When the test came, Iowa rang true, and the people of this county and city made their first heroic mark on the record of their country's defense. They fully understood and appreciated the magnitude of the issues involved and the portentous possibilities of failure. "They realized that if the principles of secession should establish itself,
they, with all other Iowans, would be isolated, and the principle artery of commerce, the Mississippi, would be
severed and fall into the hands of a foreign power; that confusion and anarchy would exist among contending petty
sovereignties; that without a constitution and without courts to settle their disputes the sword would be their
only arbitor. The county was sparsely settled, one township not having one man liable for military duty, and
several others with not enough for a corporal's guard. Despite this fact, Montgomery county had a larger per cent of enlistments in the Union Army than any other county in the State, although it could not furnish a full company.
Two of its volunteers had the distinction of being commissioned officers. One of these was Charles D. George, of
Villisca, now a resident of Beaver City, Nebr., who was captain of Company F, Twenty-third Regiment of Iowa Infantry.

The other was David Ellison, who was made lieutenant of Company E Sixth Iowa Cavalry. About twenty men from
different parts of the county became members of his company.

To attempt anything comprehensive in the way of history of any particular martial epoch of this city and community would be altogether too great an undertaking ?. It is neither the province nor the privilege of newspaper publishers to be historians, but rather chronologers of history in the making, leaving the heavier and more literary compilation to the Merrits and the Markeys of the land. Suffice here to say, with reference to the Civil War period, that Red Oak and Montgomery county did their share and a little bit more in putting Iowa to the fore as a military unit and a loyal state. There live in this city today many veterans of the Civil War -- many who enlisted from here and returned to spend their lives amongst the comrades and friends of those days of peril and uncertainty, and many who returned have since come to their long rest, and lie in the White City, where hundreds of marble slabs give honorable mark to the last resting place of patriots whose example of loyalty and bravery has doubtless been the inspiration of hundreds of others who have since found their duty calling them to military service. Scarcely an old family lives here but boasts of a father, a brother, or some close male relative who won honorable distinction in that great struggle for the preservation of the Nation, and it is a proud distinction and the envy of many of those who have come later and who cannot claim similar honors.

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After the Civil War all interest for a time directed toward peaceful pursuits with little thought or ambition for
more military activity. It may easily be comprehended that the people were well slated with the horrors of war, and
aside from more or less desultory Indian skirmishing for a ?? in which a number of Red Oak men who stayed in the army for an extended enlistment saw service, for Red Oak, for nearly a generation, had no need nor desire to promote or cultivate military capacity. A few individuals kept in touch with state and national military affairs, and from time to time some Red Oak man was given a place of honor upon the staff of a quasi-military nature, but the martial spirit was not at all rampant in the community for many years.

In August, 1879, a semi-official national guard known as Company "K" sprang into being, and existed without
attracting great attention and with no opportunity for the achievement of honors or distinction beyond their
immediate circle.

The captains of this organization in the order in which they served were as follows: T. H. Dearborn, Erastus Harris,
George Logan, Matt Leach and Joe Wheeler. The company was disbanded in 1891.

It was doubtless a worthy and patriotic effort to revive and to maintain a semblance of preparedness for any unknown and unanticipated demands which might unexpectedly arise, and a number of very worthy men, many of whom still reside in Red Oak, were identified with this movement. But Company "K" evidently lacked prestige, or official recognition, and its record is obscure, and the next martial movement or activity of the community of which history has to deal largely is of our own illustrious Company M, which came into being in 1892, and which figured with distinction in the Philippine campaign, and which has since that time been maintained at a high standard of efficiency and recognized throughout the entire state as an organization whose rank and file merited the highest commendation.

Company "M" was, in a way, the outgrowth of a high school cadet company, of which Jesse W. Clark was the commanding officer and drill master. They were equipped with old Springfield rifles and more or less meager, not to say non-descript, uniforms, but they were being well drilled and upon a special occasion of state, when it seemed fitting that a military body should be in attendance, the cadets filled the bill. Their efficiency at this time, and
especially in the military bearing and commanding ability of the young high school captain attracted the attention
of the Third Regiment, and it was largely through his efforts and influence that a little later Company M with much the same personnel that composed the high school cadets, were mustered into service as a company of the Iowa
National Guard.

From Markey's "From Iowa to the Philippines" we take a few paragraphs bearing directly upon the induction into
official circles of Company M as follows:
"The opportunity came in the fading away of Company M of the Third Regiment. Through the efforts of Major W. H. Evans, then of the Third Regiment, and his sergeant-major, J. W. Clark, the Red Oak company fell heir to the name and place left vacant by the timely demise of this company. On October 18, 1893, Colonel C. V. Mount, then commanding the Third Regiment, and Captain John T. Hume, regimental adjutant of the same organization and representative of the Adjutant General, visited Red Oak for the purpose of inspecting the company with a view to mustering it into the service.

So much progress had the company made in the matter of drill that a very few minutes' work sufficed to satisfy the
inspecting officers as to their efficiency. The papers were at once made out, twenty-nine men were mustered into the service and Company M became a legal entity as a member of the Iowa National Guard. The following is a list of the charter members: J. W. Clark, W. H. French, E. J. Nixon, Alexis M. Hawkins, H. F. Brown, Louis E. Bake, Chas C. Palmer, H. C. Lane, J.J. Shuey, Tim Jackson, W. B. Gammell, Thos. F. Zuber, W. C. Marshall, I. E. Elwood, H. E. Burnison, A. L. Gregory, H. W. Palmer, C. W. Taylor, J. E. Throw, F. A. Kidder, Guy E. Logan, Owen C. Hawkins, M. D. Stocksleger,
C. S. Hollipeter, Fred Tonner, J. E. Gouchenour, C. B. Rose, Chester C. Epps, Henry A. Nordquist. "Jesse W. Clark was unanimously chosen captain, W. Harry French first lieutenant, and Guy E. Logan second lieutenant.

Non-commissioned officers were appointed as follows: John J. Shuey, first sergeant; Chas. D. Rose, Hartell W. Palmer, Ed. J. Nixon and Herbert C. Lane, sergeants; Carl L. Austin, Louis E. Bake, Fred A. Kidder, and Owens C. Hawkins, corporals.

"With two or three exceptions this company were ignorant of military science and all that pertains to the art of war,
but they made up in patriotic fervor what they lacked in military skill and equipment. Their arms were a lot of more
or less dilapidated Springfields; their uniforms, alas, were uniform in size as well as in color, and it was with great
difficulty that big Lieutenant Logan and diminutive Corporal Tonner adjusted themselves to that regulation suit. The local habitation of the company was an abandoned skating rink, tottering with age, built originally for the home of Company K."

It has been a source of great pride to all who have for nearly a quarter of a century watched with interest the
consistent and sustained efficiency of Company M, to have noted, from year to year, how they have stood at the top at encampment competitions and annual inspections in all drills, maneuvers and camp contests, and in practically every physical and mental military test to which they have been subjected. It is as if the splendid example of their first annual encampment was a pace and an inspiration for those who have, from year to year, kept the ranks of the
company at full quota. This first inspection of Company M is described in Markey's book as follows:
"It was an event looked forward to with pleasant anticipation on the part of the guests, but with grave concern on
the part of the company, for by that inspection their standing in the Guard would be largely determined. Red Oak
was proud, justly proud, of the soldierly men who fell in line at the call of the little captain; who went through the
manual of arms with few blunders, and who performed nearly all the military evolutions with ease and precision.

To the uninitiated, West Point cadets could have done no better; but inspectors Lieut. Col. Wilkins and Major Joseph I. Davidson found many points subject to criticism, and didn't hesitate to tell the boys of them in tones sharp and
positive. All who were present that night remember their agonized efforts to hold their guns at the proper angle, keep their eyes to the front and obey orders, while all the time their knees trembled in fear of that awful calling-down which they expected each moment. All such apparent cruelty on part of the inspectors was forgotten, how ever, when the reports came, showing Company M's marks in the movements they attempted, to be equal to that of the best-drilled company in the state."

Company M's early prowess as a body of militia was first given test when in the spring of 1894 Captain Clark was
officially notified that "General" Kelly's army had seized a train and would arrive at Council Bluffs at a certain time
and that Captain Clark was to hold his "army" in readiness to quell any disturbance of outlawry which the army of the commonwealth might take a notion to initiate. At 11 o'clock that night the company boarded a special train, and along with several other companies of the Third regiment went to Council Bluffs to meet the army of "vags" and where for several days they were on guard duty, when it became apparent that the "commonwealers" were not bent on any particular mischief and the militia was returned to their several stations.

The next real activity of Company M was when the call came for volunteers on the 25th day of April, 1898, little more than two months after the blowing up of the Maine in Havana harbor on the night of the 15th of February, and when President McKinley asked for 125,000 volunteers.

The country was at once in a furore of excitement, and the slogan, "Remember the Maine" was an inspiring one which kept fresh the minds of all the atrocities of General Weyler and the sacrifice of 259 of the officers and crew of the great battleship, the Maine, destroyed without warning by what was believed to have been a mine planted for the purpose by the Spaniards. Local excitement became especially intense because before this time it had become
definitely known that Darwin R. Merritt, a son of Rev. W. W. Merritt, who was an engineer on the Maine, was one of
those sacrificed.

Captain Clarke held his company in readiness for weeks, anticipating the call to arms, and when it came Company M
was ready for the front, and on Tuesday, April 26, the boys departed for Des Moines for mobilization with the rest of their regiment and the other three regiments of the state. The several days immediately before their departure were a continual round of demonstration of pride and trust and honor for the boys who were going to the front to avenge the Maine and free Cuba from the cruel Spanish shackles, and ovation followed ovation, with Red Oak as a unit voicing its unalloyed faith in the valor of the proud militia company. And upon the day of their departure a crowd of between 4,000 and 5,000 people swarmed about the depot in one immense and final demonstration.

The Roster of Company M upon its departure for the mobilization camp at Des Moines was a follows:

OFFICERS: Captain, Jesse W. Clark First Lieutenant, Harry W. French Second Lieutenant, Guy E. Loga First Sergeant John J. Shuey Sergeants: Chas. B. Rose Carl Austin Owen Hawkins Henry NordquistCorporals: Ed Logan Ed. M. Rose Will H. Hiett Will J. Jeffers Lance Corporals: Resolve Palmer Harry Cook Musicians: J. H. Kastman Ivan Elwood Cooks: Ed Pitner Chas. Wheeler Privates: Arnold, C. E, Clarinda Binns, Chas L, N. Y. Blue, Leo Bolish, Fred Briggs, Guy Byers, Mont DeFrehn, Will Evans, Evan J. Fisher, Jesse C Gassner, Roy E. Gilmore, John D. Hallett, John Hammond, Roy Hockett, Adrian Hysham, Verni

Privates cont: Ingram, F. Corydon Jenks, Chas Jones, George Kerrihard, Geo. M. Laue, E E Logan, Jas. M Lumb, Clarence Lyon, J. F. Markey, Jos. I. Martin, E. W., Clarinda Merritt, E. A Miller, M. S Moulton, Morse, St. Louis Murphy, Chas. Nicoll, W. E. Pace, E. O. Rathbone, R. D. Reiehow, Paul Richards, Carl Rogers, L. E. Ross, Lloyd Ross, Will Smith, F. A. Smith, Harry Stafford, C. A., Omaha Stevens, Harry Swenson, H. L. Thomas, Bert Throw, Etna Throw, J. Frank Tyson, Otis Windsor, J. M Wolfe, Frank Zuber, Thos. Regimental Officers: H. C. Lane, Regimental Commisary. E. J. Nixon, Sergeant Major. Russell M. Young, Hospital Corps.

"Those who failed to pass the physical examination, or did not enlist for other reasons, were: Fred Bolish, Will
DeFrehn, Carl Richards, H. L. Swenson, Chas. Jenks, Geo. M. Kerrihard, Paul Reichow, Carl Austin, J. J. Shuoy,
E. J. Nixon and Russell M. Young. J. H. Kastman also failed to pass the examination, but was re-examined and
enlisted under Lieut. French, the recruiting officer at Red Oak."

Of the weeks at Des Moines and at San Francisco little need be said except that Red Oak's soldier boys "held up
their end" with honor and dignity, and reflected upon their home town added glory from day to day. And the actual
campaign against the forces for Agulnaldo and the months of fighting in the tropics and of the anxiety at home for
the safety of the boys across the seas -- this is only too vivid in the minds of all to need recounting. Company M,
needless to say, acquitted itself with distinction, and many individual members became recognized in high places for their valor and efficiency as soldiers. Captain Clark was especially recognized for his splendid knowledge of military affairs and his ready grasp of many complicated situations which frequently arose and he was very often taken into the counsel of his seniors of the militia and of the regular army officials where his advice and judgment carried much weight.

Company M saw considerable service in the Philippines, and the long trip across the Pacific was fraught with
experiences which do not come to the lives of every generation. The months in the Orient were far from being just
an outing, yet it was an experience which none would have missed, and formed an episode in the lives of all which was invaluable and never-to-be-forgotten.

Late in September, 1899, the good ship "Senator" departed from Manila with the Iowa and other regiments and
Company M was on its way home. What was better, still, was the fact that nearly all who left were coming back. A few minor casualties occurred in battle, and a few had died of disease on the island, but the Ranks had been slightly
altered and the boys were joyful in the thoughts of home and loved ones whom they would see again as soon as the broad Pacific could be crossed. Their route home again took them to Japan, giving all another interesting experience of a visit with the people of the Flowery Kingdom, but they were more interested in breasting the waves of the great ocean and looking eastward toward the Golden Gate to Home and God's Country.

A quick passage, with a short stop at Honolulu, and arrival at the Presidio late in October was a trip uneventful but
full of ever-increasing tension as "the boys" approached the home shores, and after disembarking at San Francisco little time was lost, and officials cut erd tape as much as possible and gave the boys early discharge and transportation. It was the morning of November 1st that the overland train that bore Red Oak's veterans pulled eastward into the Sierras and three days later, at midnight, after many maddening delays, "Our Boys" arrived home.
Of that home-coming we can do no better than to reprint from the Express of that week a paragraph from a long
description of the reception which was tendered Company M:
"As soon as the boys of Company M could get off the train they formed for the march to the armory. Garfield post
G. A. R. acted as escort, led by the band and followed by Mrs. Veltch and Master Lloyd in a carriage. Next came the
gallant Company M. A Roman candle brigade made the line of march a glare of light. The line of march was north on
West First street to Coolbuagh, then east to the armory. Not withstanding that it was after midnight and the streets
were muddy, the route along which the parade passed was thronged with people. Turning east on Coolbaugh the scene which greeted the eyes of the returned soldiers must have impressed them with Red Oak's love for her heroes. The street from the courthouse to the armory was brilliantly lighted, added to which there were hundreds of electric lights in red, white and blue, which studded a splendid flag-decorated arch at Third and Coolbaugh, and a gigantic letter "M" a block further on. At Second and Coolbaugh, they marched between lines of bunting, trimmed with evergreens, which extended to the arch and far beyond to the big "M" surmounted with "Welcome Co.," in colored electric lights. Shotgunbrigades, fireworks, and every conceivable means of noise greeted the parade at every corner. At the armory there was a rush for a quarter of an hour, while all the people tried to get through the doors at the same time. Inside was a scene which is seldom witnessed oftener than once in a generation, the returning home of volunteers. The confusion was delightful, yet pathetic. Pen fails to picture the meeting between mother and son, sister and brother, sweetheart and lover after a separation of a year and a half, and such a separation! How proud the fathers and mothers and sisters were of the heroes! The scene beggars description."
There were some twenty-five who originally left with Company M who did not return with them -- some had been
discharged, a few had re-enlisted and stayed in the service, and a few had died in that far-off land or at the Presidio.

For the absent ones there was much regret, but the joy of reunion could not be checked and the spirit prevailed for
many a day as gradually, the boys assumed their civil pursuits and became again accustomed to the every-day life of common civilians.

If space were unlimited and if time would stand still a while one might write, if one were talented, volumes about
Company M's eighteen months in the service of Uncle Sam and on every page have an episode of interest, and in every chapter a story which would reflect credit to the boys and relate an experience which is still unpublished, but here, again, the work must be left to the historian, while we hasten on in the chronology of Red Oak's military activity.
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Interest in Company M did not lapse after the return of the boys from the Philippines, although there was another
period of a dozen years or more when the real need of a militia company was not recognized by all. But as time passed and enlistments expired, new recruits were secured and the quota of the company maintained, and under the splendid discipline of several succeeding officers its efficiency was kept up to the high standard set by the original company.

During the dozen years following the Philippine campaign the command of Company M was changed several times, in every case the retirement of the officers being voluntary or due to promotion.

Captain Clark served as commander of Company M until April 23, 1900, when he resigned to accept promotion to
lieutenant colonel of the 51st regiment. He was succeeded by Guy E. Logan, who served from April 23, 1900, till
April 1, 1905, and then resigned to become major and assistant adjutant-general, and was succeeded in the command of the local company by Ivan Elwood, who served from April 1905, to June 21, 1910, when he received appointment as major in the regiment and was in turn succeeded by Capt. Lloyd D. Rose, who received his commission on July 5, 1910, and who is at present the distinguished officer of Iowa's most distinguished and efficient body of militia.

In the absence of the company and officers, it has been impossible to consult the official records, and secure a
complete and chronological record of all the officers, but the succession of first lieutenants since the Philippine
campaign, is as follows: Lloyd D. Ross from December 1907, until July 1905, H. C. Houghton, Jr., from 1910 until his
resignation in 1913, Clint Cramer from 1913 till 1914, Frank Wilson from 1914 till 1916, and C. O. Briggs, now acting as senior First Lieutenant and Ralph Ericsson junior under the new system put in vogue since the late mobilization --- Mr. Ericsson being transferred, upon request from the officers' staff.

The list of second lieutenants includes the names of Owen Hawkins, Ed Rose, Earl Hessler, G. Ray Logan, Lloyd Ross,
Edward Evans, Hiram C. Houghton Jr., Clint Cramer, Frank Wilson, Chas. Briggs, and the present officer, Senior Lieut. John C. Christopher. The non-commissioned officers it has been impossible to get, but the names are known to include many of the best families of the city and vicinity and many who have gone higher in the military affairs and owe much of their success in life to the splendid discipline received as privates and officers, in the best manned and best  disciplined company of the whole Iowa National Guard.

Throughout its history this is just what Company M has been. Not since the return from the Orient has Company M
failed to stand at the top of the annual inspections, and nearly always alone at the top. Its efficiency, its clean record, the high type of the officers and men, has always made it comparatively easy to keep the ranks recruited to
full strength, and many men and officers have re-enlisted from time to time until from twelve to twenty years have
been served.

In 1896 the Armory was built, and in 1909 the roof was raised and the top floor, with its kitchen, reception room,
lockers, baths, toilets, etc., were installed and it has always been a popular and pleasant place not only for the
Company M boys, but for their friends upon numerous occasions.

The present status of Company M is too well known and its patriotic part in the present war is too fully appreciated
for any further words to augment the sentiment of pride in which they are held. When these words are printed,
Providence permitting, Company M will be "Somewhere in France,". It will be doing its bit as a unit against Kaiserism, and each individual will be doing his bit to bring honor to his company, victory to his country, and pride to his home and friends.

Fresh in the minds of all is the departure in June of last year of Company M for the Mexican border, and their nine
months service at Brownsville. They went then in full strength and in full sense of their patriotic duties, and they
would have marched on to Mexico City, against Villa or the whole Mexican army with the same one-ness of spirit, and devotion to the highest ideals of a soldier's career, duty and obedience, had the order come from Washington. And no doubts that they would have given good account of themselves under the hottest kind of actual warfare, as they did in the less dangerous but more irksome patrol duties -- the monotonous waiting and uncertainty and the weary routine of camp life. Their return was the occasion of an ovation less in degree only for the obvious reason of comparatively short absence and short distance from home than the boys returning from the Philippines.

Company M, as a body, never yet failed to register high in the full performance of its duty, and if ever an individual
member failed the fact has not been discovered. They're not made of that kind of stuff. Their training and the
 traditions of their company are such that failure in an "M" boy would be felt a calamity indeed.

"Somewhere in France" Company M is preparing to pit itself, along with thousands of other good American sons, against the red hosts of the Kaiser. How soon they may be at the front none can now tell, but when called upon -- WHEN MEN ARE NEEDED -- they will be ready, and when they go the value of their efficiency and their discipline and of their patriotic valor is, for we who know them, all the guarantee needed that they will deliver the goods and give an account of themselves which will measure up to the standard of the Company's illustrious record. Company M, with the other Iowa troops, will be heard from, and while grief may come to us we have no fear that reports from the front will cause any friends of Company M to grieve in shame.

We leave Company M to contemporary history. The day-to-day unfolding of events are watched with eager and anxious eyes, and as these lines are written "the boys" are on the Atlantic enroute for France. We cannot be sure that they will escape the skulking U-boat -- the dark assassin of the sub-seas -- but by the time this is read the transport will doubtless be safe in port. So on the deep we'll have to leave them, and trust with abiding faith in the justice of our cause and the guidance of Omnipotent dispensation.

Other Soldiers

Because we have dealt at some length with Company M, it must not be assumed that we fail to appreciate the many other elements which must be considered in connection with the Military record of Red Oak.

We have sons in almost every branch of the service, and all have found their patriotic duties equally important to the successful prosecution. Some of our boys will be found in the regular army, some in the coast artillery; we have men in the aviation corps, in the engineer corps, in the signal corps, in the dental and medical corps, in the balloon or observation service, in the secret service of the military department, in the Red Cross and the ambulance service, in the quartermaster's department. We have men in the four corners of this continent from Canada to Mexico and from coast to coast, doing patriotic service for Uncle Sam and men in all quarters of the globe -- in Honolulu, the Philippines, in Greece, Italy, in Belgium, and in France -- each "doing his bit" valiantly, courageously, unselfishly and efficiently.

We have men on battleships and transports, in foreign ports and on the water, and we have men in the training camps fitting themselves for loyal and efficient service when the time comes. We have the men of the draft, many of whom would have otherwise volunteered before now, and we still have hundreds ready and willing to be called upon -- and all are such men as real soldiers are made of. Not pillagers, not despoilers of women and slayers of children, not human hyenas whose insatiable glut of carnage recognizes no human sentiments or forbearance, but red-blooded patriots who will fight to the last trench for Old Glory and what it stands for -- human liberty and the principles of democracy.

We wish it were possible here to publish the names of every man serving under the Stars and Stripes, and to give the division and station of his service. These complete facts are unobtainable, however, at this time because so many boys have simply picked up and slipped away to enlist in their chosen division, and an attempt to give names of all would doubtless mean the slighting of many. Perhaps a little later the efforts of the Express in this direction may make possible the publication of a complete roster, and one that may be kept up-to-date as the war progresses. The roster of Company M will be found elsewhere in this edition, but the names of the scores of other Red Oak soldiers are not given for the reasons above mentioned.

We are quite sure, however, that no city of Red Oak's size can boast of a greater representation in the country's
service. This is especially true of officers, and those now known to have commissions, as near as the list could be
published at this time.