by Lou Ureneck
96While he was definitely not For an analysis of the family backgrounds of Naval Academy cadets, see Peter Karsten, The Naval Aristocracy: The Golden Age of Annapolis and the Emergence of Modern American Navalism (New York: Free Press, 1972).
97One such man, though not so young Dunn tells his own story in his memoir World Alive (Robert Dunn, World Alive: A Personal Story [New York: Crown Publishers, 1956]). See also Richard G. Hovannisian, The Republic of Armenia, Vol. II: From Versaüles to London, 1919–1920 (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University. of California Press, 1982). For another point of view on Dunn, see Heath W. Lowry, “Richard G. Hovannisian on Lieutenant Robert Steed Dunn,” Journal of Ottoman Studies V (1985): 209–252. (Formerly the Atatürk Professor of Ottoman & Modern Turkish Studies at Princeton University, Lowry is a controversial figure who asserts the Armenians were not victims of a Turkish genocide.)
98His first order of business BWD, Sept. 5, 1920.
99Bristol had complete confidence Aaron Merrill, Family and Personal Correspondence, ASMP.
99Small and light, young Merrill “Aaron S. Merrill,” Lucky Bag (the Naval Academy yearbook), U.S. Naval Academy, 1912.
99The letters also showed Merrill to his mother, March 16, 1920 and March 5, 1920, Family and Personal Papers, ASMP.
99By September 5, word “Intelligence Report,” 103, Sept. 2, 199, STANAV. MLB.
100Two hours before the Litchfield BWD, Sept 5, 1922.
100John Dos Passos was among those Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, 98.
100Ernest Hemingway would be BWD, Oct. 4, 1922.
100Brown had replaced the previous Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, l3.
100Dapper with a pencil-thin mustache Constantine Brown, The Coming of the Whirlwind (Chicago: Regnery, 1964),147–149.
100Clayton had gained notoriety History of the Chicago Tribune; Published in Commemoration of Its Seventy-fifth Birthday, June Tenth, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-two (Chicago: Chicago Tribune, 1922), 72. See also Emma Goldman, Living My Life. Vol. 2 (New York: Dover Publications, 1970).
100Bristol had worked hard Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, 117–119. Incredibly, after the State Department received a copy of Clayton’s unpublished story from the consul in Aleppo, Bristol took the position that the report was accurate but it was misleading because it put blame for deportations on the Turks: “The moral responsibility for the present situation of the Christian minorities in Turkey rests largely upon the Allies, although it has been possible up to the present to shift this responsibility to the shoulders of the Turks.” Bristol to State Department, August 29, 1922. NA 867.4016/632.
101Bristol was a student of the new field Bristol to Frank Polk, Dec. 4, 1919, NR Record Group 45, as quoted in Housepian. “You know I am a pitiless publicity man …”
101The Litchfield departed Constantinople Merrill, Personal Diary, Sept. 5, 1922. ASMP.
101Like all American destroyers Donald M. Kehn, A Blue Sea of Blood: Deciphering the Mysterious Fate of the USS Edsall (Minneapolis: MBI, 2008), 314.
101The Litchfield was ordered to steam Logbook, USS Litchfield, Sept. 6, 1922. NA; “Report of Operations for Week Ending 10 September 1922,” Commander, U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters. BWD.
101Rhodes was a capable Rhodes NPRC file contains numerous documents that reference his personal problems including drunkenness. See, e.g., “Report of Medical Survey,” John B. Rhodes, Nov. 17, 1921. “From the history of this officer’s conduct, he was suffering from Neurasthenia, brought on by family troubles and the effects of excessive indulgence in alcohol.”
103By September 5, the northern detachment Smith, Ionian Vision, 298–299.
103The Litchfield came into the mouth “Ship’s Diary,” USS Litchfield, Sept. 6, 1922. ASMP.
103British officers, working with Halpern, Mediterranean Fleet, 376–383.
104The Litchfield’s launch was Unless otherwise noted, this and subsequent references to the actions and observations of Merrill are taken from his diary, Sept. 6–12. Merrill Diaries, ASMP.
105At the consulate, they found Alexkos Karagheorghiades to Nancy Horton, March 9, 1962. “After seizure of the city by the irregulars (Turkish troops), he (Horton) attempted by every possible means to save the women and children not protected by American citizenship from certain death. This he did by raising American flags on Greek fishing and other boats. His first concern was to notify the inhabitants of the various sections of the city to assemble at the placed Punta. Constantly, and insofar as was possible, he watched over us and aided us in the boarding the ships which carried us to freedom.” The letter is quoted in Nancy Horton’s unfinished biography of GH.
105By Wednesday, September 6 Smith, Ionian Vision, 297, 298; Kocatürk, Atatürk Ve Türkiye.
107Merrill was proud Merrill mentions his translation skills in his letters and diary. Merrill’s Personal and Family Papers, ASMP.
108Meanwhile, Brown, who had obtained Brown, Coming of the Whirlwind, 152. The question arises whether the Greek commander actually said this, or whether Brown put these words in his mouth after he had heard of Hadjianestis’s reputation from others. Brown was not an entirely reliable correspondent and his memoir is boastful. Nonetheless, the allegation was widespread.
109He was fifty-eight and reputed Smith, 272–277, 324.
109Knauss, a fellow Pennsylvanian “Knauss, Harrison E.” Lucky Bag, 1907, U.S. Naval Academy. Knauss, H.E. file, NPRC.
110The American’s relief committee E. O. Jacob to Darius Davis, Sept. 18, 1922. KFYA.
110“Old wrinkled women, lying …” “Smyrna and After, Part I,” Naval Review, The Naval Society, London, 1923, Vol. 3, 358, 555.
111Jennings’s assignment required Amy Jennings to William Schneider.
113The Greek general yielded Jennings to D. Davis.
114His boss, Jacob, now back Sara Jacobs to D. Davis.
114Providentially, while making his rounds Jennings to D. Davis.
115On Thursday, September 7, the British Halpern, Mediterranean Fleet, 376–383
116Knauss judged the situation H. E. Knauss, “Ship’s Diary,” USS Simpson. Sept. 6–18, 1922. MLB
116A departing Greek merchant had Merrill Diary, Sept. 7, 1922. ASMP; Brown, Coming of the Whirlwind, 152.
117Lawrence put a young instructor “Heroes in Smyrna” Missionary Herald, Nov. 1922, 917.
117The Greek reinforcements Merrill to Bristol, Sept. 6, 1922. MLB.
118Around midnight, George Horton boarded the Litchfield Hepburn, “Smyrna Disaster,” 34.
118Afterward, he had lunch with Merrill Diary, Sept. 7, 1922. ASMP.
119“The Greek troops passed to the rear singly …” Knauss, “Simpson Diary,” Sept. 7, 1922. MLB.
120“I have just returned from …” London Daily Telegram, Sept. 10, 1922, quoted in Oeconomos, Martyrdom. A similar story by Clayton appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Sept. 8, 1922.
CHAPTER 11: THE VIEW FROM NIF
122Again, I’m indebted to Mango and Kinross on the details of Kemal’s life. For a chronology of the Turkish advance, see also Kocatürk, Atatürk Ve 124.
125The inheritors of a fierce martial culture Lewis, Emergence of Modern Turkey, 13–17, including this: “For six centuries the Ottomans were almost constantly at war with the Christian West, first in the attempt—mainly successful—to impose Islamic rule on a large part of Europe, then in the long-drawn-out rearguard action to halt or delay the relentless counterattack of the West. This centuries-long struggle, with its origins in the very roots of Turkish Islam, could not fail to affect the whole structure of Turkish society and institutions.”
125Three men of the Young Turks movement Lewis, Emergence of Modern Turkey, 225–227.
125“Their passion for Turkifying the nation …” Henry Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story: A Personal Account of the Armenian Genocide (NY: Cosimo, 2008), 200.
126“We’ve eaten shit …” Mango, Atatürk, 185.
127He had given the Greek army forty-eight hours “Smyrna and the
Dardanelles,” Naval Review 23, no. 3 (1935): 468.
127The day before, at Salihli Kocatürk, Atatürk Ve Türkiye.
127Nonetheless, he agreed Kinross, Atatürk, 363.
CHAPTER 12: BACK IN CONSTANTINOPLE
128On Wednesday September 6 BWD, Sept. 6, 1922.
128The group was bound by work Buzanski, Admiral Mark L. Bristol, 114, 179.
128Peet had instigated the campaign Buzanski, Admiral Mark L. Bristol, 182; Grabill, Protestant Diplomacy, 261. Biographical detail on Peet from Personnel Records, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, American Research Institute in Turkey (Digital Library for International Research). A description of the close connection between Near East Relief and the American Board appears in Peterson, “Starving Armenians,” 34, 35.
128Jaquith had banged heads Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, 274. Biographical background on Jaquith appears in “The New Near East,” Near East Relief, New York, March 1921, 5. For a description of the way in which Jaquith brought to light the testimony of two Near East Relief workers about Turkish brutality over Bristol’s objections, see Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, 113–115.
129Bristol was openly hostile In his War Diary, Bristol frequently displayed his animus. See, e.g, BWD, Oct. 4, 1922.
129The Near East Relief organization had begun The astonishing story of Near East Relief is told in James L. Barton, Story of Near East Relief (1915–1930): An Interpretation (New York: Macmillan Company, 1930).
129In 1916, Near East Relief Details for this section are drawn from the minutes, reports, and cables of Near East Relief in RAC.
130Former Ambassador Morgenthau “Morgenthau Calls for Check on Turks,” New York Times, Sept. 5, 1922.
130Bristol saw responsibility BWD, Sept. 6, 1922.
131The Greek is about the worst race Bristol letter to Admiral W. S. Sims, May 19, 1919, MLB, as quoted in Housepian.
131The two men despised each other Shenk, Black Sea Fleet, 44, 45.
131A British admiral would call him On February 10, 1928, Reginald Tyrwhitt, then Commander in Chief China Station, to Roger Keyes (then Mediterranean C.-in-C.) the following: “Then a week at Manila. Very pleasant & quite an entente with the Americans. Adl Bristol was there and on the surface he was v. pleasant but I know him to be a snake in the grass & do not trust him a yard. A nasty bit of work” (citation provided by Professor Paul Halpern).
131The British ambassador in Washington Buzanski, Admiral Mark L. Bristol, 188.
131The episode ended with a note Hughes to Bristol, May 4, 1922. NA 124.676/39b.
132He cabled the Red Cross Bristol to State Dept, September 6, 1922. MLB.
132The next day, Thursday BWD, Sept. 7, 1922.
132Hamid Bey struck Ernest Hemingway “Hamid Bey,” Ernest Hemingway, Dateline, Toronto: The Complete Toronto Star Dispatches, 1920–1924, ed. William White (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985).
133The nationalists, Bristol told BWD, Sept. 7, 1922.
133As a young man, he had been Biographical detail on Sweeny comes from Richard Deacon, One Man’s Wars: the Story of Charles Sweeny, Soldier of Fortune (London: Barker, 1972).
134After proposing stories BWD, Sept. 7, 1922.
134Finally on Friday, two days BWD, Sept. 8, 1922.
134As the group was departing Merrill Diary, Sept. 9, 1922, ASMP.
135Prentiss was a peculiar character Prentiss’s reports about Smyrna have helped shape the historical record so it’s worth recounting his odd career and unreliability as a witness. He was born in Hokah, Minnesota, in 1874, moved to Missouri as a child, then to Chicago, where he married, had two children, and sold insurance. In 1917, he moved to New Jersey, where he described himself as a consulting engineer. In 1919, Prentiss served as director and publicist of the first iteration of the Council on Foreign Relations, but appears to have had conflicts with its leaders, which led to his departure. In 1920, he was public relations director for the National Surety Co. and about the same time he wrote an article in which he said he was chairman of the United States Clearing House of Foreign Credits, a business he said he started himself. The same year, in an article titled “No Experience Necessary,” he advised job seekers to rely on gumption over training to advance their careers and told an incredible personal tale of success. He said he had worked in mines in Missouri and had been indentured as farm hand as a boy before hopping on a “hog train” to Chicago and walking into the city’s main department store in his farm clothes and asking to meet its owner, Marshall Field. His persistence so impressed Mr. Field, Prentiss wrote, he got the job and did amazing work, only to get fired six times by lesser executives and rehired by Mr. Field himself, at which point he improved the store’s elevator system with such skill he won a project with a major elevator company. He recounts other heroic experiences in business, moved through other jobs, and then said he ended up in Houston where he redesigned canal piers to reduce the cost of loading cotton. Then, he said, he went off to France as a knife salesman and improved the country’s manufacturing methods.
He showed up in Bristol’s office in late August 1922 claiming to be an efficiency expert working for Near East Relief. (Near East Relief later distanced itself from him.)
Among Prentiss’s most outrageous reports about Smyrna was the story in which he saved an American sailor from a mob and a Greek man from execution after the man’s young daughter came to Prentiss saying God had directed her to him. Prentiss was at the heroic center of nearly all the reports he wrote about Smyrna.
He frequently invoked Bristol’s name when selling his stories, but even Bristol had his doubts. “In the morning,” Bristol noted in his diary, “I received a call from Mr. M. O. Prentiss. He came to discuss with me certain questions that I had instructed my Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Merrill to ask him. I told Lieutenant Merrill to find from Mr. Prentiss just whom he represented out here and to ask him if he had any letters indentifying him and his work. Mr. Prentiss said he did not have any letters, that he represented some bankers who were friends of his… . I must admit that Mr. Prentiss’ further information today did not throw much light on his position out here. He talks very well, he appears very well and yet I cannot quite make him out. He gave me a set of pictures that he had taken down at Smyrna. It is noticeable that he appears very often in these pictures in rather prominent and imposing places.”
Even more strangely, on the way back to the United States, Prentiss became enmeshed in a murder in Italy, though he was never charged. He claimed to have been misidentified as the suitor of a wealthy Chicago woman who was vacationing in Italy. Back in Washington, he tried to convince Allen Dulles to support a forum to help win approval of an American treaty with Turkey but Dulles was skeptical, writing in a confidential note, “I have little confidence in Prentiss.” Later, Prentiss started a Christmas-card business and stirred up publicity by leading a campaign to ban the word Xmas. By 1940, he was widowed and a lodger at the Kenmore Hall Hotel in New York. He died in 1948. His obituary in the Washington Post called him an advertising and public relations man.
Also see Mark O. Prentiss, “No Experience Necessary,” “System—The Magazine of Business,” March 1920, Vol. 32, A. W. Shaw Co., New York and London, 492; Mark O. Prentiss, “Sophie and Her God,” Good News, April 1926. “Supplement: For the Young People,” Australasian Pentecostal Studies, Parramatta NSW 2150, Australia http://webjournals.ac.edu.au/journals/GN/gn-vol17-no4-apr-1926/23-sophie-and-her-god/ “Pessimistic views Not Sanctioned by Eastern Relief,” Schenecdaty, N.Y., Gazette, Nov. 14, 1922. The following documents relating to Council on Foreign Relations come from Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University: Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, April 8, 1919; Douglas Dunbar to Frank N. Doubleday, June 25, 1919; Doubleday to Dunbar, June 26, 1919; Prentiss to Herbert S. Houston, Dec. 30, 1919. BWD, Oct. 21, 1922; Dulles, Allen, Mark Prentiss Meeting, State Dept. Memo, NA 711.67/118; “Tells Why He Named Prentiss in Italy Murder: Claims Mrs. Underhill Spurned Chicagoan,” Chicago Daily Tribune, No
v 19, 1922; “Spelling of ‘Xmas’ Is Called Irreverent; Clergymen Back Move to Bar Abbreviation,” New York Times, Dec. 9, 1926. “Mark O. Prentiss,” The Washington, March 23, 1948.
135The ship slipped its mooring “Logbook,” USS Lawrence, Sept. 8, 1922. NA.
CHAPTER 13: CAPTAIN HEPBURN’S DILEMMA
136The USS Lawrence entered Hepburn, “Smyrna Disaster,” 2. Unless otherwise noted, subsequent details on Hepburn’s actions and observations are drawn from his report.
137Twenty-five years earlier Hepburn, NPRC.
137At the Academy he had Arthur J. Hepburn,” Lucky Bag, 1897, U.S. Naval Academy.
138Along with poor eyesight Hepburn, NPRC.
138Ashore, they worked Merrill Diary, Sept. 9, 1922.
139While he waited for Knauss, “Ship’s Diary, USS Simpson,” Sept. 9, 1922. MLB.
140The men had enlisted “Muster Roll of the Crew of the USS Litchfield,” June 30, 1922. NA.
140As Captain Hepburn worked with his officers “Smyrna and After, Part IV,” Naval Review 2 (1924): 356, 357.
141Horton had returned to the consulate Hepburn, “Smyrna Disaster,” 6.
142The medical team of Dr. Post Biographical details on Post from: “Wilfred Post,” Personnel Card, ABCFM, ARI in Turkey; “American Red Cross Work in Turkey,” Levant Trade Review, American Chamber of Commerce, June 1915; “Want Method to Erase Brand of Inhuman Turks,” Evening Independent, St. Petersburg, Fla. Dec. 9, 1919; Morgenthau to Sec. of State, Oct. 22, 1915. NA 867.4016/ 213; Bio on Agnes Evon: Mabel Smith, “American Nurse in Beirut,” American Journal of Nursing 28, no. 2 (February 1928); Bio on Sara Corning: “Sara Corning,” Personnel Card, ABCFM, ARI in Turkey; Sara Corning file, Yarmouth County Museum & Archives. The team’s work is told in Agnes Evon’s “Seven Days in Smyrna: The Greatest Indictment of Modern Civilization,” McClure’s Magazine 55, no. 7 (Sept. 1923).
