The Doings Of The Eleventh (Railway) Engineers Over There

This regiment, originally known as the First Engineer Reserve, will be remembered as the one recruited in New York City through the efforts of the Joint Military Committee of the National Engineering Societies. It was sent to England in August, 1917, and, after a few clays, forwarded to France and attached for immediate service to the British Expeditionary Force, without any opportunity for further field-training. This circumstance has led in some quarters to the impression that the regiment was one of engineers and mechanics merely, and had never been drilled under arms; whereas, in fact, it had received such instruction at Fort Totten for some time previous to its embarkation. It is true that in the famous affair of the German counter-attack after Byng's victory near Cambrai, the men of the Eleventh Engineers fought with pick-axes and tools, as well as with rifles borrowed from dead or wounded soldiers; but that was because they had left their own arms in camp, while doing the railroad-building work to which they had been detailed. The accomplishment of that work is really more remarkable than the behavior of the men under a German surprise-attack. It was before that counter-attack, and immediately after Byng's advance, that Field-Marshal Haig issued his despatch, announcing that the engineers deserved as much credit for that victory as the infantry, having performed miracles in keeping the railway transportation up to the fighting line. Indeed, the subsequent scrimmage, of which so much has been said, was ?Date possible only by the extraordinary position of the engineers at the very front, instead of in the rear, as might have been expected of them. A letter recently received from an officer of the regiment says: We have only recently been receiving the New York papers of early December, in which our regiment seems to have received much favorable mention. The stories were, in the main, true. Our men behaved themselves creditably, and certain of the officers received special mention for valor. Two of our 2d lieutenants were pro-moted to 1st lieutenant rank by special orders of General Pershing for "gallant con-duct in action," and about four others would have been decorated by the British,