Colonel Dan Morgan Smith: commander in France of "The Battalion of Death"

              1922
 - Harrington recommends this man.
Moyre

Figure

Colonel Dan Morgan Smith
COMMANDER IN FRANCE OF
The Battalion of Death
(First Battalion 358th Infantry 90th Division, A. E. F.)
IN HIS NEW LECTURE THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA (Who's Running This Country?)



Col. Smith's New Lecture—The Spirit of America, or Who's Running this Country?


TRIBUTES FROM THE PRESS

The fight is not over, said Col. Dan. Morgan Smith, leader of the Battalion of Death in the World's War, before a great audience Sunday afternoon in St. Paul's Church.  The Anti-Saloon Army is fighting for the same humanity and for the same Constitution for which we fought in France, and the Anti-Saloon League will keep on fighting until the beverage use of liquor is wiped out.  Col. Smith is a persuasive orator, and drove home facts and logic in unassailable fashion.—
Lincoln, Neb., State Journal.

High tribute to the soldiery of America in the recent war was paid by Colonel Dan Morgan Smith, who addressed three very large audiences in Atlanta yesterday, giving most vivid pictures of interesting experiences he encountered in connection with the BATTALION OF DEATH.  Colonel Smith told his hearers that the battle which they are now called upon to fight against the renewed efforts of the liquor traffickers, was a much more dangerous and important battle than the contest which WET FLANDERS' FIELDS WITH BLOOD.  Colonel Smith is a powerful, eloquent and convincing speaker.—Atlanta, Georgia, Constitution.


COLONEL DAN MORGAN SMITH, commander in France of the Battalion of Death, the famous First Battalion of Three Hundred and Fifty-eighth Infantry, Ninetieth Division, A. E. F., made a POWERFUL, DRAMATIC APPEAL to every patriotic American for support of the Prohibition Amendment as long AS IT IS A PART OF THE CONSTITUTION, in a speech before an audience which entirely filled the large Y. W C. A. Auditorium yesterday afternoon.—
Utica, N. Y., Daily Press.


INTRODUCED BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, Col. Dan Morgan Smith, leader of the famous Battalion of Death, spoke to an immense audience yesterday afternoon at the White Temple.  His address was one of the most thrilling, patriotic and eloquent lectures ever delivered in Miami.—
Miami, Florida, Metropolis.


In introducing Colonel Dan Morgan Smith to a great audience in Bay City, Judge Houghton said, 'Colonel Smith has the simple sincerity of BILLY SUNDAY and the eloquence of WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.'  When the audience had listened to the masterly address they were convinced that the speaker had fully measured up to the unique introduction.—
Bay City (Mich.) Tribune.



COMMENDATIONS FROM THE CLERGY
Latrobe, Pa., May 11, 1921.

Again as on several other occasions I have been privileged to have and hear COL.  DAN MORGAN SMITH and I again felt that same something I always felt when I listened to that other man of profound convinction, Theodore Roosevelt.—H. N. Cameron, Pastor First Methodist Church.

Balston Spa., N. Y.

COL. DAN MORGAN SMITH spoke here last night to a packed house.  His description of the World's War was absolutely the most graphic and thrilling I have ever listened to.  His attack on intemperance as a national menace was as graphic and convincing as his personal encounter with the Huns.  No one can afford to miss the lecture of Col. Dan Morgan Smith.—D. E. Sprague, Pastor First Baptist Church.

Homestead, Pa., May 9, 1921.

There is no question in my mind but the announcement of Col. Dan Morgan Smith as AMERICA'S GREATEST SOLDIER ORATOR is more than true if that be possible.  I have heard Murphy and down through Woolley, Bryan, Small and Billy Sunday in his Trail of the Serpent, but for poise and dignity, power and effectiveness, real practical common sense and inspiring oratory, Col. Smith SURPASSES THEM ALL.  His address carried conviction, it struck the mark.  No other man for years has been able to draw more than a corporal's guard on Sunday afternoon.  We feel elated at the immense audience he had.—C. E. Hemans, Pastor First Baptist Church.

Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 21, 1920.

COLONEL DAN MORGAN SMITH made a wonderful impression on Augusta.  He spoke to crowded houses.  The evening address in my church was heard by a packed house which literally drank in every word of his memorable address.  It was his fourth address for the day and was a masterpiece of mental, moral and psychic force.  A noble plea for CONSTITUTIONAL AMERICANISM, built upon a fascinating story of sacrificial service of the American soldier.—Chas. C. Jarrell, Pastor St. John's, Methodist.




Colonel Dan Morgan Smith, Soldier, Lecturer and Lawyer.  Home address: 1570 Crescent Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.  Born Virginia, educated University of Florida, and lived in Chicago some 20 years prior to his moving to California in 1922.


Figure


All his life Colonel Smith has been a soldier of fortune.  When but a youngster he engaged in GUN RUNNING for the Cubans; his boat being wrecked off the Cuban coast, he went ashore and fought with the Cubans against the Spanish.

He commanded a company of the Illinois National Guard on the border 1916–17; at the breaking out of the World War he resigned his commission as a Major in the Ill. N. G. and enlisted in the Regular Army as a private, hoping thereby to get to France the quicker.  In France he commanded The Battalion of Death (1st Battalion 358th Inf. 90th Division A. E. F.,) the outfit that WON THE PLAUDITS OF THE WORLD at Les Quatres Chemins and was promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel for Bravery on The Field of Battle.  He is now Colonel of Infantry ORC., U. S. A. (Read Junius B. Wood's article in the 3-sheet folder entitled Battalion of Death Led by Chicagoan.)


HONORED BY CITY, STATE AND NATION.
Colonel Smith has been Assistant Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago, Democratic nominee for Congress, Judge-Advocate of the State of Illinois, and Special United States Attorney.  He is a LAWYER OF NOTE, specializing in Federal and International law.

As a writer he is well known, being the author of Americanism,The Price of a Drink,The World's War,The Fields of France,Tales of the Battalion of Death,Uphold the Constitution,You Had Better Fight the Devil Than to Fight Each Other,What Constitutes a Good Citizen?  and many short stories dealing with army life, among them the famous short story, The Little Jew.



COL. SMITH, THE LECTURER.
His three most notable lectures are, THE PRICE OF A DRINK,THE WORLD'S WAR, and THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA.  He has lectured in every state in the Union.  His audiences pack the largest auditoriums obtainable.

For further data on Col. Smith see Who's Who in America for 1922.




Head quarters 358th Infantry,
American Expeditionary Forces,
12 October, 1918.


FROM: Commanding Officer, 358th Infantry,
TO: Commanding General, 90th Division, (Thru Commanding General, 179th Brig.)
SUBJECT: Recommendations for promotion.

1. Upon consultation with Lieut.  Colonel James W. Everington, who concurs in the same, the following recommendations are made for promotions based upon services of the persons named during the operations in which the Regiment was engaged on September 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 26th, 1918:
To be Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry; No vacancy.
Major Dan Morgan Smith, 358th Infantry, for gallantry in action and able handling of his battalion in action of September 12th, 1918, near Fey en Haye.

Extract copy furnished Major Smith,
for his information.

R. M. Leary
R. M. Leary, Colonel, 358th Infantry Commanding.



'BATTALION OF DEATH' LED BY CHICAGOAN
Dan Morgan Smith Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel; Modest Over Acts.


TELL STORY OF ANOTHER
(Daily News, Oct. 25, 1918.) BY JUNIUS B. WOOD


Special Cable to The Daily News
Copyright, 1918, The Chicago Daily News Co.
With the American Army at the Front, Oct. 24.—Thousands of Chicagoans remember dapper Dan Morgan Smith, his debonair manner, his slouch hat, his bow tie and his black frock coat.  Not many years ago he was an assistant corporation counsel of Chicago under James Hamilton Lewis.  Then he became a special prosecutor and federal attorney.  Finally dropping out of legal circles he was next heard of on the Mexican border, where he was a 300-pound lieutenant in the 7th Illinois national guard regiment.
On Tuesday while I was eating a meal from a mess tin in a muddy village near the front an officer acquaintance stepped up and said:
We have a major in our regiment who comes from Chicago.  You ought to meet him.  He is a corker.  He is not afraid of anything and we call his battalion the 'battalion of death.'




Found Snoring in Shack
We started out to find the major, who is now a lieutenant-colonel, and who had returned from the trenches a few hours earlier.  We found him snoring on the floor of a house—or the remnants of a house—the only one visible in the village.  Even his wife would have been unable to recognize the dapper Smith of former years.  His yellow mustache was thick and drooping and a week old stubble covered his face.  His khaki uniform, soiled and worn, torn and ripped, hung loosely on his muscular figure, now weighing not more than 180 pounds.

My name is Smith—Dan Morgan Smith—and I am glad to see anybody from Chicago, boomed his heavy voice, which had the same drawl as or old.  I have lost all my clothes except these.  It is the first chance I have had to sleep in ninety hours, but that is all a part of the game.

When I suggested that he describe some of the thrilling experiences which have made him famous in the army, he said:

Nothing doing.  I think I am proudest of this.

He produced from a greasy pocketbook an official paper.  It was an order citing the major for bravery at Faye-en-Haye, advancing him to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and directing him to return to the United States and bring over more fighting Americans.



Went to Texas Training Camp
I got that myself, he said.  When this war started I went to a training camp in Texas and just said, 'My name is Smith,' and won a commission on merit.

He is a modest man, said a captain who happened to be near by and who stepped up and told me the following story:

When Smith led his battalion beyond the lines it was surrounded by Germans.  The men fought for three days and were reduced in number from 1,220 to 325 before other elements came up to their assistance.  They kept up such a fight that the Germans thought an entire regiment was there.  The major gave orders to his men not to permit the Germans to get close enough to discover their number unless they were prisoners.  One bunch of twenty-seven Germans were captured.  After surrendering and seeing the small numbers of the Americans they threw grenades, hoping to escape.  None did.

The major lost four adjutants in one day, showing how hot the spot was in which he found himself.  He killed four men himself, which is some record for a fighting major.



Tells Story of Brave Chaplain
That is what I was expected to do, interrupted Smith.  But if you want a real story of heroism get that of the little chaplain who was there with me.  One morning he came up to me and asked if any men were left alive in an open ravine at the side of the woods which was under the enemy's fire.  'H—ll!  You can't go there and get back,' I told him.

'Do you think any one is alive there?'  he insisted.

'Yes, I reckon some are,' I replied.

The next I knew he came back carrying a wounded man on his shoulders.  He got a second man and then we fellows, not to be outdone by a sky pilot, took chances and all were rescued.

Lieut.-Col. Smith is counting the days until he shall start for his home at 6550 Yale avenue, chicago.  His father-in-law is Prof. McKinney of the Eaglewood high school.






HEADQUARTERS NINETIETH DIVISION,
American Expeditionary Forces,
France. Inspector's Office.

8 October 1918.

Major Dan Morgan Smith, 358th Infantry.

My Dear Major;

At first I could not believe the news that you were to leave us.

As I passed through your battalion, since the recent offensive, and heard your men praise your dash, courage and efficiency of September 12 and 13 and for several days following and tell stories of how they had seen you in personal combat with this or that group of Boohe I thought Smith's in his element now.

The quiet, courageous manner in which your men were performing their duties when I visited you at LES HUIT CHEMINS was the highest compliment could be paid a soldier.  Officers and men could not have given their entire mind and energies to a task in such a position, exposed, as it was, to very heavy harrassing Artillery and 37 mm.fire, in which many gas shalls were being used, had one of them ever seen his leader flinch for one moment.

When I met you, after you had been fighting for a week and asked you to have dinner with me soon, I did not think you would be fighting for weeks following.  Didn't you ever get tired?  Why do I ask that?  If the week you had gone through with did not completely exhaust you, how could anything else tire you?

How I have looked forward to the time when I could sit and chat with you again and possibly convey to you some idea of the admiration the officers of the entire Division have for you.  But I fear that is denied me now.  Only the fact that you are being taken from us for higher honors and broader service reconcile us to our loss.  Save that dinner date for me for the first opportunity.

My best wishes go with you.  May God stimulate and guide you.

Good cheer and brotherly love.

JS Nants
Major, U.S.A. Division Inspector.

JSN/MoD


No such dramatic and vivid word pictures of war scenes have ever before been heard in Lincoln.—
Nebraska State Journal.


Col. Smith's address was scintillating with wit, interspersed with graphic pictures of such pathos and horror as to bring tears to the eyes.  It was a masterpiece of eloquence.  He is finely dramatic, has a commanding personality, and a delivery that few platform orators equal.—
The Albany (Ga.) Herald.




HEAR THIS GREAT SOLDIER ORATOR
NEW LECTURE:
The Spirit of America
(Who is Running this Country?)
A Patriotic Address by a Patriot

1st CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Jacksonville, Fla.
Sunday, March 11
3:00 p. m.

ADMISSION FREE