The Heroic Gangster_The Story of Monk Eastman, From the Streets of New York to the Battlefields of Europe and Back

by Neil Hanson

  23 SYSTEM OF DEFENSES Clarke, Over There, 44; Rowland, The 27th Division Crashes Through, 4.

  24 RAISING AND LOWERING Clarke, Over There, 60, 41–42.

  25 FIVE HUNDRED YARDS WERE SET BETWEEN Field Order No. 33, August 20, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files—53rd Brigade [NM-91] 1241, box 7, NARA; Clarke, Over There, 45.

  26 “THAT METAL-BEATEN” and “FLAT, SAWED-OFF” John F. O’Ryan, History of the 27th Division: New York’s Own, 22–23; Clarke, Over There, 41–42.

  27 “SANK TO THE GROUND” Clarke, Over There, 65.

  28 THE MEN WERE WARNED General Orders No. 73, August 26, 1918, General Orders No. 75, August 28, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA.

  29 “A PECULIAR PLOPPING” Clarke, Over There, 45.

  30 SAINT-MARTIN-AU-LAëRT and NO OFFICER OR ENLISTED War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, July 14, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA; General Orders No. 88, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1653, NARA.

  31 SERIES OF DEFECTS and THE AMERICAN CHIEF GAS Secret Bulletin No. 5, Headquarters, 27th Division, August 19, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA; Chief Gas Officer to Asst. C. of S., G-3, France, July 28, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA.

  32 “A LONG TRAIL” and “AN HONEST-TO-GOD” New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1919; The New York Evening Telegram, December 30, 1920.

  14 THE NIAGARA OF SHELLS

  1 “OVER DISMAL WASTES” Rutherford Ireland, History of the Twenty Third Regiment N.G.S.N.Y., 279; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, July 23, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), AEF General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA.

  2 ISADORE COHEN and HALLEBAST CORNER William F. Clarke, Over There with O’Ryan’s Roughnecks, 52; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, July 30, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA.

  3 “LOOMING UP” and IN CASE ANY AMERICAN Gas Attack, March 1919, 42–43; Field Orders, No. 4, July 21, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files—53rd Brigade [NM-91] 1241, box 7, NARA; Ireland, History of the Twenty Third Regiment, 277.

  4–5 “ACTION EAST POP” and “STOOD STOCK-STILL” War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, August 2, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA; Clarke, Over There, 52.

  6 “THEY DO NOT TURN” 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA.

  7 “ALL MEN SHOULD” Ibid.

  8 “COMPELLED TO URINATE” Necessary Personnel, Functions and Duties, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1634, NARA.

  9 BAGS OR BURLAP, THE SAPS WERE BARELY, and “I SHOOK, I TREMBLED” Confidential Memorandum, Headquarters 27th Division, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 3, NARA; Clarke, Over There, 55, 56, 65.

  10 RIFLES WERE NOT CLEANED Adjutant to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 12, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1643, NARA.

  11 A BATTALION COMMANDER, PRIVATE JOHN FOSTER, and “THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES” Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 106th Infantry, to C.O. 106th Infantry, August 4, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1646, NARA; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, August 10, 4, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA; General Orders No. 75, August 28, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA.

  12 “THE GANGSTER,” “THE TOUGHEST GANG,” PRAISED BY HIS COMMANDER, and “WHEN HIS COMRADES” Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York, xvi; New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1919, December 27, 1920.

  13 BRITISH MEDICAL PERSONNEL Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, 131.

  14 “HOW FAR ABOVE” Gas Attack, December 15, 1917, 19—20; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, August 10, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA.

  15 “UNTIL WE COULD FEEL” Clarke, Over There, 57.

  16 THE HOTTEST SECTION and EVERY GIRL IN THE ESTAMINETS New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1919; lecture by Captain Stead, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 5, NARA; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, August 12, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA.

  17 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT and DEFECTIVE IN MAP-READING John Walker, Official History of the 120th Infantry, 13; Mitchell Yockelson, Borrowed Soldiers, 88.

  18 PERENNIAL COMPLAINTS and “SMARTNESS IN DRESS” Questionnaire, 106th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, July 26, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA.

  19 “EVIDENCE PLAINLY” Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Lieutenant Colonel J. M. Wainwright, Inspector General, 27th Division, August 11, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry Regiment [NM-93], 2133 box 1642, NARA.

  20 “LOSSES WILL RESULT” Bulletin No. 41, June 14, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA; Ireland, History of the Twenty Third Regiment, 280.

  21 REAL LEADERS Bulletin No. 41, June 14, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA; Special Orders No. 232, Headquarters 106th Infantry, August 21, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry Regiment [NM-93] 2133, box 1653, NARA.

  22 MONK REFUSED TO LEAVE New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1919; The World, March 27, April 9, 1919.

  23 “YOUSE GET THIS” Herbert Asbury, letter to his brother, quoted by Frances Carle (Asbury), http://herbertasbury.comlbillthebutcher/eastman.asp.

  24 CORPORAL JOHN A. KIERNAN and MICMAC AND HECLA New York Times, December 15, 1918; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, August 22, 23, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA; Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 9, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  25 “THIS GOD-FORSAKEN” Clarke, Over There, 55; J. Leslie Kincaid, “The 27th New York’s Guard Division,” 1.

  26 MUSTARD GAS and THOMAS F. FLOOD Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 9, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA; Missing in Action/Wounded Notices 1918, Brooklyn Standard Union October—December 1918.

  27 SPRINKLED WITH CHLORIDE Joseph L. Gillmann, handwritten report, August 27, 1918; Reg. Gas Officer to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, August 28, 1918; 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1645, NARA.

  28 BRITISH VETERANS WERE Leslie W. Rowland, The 27th Division Crashes Through, 4.

  29 “PRINCIPLES AND METHODS” and “APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN CHAINED” Stanley H. Ford, Lieutenant Colonel, G.S., Chief of Staff, June 26, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 6, NARA; Confidential Memorandum, Headquarters 27th Division, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 3, NARA.

  15 MORE THAN BROTHERS

 
1 “MURKY SHEET” and ESQUELLEC Stephen L. Harris, Duty, Honor, Privilege, 170; Maurice J. Swetland and Lilli Swetland, These Men, 134.

  2 “TONIGHT WE ARE MORE” Private Angelo Ferraro, quoted in New York Times, March 23, 1919.

  3 THEY WERE TOLD 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 5, NARA.

  4 MACAW TRENCH C.O., Company I, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, Box 75, NARA.

  5 DESTROYED STORES New York Times, September 5, 1918.

  6 A PRISONER and MACHINE-GUN NESTS Orders No. 3, August 31, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 7, NARA; Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  7 VIERSTRAAT SWITCH and INFLICTED FAR MORE Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 9, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA; Leslie W. Rowland, The 27th Division Crashes Through, 4.

  8 GREAT CONFUSION Swetland and Swetland, These Men, 136; Commanding General, 53rd Infantry Brigade, to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 10, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 75, NARA.

  9 “ENTIRELY LOST CONTROL” Commanding General, 53rd Infantry Brigade, to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 10, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 75, NARA.

  10 “WORN OUT” Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  11 “SORTED OUT” C.O., Company H, 106th Infantry, to C.O., 106th Infantry, September 6, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  12 THE FOLLY Ibid.

  13–14 THE REGIMENTAL COMMANDER and WITH THOROUGH ARTILLERY Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918; Commanding General, 53rd Infantry Brigade, to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 10, 1918; 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 75, NARA; C.O., Company H, 106th Infantry, to C.O., 106th Infantry, September 6, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  15 PURGATORY—NORTHERN BRICKSTACK C.O., Company H, 106th Infantry, to C.O., 106th Infantry, September 6, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  16 “THE RATTLE OF THE GANG” New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1919.

  17 ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE Trench and Camp, April 8, 1919.

  18 “A SHARP PAIN” Corporal James Toole, quoted in Mitchell Yockelson, Borrowed Soldiers, 173.

  19 THE BLIZZARD OF SHELLS C.O., Company I, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 75, NARA.

  20 MONK CRAWLED TO A DUGOUT and “ ‘THE MONK’ WAS WOUNDED” The New York Evening Telegram, December 30, 1920; Albany Times Union, May 8, 1919.

  21 “THE COMMAND I TOOK” Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 7, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA.

  22 A ONE-FOOT SLAB Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 4, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93] 2133, box 1646, NARA.

  23 PREPARE THE DEAD Necessary Personnel, Functions and Duties, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1634, NARA.

  24 “HOW TO UTILIZE” Major General Hamann, quoted in Yockelson, Borrowed Soldiers, 109.

  25 “PROFESSIONALLY UNFITTED” and “STUDIOUS AND TAKES” Adjutant to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, June 12, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1634, NARA; Headquarters, 106th Infantry, October 6, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1634, NARA; Commanding Officer to Commanding General, 27th Division, June 13, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1634, NARA; Headquarters, 106th Infantry, June 7, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files—106th Infantry [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA.

  26 MONK WOULD HAVE EMPATHIZED New York Times, December 15, 1918; Trench and Camp, April 8, 1919.

  27 HAD SAID NOTHING and THE TREATMENT REQUIRED Trench and Camp, April 8, 1919; 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 5, NARA.

  28 MONK HAD OTHER PLANS and “WANTING TO BE IN ON” Trench and Camp, April 8, 1919; Albany Times Union, May 8, 1919.

  29 A SALVAGE DUMP and WHEN THE 106TH INFANTRY WENT Chicago Daily Tribune, December 27, 1920; Trench and Camp, April 8, 1919.

  16 THE MEN MUST GO FORWARD

  1–2 DURING THE NIGHT OF and SHOVEL OUT THE MANURE William F. Clarke, Over There with O’Ryan’s Roughnecks, 73; Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Town Major, Doullens, September 6, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry, [NM-93], box 16343, NARA.

  3 “THERE WERE PRIOR TENANTS” Clarke, Over There, 73.

  4 GENERAL READ G-I, GHQ, American EF, C of S-1 14, September 7, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 1, NARA.

  5 “IN BILLETS AT TIME” Commanding General, 53rd Brigade, to Commanding Officer, 106th Infantry, September 12, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1636, NARA.

  6 MISBEHAVIOR BEFORE and “DEATH OR SUCH OTHER” Commanding General, 53rd Brigade, to Commanding Officer, 105th Infantry, 106th Infantry, September 10, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1638, NARA; Articles of War, http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/AW-1912-1920.html.

  7 “IN A VERY NASTY” Statement of Evidence, Sergeant Clarke C. Macpherson, 102nd Military Police, 391 United States Regular Army Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry Regiment [NM-93] 2133, box 1638, NARA.

  8 “THE SELLERS OF STRONG DRINK” Statement, John S. Warne, British YMCA HQ, Doullens, September 19, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry Regiment [NM-93] 2133, box 1638, NARA.

  9 DEPLETED OR NOT and A MISSION OF GREAT Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, to Commanding General, 27th Division, September 17, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army, Mobile Units, 1821–1942, Records of the 106th Infantry [NM-93], box 1640, NARA; John F. O’Ryan, Story of the 27th Division, 243.

  10 TOLD TO GET ALL and “A POOR WAIF” John H. Eggers, 27th Division, 9; New York Times, December 28, 1920.

  11 THE 15 OFFICERS and 635 MEN Gas Attack, March 1919, 42–43; War Diary, 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry, September 23, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), A.E.F. General Headquarters, War Diaries [NM-91] 26, box 2694, NARA.

  12 FORTY-EIGHT BOXCARS, “LIKE MICROSCOPIC PICTURES,” and “JUST HEAPS” Orders No. 92, September 21, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 2, NARA; Orders No. 22, September 22, 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Div
ision, Historical Files—106th Infantry [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA; Tristram Tupper, New York Evening Post, March 25, 1919; Kenneth Gow, Letters of a Soldier, 387.

  13 PÉRONNE and THE GERMANS CUT DOWN Clarke, Over There, 75; Sir Frederick Maurice, The Last Four Months, 128.

  14 WARNED NOT TO TOUCH Maurice J. Swetland and Lilli Swetland, These Men, 143; Gas Attack, March 1919, 42–43.

  15 FACING THEM WERE and “STUCK FULL” John F. O’Ryan, History of the 27th Division: New York’s Own, 24; Trench and Camp, March 1919.

  16 “TO A DEPTH” Trench and Camp, March 1919.

  17 “IN SHORT, ONE REGIMENT” Swetland and Swetland, These Men, 151. 212 THE OCCUPATION OF Eggers, 27th Division, 7.

  18 “THE MEN MUST GO” and “WHETHER THEY DO” Ibid., 7–9.

  19 “SURRENDER HIS POSITION” Clarke, Over There, 37.

  20 “NOISE SUCH AS NO MORTAL” and “COULD NOT PASS” Private Angelo Ferraro, quoted in New York Times, March 23, 1919; A Short History of the 106th Infantry, 4.

  17 A SORT OF SACRIFICE

  1 “MURMURED IN LOW” Trench and Camp, March 1919; Commanding Officer to Commanding General, 27th Division, October 3, 1918, 391 United States Regular Army Mobile Units, 18211942, Records of the 106th Infantry Regiment [NM-93] 2133, box 1643, NARA; History of Company M, 105th Infantry, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA.

  2 “THE MOMENTARY CONFUSION” History of Company M, 105th Infantry, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 9, NARA; Operations Report of the 27th Division, A.E.F., covering the period September 23 to October 1 1918, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division [NM-91] 1241, box 3, NARA.

  3 SUCCESS FLARES Maurice J. Swetland and Lilli Swetland, These Men, 152; Field Order No. 47, 120 Records of the A.E.F. (WWI), Records of the 27th Division, Historical Files [NM-91] 1241, box 2, NARA; John F. O’Ryan, History of the 27th Division, New York’s Own, 28.