OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Arkansas
This writer can't imagine a Tennessee fan who didn't hope in their hearts that the off week would result in some kind of solutions for the Vol's manifest weaknesses that have come to dominate since the second half against Georgia.
Alas, no.
Maybe it was the false start penalty in the 3rd quarter after the Pigs' first scoring drive, maybe it was that scoring drive itself, maybe …
What we do know is that the Vols collapsed in the third canto. The defense seemed to come back to life in the 4th but the offense never did.
Struggling Vol quarterback Jarret Guarantano was turned into an pinwheel by Hog defenders during a scramble toward the end of that benighted 3rd quarter and sat out the rest of the game. During his time at the controls, over nearly three quarters, he had completed 5 of 8 for 42 yards. No, that is NOT a mis-print.
Back up quarterback Brian Maurer was thrown to the wolves. He was then replaced by ballyhooed freshman Harrison Bailey who did little better.
Frustration abounds on all levels. It's doubtful even Smokey has a positive outlook right now.
* * * * * * * * *
The story of the beginning of the Great War has always suggested to this writer that Clemenceau's famous dictum that. “War is too important to be left to the generals” needs a codocil that if 1914 is any indicator, it is too important to be left to the politicians either.
Be that as it may, through a combination of entangling treaties and healthy doses of stubbornness and stupidity, in August of 1914 Europe went to war. The troops marched off with a song on their lips, confident after having been told by various people who should have known better that they'd “be home before the leaves fell.”
Britain had at first been willing to stay out of it, letting their historic foes, the French, and their more recent competitors on the World Stage, the Germans, slaughter each other to their hearts' content. However, overheated tales of German depredations during their invasion of Belgium stoked a fury in the English and they entered the war on the side of the French. Granted, there had been a few instances of soldiers behaving badly, but the miscreants had been quickly arrested and subjected to German military justice (i.e., shot) but the damage had been done.
The call went out to all corners of the British Empire and soon soldiers from literally all over the planet showed up just in time to be fed into the meat grinder of trench warfare.
Quite a number of those troops came from Canada.
On the idyllic campus of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, a young man also heard that call. Charles Loaring-Clark was starting his final year as the war began. He had been born in London and lived there until the age of nine when his father, Rev. William Loaring-Clark, was made Vicar of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga.
There was no passenger service from the United States to England due to the danger and the Wilson administration's doctrine of strict neutrality. Therefore young Charles traveled to Toronto where he took the King's shilling, and joined the Canadian Army. He had done his secondary schooling at Sewanee Military Academy and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Toronto Rifles. The Toronto Rifles were renamed the 3rd Battalion of the Canadian Regiment and sent off to England for advanced training in the late fall of 1914.
When the regiment deployed to France Leftenant Loaring-Clark was left behind. What he didn't know was that even by this stage in the war the British Army had instituted a system called cadre in which a percentage of a regiment, usually 10%, was kept back to rebuild the unit around after it was shattered in combat. Charles was highly disappointed but he was not there in the spring of 1915 when the regiment was subjected to the first use of poison gas by the Germans. As time went on the severely wounded were sent back to England and Charles wrote home that, “wounded tell wonderful tales of the gallantry of some of our officers.”
Leftenant Loaring-Clark got his wish in June of 1915. The second battle of Givenchi was raging in the Ypres (pronounced “eep”) sector. On June 15, Charles' battalion was assigned to take a series of huge, water-filled and interconnected shell holes called “the duck's bill.” British artillery forced the Germans to take cover but lifted just before the men left the trenches at 0445. The Germans had time to re-occupy their positions and pour machine gun fire into the advancing Canadians and the attack failed. Lt. Charles Loaring-Clark was badly wounded and died on the 17th.
He is buried in the Beuvry Cemetery, near Calais.
It it very likely that Lt. Charles Loaring-Clark was the first Tennessean to die in the Great War.
By 1916, Canadian sources stated that some 16,000 Americans were serving in the Canadian Army.
Two men from Knoxville followed the path blazed by Charles to the Frozen North.
Zephaniah Porter Broom had served in C Company of the 3rd Tennessee from 1913 until 1915. His occupation was listed on his enlistment papers as cigar maker. Zeph took his discharge from the national guard and went to Canada and joined the Canadian Army in October, 1915. He was assigned to a regiment with one of the greatest names in military history: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
The PPCLI was formed in August 1914 and was named in honor of the Governor General of Canada, Lord Connaught's, daughter. They were promptly shipped to France and took part in every major campaign of the British Expeditionary Force.
Zeph fought with the Princess Pats until he was wounded on 15 September 1916 during the Battle of Fleurs-Courcelette. Zeph was “marked out” of the PPCLI but stayed in the Canadian Army serving until August, 1918, when he requested a discharge and returned to Knoxville to rejoin the 3rd Tennessee which was being re-designated the 117th Infantry Regiment.
He deployed back to France with the 117th and fought at Bellicourt and beyond. The end of the war found him in Officer's School. He returned to Knoxville and was mustered out. Zeph then got married, had kids, and lived quietly until his death in 1979.
Zeph Broom was joined in the PPCLI by James Clyde Lloyd. James was born in 1884 and married his wife, Hattie, in 1905. He was a licensed emblamer and went out ot Los Angeles in 1910 but returned roughly a year later.
He too, went north and enlisted in the Canadian Army in August, 1917 and then joined the PPCLI in field in April, 1918. He was severely wounded in the Battle of the Scarpe on 26 August 1918. He was still in the hospital when the Armistice took effect.
James returned to Knoxville but died on 1 August 1923 of “paralysis” probably related to his war wounds. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
Finally we come to John Cooper. A veteran of the Spanish-American War and member of the 3rd Tennessee, Cooper went to Europe with the 117th only to be told on arrival that he was too old for active service. He requested a discharge and went to London where he enlisted as a private in a unit with another of those great names, the Artists Writers Battalion of the British Army. Tiring of life as an enlisted man, Cooper then joined the Royal Marines where he received a commission. John S. Cooper was the only American known to have served with the Royal Marines in the Great War.
Your Scribe would be remiss if, in these tales of Tennesseans serving under other flags during the Great War, no mention was made of the Maury County mules. For whatever reason, Columbia, Tennessee, was famed far and wide for its trade in mules. Since the British Army needed mules in vast numbers, they actually set up an office in Columbia specifically to buy mules to be shipped to France.
Tennessee, where the “Volunteer Spirit” extends even to draft animals!
*********
For a season that started with such bright promise, Tennessee's 2020 campaign seems to be dissolving before our eyes into a miasma of failure and recrimination.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Maybe Tennessee's mistake was going into the locker room at half? Perhaps they need to stay on the field.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
Thirteen points is not going to defeat most major college teams. Allowing 24 points in one the third quarter WILL, on the other hand, usually signal defeat.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
Note to team: “put on more steam” means to try harder and play with more determination as the game goes on. Thank you.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Going out in the 3rd canto and allowing your opponent to basically run up and down the field at will violates this Maxim in its essence.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Again, this speaks to enthusiasm and drive. Both were sadly lacking.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
The Vols' kicking duo of Cimaglia and Brooks are one of the few bright spots this season.
7. Carry the fight to Arkansas and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Thirty does not equal sixty. Two does not equal four. Etc. Etc.
Next up are the Fightin' Texas Aggies and their legendary 12th Man. At 5-1, they're tough, they're hot, and they're lucky. Tennessee is none of the above. Could be a long day at Neyland Stadium.
MAXOMG
© 2020 Keeping Your Stories Alive
Suggested Reading:
Capt. Reese Amis, Knox County in the World War
Steven K. Newman, With the Patricias: In the Mud and the Blood
Zephaniah Broom in the uniform of the PPCLI (Author's collection)
