeditionary Forces.

158. Henry T. Allen, later, Major-General, commanding a Division (September, 1917), and the 8th Army Corps (November, 1918), American Expeditionary Forces; Commander of the American Forces in Germany (1919-1922).

159. Louis Jean Lépine (1846- ). Among the many political positions which he has held, two may be mentioned: Governor-General of Algeria (1897); Prefect of Police (1893-1897, 1899-1913), Honourary Prefect of Police. Member of the Institute of France.

160. Louis L. Klotz (1868- )Member of the Chamber of Deputies; Minister of Finance-in various Cabinets.

161. This reference is to Woodrow Wilson, at the time President of the United States.

162. The Whitney Unit. Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney fully equipped a hospital at Juilly as an auxiliary to the American Ambulance. During the entire period of the war this was managed under her direction and at her personal expense.

163. Information supplied by Mr. Hereford.

164. Henry P. Davison (1867-1922). From 1907 a member of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company; chairman of the American Red Cross War Council (1917-1919), beconing in 1919 president of the international organization of all Red Cross bodies called, the League of Red Cross Societies.

165. Edward C. Grenfell (1870- ). Director of the Bank of England; member of the firm of Morgan, Grenfell & Company, London.

166. Willard D. Straight (1880-1918). In consular and diplomatic service of the United States (1905-1909); Major, Adjutant General's Department, American Expeditionary Forces (1917).

167. "The present condition of American foreign trade resulting from frequent seizures and detentions of American cargoes destined to neutral European ports has become so serious as to require a candid statement of the views of this Government in order that the British Government may be fully informed as to the attitude of the United States toward the policy which has been pursued by the British authorities during the present war.

"You will, therefore, communicate the following to His Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, but in doing so you will assure him that it is done in the most friendly spirit and in the belief that frankness will better serve the continuance of cordial relations between the two countries than silence, which may be misconstrued into acquiescence in a course of conduct which this Government cannot but consider to be an infringement upon the rights of American citizens." [Telegram of Secretary of State Bryan to Ambassador W. H. Page, Washington, December 26, 1914. Special Supplement to the American Journal of International Law, vol. ix (1915), p. 551

168. "Cliveden," in Taplow, is the name of Viscount Astor's estate.

169. Lady Astor.

170. The Right Honourable the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859- ). A distinguished English statesman. At one time Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1895-1898); Viceroy and Governor-General of India (1899-1905). Member of the Cabinet since 1915, at present holding the post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

171. Since 1607, Hatfield House has been the historic home of the Cecil family, of which the Marquess of Salisbury is the head.

172. George Harvey (1864- ). American Ambassador to Great Britain (1921), formerly editor of the North American Review and Harvey's Weekly.

173. Walter, first Lord Cunliffle (1855-1920). Director of the Bank of England (1895), Deputy Governor (1911), Governor (1913-1918), serving a longer period as Governor than any of his predecessors. During the World War he was associated with all of the financial problems of Great Britain.

174. The work of the Harvard University Surgical Unit, whose members are now coming back from Europe on the steamship Megantic, is what was to have been expected of an organization made of such fine material and so admirably equipped. Yet even if looked for, the results are worthy of the highest praise.

This unit, made up of 27 medical officers and 103 nurses, was organized in April, 1915, largely through the instrumentality of Robert Bacon, former Ambassador to France, and Sir William Osler. Upon arriving in France the unit was assigned to British General Hospital No. 22, at Camiers. Here it attended 126,000 wounded, together with 26,000 more at casualty clearing stations. The British officers and men wounded in France totalled approximately 1,833,000 so that this single unit attended almost a tenth part of all the British hurt.

All the more notable is this record of service because it was undertaken as a friendly help to Britain before our own country entered the war. [Boston Post, January 30, 1919.]

175. The Ancona, on November 7, 1915, was fired upon by a submarine. The facts and the action taken by the Government of the United States are set forth in three paragraphs of Secretary of State Lansing's note of December 6, 1915:

"Reliable information obtained from American and other survivors who were passengers on the steamship Ancona shows that on November 7th a submarine flying the Austro-Hungarian flag fired a solid shot toward the steamship; that thereupon the Ancona attempted to escape, but being overhauled by the submarine she stopped; after that a brief period elapsed and before the crew and passengers were all able to take to the boats the submarine fired a number of shells at the vessel and finally torpedoed and sank her while there were yet many persons on board; and that by gunfire and foundering of the vessel a large number of persons lost their lives or were seriously injured, among whom were citizens of the United States. . .

"As the good relations of the two countries must rest upon a common regard for law and humanity, the Government of the United States cannot be expected to do otherwise than to demand that the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sinking of the Ancona as an illegal and indefensible act; that the officer who perpetrated the deed be punished; and that reparation by the payment of an indemnity be made for the citizens of the United States who were killed or injured by the attack on the vessel.

"The Government of the United States expects that the Austro-Hungarian Government, appreciating the gravity of the case, will accede to its demand promptly; and it rests this expectation on the belief that the Austro-Hungarian Government will not sanction or defend an act which is condemned by the world as inhumane and barbarous, which is abhorrent to all civilized nations, and which has caused the death of innocent American citizens.."

176. The Right Honourable Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

177. Baron Cunliffle, Governor of the Bank of England.

178. He was one of the first to use the term, now well-nigh universal.

179. The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded a bronze medal to Mr. Bacon, then Secretary of State, because on October 1, 1907, he "jumped from the Harvard coaching launch and swam in strong current and cold water, fully clothed, about forty feet to the assistance of two men clinging to a capsized canoe near Cottage Farm Bridge, Charles River." (Biennial Report of The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1907 and 1908, p. 30)

He refused to accept the medal, on the ground that he had only done what any other man would have done under the circumstances.

180. In an earlier letter to Mr. Andrew, Mr. Bacon had said: "Poor old France! How she bleeds and suffers, and what a wonderful revelation of a national soul!" Upon this, Mr. Andrew comments: "I know of no one who felt more profoundly the meaning of war, or who longed more ardently to see our country do its part. He spent himself early and late, restlessly and anxiously seeking, now by this means, now by that, to show sympathy with France, to help those who were the victims of the war, and to spread throughout our country an understanding that the cause of the Allies was the cause of civilization itself, and that we could not without shame remain indifferent and apart. To him the war was indeed a religion, and its battles a crusade."

181. In a letter to Mrs. Bacon inclosing the above appreciation of Mr. Bacon's services to the British during the period of American neutrality, Colonel Cummins said,

January 3rd, 1921.
Royal Army Medical College.
(University of London)
Grosvenor Road,
London, S. W. I.

DEAR MRS. BACON,

I have heard from Mr. Grenfell that a Mr. J. [ames] Brown Scott is writing a sketch of your husband's life and that you would welcome a few lines from me about his doings at G. H. Q. in 1914 and after. It is a great and real pleasure to me to have an opportunity of doing this. My few lines give but a poor impression of all that he did for us or of all that I and others felt about him. He was a splendid example to us all and I cannot tell you how deeply I loved and respected him or how much his friendship meant and still means to me. The news of his death was a crushing blow. I wanted to write to you but somehow I felt at the time that it would be an intrusion upon your grief and bereavement and then, later, it seemed too late. Robert Bacon was and is, for me, the very highest and noblest example of what a man can be. There was a magnetic attraction about him that everyone felt; but, above and beyond this, he seemed to represent the highest and kindest and noblest human ideals. I have by me, as a cherished souvenir, his last present to me, given me the day he left. France; his book for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbours. How I wish that the spirit which animates it were more common amongst our statesmen to-day.

Believe me, now and always,

Very sincerely yours,
LYLE CUMMINS.

Chapter Fifteen

182. New York Times, August 19, 1914. p. 4.

183. Pages 85-86.

184. New York Evening Post, November 4, 1914, p. 16.

185. Neutrality may he of prime necessity in order to preserve our own interests, to maintain peace in so much of the world as is not affected by the war, and to conserve our influence for helping toward the re-establishment of general peace when the time comes; for if any outside Power is able at such time to be the medium for bringing peace, it is more likely to he the United States than any other. But we pay the penalty of this action on behalf of peace for ourselves, and possibly for others in the future, by forfeiting our right to do anything on behalf of peace for the Belgians in the present. We can maintain our neutrality only by refusal to do anything to aid unoffending weak powers which are dragged into the gulf of bloodshed and misery through no fault of their own. Of course it would be folly to jump into the gulf ourselves to no good purpose; and very probably nothing that we could have done would have helped Belgium. We have not the smallest responsibility for what has befallen her, and I am sure that the sympathy of this country for the suffering of the men, women, and children of Belgium is very real. Nevertheless, this sympathy is compatible with full acknowledgment of the unwisdom of our uttering a single word of official protest unless we are prepared to make that protest effective; and only the clearest and most urgent National duty would ever justify us in deviating from our rule of neutrality and non-interference. (Theodore Roosevelt, "The World War: Its Tragedies and Its Lessons," in The Outlook, September 23, 1914, pp. 169, 173.)

186. New York Times, August 12, 1915, p. 5.

187. p. 2.

188. Col. S. Lyle Cummins to Mr. Bacon.

189. In a letter of December, 25, 1916, to Mr. Bacon Colonel Cummins gives a subsequent detail and remark of Major General Sir Thomas O'Donnell,

"I have not heard from Genl. O'D for a long time but when last I had a letter he abused Mesopotamia roundly and said that the Garden of Eden' was overrated. But he added that it was probably better when Eve was about!"

190. New York Sun, November 5, 1915, p. 4. Published in part in the New York Times, November 5, 1915, p. 22.

191. New York Times, December 19, 1915, p. 5.

192. "Robert Bacon and Preparedness," The Harvard Graduates' Magazine, vol. 28 (September, 1919), pp. 82-85.

193. Then a leading lawyer of Philadelphia and now (1922) United States Senator from Pennsylvania.

194. Secretary of War in President Taft's administration, Colonel in the American Expeditionary Forces.

195. The Mayor of New York City.

196. Letter of General Wood to Mrs. Robert Bacon, dated Fort Sheridan, Illinois, October 26, 1920.

197. Mr. Pepper to Mr. Scott, April 12, 1921.

198.General Wood to Mrs. Bacon, October 26, 1920.

199. Mr. Pepper to Mr. Scott, April 12, 1921.

200. Colonel Johnston to Mrs. Bacon, October 15, 1920.

Colonel Johnston mentions a further incident in his reminiscences of Mr. Bacon, and it is so characteristic that it is added in the note as it relates to a later period:

"The last time I saw him was near Bar-sur-Aube in France, when by merest accident I heard there had been a smash-up on the road and drove hurriedly to the point. My surprise and grief at finding Colonel Bacon rather badly damaged at the side of the road was very great. He was severely bruised on the face and head and terribly shaken up, but greeted me with the same very cheerful smile and in spite of all remonstrance refused to be diverted for very much-needed attention to himself until he had discharged his mission at Chaumont."

201. Mr. Edward Clarkson to Mrs. Bacon, in a letter dated "Habana, June 21, 1919."

202. Harvard Graduates' Magazine, vol. 28 (19, September), pp. 82, 84.

203. On August 30, 1915, from The Army and Navy Club, Washington, a former Major of the United States Army wrote Mr. Bacon a letter, from which a few extracts are quoted, as having more than a passing interest.

"One of America's ambassadors who had passed many years in the capitals of Europe, once said to me in speaking of our unprepared condition: 'Some day we will get a slap in the face that we will be unable to resent.'

"After I had seen for myself the great military machine in Europe that he had become familiar with, I was more than ever impressed by that remark.

"America has been asleep, as we all know quite well, and this movement at Plattsburg is about the first indication of its awakening. . .

"When I started target practice, years ago, at one of our largest universities where I commanded some 800 cadets, I found few who could hit 'the side of a barn.' The practice was at that time voluntary, of necessity, but the lads soon became enthusiastic about it as a sport.

"The object of this letter is to suggest that the men of your regiment get together before disbandment and form a rifle club, the object of which shall be to excite interest throughout the country in rifle practice. . . .

"If we should at any time he suddenly forced into war, as Europe was last year, it would be pitifully late to begin to teach our volunteers how to use effectively the arms issued to them. The conditions are not now such as obtained at Lexington, but one would judge from articles one sees in print that most of our fellow countrymen actually believe that all we need do to insure the welfare of the nation in case of war, is to call out a million or so of untrained men and put arms in their hands---and yet we claim to be an intelligent nation.

Very truly yours,

W. P. VAN NESS.
(Major U. S. A., Retired)

Chapter Sixteen

204. Mr. Menken to Mr. Scott in a letter dated New York, April 29, 1920.

205. Augustus P. Gardiner (1865-1918). Member of Congress from Massachusetts (1902-1917), a prominent advocate of preparedness during the period of American neutrality. Colonel on Staff; commissioned Major of Infantry. Died of pneumonia at Camp Wheeler, January 14, 1918.

206. "Some day I should like you to know the fulness of his rich offering on the altar of service to country as I saw it, and also of the many wondrous things he did to aid the Security League, all with a single purpose to do for the Nation." Extract of letter from Mr. S. Stanwood Menken to Mrs. Bacon.

207. The New York Times, July 29, 1916, p. 3.

208. Printed in part in the A1bany Knickerhocker Press, September 11, 1916, p. 1.

209. The A1bany Knickerbocker Press, September 11, 1916, p. 3. Printed in part in the New York Sun, August 23, 1916, p. 4.

210. Joseph H. Choate (183 2-1917). Leader of the American Bar and of the New York Bar; Ambassador to Great Britain (1899-1905); Chairman of the American Delegation to the Second Hague Peace Conference of 1907. During the last twenty years of his life he was in an eminent degree the first citizen of America.

211. Charles Evans Hughes (1862- ). Defeated for the Presidency in 1916, he was appointed Secretary of State by President Harding, taking office on March 4, 1921

212. The New York Times, September 19, 1916, p. 6.

213. p. 10

214. p. 16.

215. Letter of Colonel Roosevelt dated March 28, 1916, to Mr. Bacon.

216. Boston Transcript, April 1, 1916, Part 3, p. 3.

217. New York Times, October 8, 1916, p. 1.

Chapter Seventeen

218. Translation:

Profoundly stirred by the events of the past (few) days, I piously bow before the entering of my country into this holy war. Hail to France, hail to the noble, pure, and fearless spirit of the French people, who have been the greatest, the most profound inspiration of my life, and who from the wonderful days of the Marne have consecrated me to the cause of France. At last, once more, Allies in life and in death. Keep me in your thoughts, 1 beg of you. That I may soon return to France with the American flag is my fondest dream.

219. Mr. Bacon's friend, William Phillips (1878-) was then Assistant Secretary of State; Minister to The Netherlands and Luxembourg (1920-i922); Under-Secretary of State (1922)

220. Mr. Bacon, as already stated, just missed the glorious 4th, being a day late. They had better luck with their children, for two were born on the 4th.

221. The reference is to Mr. Ogden Mills, whose house Mr. Bacon secured for General Pershing during the brief sojourn in Paris.

222. The expression "Nous les aurons!" which came to the front during the World War, is of ancient and honourable lineage. It was used by Jeanne d'Arc at the battle of Patay. See Pierre Champion's Procès de Condamnation. de Jeanne d'Arc, vol. ii (1921), p. cix.

223 . . . to consider in detail the best method of coördinating in Europe the American Red Cross and the other relief activities operating here from the United States, also the relations of the various relief organizations to one another, and to the military service; this not only to secure the avoidance of duplication of work, but to meet the wishes of the French authorities actively engaged in the war, who desire that all such work shall be centralized under a single control in order to secure the maximum of efficiency with the minimum of friction. A suggestion for the delimitation of the work of the Red Cross and allied activities and of the relative importance of the various forms of distress now calling for such agencies should be submitted.

20. The Board will submit a working plan by which the foregoing may he accomplished. Benjamin Alvord, Adjutant General, to Colonel M. W. Ireland, Letter of Instructions, dated Paris, June 20, 1917.

224. The reference Mr. Bacon makes is to the Red Cross work in which Grayson Murphy, James H. Perkins, and Dr. Alexander Lambert, were engaged.

225. A Board had been appointed, of which Major McCoy, later Brigadier-General, Mr. Bacon, later Colonel, and Lieutenant Colonel de Chambrun were members, to decide upon headquarters for the American Army. The Board visited and recommended Chaumont. The recommendation was adopted.

Comte de Chambrun (1872- ) was a Lieutenant Colonel in the French Army, attached to American headquarters. With Captain de Marenches he has written an interesting and valuable work entitled L'Armée Américaine dans le Conflit Européen (Paris, 1919).

226. A letter from Mr. Bacon, written on Sunday, July 28th, 6:30 A. M. deals, wholly with the transfer of the American Hospital to the military authorities, and placing it under military control. In the course of this letter he says:

"It has spoiled everything for me for six weeks . . . and I have not had a decent night's sleep since it began . . . I do hope you will go on as your cables suggest, receiving beds and ambulances for the Paris Service and keeping up your wonderful personal influence in the work for France, by keeping alive the moral support at home of the new management, which will work out all right, you can be sure. No change has been made except for the better."

Mrs. Bacon did.

227. Robert Low Bacon, the eldest son, had just passed first in the training camp and been commissioned a Major of Artillery. In the election of November 3, 1922, he was chosen a Republican member of the House of Representatives from the first Congressional District of the State of New York. "G" refers to Major Bacon's second son, Gaspar Griswold, Captain, and later Major of Artillery, in the National Army. "Ett" is his youngest son, Elliott Cowdin, a Captain of Artillery, National Army, recommended for promotion as Major, in France.. "Sister" is his daughter, Mrs. George Whitney. "Virginia" (V.) is Robert L. Bacon's wife. "Priscilla" (P.) is Gaspar's wife, and "Hope" (Little Hope) is Elliott's wife.

228. Mr. George Whitney, Mr. Bacon's son-in-law, visited him at Chaumont. during this period of feverish activity. A few lines from a personal note which he wrote to Mr. Bacon upon leaving France for the United States are of interest in this connection:

"I should think that the results which you accomplished by your own individual efforts must be a great satisfaction to you, for the work you have done and are doing is of the greatest importance although of course it is not showy, and I feel confident that as things shake down a little you will be enormously helpful in some other capacity which may prove less detailed and so more congenial."

229. Letter to Mrs. Bacon dated October 15, 1920.

230. Mr. Bacon did not add that this was his home as well as that of General Pershing. General McCoy does,

"We hoped to have Colonel Bacon live with us, but were deprived of that by the Commander-in-Chief's insistence upon his remaining with him, but our more informal and merry mess never passed a day without his dropping in, either for a meal or after dinner in the evening, and very quickly he was at home, not only with ourselves, but with Winty Chanler, Willie Eustis, Dick Peters, Willard Straight, Peter Bowditch, and many others of his old and dear friends who stopped by or with us."

231. A nickname for the oldest son.

232. Mr. Root, as Ambassador Extraordinary, headed "the American Mission to Russia to express the deep friendship of the American people for the people of Russia, and to discuss the best and most practical means of coöperation between the two peoples in carrying the present struggle for the freedom of all peoples to a successful consummation."

Upon his return from Russia, Mr. Root delivered an address, "Faith in Russia," on August 15, 1917, in New York City, before the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. Almost the last words of this address were,

"Ah! If we love freedom, if we are true children of our fathers, and cherish their ideals, confidence and hope will go out from us to those brave Russians who are fighting our battles as they are fighting their own; and we will uphold the hands of our Government and encourage the spirit of our people to do our duty beyond measure, to help them in their great and noble work." The United States and the War; The Mission to Russia; Political Addresses, by Elihu Root, collected and edited by Robert Bacon and James Brown Scott (1918), pp. 161, 167.

233. Mr. Bacon's cousin, Miss Ellen Bacon.

234. The many. and varied duties of Post Commandant are thus enumerated by the Adjutant General at General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces in France.

"EXTRACT COPY" "Headquarters American Expeditionary Forces. France, September 13, 1917.

From. Adjutant General.
To.. Commandant, Headquarters, A. E. F.
Subject.. Duties of the Commandant and his Assistants.

1. In connection with paragraphs 6, 7, and 8, S. 0., No. 95, current series, these headquarters, detailing a Commandant and Assistants at these headquarters, the Commander-in-Chief directs me to inform you that the duties of Commandant include the following:

(a) The installation, distribution, furnishing, heating, lighting, telephone, and messenger service for the various offices, quarters and barracks.

(b) Day and night guard over offices, quarters and barracks, including a roster under such instructions as will cause an Officer of the Day to be on duty at all times at these headquarters, and be responsible that no unauthorized persons enter the headquarters enclosure.

(c) Lodging and billeting of all officers, troops and authorized visitors to Headquarters A. E. F.

(d) All matters pertaining to discipline, pay, sanitation, and police of troops stationed at these headquarters.

(e) Service of automobiles, motor trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles, including the obtaining and issuing of passes for authorized trips from these Headquarters A.E.F.

(f) Responsibility for order and service of security at Hq. A.E.F., especially precautions and defense against fire and aërial attack.

(g) Adjusting of wages and prices in accordance with French regulations.

2. Inasmuch as the town of Chaumont is under French control, measures regarding methods to be taken in case of bombing attack, extinguishing of lights, etc., should be adopted only after consultation by the Commandant with the French authorities at Chaumont.

(signed)
BENJ. ALVORD."

235. The Marquis Edouard de Castelnau (1851- ). In August and September, 1914 his repulse of Prince Rupprecht's VI Army on the heights of the Grand Couronné not only saved Nancy, but paved the way for the overwhelming victory of the Marne.

In 1916, he was detailed to Verdun, when it was in danger of failing before the German attack, and his part "in steadying and inspiring the historic French resistance cannot easily be exaggerated. After a few days' work, he was able to hand over the defence, systematized, reënforced, and confident, to Pétain." Encyclopædia Britannica (12th edition, vol. xxx), pp. 587-588.

His third great service to France and to the world, the offensive in Lorraine to entrap the German Army and compel its surrender, was prevented by the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918.

236. Fox Conner (1874- ). Graduated from West Point (1898); Lieutenant Colonel; Colonel; Brigadier-General, A.E.F., on General Pershing's Staff.

237. The reference is to Edward Mandell House (1858- ), generally known as Colonel House. After the outbreak of the World War in 1914 he "visited the belligerent countries as the President's personal representative, conferring with the leading diplomats informally and advising American ambassadors of the President's attitude on various questions." [Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xxxi (12th edition, 1922), p. 3951. After the entrance of the United States into the war, he represented his country at the inter-Allied Conference in Paris, November, 1917, and also in the Supreme War Council at Versailles. A year later, he acted for the United States in negotiating the Armistice and was a member of President Wilson's Peace Commission.

238. The appointment was General Pershing's to the rank of General, a grade in which he has had but four predecessors. Washington, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan.

239. General Pershing gives the other "side of the medal" in a letter of May 1, 1918, in the course of which he said, "I take this occasion to express to you my earnest appreciation of the whole-hearted way in which you have constantly performed every duty given you since our departure from New York last May. Your enthusiasm, your willingness and singleness of purpose are an example to all of us."

240. On December 16, 1914, German cruisers put to sea and bombarded Scarborough., Hartlepool, and Whitby. This action gave rise to much discussion and comment. It was believed even in well-informed circles that the towns were not fortified and, therefore, that they were exempt from bombardment. The German cruisers withdrew without damage.

On September 4. 1917, Scarborough. was again shelled by a German submarine.

Mr. Bacon apparently refers to a raid of Zeppelins on the east and northeast of England and on London, in which twenty-seven people were killed. On their return journey five of the raiders were brought down in France.

241. Dwight Whitney Morrow (1873- ). Member of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company (July, 1914- ), Adviser to the Allied Maritime Transport Council (February-December, 1918), awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1919 by General Pershing "for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in connection with military shipping matters and the Military Board of Allied Supply."

242. Letter to Mrs. Bacon, October 15, 1920.

243. George Whitney, Mr. Bacon's son-in-law.

244. Thomas W. Lamont, of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company.

245. The reference is to the Battle of Cambrai, which began toward the last of November and ended with the counterstroke of the Germans in December.

Sir Julian Byng (1862- ), Commander of the British Third Army, inaugurated a new era in trench warfare by the use of tanks in this battle, surprised the Germans, and pierced their lines. The British were unable to take advantage of their victory, however, because of the disaster of Caporetto, which caused British and French troops to be rushed to Italy.

246. Mrs. Whitelaw Reid

247. General McCoy.

248. "Col. Bacon accompanied General Tasker Bliss on his visit to Flanders, at a time when American visitors were especially welcome as first signs of the fast-arriving A. E. F. All that was left of 'Free Belgium' was a little triangle of territory between the Yser and the French frontier---every acre of which was under fire from the German batteries around Ostend. Two direct hits had been made on the buildings of the G. H. Q. a few hours before. Nothing, however, was allowed to interfere with the traditions of Belgian hospitality, and every formality of a long official luncheon was remorselessly gone through with, in spite of the visitor's desire to see more of the Nieuport front. All the Belgian officers were much impressed with the fact that an American Secretary of State should be acting as Aide to an officer even of General Bliss's high rank. 'You Americans seem able to do anything 'à l'improviste' said one of them (not without a sly reference to their own Ministers at Le Havre!). They were even more surprised when I told them that he had served as a private and sergeant at Plattsburg long before attaining his present rank. Colonel Bacon, himself, was quite impatient of any reference to his position before putting on khaki.

"It was part of my official duties to present General Bliss to King Albert, and I ventured to suggest that His Majesty would doubtless like to meet a former Cabinet Officer at the same time. It was characteristic of the Colonel that in spite of his natural desire to meet the famous Chief of the Belgian Army he absolutely forbade me to suggest any plan which might interfere with the arrangements made for General Bliss's private audience." Extract of letter of May 7, 1922, from W. Penn Cresson, Captain, M.I.O.R.C., formerly Chief of the American Military Mission, Belgian GHQ. to Mr. Scott.

249. Charles Henry Brent, (1862- ), Protestant Episcopal Bishop of the Philippine Islands (1901), Bishop of Western New York since 1918. On May 28, 1918, he became Head Chaplain of the American Expeditionary Forces, and for his services in this connection received the Distinguished Service Medal.

250. Major General Leonard Wood.

251. Lieutenant Colonel Conrad A. Babcock.

252. The insignia of cord and tassel worn over the left shoulder by members of a regiment which has been signalled out for gallantry in action.

Chapter Eighteen

253. "I subsequently had the opportunity on several occasions to enjoy the cordial hospitality which Colonel Bacon extended to every American officer passing through the British G.H.Q. The part he played there, as Chief of the American Military Mission, and subsequently when attached to Marshal Haig was beyond all praise. Through his wonderful personality he became invaluable both as a channel of intimate communication between the British High Command and our own, and (if I may so express myself) as a sample 'type' of everything an American 'officer and gentleman' ought to be." Extract of letter of May 7, 1922, from W. Perm Cresson, Captain, M.I.O.R.C., formerly Chief of the American Military Mission, Belgian G. H. Q., to Mr. Scott.

254. Despatch from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig to the Secretary of State for War, April 10, 1919. Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, April 8, 1919, p. 4712.

255. The reference is to his son, Robert.

256. The passage to which Colonel Bacon refers is contained in Mrs. Bacon's letter of February 21, 1918:

You would be thrilled if you could see the infantry that have just come down from Camp Upton to-day to march to-morrow, Washington's Birthday. Ten thousand of them are going to march down 5th Avenue, and they are an inspiring sight, and we have a right to be proud of our National Army. No better propaganda for Universal Military Service could be made than this one of seeing the improvement shown in the physical and moral and mental appearance of these men. They are alert, straight and full of pride, which shows with every even swing of their bodies, and the National Guard is lost in comparison. Sammy Jay, Jack Prentice, Frank Appleton, and about all the captains are boys you know, and I mean to go out somewhere and get a seat to see them go by to-morrow, though it will choke me to do so. However, keeping your patriotism stirred is about all that keeps one these days.

257. The formula was: "Le général Foch est chargé par les gouvernements britannique et français de coordonner l'action des armies alliées sur le front ouest. Il s'entendra à cet effet avec les généraux en chef, qui sont invités à lui fournir tous les renseignements nécessaires." On 3rd April, at Beauvais, Foch was given "la direction stratégique des opérations militaires." But the Commanders-in-Chief had still the complete control of tactics and the right of appeal against Foch to their respective Governments. It was not until 24th April that Foch received the "commandement en chef des armies alliées." .A History of the Great War, by John Buchan, vol. iv (1922), p. 205 note.

258. The remark of one of Mr. Bacon's children, aged six, while learning French "Voyez-vous cet l'homme? C'est mon père"---pointing to a photograph. It became a household expression.

259. We are at the crisis of the war. Attacked by an immense superiority of German troops, our army has been forced to retire. The retirement has been tarried out methodically before the pressure of a steady succession of fresh German reserves, which are suffering enormous losses. The situation is being faced with splendid courage and resolution. The dogged pluck of our troops has for the moment checked the ceaseless onrush of the enemy, and the French have now joined in the struggle. But this battle, the greatest and most momentous in the history of the world, is only just beginning. Throughout it the French and British are buoyed with the knowledge that the Great Republic to the West will neglect no effort which can hasten its troops and its ships to Europe.

In war time is vital! It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of getting American reinforcements across the Atlantic in the shortest possible space of time. [Mr. Lloyd George's message to the American People, delivered through the Earl of Reading, British High Commissioner in the United States, at the Lotus Club Dinner, March 27, 1918. New York Times, March 28, 1918, p. 3.]

260. General Pershing had been in favour of an Allied Commander-in-Chief, so strongly in favour of it that on behalf of the United States he joined with Great Britain and France in subordinating the Allied Armies to General Foch. The agreement was reached at Beauvais, on April 3, 1918. It was signed by Tasker H. Bliss, General and Chief of Staff, and John J. Pershing, General, U. S. A. The American Generals acted without instructions from their Government, but their action was approved by the President of the United States on April 16, 1918. See, Final Report of General John J. Pershing to the Secretary of War, September 1, 1919, p. 31.

Colonel Bacon rightly considered this a date to be remembered.

261. The reference is to the Right Reverend William Lawrence (1850- Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Massachusetts; author of Life of Amos I. Lawrence (1899); Life of Roger Wolcott, Governor of Massachusetts (1902). Fellow of Harvard University since 1913.

Shortly after Mr. Bacon's death, he sent the following letter to Mrs. Bacon:

MY DEAR MRS. BACON,

Sitting at my desk for the first time in six weeks my first letter is to you, for ever since the death of your husband I have seldom had you or him out of my mind. Ever since he undertook the raising of a million dollars in New York for Harvard I have had an increasing admiration for his unselfishness, public spirit, and devotion.

Then there has grown upon me the fact that in him was one of the most chivalrous characters I ever knew. With what earnestness he spoke for the cause of the Allies when the war broke out and with what devotion he gave himself to the cause. Some men are noble.. few men, however, are noble and at the same time have the charm which makes their nobility attractive and winning.

I never expect to see another man who in personal beauty, charm, and force of character revealed the finest type of American citizenship---and at the same time he was so considerate, affectionate, and friendly. You and your children have many happy memories to cheer and comfort you. God lift up His Countenance upon you.

Yours sincerely,

WILLIAM LAWRENCE.

262. This was during the panic in Wall Street, caused by the attempt of Mr. Harriman to secure a majority of the stock of the Northern Pacific Company.

263. The United States and the War---The Mission to Russia---Political Addresses, by the Honourable Elihu Root. Collected and Edited by Robert Bacon and James Brown Scott (1918).

264. "Looking back with pride on the unbroken record of your glorious achievements, asking you to realize that to-day the fate of the British Empire hangs in the balance, I place my trust in the Canadian Corps, knowing that where Canadians are engaged there can be no giving way. Under the orders of your devoted officers in the coming battle you will advance or fall where you stand facing the enemy.

"To those who fall I say: 'You will not die, but will step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament your fate, but will be proud to have borne such sons. Your names will be revered for ever and ever by your grateful country, and God will take you unto Himself.' "Lieutenant-General (later General) Sir Arthur Currie's charge to his troops before they entered the battle. Buchan's History of the Great War, vol. iv, p. 228.

Sir Arthur Currie (1875- whose Order of the Day impressed the entire civilized world, as well as Mr. Bacon, commanded the 1st Canadian Division in France (1914-1917), and the Canadian Corps in France (1917-1919). In 1920, after his return to Canada, he was elected to and accepted the principalship of McGill University.

265. "Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment." Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's Special Order of the Day, April 11, 1918, addressed to " All Ranks of the British Army in France and Flanders." New York Times, April 13, 1918, p. 1.

266. Colonel Bacon apparently had in mind Lord Nelson's famous signal before the Battle of Trafalgar, "England expects every man to do his duty."

267. Many expressions of appreciation for Mr. Bacon's hospitality might be cited from its recipients. One must suffice.

HEADQUARTERS II CORPS,
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.
Bonnétable, France,

January 6, 1918.

MY DEAR COLONEL BACON:

Will you please accept my somewhat tardy but grateful thanks for your very kind hospitality during my stay at Montreuil?

Your bed and board, so graciously tendered, was certainly an oasis to me, a lonely wanderer in a friendless land. The warmth and comfort was fully appreciated, I assure you.

With kindest regards, I am

Very sincerely,

F. E. BUCHAN,
Colonel, G. S.

268. Among Colonel Bacon's effects was found a blank-book called "Brunehautpré Visitors' Book." It contains many a notable name, although some of his visitors were too worried and hurried to sign. Some of the guests of April 21st who registered were the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, General John J. Pershing; Generals Harbord and Nolan, etc., and on July 20th, Tasker H. Bliss, BrevetGeneral, U. S. Army, Permanent American Military Representative in the Supreme War Council at Versailles.

269."Ils ne passeront pas. They shall not pass."

General Pétain. At the end of February, 1916, General de Castelnau was sent by General Joffre to decide whether Verdun should be abandoned or defended. He consulted with General Pétain, saying, "They (the Germans) must not pass." General Pétain said: "They shall not pass." In France the people credit it to General Joffre. See N. Y. Times, May 6, 1917. Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, revised edition by K. L. Roberts (1922), p. 853.

270. One of the three was none other than Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.

271. Mrs. Bacon's little Scotch terrier.

272. The reference is to Major General William M. Wright, Commanding 35th Division, and later Third, Fifth, and Seventh Corps of the A. E. F.

273. The reference is to the holding of the lines in front of Amiens after the unified command. The second phase began April 9th, between La Bassée and Armentières. On April 29th the Germans were severely beaten by the British and French in their attack on Météren and Voormezeele. This operation, extending over twenty days, is called the Battle of the Lys.

The third phase, to which Colonel Bacon refers, was the Third Battle of the Aisne, ending on June 2nd. As Colonel Bacon said, they did not pass.

274. General Pershing naturally desired that the American Army should be fought as a whole. He therefore contemplated the withdrawal from the British Army of American Divisions which had been attached to it.

On June 3, 1918, it was agreed that five of the ten divisions should be withdrawn to support the French. Of the five remaining, two were withdrawn, leaving the 27th, 30th and 33rd. (See Final Report of General Pershing, p. 33; Sir Douglas Haig's Command, December 19, 1915, to November 11, 1918, by George A. B. Dewar assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Boraston, vol. ii (1922), pp. 280-281).

Colonel Bacon had been the intermediary between Sir Douglas Haig and General Pershing, and he naturally felt a personal as well as an official pride in the outcome. He here refers affectionately to the American troops attached to the British Army.

275. The reference is to her father, Guy Norman, who had entered the Navy from civil life in the war with Spain, who entered it again in the war with Germany, and who had just died in the service.

276. The first considerable American skirmish was at Seicheprey, on April 26th, "a score for the Germans but a credit to the fighting spirit of the Yankees." Frank H. Simonds' History of the World War, vol. v (1920), p. 187.

The First Division, on May 28th, "captured the important observation stations on the heights of Cantigny with splendid dash . . . The desperate efforts of the Germans gave the fighting at Cantigny a seeming tactical importance entirely out of proportion to the numbers involved.

"The third German offensive on May 27, against the French on the Aisne, soon developed a desperate situation for the Allies. The Second Division, then in reserve northwest of Paris and preparing to relieve the First Division, was hastily diverted to the vicinity of Meaux on May 31, and, early on the morning of June 1, was deployed across the Château-Thierry-Paris road near Montreuil-aux-Lions in a gap in the French line, where it stopped the German advance on Paris. At the same time the partially trained Third Division was placed at French disposal to hold the crossings of the Marne, and its motorized machine-gun battalion succeeded in reaching Château Thierry in time to assist in successfully defending that river crossing.

"The enemy having been halted, the Second Division commenced a series of vigorous attacks on June 4, which resulted in the capture of Belleau Wood after very severe fighting. The village of Bouresches was taken soon after, and on July 1 Vaux was captured. In these operations the Second Division met with most desperate resistance by Germany's best troops." Final Report of General Pershing to the Secretary of War, September 1, 1919, pp. 32-33.

277. Major-General Merritte W. Ireland, (1867- ). Surgeon General of the United States (1918

278. Francis Hodson, connected with the American Embassy in London for more than thirty years.

279. Theodore, Jr., promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of Infantry, "Archie" a Major, " Dick Derby a son-in-law and Surgeon in the Army, and Quentin represented the Roosevelts in the Army. Kermit was with the British in Mesopotamia. Quentin, of the Aviation Corps, battling in the air for cause and country, fell and never came back, as Mr. Bacon feared, and he lies where he fell in France.

280. In his History of the Great War, Mr. Buchan says of Sir Douglas Haig:

"The campaign---nay, the history of war---has produced no finer figure; great in patience, courtesy, unselfishness, serenity, and iron courage amid reverses and delays." (Vol. iv, p. 438.]

281. On August 8th the Battle of Amiens began. The IV British Army and the I French Army, under command of Sir Douglas Haig, penetrated the German lines, capturing more than 16,000 prisoners and 400 guns. The battle ended on the 12th, freeing the Paris-Amiens Railway, and seriously weakening the German position. In this battle the British captured 21,850 prisoners and 400 guns.

282. "Even more fortunate were the 32nd and 42nd . . . At the crossing of the Ourcq, about the villages of Séringes, Sergy, and Cierges, they crossed bayonets with Prussian and Bavarian Guard troops, militia against élite, literally crossed bayonets. One village was taken and retaken nine times. But the National Guard broke the Prussian Guard and pushed on. This region is dotted with American graveyards, testifying to the bitterness of the battle."---Frank H. Simonds, History of the World War, vol. v (1920)) p. 194.

283. The last day of the Battle of Amiens.

284. Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Johnston, who had been one of Colonel Bacon's instructors at Plattsburg.

285. Sir Douglas Haig.

286. Walter Hines Page (1855-1918), American Ambassador to Great Britain (1913-1915), resigned in 1918, worn out by his services to both countries. He died shortly after his return to the United States.

Of him the Encyclopædia Britannica says, "No man ever served his country, or the cause of Anglo-American friendship, more strenuously." [12th edition, vol. xxxii, p. 3.] See, Burton J. Hendrick's Life and Letters of Walter Hines Page (2 vols., 1922).

287. Richard von Kühlmann (1873- ). In a speech in the Reichstag, July, 1918, he declared that the war could not be ended by arms alone, and implied that it would require diplomacy to secure peace. This statement was displeasing to Germany and to the High Command, and he was obliged to tender his resignation in consequence.

288. There was a young officer of the British air service stationed with Colonel Bacon, Kirkpatrick by name. He owned a valuable German police dog to whom he was devoted. When about to start on a dangerous mission he consigned the dog to Colonel Bacon's care, on the understanding that the dog was to be his if he returned in safety, and otherwise to be Colonel Bacon's by right of purchase. He never returned, and the dog is now at the Bacon home, Westbury, Long Island.

289.

Australian Corps.
Corps Headquarters,
2nd October, 1918.

My dear General:

As the Second American Corps has now been withdrawn from the line, and my official association with you and your troops has been, for the time being, suspended, I desire to express to you the great pleasure that it has been to me and to the troops of the Australian Army Corps to have been so closely allied to you in the recent very important battle operations which have resulted in the breaking through of the main Hindenburg Line on the front of the Fourth British Army.

Now that fuller details of the work done by the 27th and 30th American Divisions have become available, the splendid gallantry and devotion of the troops in these operations have won the admiration of their Australian comrades. The tasks set were formidable, but the American troops overcame all obstacles and contributed in a very high degree to the ultimate capture of the whole tunnel system. . . .

JOHN MONASH.
Major General G. W. Read, N. A.,
Commanding Second American Corps.

Under date of October 20th, Sir Douglas Haig sent the following telegram to General Read,

"I wish to express to you personally and to all the officers and men serving under you my warm appreciation of the very valuable and gallant service rendered by you throughout the recent operations with the Fourth British Army. Called upon to attack positions of great strength held by a determined enemy all ranks of the 27th and 30th American Divisions under your command displayed an energy, courage, and determination in attack which proved irresistible. It does not need me to tell you that in the heavy fighting of the past three weeks you have earned the lasting esteem and admiration of your British comrades in arms whose successes you have so nobly shared."

290. The Argonne figures very frequently in Mr. Bacon's letters. The American Army, in conjunction with the French, was actively engaged in those operations, and with uniform success; indeed, it is not too much to say that the American Expeditionary Forces covered themselves with glory. For the three phases of the Meuse-Argonne battle, September 26-October 3, October 4-31, November 1-11, see the Final Report of General John J. Pershing to the Secretary of War, September 1, 19,9, pp. 43-53.

291. On October 6, 1918, Prince Max of Baden, then the Imperial German Chancellor, requested President Wilson to use his good offices with the Allied Powers for an armistice, in order to procure a peace based upon "the programme laid down by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of January 8, 1918, and in his subsequent pronouncements, particularly in his address of September 27, 1918."

On the 8th, Secretary of State Lansing asked on behalf of the President, if Germany accepted the President's pronouncements so that the Powers would only need to agree upon "the practical details of their application."

On the 12th, Doctor Solf, Secretary of the German Foreign Office, replied in the affirmative.

On the 14th, Secretary Lansing, acknowledging the German note of the 12th, stated that the President would have to be assured that the new German Government represented the German people, before transmitting the request to the Allied Powers.

On October 20th, Doctor Solf gave that assurance.

On the 23rd, Secretary Lansing informed the German Secretary that the President accepted his assurance and that the President would "take up with the Governments with which the Government of the United States is associated the question of an armistice."

On the 27th, Doctor Solf acknowledged Secretary Lansing's communication of the 23rd, concluding with the statement that "the German Government now awaits the proposals for an armistice, which is the first step toward a peace of justice, as described by the President in his pronouncements."

On November 5, Secretary Lansing transmitted to Germany the acceptance by the Allied Powers of the German request for an armistice, and on November 11, 1918, the armistice, ending for the present the dream---or rather nightmare---of world domination, was signed.

292. October 8th, the British III and IV Armies, with the Thirtieth American Division began the Second Battle of Le Cateau, and pushed the Germans to the south of Cambrai. On the 9th, the British captured Cambrai and on the 10th they carried the whole of Cambrai, ending the Second Battle of Le Cateau.

293. Colonel House had just reached Europe. He left New York secretly and at the President's request on October 17, 1918.

294. One by one Germany's allies in the war were crushed. An armistice was concluded with Bulgaria, September 29th, with Turkey, October 31st, with Austria-Hungary, November 3rd. An armistice with Germany itself was to be signed eight days later.

295. As illustrating Colonel Bacon's thoughtfulness of others, the following passage from a statement of the Director of the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris is quoted:

Le 11 Novembre 1918, à 5 heures du matin, je fus réveillé par le téléphone; on demandait à me parler du Quartier-Général Britannique; c'était Major Robert Bacon qui était au bout du fil. Il me semble encore entendre avec quelle joie il m'annonçait confidentiellement de prendre mes dispositions pour pavoiser la façade de l'Hôtel en me disant qu'à onze heures le canon serait tiré pour annoncer la signature de l'Armistice! Je lui répondis amicalement que depuis quelques temps on nous bernait tous les jours avec des nouvelles semblables et que je demeurais crédule. II me répondit qu'il avait de suite pensé à moi et que la nouvelle qu'il m'annonçait était très certaine. Je gardai précieusement le secret et fis mes préparatifs ainsi qu'il me le conseillait, et, grâce à Mr. Robert Bacon, le dernier coup de canon n'était pas tiré que le Crillon était pavoisé et prenait son air de fête; ce fut de ce fait la première maison décorée de toute la Ville de Paris.

Chapter Nineteen

296. A Colonel in the American Army, Military Attaché to Mr. Bacon during his Embassy.

297. Line of Communication.

298. John W. Davis (1873- ). Member of the House of Representatives, from West Virginia (1911-1915); Solicitor-General of the United States (1913-1918), Ambassador to Great Britain, succeeding Mr. Page (1918-1921). Resigned, and upon his return to the United States engaged in the practice of law in New York City.

299. Colonel Rhea's name was James Cooper Rhea, hence Colonel Bacon's travesty---a liberty which he sometimes took with intimate friends.

300. The citation for the Croix de Guerre which Mr. Bacon deeply appreciated, although he would never tell why it was awarded, was as follows.

Citation à l'ordre de l'armée

Le Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Bacon Chef de la Mission Militaire Auprès du G.H..Q. Britannique.

Officier supérieur de haute valeur professionnelle et morale. A comme Ambassadeur des États- Unis en France, puissamment contribué au reserrement des liens d'amitié unissant les deux nations. Nommé aide de camp du Général Commandant en Chef des Forces américaines au début de l'entrée en guerre des États- Unis, s'est dépensé sans compter, et par son activité inlassable, et ses qualités d'organisateur a grandement contribué d'abord à la ,formation, puis au succès des Armées américaines.

PÉTAIN.
26 janvier 1919.

301. I learn here that Ett has decided after all to go with General Wright, and the 1st Corps, so he is no longer with the 77th Division, and it must be a great relief to him. His work will be much bigger and far more interesting and congenial till he is ordered home.---Letter of January 9, from Chaumont.

302.

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS,
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
France,
March 22, 1919.

Special Orders, No. 106.

Extract

81. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Bacon, Infantry, is relieved from his present assignment, and from further duty with the American Expeditionary Forces, and will proceed without delay to Base Section No. 5, reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General for return to the United States by first available transportation. Upon arrival in the United States he will report to the Adjutant General of the Army for further orders.

The provisions of General Orders Nos. 127, 188 and 189, series 1918, these headquarters, and Section I, general Orders No. 28, c. s., will be complied with.

Compliance with this order after arrival in the United States is subject to such delays as may be imposed by the authorities at the Port of Debarkation in accordance with orders from War Department relative to debarkation, disinfection, quarantine, and demobilization.

The travel directed is necessary in the military service.

303.

WAR DEPARTMENT
Washington, April 5, 1919.
Special Orders, No. 80-0.

Extract

78. By direction of the President, and under the provisions of Section 9, Act of Congress, May 18, 1917, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Bacon, Infantry, United States Army, is honorably discharged from the service of the United States for the convenience of the Government to take effect this date his services being no longer required.

Peyton C. March,
By order of the Secretary of War: General, Chief of Staff.

Official:

P. C. Harris,
The Adjutant General.

304. General Honourable Sir Herbert Alexander Lawrence in a letter to Mrs. Bacon, undated, written shortly after Mr. Bacon's death.

305. Letter to Mrs. Bacon dated May 30, 1919.


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