―When a war poses for its picture…‖

War Experiences of J. Andre Smith

by

Daniel W Van Horn

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts degree

at

Union Institute & University

February, 2011

___________________________________

Name of Faculty, Ph.D. Date

___________________________________

Name of 2nd

Reader, Ph.D. Date

Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………..………….i

Acknowledgements…………………………………...….…….ii

List of Illustrations and Photos…………...…....….….…..…...iii

Introduction…………………………………………………….1

Chapter One: Andre Smith the Beginning

Smith- The Early Years……………………………….………..5

Assault on Ideals of Civilization……………..….……………..9

A Matter of National Honor…………….……..………………10

Push Beyond Endurance……………….…………………...…12

The ―Second Line‖………………….……………………...….14

Creel‘s Committee…………………….……………………… 15

The Committee of Pictorial Publicity………………………….17

Beginnings of the ―Art Squad‖………..……………………….19

Chapter Two: Andre Smith Life before France

Military Service Prior to France……….…….…………..….....26

Letters from Washington……………..……………………..…28

Chapter Three: The Big Show

On the Sea…………………………..………………………….33

On the Wharves at St. Nazaire..………..………………………37

First Assignment Documented in Letter 14……………………39

An American Graveyard………………..………………...……41

Trenches of Badonviller………………………………………..44

Trip to Chateau- Thierry……………….………………,,,,……47

Conclusion…………………...….………………….…………53

Bibliography…………………………………………...…..….55

i

Abstract

An abstract of the final document of Daniel W Van Horn for the Master of Arts degree,

Union Institute & University, February 2011.

―When a war poses for its picture…‖ – War Experiences of J. Andre Smith

In the summer of 1917, the Committee on Public Information, the propaganda branch

of the U.S. government originally adopted the program to commission American artists to

document World War I, for use in its ongoing struggle in the battle of public opinion.

As a result, in the final months of the war, J. Andre Smith, architect-turned-artist, and

seven American illustrators were commissioned into the American Expeditionary Forces.

Through a series of events, both planned and by fate, Andre Smith found himself in

command of this art program. The body of work produced by Smith and his unit did not

represent the horrors of war for the use of propaganda, but rather documented the hardships

of the commonplace events, met day by day by the soldiers of the A.E.F., the business of

war.

ii

Acknowledgements

There are several people to whom I am thankful in their help with this paper.

Richard Colvin, Curator of The Maitland Art Center, for introducing me to Andre

Smith, his art and his contribution to history and for the access to the Center and it‘s

unbelievable wealth of primary source documents and Smith‘s art.

Gil Gott, Curator of The Plant City Photo Archive, for graciously giving me access to

the war sketches of the Art Squad. This was quite a find.

Loree Miltich, PhD., my professor. Dr. Miltich provided outstanding support and

guidance. Her enthusiasm in my subject matter even provided me with inspiration to

continue my research on Smith even after this paper to bring Smith‘s work to prominence.

And most of all I want to thank Carol, my wife, who has supported me throughout

this endeavor, but will not let me write anything further about her.

iii

List of Illustrations and Photos

Illustrations

A Wood Encampment……………………………….3

Old and the New...........................................................6

I Want You for U.S. Army…………………………17

Nantes………………………………………………24

Company Billet…………………………………..…25

A Saddler‘s Room…………………………….…....32

The Mt. Washington………………………………..33

On the Wharves at St. Nazaire……………………..37

The Railhead Dump at Menil-La-Tour……………..40

An American Graveyard……………………………41

Trenches at Badonviller…………………………….44

A House in Badonviller…………………………….45

Where the Germans Crossed the Marne……………47

Road at the Front…………………………………..49

Regimental Headquarters…………………………..50

A View of Chateau-Thierry………………………..52

Photos

J Andre Smith‘s ID Card…………..……...Cover Page

J Andre Smith with Sketch Pad………………………2

Jules Andre Smith in Uniform………………………31

1

Introduction

…it was discovered on both sides that this was a struggle in which Opinion was

playing a larger and more important part than it had ever done before. (Wells)1

…no oration, no literature, no art, has brought the real meaning of the war home so

convincingly as my cartoons.(Raemaekers) 2

When America entered World War One, Secretary of War Baker stressed the war

would be fought on more than one front; there would be the front in France and, the one just

as critical to winning, the front of public opinion.3 Just days after the declaration of war,

President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) to lead this fight for the

"verdict of mankind,‖.4

The CPI was established to justify America's cause in the court of public opinion; to win

the fight for the minds of the American people. The CPI would use every medium available

to win support for President Wilson‘s decision to enter the European conflict. For the first

time in the history of America, artists would play an important role. They were used in the

recruiting of troops and in the selling of government bonds. Civilian artists would become a

powerful tool in court of public opinion. 5

1 H. G. Wells, Italy, France and Britain at War, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917), 120.

2 Albert Eugene Gallatin, Art and The Great War, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1919), 21.

3 George Creel, How We Advertised America; The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on

Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe. (New York: Harper

& Brothers, 1920), 3. 4 Ibid., 13.

5 Ibid.,13 .

2

During the war, French and British artists were commissioned in the armed forces to

document the war. The work of the official artists not only won wide recognition as art, but

served as a highly important factor as

propaganda. Both the British and French

Governments organized traveling exhibits,

often held in conjunction with lectures

given by army and navy officers. These

events not only drew crowds, but excited

general interest in the newspapers and

magazines, and proved effective at home

and abroad in calling attention to and

arousing an interest in and an

understanding of the war effort.6 The

United States was also determined to use

official artists in this capacity as well.

Eight American artists would be selected for this special duty. In the last few months of

World War One, these American artists would produce over 500 works of art. Jules Andre

Smith, the commander of the unit, would be responsible for 200 of these sketches, paintings

and etchings.

In 1919 Smith published In France with the American Expeditionary Forces. Using 100

of his sketches with narratives for each sketch, he gave an account of his time with the A.E.F.

6 Kendall Banning, “War Pictures as Propaganda, the Part Played by American Painters and Illustrators in the

World War”, (1921, National Service, New York) 268.

J. Andre Smith with sketch pad

3

In the forward he wrote, ―When a war poses for its picture, it leaves to the artist the selection

of the attitude in which the artist may desire to draw it.‖7 According to Smith, any

searchers of sensational pictures of conflict, the horror of war, and anecdotic records of

soldier life and heroism would not find them in his book.8

Over the years, there have been scholarly works that scrutinize the role these artists

played in the documentation of the war. None of them fully explain the critical part Andre

Smith played. The inspection of official government documents and Smith‘s personal

correspondence demonstrate that he was not only crucial in the army‘s art program‘s

development, but that without his participation, it is likely to have never taken place.

Smith‘s sketches do not represent the horrors of warfare for the use of propaganda,

but show rather the hardships of the commonplace, met day by day by the soldiers of the

A.E.F. Through his art and his words, we are brought in touch with the life these soldiers

lived and the scenes with

which they were

familiar.

7 J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919). Forward.

8Ibid., Forward.

A Wood Encampment (49), by J Andre Smith

4

Chapter one - Andre Smith the Beginning

The true creative artist is usually ahead of his time; at his best he is a prophet.(Smith)9

In Maitland, Florida, just a short distance from Orlando, sits one of Central Florida‘s

most amazing historical sites. The Maitland Research Studio, now the Maitland Art and

History Center (Art Center), was founded as an art colony in 1938 by this visionary

American artist and architect, J. André Smith (1880-1959). The Art Center is one of the few

surviving examples of "fantasy" architecture in the Southeast.10

It has been recognized by

the State of Florida as an historic site and has been entered on the National Register of

Historic Places.

If any 20th century American Artist can be labeled a renaissance man, it would be Andre

Smith. During his long creative life, he was an architect, etcher, painter, war artist, sculptor,

stage designer, author and philosopher.11

The Art Center he established in Maitland, Florida

in the 1930s, still remains today as a functioning educational center for the arts, and is a

memorial to his creative genius.

Smith‘s art has been displayed in the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art,

the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Boston Museum of Art, to name a

few.12

However, an area long overlooked has been his service while in ―Uncle Sam‘s

Employ‖ during World War One, first as leader in the development of Camouflage Corp,

9 Andre Smith, Art and the Subconscious, (Maitland:The Research studio, 1937), 1.

10 Joy Wallace Dickinson, Orlando: City of Dreams. Making of America, (SC: Arcadia Pub Charleston,

2003),105. 11

William Grover, from notes Andre Smith-The Man and His Work, Maitland Art and History Center, Maitland,

date unknown. 12

Ibid.

5

then with the Army Corps of Engineers as the first official artist for the American

Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.).

During his enlistment, he wrote letters home documenting his experiences, first from

Washington and then from France, as the commander of the group of artists assigned to

sketch the war. These letters provide a personal and detailed account of one man‘s

experience in World War One as the first official artist commissioned by the U.S.

Government.

Smith -the Early Years

It is said that Smith did not like the name Jules, and most of his work is signed just Andre

Smith. He was born in Hong Kong, China, on December 31, 1880, just before midnight13

.

Among those who study his art believe that perhaps the breadth of his interest and

philosophy he later displayed was to some degree the natural result of his exposure to a wide

variety of environments from his earliest days. Many Asian aspects can be seen in his design

of the Art Research Studio he created in Maitland, Florida. For example, on the wall of the

little courtyard next to the library is a medallion of a Buddha flanked by two Chinese

figures.14

His father, Captain John Henry Smith, was born in Kappel, Demark, in 1841 of Danish

parents. The family name was Peters. In1851, at the age of ten, Smith‘s father enlisted on

an American clipper ship, then in Hamburg, Germany and took the name John Henry Smith,

13

Krass, Peter. Portrait of War: The U.S. Army's First Combat Artists and the Doughboys' Experience in WWI,

( N.J.: Hoboken Wiley, 2007) 14

William Grover, from notes Andre Smith-The Man and His Work, Maitland Art and History Center, date

unknown

6

which later became his legal name. Before the age of 21, John Henry Smith was captain of

his own clipper ship.15

Smith‘s mother, Elizabeth Connor, was from Brooklyn, New York and married Captain

Smith in 1870. After they were married, Captain John Henry Smith retired from seamanship

and with partners purchased a ship chandlery business in Hong Kong. He and Mrs. Smith

lived in Hong Kong for twenty years and all their children were born there. In 1888, Captain

Smith felt it was time to return to the United States. He left the business and took his family

to Hamburg, Germany, to live temporarily, while rearranging his affairs in Hong Kong.16

It was while the family lived in Hamburg that

Smith displayed such an interest in sketching that his

parents were concerned he might grow up to be an

artist. To their relief, he also exhibited an interest in

architecture, and, to this end, his parents encouraged

him to follow that path. However, shortly before his

tenth birthday, Smith‘s father died on a return trip

from Hong Kong. His mother, unhappy living in

Germany, decided to return to the United States.

At first the family lived in Boston with his

uncle George Connor, who was the Vice President of

the N.Y.N.H & Hartford Railroad. Later, Smith, his

brother George, and his sister Angusta, settled in Pine

15

Clare Smith Noyes letter to Murray D. Laurie, Maitland Art and History Center, Maitland Florida, 1983. 16

Ibid.

Old and the New, by J Andre Smith, 1910

7

Orchard, Connecticut with their mother. Years after his death, Smith‘s sister continued to

live in Pine Orchard in a house built and designed by him.17

At a young age Smith demonstrated a strong emotion for art. In high school, he

showed a resourceful and highly unpredictable talent for sketching. He had already begun

etching and painting before he entered Cornell University in 1898 to study architecture.

According to close friends, he continued working in this media even while he was at

Cornell.18

After finishing college in 1902, Andre Smith was awarded a Traveling Fellowship (1904-

1906), which gave him his first European experience as an adult. While in France, he would

sketch many of the same landscapes and villages he did while in the war. Outwardly, he

would justify his parents‘ faith in his architectural future; yet, as he sketched his way across

Europe, and his longing to be an artist began to mature.

On his return to the United States in 1906 after his fellowship, he joined an established

architectural firm as a draftsman. Two years later he would begin his own practice; Smith

and Ross, in New York City.19

During the winter of 1908, his interests in etching lead to an after-hours program of self-

instruction. Again, two years after he began his experimentation in etching, 1910, he had

sufficient confidence in his work to display it publicly. A small number of these early

etchings were shown in New York and later the same year, a larger exhibition was held at

17

Ibid. 18

Author Unknown, Andre Smith 1880-1959, Art and History Center, date unknown.

19 Helen Wright, ―J Andre Smith – Etcher‖, Magazine of art, Volume 9, American Federation of Arts, New

York, 1917. 485.

8

Cornell. In 1915, he received the Gold Medal for etching at the Panama-Pacific International

Exposition in San Francisco. 20

Smith offered his etchings for sale and soon enjoyed profitable contracts with New

York print dealers. This success convinced him that etching and going abroad for new

subjects was more satisfying than trying to build up an architectural practice for which he

had little enthusiasm. Five years after starting his firm, Smith would give it up and dedicate

the remainder of his life to being an artist. 21

But like millions of others, Smith‘s life would change with the advent of America‘s

involvement in World War One. At age 37, Smith enlisted into the Army Reserves,

becoming one of the first American artists to volunteer for service. Smith was determined to

use his artistic talents for Uncle Sam in the Camouflage Corps.

The War and How it Came About

World War One was a turning point in history. The Victorian age ended and ―the

Terrible Twentieth,‖ as it was referred to by Winston Churchill, began. Certainly this would

be true for the United States, as World War One (WWI) was the beginning of its modern

age22

. It would be three more years after its beginning in 1914, before the war would affect

America.

When America entered World War One, Secretary of War Baker stressed the war would

be fought on more than one front. There would be the front in France and, the one just as

20

Ibid., 498.

21 William Grover, from notes Andre Smith-The Man and His Work, Maitland Art and History Association,

date unknown, 22

Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, The Guns of August, (New York: Macmillan, 1962), 18.

9

critical to winning, the front of public opinion.23

Just days after our declaration of war,

President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) to lead this fight for the

"verdict of mankind.‖24

The CPI, lead by George Creel, used every medium available to win support for President

Wilson‘s decision to enter the war. Art was one of the media tools and would play an

important part in this power propaganda machine.

The CPI‘s plan was to commission artists into the military to create a pictorial record of

the conflict for use by the Committee. Captain Jules Andre Smith, architect-turned artist and

the seven illustrators who were commissioned for this special duty chose a different view of

their mission. Lead by the direction of Captain Smith, they choose to deliver not propaganda

pieces, but work that demonstrated the ―business of war‖.

Assault on the Ideals of Civilization

One has only to read the public prints of 1914 to realize how entirely Great War took

America by surprise. (Creel)25

It was no surprise to the European Powers that all-out war had come to the continent

in August of 1914. The threat of war was like a shadow that swept across the landscape ever

since the brief Franco–Prussian war in 1870. By the turn of the century, all European

nations, except Britain, had instituted programs of compulsory military service to be able to

quickly mobilize large forces. And, all major European powers, including Britain, had

23

George Creel, How We Advertised America; The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1920), 3. 24

Ibid., 13. 25

George Creel, The War, The World, and Wilson, (New York Harper & Brothers, 1920), 39.

10

developed elaborate war strategies. Though all these plans differed, they all agreed on two

points; war would come and when it came, it would be in Europe.26

To the citizens of the United States, the outbreak of the war on the European

continent, according to George Creel, took Americans by surprise. To them it was a sudden

unprovoked assault on the ideals of civilization. It was not only incredible, but

incomprehensible to the American people that war would even happen. 27

A Matter of National Honor

The dead children of the Lusitania will be dragged from their ocean bed, and

the bodies of Villa's victims loaded upon campaign carts. Bonfires of jingoism

(nationalism) will be lighted in every market-place, so that the flame of an

unreasoning emotionalism may bury all else in shadow. It is the intent to keep

the people so busy feeling that they will have no time for thinking.(Smith) 28

During the election of 1916, Wilson‘s stand on neutrality became a focus point.

Supporters of the English and French (pro-allied factions) were enraged by the German

atrocities, and challenged Wilson‘s stand on neutrality. In response, George Creel wrote

Wilson and the Issues and published it a few months before the 1916 election. In it, Creel

defended Wilson‘s decision to keep America out of the ―European Conflict.‖ The pro-allied

factions believed neutrality, as a national policy, was the cowardly, naive and original

conception of Woodrow Wilson.

Creel argued in his book, to remain neutral was a national historical policy. Creel

explained that the doctrine of neutrality was first declared by George Washington and

repeated time and again by the presidents that followed him. Further, Creel argued, just as

26

Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, The Guns of August, (New York: Macmillan, 1962), Preface 18. 27

George Creel, The War, The World, and Wilson, (New York Harper & Brothers, 1920), 39. 28

George Creel, Wilson and the Issues,( New York: The Century Co, 1916), 8.

11

Woodrow Wilson was abused for upholding this fixed principle of national conduct, so was

abuse of incredible malignity heaped upon the Fathers of the Country, Jefferson, Adams,

Pierce, Van Buren, Lincoln, Grant, and Harrison. 29

Neutrality was a matter of national

honor.

America ―must keep out‖ of the daily wholesale slaughter that was taking place in

Europe. Creel stressed in Wilson and the Issues that the bonfires of nationalism caused by

pro-allied propaganda critical of Wilson‘s decision for neutrality would spread across the

nation. This flame of propaganda, of unreasonable emotionalism, would burn all to ashes.

The intent as Creel was concerned, of the pro-allied propaganda during this 1916 election

was to keep the American people so busy feeling that they would have no time for thinking.

Not to elect Woodrow Wilson, Creel argued, would result in a return to the evil days

when armed force was the only method of adjudicating disputes; when every war was a

world war, when blood lust ruled, and when human lives were pawns in the greedy game of

territorial acquisition.30

Woodrow Wilson was fighting for civilization, and as the people of

America voted, their stage of civilization development would be measured.

Creel‘s book Wilson and the Issues had been critical to Wilson‘s re-election. In

return, Wilson offered Creel a cabinet seat; Creel declined. He would later be called upon

again in the near future to defend Wilson‘s ideals.

Historian, Alan Axelrod, contends that Wilson and the Issues is an example of Creel‘s

perception of propaganda. Creel‘s view of truth rested on the postulate that every view that

was critical to his concept of ―the truth‖ was always proffered as a falsehood. Axelrod‘s

29

Ibid., 46. 30

Ibid., 56.

12

view of Creel is reinforced when comparing the Creel of the 1916 Wilson and the Issues to

Creel‘s later work and behavior as head of the Committee on Public Information from 1917

to 1918. Creel‘s work during World War One became a paradox to his pre-war argument in

Wilson and the Issues.31

Pushed Beyond Endurance

As in the case of the Monroe Doctrine, the "Freedom of the seas" was a gospel that

we were at all times ready to defend with our lives and fortunes. (Creel)32

And it was only when the sea was filled with our dead, when ancient law was set

aside, when the torch and bomb were applied to our peaceful industries, and when we

saw that the Imperial German Government was dead to honor, decency and

humanity, that we took the sword.(Creel)33

In August 1914, Wilson dispatched an identical warning to all nations at war in the

European Conflict declaring America‘s sea rights of neutrality. In May 1915, a German U-

boat (submarine) sank the American tanker Gulflight and the British liner Lusitania.

America‘s resolve for neutrality was being tested and hostilities towards Germany increased.

In a protest against the sinking of the Lusitania, Wilson wrote a strong rebuke against the

German government.34

In response to Wilson‘s protest, Kaiser Wilhelm II issued secret

orders that passenger ships were no longer targets for the U-boats.

Nevertheless, attacks on civilian shipping continued. In August 1915, a German U-

boat sank the British passenger ship Arabic. In May 1916, the French passenger ship Sussex

was attacked. Both ships were attack entirely without warning and in each case American

31

Alan Axelrod, Selling World War One: The Making of American Propaganda,(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 49. 32

George Creel, Wilson and the Issues,( New York: The Century Co, 1916), . 46. 33

George Creel, How the War Came to America, (New York: Committee on Public Information, 1917), 8.

34 Woodrow Wilson, ―President Wilson‘s Reply to Berlin‖, The New York Times current history: the European

war, Volume 4, The New York Time Co., New York, 1915. 3.

13

lives were lost. Wilson issued another protest. Fearing U.S.‘s involvement in the war, the

Kaiser issued the ―Sussex Pledge,‖ which openly promised not to sink passenger ships

without warning.

The Kaiser, feeling that America would eventually enter the war on the Allied side,

reversed this order on January 9, 1917. This resulted in the return to unrestricted submarine

warfare. 35

The Kaiser, as well as the German High Command, understood that the

resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare would bring the United States into the war.

Nonetheless, they believed it would take at least a year before enough American troops

would reach Europe to make any sufficient difference.

In order to delay further the U.S. entry, on January 16, 1917, German Minister Alfred

Zimmermann made the attempt to create an armed conflict between the U.S and Mexico. He

thought if America was occupied defending its Southern border, it would be unable to send

troops to Europe. Zimmermann sent a secret, coded telegram, via the German ambassador in

Washington D.C. to the minister in Mexico, detailing the plan. The message was intercepted

by British Admiralty intelligence, decoded and made available to President Wilson36

.

Wilson, enraged, published the Zimmermann telegram. The Zimmermann telegram was not

necessarily the deciding factor influencing Wilson to bring America into the war, but it was

―the last drop that emptied his cup of neutrality‖37

35

Author Unknown, “German Submarine Record”, The New York Times Current History: the European war, Volume 10, The New York Time Co., New York, (1917).

36 George Creel, What every American should know about the war, (New York: George H. Doran Company,

1918), 352. 37

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Zimmerman Telegram, (New York, Delta Book, 1963), 244.

14

Germany's great diplomatic miscalculation was its failure to judge America‘s moral

evolution. Germany‘s atrocities wore away the America‘s stand on neutrality during the first

three years of warfare. Germany was incapable of understanding that America, which had not

acted at the first provocation, might yet be pushed beyond endurance by the second or third

repetition of grave offenses. On April 2, 1917, Wilson went before Congress to ask for a

declaration of war.

Creel in his book, published in 1918, What Every American Should Know about the

War used many of the same arguments as in Wilson and the Issues. This time the issue was

not Wilson‘s principle of neutrality, but his decision to go to war.

The “Second Line”

The strength of the firing line is not entirely in the trench, or in the barricade, but it is

also in the morale of the civilian population from which it is drawn.(Baker)38

In l916, President Wilson named Newton Diehl Baker as Secretary of War. As

Secretary of War, Baker created a nationwide military draft and presided over the American

military involvement in the war. Baker was convinced that the war in Europe was not to be

won in France alone. There was another great struggle that would be a battle for the minds

of the people, a conquest for their convictions; it was the battle for public opinion. This

battle-line ran through every state, county, town and home in the United States.39

38 George Creel, What every American should know about the war, (New York: George H. Doran Company,

1918), 368. 39

Creel, George. How We Advertised America; The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on

Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe, (New York: Harper

& Brothers, 1920), 18.

15

Baker‘s acknowledgment of the importance of public opinion would make the

conflict in Europe unlike previous conflicts involving the United States. The trial of strength

was not only between massed bodies of armed men, but between opposed ideals, and moral

verdicts. 40

He believed the whole business of mobilizing the mind of the world, so far as

American participation was concerned, should be the responsibility of one government

division. Influenced by Baker, and to some existent George Creel, on April 14th

1917, just

eight days after America‘s declaration of war, President Wilson established the Committee

on Public Information (CPI) with this proclamation:

While the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy had authority over the affairs of the

CPI, in the forward of How We Advertised America, Baker credits Creel as the driving force

behind this battle of public opinion. ―Attitude of the remaining members of that Committee

toward Mr. Creel‖ Baker wrote ―the feeling is that while our names have been used as

members of the Committee on Public Information, its labors have been the labors of Mr.

Creel.‖41

Creel’s Committee

…minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have

never heard of…an invisible government.( Bernays)”42

It is not surprising Creel was appointed to head the CPI. He was a renowned

muckraking journalist and a long time supporter of Wilson, crucial in his 1916 election.

40

Ibid., 3. 41

Creel, George. How We Advertised America; The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1920),Forward. 42

Bernays, Edward L. Propaganda, (New York: H. Liveright, 1928), 17.

16

Creel often styled himself as ―the original Wilson man. ―43

As early as 1905, he tried to

persuade Woodrow Wilson to run for president, when Wilson was presiding over Princeton

University. Creel would become the head of the CPI, the ―invisible government,‖ spoken of

in Edward L. Bernays‘ book Propaganda published ten years after World War One.

By the end of the war, there was no part of the court of public opinion untouched by

the work of Creel and his committee, no medium of appeal that it did not employ. The

printed and spoken word, the motion picture, the telegraph and cable, the wireless, the poster

and the sign-board, all these were used in the CPI‘s campaign to make not only the people of

the United States, but all the people of the world, understand the causes that compelled

America to take up arms. 44

The only medium excepted by these statements was the work

done by the group of artists commissioned as captains and who served with the A.E.F.

Many critics are quick to point out the CPI was a propaganda machine used to justify

America's cause in the court of public opinion; to win the fight for the minds of the American

people, and this was true. Creel believed that propaganda was a tool, morally neutral in and

of itself. It was how propaganda is used that determines if it was good or evil. Germany

used it to further their most sinister of purposes. Creel, Bernays, and the CPI apologists

argued that their propaganda was indispensable in reinforcing public opinion for the best and

noblest of ends: to make the world safe for democracy.

43

Alan Axelrod, Selling World War One: The Making of American Propaganda, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 224 44

Creel, George. How We Advertised America; The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1920),5.

17

The Division of Pictorial Publicity

The Division of Pictorial Publicity was a subdivision of the CPI. It was established at

the urgent request of Charles Dada Gibson and a body of American illustrators. Gibson, a

famous American popular illustrator, was selected by George Creel to head the committee of

artists to aid in war-related ―pictorial publicity.‖45

During the war, Gibson‘s artists

produced 758 posters, 287 cartoons, and 432

illustrations for various magazines and

newspaper advertising. A very famous

example, seen here, is the recruiting poster,

―I Want You for the U.S. Army‖, a

lithograph done in 1917. Along with the

departments of the government, these

designs were also used by such

organizations as the Red Cross, the Shipping

Board, the American Library Association,

the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A. and the

Salvation Army. 46

45

Albert Eugene Gallatin, Art and World War One, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1919), 33. 46

Ibid. 34.

18

Both Creel and Gibson realized the media of film and photography would play an

important part in propaganda. They went to Baker, the Secretary of War, with

representations as to the publicity value of much of the material that would be gathered.

Kendall Banning, who was at that time director of the Division of Pictures for the CPI,

surveyed the photographers of the United States. But he pointed out that since protection of

military secrets barred private photographers; they wanted the CPI to go through the Signal

Corps to select photos suitable for public exhibition. To maintain control of the program,

Banning was commissioned a major in the Signal Corps. After this effort to secure more

propaganda, Banning was the first to consider the use of combat artists for the United

States.47

What were the reasons for combat artists? Why would military officials want official

artists and for what purpose would their work be used? In Banning‘s 1921 article, War

Pictures as Propaganda, the Part Played by American Painters and Illustrators in the World

War, he makes it clear the motivation for this art program was for the use in propaganda.48

47

Ibid., 118. 48

Kendall Banning, “War Pictures as Propaganda, the Part Played by American Painters and Illustrators in the World War”, (1921, National Service, New York) 267.

19

Beginnings of the “Art Squad”

And what was the purpose for which the pictures by the official artists were

primarily designed? The answer is brief: to attain that form of publicity

ordinarily designated as "propaganda. (Banning)49

I made it a point also to tell them that we were not sent over here to make a

lot of quick sketches nor were we acting in the nature of war correspondents

or newspaper artists.(Smith)50

On February 21, 1918, the War Department announced its plan to use

American artists to make a complete official pictorial record of the American Army‘s

participation in the war. A committee of American artists, headed by Gibson, selected eight

from a list of recommended artists. Those selected for this special duty were commissioned

as Captains in the Engineer Reserve Corps. 51

Captain J. Andre Smith was named the commanding officer of this unit. Smith‘s

commitment to document the ―business of war‖ changed the direction or purpose of the art of

these artists. There would be no propaganda posters for use by the CPI. Instead, the art

would document the war for history‘s sake.

There have been several works of scholarship dealing with the subject of the official

artist program including, Portrait of War by Peter Krass, Art from the Trenches and War

Diary of a Combat Artist by Alfred E Cornebise. While these scholars provide important

perspectives of the program, they do not explore the significant role played by Captain J.

Andre Smith. A reason for this may not have been lack of interest, but the lack of primary

49

Kendall Banning, “War Pictures as Propaganda, the Part Played by American Painters and Illustrators in the World War”, (1921, National Service, New York) 267. 50 Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor Smith. March 25th 1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art

Center, Maitland, Florida. 2.

51 Author Unknown, Copy of Statement to the Press in Regard to Appointment of Official Artist, Feb. 21

st 1918,

National Archive, Washington D.C.

20

source documents not previously available. The primary source documents, supporting

Smith‘s involvement and his influence, were discovered in the archives of the Maitland Art

Center in Maitland, Florida.

In this archive, are the original correspondences belonging to J. Andre Smith, written

home during his enlistment in the A.E.F. These letters provide a personal and detailed

account of his experiences in World War One as the first official artist commissioned by the

U.S. Government.

The nature of the work to be produced by the official artists and the means of how

they were selected has been widely disputed. But through Smith‘s letters, written during the

war, and the examination of official military reports, written by Smith during his

involvement with the program, bring new light to conflicting forces that brought about ―The

Art Squad‖ in February of 1918 and his influence and participation.

March 25, 1918 Smith wrote home about a report sent to General Nolan, who was

then a Colonel. The report was the first time Smith defined the mission of the Art Squad and

Smith‘s view of how it was to be used.52

Smith wrote in his letter:

In order to help them to understand what I consider our field of work and its

relation to the Historical Department and the Press, I prepared a report covering the

selection of the men and outlining what I believed we would need to carry out our

work...I made it a point also to tell them that we were not sent over here to make a lot

52

J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor Smith. March 25th 1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art

Center, Maitland, Florida. 2.

21

of quick sketches nor were we acting in the nature of war correspondents or

newspaper artists.53

When the report was sent to General Nolan, Smith had been in France for only ten

days and already he had experienced many frustrations as the commander of the Art Squad.

About the time of Smith‘s report to Colonel Nolan, the next two artists arrived in France.

According to Smith, they were Captains Peixotto and Morgan. The first order of business for

the artists was to select the proper location from which they could best do their work. They

selected Neufchateau as their station, and in late April received their orders assigning them to

G-2D under the command of Lt. Col. Sweeney.54

Shortly after the arrival of Captains Peixotto and Morgan and before any instruction

from Lt. Col. Sweeney (Commander of G-2D), a request was made from Washington for

drawings. The Art Squad made a ―hurried trip‖ to the front, which, according to Smith,

resulted in the first seventeen drawings from France. So began Smith‘s journey in France as

Commander in the American Expeditionary Forces.55

During the summer of 1918, after the artists have been in France four months, Major

Banning, of the Signal Corps, was critical of The Art Squad‘s work and sent several letters

directly to Smith of the Engineer Corps. The Major advised the artwork being produced

could not be utilized by the CPI for the purpose of propaganda. Smith, concerned with the

Major‘s breach of military chain of command, consulted his superior officer, Major James.

Major James recommended Smith make a detailed official report on the development of The

Art Squad and its mission, and to send the report to him. Smith wrote:

53

Ibid. 2. 54

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 4. 55

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 6.

22

In accordance with your verbal instructions of October 20, I am submitting the

following report in regard to the Official Artists, the events leading to their

appointment and the subsequent developments in connection with their work.56

In July 1917, Banning, later to be a Major of the Signal Corps, made the first

suggestion for the government appointment of artists for special service with the

Expeditionary Forces in France. Banning was previously the Director of the Division of

Pictures of the CPI. He consulted with representatives of both Great Britain and France to

learn how those countries were utilizing their artists for propaganda at home. Their advice

was to find capable artists and to assign them to duty within military zones, which would not

be open to civilians. 57

Banning (not yet in the military) approached and questioned a number

of American artists in regard to their willingness to accept commissions. Smith recalls these

artists were to be directly connected with the CPI and not the military.58

In October 1917, shortly after Smith was assigned to the Camouflage Corp in

Washington, he met now Major Banning for the first time at a party. After a very short

conversation about the art project, Smith assumed that steps were being taken through the

Signal Corps to commission the artists for the purpose of making a ―pictorial record of the

war.‖59

In December 1917, independent of any action that had been taken by Major Banning,

Captain Embury, of the Engineer Reserve Corps and Smith‘s superior officer, met with

Major General Black, Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the meeting

was to discuss if Major General Black thought it possible to commission artists in the

56

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 1. 57

Albert Eugene Gallatin, Art and World War One (New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1919), 39. 58

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C, 1. 59

Ibid., 1.

23

Engineer Reserve Corps for the special work abroad. Captain Embury advised General

Black that the Signal Corps had made efforts along the same lines and at that time no action

had been made in the matter60

.

Smith would recall his involvement of what happened. While the decision had been

made to commission official artists in the military, the division of the armed forces to which

they would be assigned had not. In December 1917, Smith, fearing he had missed the chance

to be one of the official artists, went to Captain Embury to request participation in the

program. In turn, Captain Embury took up the question at once with General Black, who

was deeply interested. In January 1918, the Engineer Corps took over the program.61

In a later document, Smith stated he believed had he not pressed Captain Embury,

the decision for control of the art program might have been delayed and the war over before

the official artists were appointed. In late January 1918, the Secretary of War began action in

the selection of the artists. It would be mid-March 1918, before Smith, the first of the official

artists, would arrive in France. The Armistice was signed in November of the same year.62

The official artists were active in France for less than eight months.

In February 1918, Smith was the first artist to be chosen and was the only artist with

formal military training. He was commissioned as a Captain in the Corps of Engineers and

given command of what he called ―The Art Squad‖63

60

Ibid., 2. 61

J Andre Smith, Note On Official Artist, Dec 1926, Maitland Art and History Center, Maitland Florida. 1. 62

Hew Strachan, The First World War,(New York: Viking, 2004) 63 J Andre Smith, Memo to Chairman of the Committee of Military Information, Feb. 25 1918, Maitland Art

and History Center, Maitland Florida. 1.

24

In the same report above written to Major James, Smith attempts to clarify the duties

of the Art Squad and defend the body of work produced to that time. He documented a

meeting held in early February 1918. In attendance were Colonel Steese (Engineer Corps),

Major Banning (Signal Corps, formerly with the CPI), Smith (Engineer Corps), and Gibson,

Chairman of the Pictorial Publicity Committee of the CPI, who was especially asked to serve

in an advisory capacity. The meeting‘s purpose was to select 16 artists and create another

committee to select the final eight from the 16 named. Smith also recalled during the

meeting there was no mention made of the nature of work that the artists were to do or its

ultimate use.64

The subsequent

committee‘s members

represented the country‘s

foremost artists,

architects and illustrators

from every part of the

nation. Membership

included Charles Dana

Gibson, Cass Gilberg, an

architect and former president of the Architectural League; Arthur T. Mathews, former

director of the California School of Design; Herbert Adams, Vice President of the Art

Commission; Edwin Howland Blashfield, former President of the Society of American

Artists; Dennet Grover, former President of the Society of Western Artists and Sculptors;

64

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 2.

Nantes (4) by Andre Smith

25

Joseph Pennell, member of the Council of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters,

and Gravers; and Herbert Adams, Vice President of the Art Commission in New York.65

The committee reviewed the selection of 16 possible artists provided and eight artists were

recommended for commissions as Captains. They would serve as the official artists for the

Army Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F) in France. The chosen artists were J. Andre Smith, an

architect turned artist and the following seven illustrators: W.J. Enright, Harvey Dunn,

George Wright, William J Aylward, Harry Townsend and Ernest C. Peixotto.

Smith believed the sum total

of the of the drawings, paintings, and

etchings produced by the Art Squad

would form a separate and distinct

pictorial record of the war, valuable

not only as historical documents but

also as works of art. ―That we would

be required to enter upon the basis of

regular monthly shipments of

drawings for the use in magazines for

propaganda and sensational

illustrations,‖ Smith recalled, ―had never occurred to us nor was such a possibility at any

time suggested to us.‖66

65

Author Unknown, Statement to the Press in Regard to the Appointment of Official Artist, Feb. 1918, The New York Times, National Archive, Washington D.C. 66

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 3.

A Company Billet (19), by Andre Smith

26

Chapter 2

Military Service Prior to France

One consequence of the growing importance of the aeroplane in warfare is the

development of a new military art, the art of camouflage.(Wells)67

We are on our toes fighting death, not according to the old rules of warfare and self-

preservation, but by every possible and impossible means that science and genius can

devise. There is a super-hellishness about modern warfare that is almost beyond our

wildest imaginings, and the act of defense and offense has called forth every means,

every device and every art to serve as a shield and weapon against its frightfulness.

The most practical mechanism and the most fanciful dreams go hand in hand, and. no

one dares to judge of the other's superior power, since the former may supersede the

latter and the practical weapon of today may yield tomorrow to a dreamer's

ingenuity. (Smith)68

Even before America‘s involvement in the European conflict, a number of citizens

training camps had been organized throughout the country under the forceful leadership of

Major General Leonard Wood. The first of these camps was in Plattsburg, New York, and

the program became known as the "Plattsburg Idea".69

General Wood had been in Cuba with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during

the Spanish American War. Like Roosevelt, Wood felt there was a need to prepare the

country for eventual war. During the summer months, volunteers went to these camps for

military training. Instruction lasted 30 days with courses consisting of intensive elementary

training for infantry, cavalry, field artillery, and engineers. It was in the training camp at

Plattsburg, New York, where Smith received his military training. While at Plattsburg, he

wrote Notes on Camouflage, an article for The Architectural Record, explaining the history

and the use of camouflage. 67

H. G. Wells, Italy, France and Britain at War, (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917), 120. 68

Smith, J Andre. ‖Notes on Camouflage‖, The Architectural Record, Volume XLII, The Architectural Record

Co., New York, July-December 1917. 469.

69 Joseph H. Sears, The Career of Leonard wood, (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1920), 217.

27

Camouflage, according to Smith‘s article, was the act of concealment and was not

new to the world of nature. There are familiar examples of nature‘s camouflage including

frogs spotted like trees, the polar bear with a white fur that blends with its surrounding ice

and snow and the tiger striped to render it invisible in a bamboo forest.70

Smith credited the

Native American as one of the first to use camouflage in warfare by painting their body and

face and dressing in the earth tones of leather to use low-visibility against the British.

However, in World War One, camouflage, as a practice in war, was a new development.

Smith wrote, the French, with charactistic alertness, were quick to appreciate the

strategic value of camouflage and employ it first and continue to use it with rare skill

throughout the war. The Germens lost no time in their endeaver to outdo the French and

quickly develped their own camouflage program. The English would be the last of the great

powers to realize the modern necessity of the practice. But their efforts were at first heavy

handed and lacked the grace and imagination of the French.71

However, for the Americans, it was a completely new concept and, unlike the

English, they would rely heavily on the French to train them in the art of camouflage. In

Notes on Camouflage, Smith praises the French for their assistance to the American effort to

employ the practice. Smith would go on to write; ―To the French artist and architect we

have always looked for instruction and inspiration‖ Smith writes ―it will be easy for us to

follow their lead in camouflage as we have in painting and architecture, and, united by a

common cause…‖

70

Albert Eugene Gallatin, Art and The Great War, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1919), 50. 71

Smith, J Andre. ‖Notes on Camouflage‖, The Architectural Record, Volume XLII, The Architectural Record

Co.,New York, July-December 1917. 469.

28

It was in the spring of 1917, while stationed at Camp Plattsburg, Smith severely

injured his leg on barbed wire and the wound never properly healed. The injury would

eventually lead to amputation above the knee when he was in his 50s.72

After his training at

Plattsburg, he was commissioned a first lieutenant and stationed in Washington D.C. in the

40th

Engineer Camouflage Corps73

Letters from Washington

Desk jobs, as you know, are not in my line and besides that is not exactly my idea of

doing camouflage work.(Smith)74

The training camp for the Camoufleurs was at the American University Camp, just

outside of Washington, D. C. Smith, under the command of Captain Aymar Embury, would

be responsible for the training of the new Camoufleurs. During Smith‘s time in Washington,

Captain Embury became a close friend. According to Smith, Embury played an important

role in establishing the unit of eight professional artists.75

Perhaps it was his friendship with

Smith that influenced him in the selection of Smith as one of those artists, as well as the

decision to make him the commander of this small unit.

When Smith first arrived in Washington, he lived at the Hotel Everett on H Street. In

his first letter home, he tells his mother, ―If you want to know how permanent we consider

our location here in Washington I need only to tell you that I have been looking up the matter

of renting an apartment.‖ That same afternoon, Smith looked at a location in the deluxe

72

Thomas W. Leavitt, J Andre Smith, Cornell University, 1968. 3. 73

William Grover, from notes Andre Smith-The Man and His Work, Maitland Art and History Association

Archive, Maitland, Florida, date unknown. 74

Capt. J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother, Elizabeth Connor, October 4 1917, J Andre Smith Collection,

Maitland Art Center, Maitland, Florida, 2. 75

Capt. J. Andre Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr., chief of G-2D, 1918, National Archive, Washington D.C., 2.

29

neighborhood on Q Street. His plan was to live with three other officers, Captains Embury,

George Young and Bob Dunbar.

As he wrote his letter it was 10:30 that night, and from the courtyard of the adjoining

hotel, he heard the uproar of dance, violins and drums and clapping. Smith was sure the

party would continue into the morning. Added to the drum and the slap-stick were the

unmistakable clangs of a cowbell. ―Where oh where is the sweet dreamy waltz of

yesterday?‖ he asked his mother. Up in Q Street all this will be different, but tonight he felt

he could sleep through shell fire.76

In the short time this new military department of camouflage had been

running, the office was flooded with letters and designs. Smith felt he was more clerk than

artist during this time. He was astounded by the number of people interested in camouflage

and how many were requesting commission or asking advice as to enlistment. Jokingly,

Smith relays to his mother how a great majority wanted to be captains or even majors and

there were quite a few who were very frank to state they were too good to be privates.

In this early stage of the Camouflage Corps, it was the policy of the Department to

answer all inquiries with the utmost courtesy. In addition to the letters dealing with the

question and suggestions about camouflage, there was the great number of letters from

drafted men writing to be transferred from the training camps to the Camouflage Corps. This

process of shifting men from one organization to another was complicated and deeply

76

J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother , Elizabeth Connor, October 4 1917, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland

Art Center, Maitland, Florida, 6.

30

involved and frustrated Smith. He tells his mother, ‖Letters go up and down the line and

back and forth, the actual workings of which I have not yet the least idea.‖77

It was Smith‘s job was to make the list of supplies and equipment that would be

needed not only in Washington, for what Smith referred to as ―experimental work‖, but also

for use in France. This meant long hours for both Smith and Captain Embury going over

catalogues, investigations of possible machinery and tools that might be useful in the art of

camouflage.

While it seemed that office work was a large part of Smith duties, he was also

involved with the training and experimental camouflage work going on at the American

University. Smith and Embury were not the only artists in the Camouflage Corps. Stationed

at the training camp in Washington were several well-known artists and illustrators. One of

these was W.J. Enright, who was chosen for the special assignment, but due to an illness he

could not go to France. Unlike Smith, who was already an officer, the camouflage artists

would be taking their chances for advancement with the general run of enlisted men.

By November 1917, the first company of Camoufleurs was trained and ready for duty

in France. This was not good news for Smith. According to him, orders from ―Over There‖

indicated there was no need in the near future for further camouflage companies. Smith‘s

hopes to command a company of his own were ―blasted.‖78

For a time, Smith felt he would

be out of a job and pictured himself back in civilian life. ―You can imagine‖ Smith

77

Ibid., 4. 78

J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother, Elizabeth Connor, November 9 1917, J Andre Smith Collection,

Maitland Art Center, Maitland, Florida, 1.

31

writes‖with my studio gone what a restless person you would have on your hands and what a

nuisance I would be.‖79

In December 1917, the War Department organizes a second Camouflage Corps to

continue the experimental work in Washington. Smith would remain in the military, but his

hope to be part of the ―Big Show‖ seemed bleak.80

But it was during this period Captain

Embury, encouraged by Smith, went to General

Black to secure the establishment of the artists‘

deployment to the war. After all of the roadblocks

and meetings discussed in the previous chapter, the

selection of the eight artists was made.

In a letter to his uncle dated February 5,

1918, Smith writes of his excitement over his

appointment and his pending meeting with Col.

Steese and Charles Gibson.81

He was hoping for a

promotion, but according to his commanding

general (Black) all the artists would be

commissioned as 1st Lieutenants. Smith still had hope that one man would be in charge of

the unit and would rank higher than the others. Steese did tell Smith that he would go in

79

J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother, Elizabeth Connor, November 11 1917, J Andre Smith Collection,

Maitland Art Center, Maitland Art and History Center, Florida, 1. 80

J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother, Elizabeth Connor, November 9 1917, J Andre Smith Collection,

Maitland ArtCenter, Maitland Art and History Center, Florida, 2. 81

J Andre Smith, Letter to his uncle, George Connor, February 5 1918, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland Art

Center, Maitland Art and History Center, Florida, 1.

Jules Andre Smith in Uniform

32

advance of the rest of the artists. And, again, despite all of the conversations and meetings,

Smith was still unsure as to the complete nature of his new assignment, but it sounded like

the best and biggest adventure of his life. Smith would be commissioned Captain and was

given command of The Art Squad.

A Saddler’s Room (22) by Andre Smith

33

Chapter Three – Letters From France

At the age of 37, Smith volunteered for the army for the purpose of joining the

camouflage unit. Less than a year later, through a series of events, both planned and by fate,

he found himself ―going to war.‖ Prior to this time, he had been a man of means who

travelled Europe, started his own architectural firm, left this successful firm and made living

selling prints of his work through art brokers. Like his father who had been successful in a

series of different paths, so it would be with Smith. Although, this time Smith would begin

an adventure unknown before to his family.

On the Sea

In February 1918,

Andre Smith stood on

the deck of the

transport ship Mt.

Vernon waiting for

his turn to cross the

pond. As he stood

there he would go on

to create the first sketch of many as an official artist for the American Expeditionary Forces

(A.E.F.). While on his way to France, little did Smith know World War One would end in

less than a year.

During his time serving with the A.E.F., Smith would finish over 200 different pencil

sketches, watercolors, and etchings. After the war, his work and that of his comrades, would

The Mt Washington, by J Andre Smith

34

go on to be seen across the nation; first in Washington D.C., then New York City and in

other cities across the United States. 82

Yet, for the most part, their work would fade from the

memory of the war.

The sketch above was Smith‘s first as an official artist for the A.E.F. and only his

mother, in a letter sent home, would see it. It would then remain virtually unseen until it was

again discovered with other correspondence Smith had written home. There is evidence that

this collection of letters, assembled by Smith in 1919 and entitled ―War Letters - from

Washington and France,‖ was done as the basis for his book, In France with the American

Expeditionary Forces, written later in 1919. Numbered copies of his war sketches found in

War Letters coincided with pages in his book.

―On the Sea‖, was the first letter of ―Letters from France – Part One.‖ Smith began

his journey where 1.6+ million other Americans involved in the war began theirs – leaving

the New York harbor.

It was not uncommon for troop transports to leave harbor at night and so it was with

the Mt. Vernon. Smith recalled, ―When we left New York, which was some thirty-six hours

after arriving on board, it was dark and the skyline of lower Manhattan was twinkling like

street lamps on a hill town.‖83

This was not Smith‘s first voyage abroad, but this time leaving the harbor it all

appeared different. It was as beautiful as ever, but much more impressive. Smith recalled,

the Statue of Liberty shone across the water like a column of fire and filled the departing

82 Albert Eugene Gallatin, Art and The Great War (E.P. Dutton & Company: New York, 1919). 83

J Andre Smith, Letter to his mother , Elizabeth Connor, March 5 1918, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland

Art Center, Maitland Art and History Center, Florida.

35

soldiers with a sense of awe and patriotism. It was a reminder of the cause for which Smith

and those aboard the Mt. Vernon had enlisted. It symbolized their purpose in the war and

why they were to be fighting - for the survival of democracy. 84

As Lady Liberty faded into darkness, Smith recalled:

I think we were all deeply moved by it, although none of us would confess it. We

slipped away so quietly, lights out and only the puffing of the tugs to give sign of

activity. And yet from the moment of my arrival on this ship I was impressed with

the fact that this for me was the serious beginning of the Big Adventure.85

The day before departure, while on the pier, Smith recognized one of the officers he

had met in Washington and was delighted to learn that he and the rest of the staff to which he

was attached were to be on board. When Smith presented himself on board at

―Headquarters,‖ he was greeted with, ―Why, here‘s Smith, we‘ll give him a job,‖ and they

did. Smith had false hope as an officer traveling ―casual‖ or unattached would have ―hour

and hours‖ to himself. His commanding officer, referred to as Major M, had other ideas.

Smith‘s job aboard ship was the assistant mess officer. Smith and a young aviator, a

1st Lieutenant, were charged with getting men to the third mess sitting. This duty consisted

chiefly of going into the depths of the troop-space and by ―persuasion or force‖86

getting the

men to eat. A good deal of his success depended on the weather conditions, and the pitch

and roll of the ship.

84

Ibid., 1. 85

Ibid., 1. 86

Ibid., 2.

36

―I wish you could see them [the men coming to mess]‖, Smith wrote, ―come piling

down the ‗Ladders‘ for mess; they come tumbling like a waterfall of human beings, hundreds

and hundreds.‖87

Although an officer, Smith‘s sympathies were with the enlisted men; but during this

time he felt it unwise to show it.88

There was a vast difference between living conditions of

an officer and those of an enlisted man. Smith shared a stateroom with three other Captains,

two of them to a room, in the suite. Connected in the string of rooms was a bath; mostly with

cold water though fresh water was available three times a day. With its couches, frescoed

walls and paneled ceilings, it was only natural that the suite became the officers‘ lounge and,

on occasion, the smoking room for less fortunate officers not traveling in a suite.89

In

contrast, the enlisted men‘s sleeping quarters were crowded and the ventilation bad. When

they did get on deck, there was no room to move or sit. Exercising was nearly impossible,

limited to running in place or sit-up drills. Perhaps it was this crossing of the ocean on the

Mt Vernon and the contrast between the officers and the enlisted men which laid the

foundation for Smith‘s progressive views which were demonstrated in his later years

―The nights were long, oh so long with lights out at sunset. Can you imagine an

ocean liner in total darkness?‖ Smith asked his mother, and continued describing the scene:

Faint blue lights here and there in the corridors; stairways pitch black and your

stateroom solid night. While the lights still burn below in the mess hall there are

always a gathering of officers in the galleries peering down attracted by the light like

87

Ibid., 2. 88

Ibid.,2. 89

Ibid.,2

37

so many moths…After a while one by one feels his way back to his own quarters and

we turn in like so many blind men.90

Down below where the enlisted men slept, it was always pitch back. They slept in

full uniform for fear if hit by a torpedo, they would not find their clothes in the dark.

This part of Smith‘s journey was over on March 8th

, when the first of the destroyers

came into view. They would accompany the Mt. Vernon over the last and most dangerous

part of the trip to France, to Port St. Nazaire.

On the Wharves at St. Nazaire

(Drawing by Smith)

It is just a week since I

arrived here and

during the time I have

done almost nothing

but wait….(Smith)91

American soldiers,

who landed in Port St.

Nazaire, who were

expecting to find

themselves in a

romantic French city, were disappointed. Over the months prior to Smith‘s arrival to St.

Nazaire, it had become Americanized, much like any port in the states, with only a slight

touch of France.92

90

Ibid.,3 91

J Andre Smith, Letter to Elizabeth Connor, March 23 1918, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland Art Center, Maitland Art

and History Center, Florida 92 J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces, (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919.), 1.

On The Wharves at St Nazaire (1), by J Andre Smith

38

Before his departure from Washington, Smith questioned Col. Steese in regard to any

special instructions. The only directions given to Smith by Col. Steese were to report to

General Headquarters (GHQ) on his arrival and receive his instructions there. On reporting

for duty, Smith found that no one had any definite idea of what he was to do or how he was

to do it. Even though at this time, the decision was made to put the artists under the Corps of

Engineers. And yet there was no concrete decision as to what section of the Corps would

have control over the artists. For example, at this time an organization referred to as the

―Historical-subsection‖ was also being considered.93

After weeks of waiting, Smith submitted a report on what he felt was the nature and

purpose of the work and listed what he saw as the needs of The Art Squad in the way of

supplies and other requirements for the proper execution of their work. This report was

submitted and filed at GHQ about the 25th

of March 1918.94

Smith also included in his report what he thought should be the ultimate disposition

of the artists‘ work. Smith wanted the paintings and etchings created by the artists used in

newspapers and magazines, with the possibility of combining them with historical writings

and placing them in the Congressional Library in Washington. It was Smith‘s hope that a

special museum would be constructed to commemorate the commissioned artists and their

contribution in World War One. 95

93

J Andre Smith, Letter to George Connor, March 30 1918, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland Art Center,

Maitland Art and History Center, Florida. 94

Capt. J. André Smith report to Maj. A.L. Jr, chief of G-2D, October 21 1918, National Archive, Washington

D.C. 95

J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. March 24 1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland Art

39

Soon after the submission of his report, the art program was turned over to G-2D, the

intelligence and propaganda division of A.E.F. under the command of Lt. Col Sweeney. The

final decision of where the artists would report was made and Smith believed this came about

because of his report. Smith would receive his orders from G-2D in late April 1918, after

being in France since March 15th

.

Smith determined that Neufchateau would serve as their base of operation.

Neufchateau was north of Chaumont about an hour‘s ride from the front. Because of this, the

town was well known to most officers who served in the A.E.F., and nearly every one passed

through it on their way to and from the front.96

Smith, and Captains Peixotto and Morgan (the next two artists to arrive) would take

their first trip to the front shortly after the orders arrived. Smith wrote Letter 14 discussed

below, shortly after their return from this assignment.97

First Assignment Documented in Letter 14 – April 29 1918

Smith wanted his mother to fully understand the conditions in which they worked and

the purpose of the Art Journey, which was the name given by Smith to the missions of his

unit. Smith completed 25 sketches on this first trip, and some of those are the most moving,

not only to Smith, but to those who view them. He wrote to his mother:

I hope…you will get all my letters as I have tried so hard to give you as much

information about my doings as censorship permits. I have written many letters and all of

96

J Andre Smith, Letter to Elizabeth Connor, April 29 1918, J Andre Smith Collection, Maitland Art Center, Maitland Art

and History Center, Florida. 2. 97

Ibid., 2.

40

them have been quite lengthy in my effort to let you know about my life and the conditions

under which I am working.98

Col. Sweeny felt the fact the artists were captains that this would give them complete

access to the front. However, in the early stages of the project, this assumption turned out to

be wrong. The identification papers and passes Smith and his companions received from the

American GHQ gave them liberal opportunity for their work in the American controlled

sectors. Their Divisional Commander was anxious that they not offend the French. To guard

against interruption and arrest due to lack of proper official French papers, they needed the

signature of the Commanding General of the French division. This would delay the artists‘

efforts sometimes for days, as it did for this trip.99

Properly armed with all sorts of orders,

identification cards etc., The Art Squad was free to get to work.

98

Ibid.,1 99

Ibid., 2

The Railhead Dump at Menil-La-Tour, by J. Andre Smith

41

An American Graveyard

It was Characteristic of the Yank, and proof of his healthy courage, to think lightly of

death.(Smith)100

On the second day of their first trip to the front, Smith, Peixotto and Morgan passed

through Nancy, just south of a little town called Seicheprey, situated on the southern flank of

the German-held Saint-Mihiel salient.101

St. Mihiel was the first place selected by the

American staff for an attack. The American staff had been working in the area before there

was any American force ready even for a minor engagement, not to mention the taking of

this position. To make a purely American army, trained for open warfare, with the first

attack to be made at St. Mihiel—such were the plans.102

100

J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919), 27.

101 Ernest C. Peixotto, The American Front,(New York: Charles Scribner‘s Sons, 1919), 28.

102 Arthur W. Page. Our 110 Days’ Fighting, (New York Doubleday Page &Company, 1920), 8.

An American Graveyard (28), by J Andre Smith

42

Here the 26th

Division, the New Englander, had just replaced the 1st Division, ―The Big

Red One.‖ Observing the changeover, the Germans were intent on giving the Americans a

baptism by fire.

On the morning of April 21, a heavy fog laid across ―no-man‘s-land‖. At 5:00 a.m.,

after a night of heavy bombardment, the Germans attacked. By the Germans' own

statements, not less than 3,000 men participated in the attack, spearheaded by

"Sturntruppen," or Hindenburg's Traveling Circus. These were a body of handpicked shock

troops, which traveled from place to place along the German line and delivered raids at

regular intervals. The Germans favored by a heavy fog, were upon the 26th

Division ―New

Englanders‖ before they realized what had happened. Company C of the 102nd Infantry was

surprised, and practically the whole unit was captured. By the end of the attack, the total

casualties for the 26th

Division would be over 600 with another 136 taken prisoners.103

The sketch shown earlier, ―An American Graveyard,” is in Smith‘s book of

illustrations. In the narrative, Smith describes what to him is the characteristic of the

American Soldier and evidence of their courage when facing death. In spite of the fact that

death ―stalked him twenty-four hours a day‖, soldiers of the A.E.F. tended to think lightly of

death. ―Death appeared to a soldier in many forms,‖ Smith writes, ―as disease or in the many

forms of what was then modern warfare could invent,‖ yet they continued to serve.104

103 Harry A. Benwell, History of the Yankee division, (Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1919), 78.

104 J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces. (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919), 27.

43

It must have been shortly after the attack of April 21st, when The Art Squad

happened upon a funeral for American soldiers killed at St. Mihiel. This was Smith‘s first

sight of a military function of this sort. He wrote to his mother of the experience:

I don‘t know when I have been more deeply impressed as I was that afternoon when

we followed the slow moving column led by this regimental band playing a solemn

funeral march.105

The artists followed the procession through the winding streets of the French village

and up the hill into open country to a new graveyard overlooking the town. For Smith, it was

his first contact with the grimness and sorrow of war. He was moved, and wrote:

I must confess that after the three volleys had been fired over the graves and taps

were sounded and echoed by another bugler posted off somewhere in the distance the

thing almost too much for men.106

The sketch was made at a time when American cemeteries were rare in France.

Smith‘s drawing; ―An American Graveyard” shows the first American graveyard in France

was probably at the edge of Menil-la-Tour, the small village north of Toul, which served as

the American first divisional headquarters. It would be here in May 1918, the first Memorial

Day, to honor those that died in the attack in April. Commander Evangeline Booth and

group of woman from the Salvation Army accompanied the military procession to the newly

established cemetery. Commander Booth commented these were the first Americans to pay

the supreme sacrifice in the cause of liberty.107

105 J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29

th 1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida.

106 Ibid., 2.

107 Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill, The War Romance of the Salvation Army, (Philadelphia and

London J.B. Lippincott Company, 1919), 178.

44

Over 300 Americans were laid to rest at Menil-la-Tour. But after the war, nearly half

would come home while the rest would be moved to St Mihiel Cemetery where they still

remain.108

At the time of Smith‘s sketch, ―An American Graveyard‖, the American presence

was comparatively small, and soldiers had not yet tasted the full fury of the war and the toll

that it exacts. This was to come later; and one needed but travel behind the sweep of the

American battle lines, or to the many more peaceful enclosures near the American base

hospital, to know what assurance of liberty has cost America. 109

Trenches of Badonviller

Far more impressive to me was to see

the men just that morning come out of

the trenches and were taking their

rested and hunting billets…and the

ever-present cootie. 110

The day after Smith‘s experience at

the graveyard, The Art Squad

continued their art journey. They

went to Badonviller, a village right

behind the lines that formed the

entrance of the trenches. Badonviller

was badly wrecked and was still under

fire on the day of their visit. It was

entirely quiet and except for the sound

108

Harry A. Benwell, History of the Yankee division (Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1919), 80. 109

J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29th

1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida. 110

Ibid., 3.

Trenches at Badonviller by J Andre Smith

45

of the guns and the swirling noise of shells passing over their heads, Smith found it almost

peaceful.111

The town of Badonviller formed a wall beyond which it would be fatal to venture

except under the ground level. The artists were warned before they went that while making

sketches they should not expose themselves too freely, as some places were open to German

observation. While the risks were real, for Smith, all of this gave added interest to their work

and made it a real adventure.

Each of the artists was assigned ―runners,‖ enlisted men who acted as guides and

orderlies. These ―faithful followers,‖ as Smith called them, became deeply interested in the

work of the artists. As Smith worked, they entertained him with all the local gossip.

Smith made

drawings of this

little place, all of

them reflecting the

distortion caused by

the German

bombardment. In

―Portrait of War”

Peixotto would refer

to this experience of

entering the trenches as entering the netherworld. Peixotto noted all the soldiers were living

in dugouts built into the side of the trenches, which were infested with lice, rats, and

111

Ibid., 3.

A House in Badonviller (42), by J Andre Smith

46

bedbugs. The subjects that Smith drew were not beautiful to him; nonetheless they were

rather impressive because of their grim aspect. But what impressed Smith even more was the

morale of the American soldiers.

The village of Badonviller had been so exposed to shellfire that it was not safe to

occupy rooms above ground level and consequently the men live in cellars and dugouts.

The men billeted in cellars would emerge in daytime from their damp quarters. If they

happened to be at leisure, they would releax themselves among the fallen debris and enjoy

life to whatever degree that was enjoyable under such circumstances; sitting in an easy chair

savaged from the remains of demolished homes, smoking and reading, acting as if the war

was a thousand miles away and not just the other side of the next building.112

Smith‘s impression was that they always seemed cheerful, a good natured, happily

and expressively profane crowd of men, healthy and husky. Smith would write to his

mother,‖ I have a great admiration for them and better yet the greatest confidence in their

ability to make good when the time comes‖.113

112

J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919). p. 59. 113

J André Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29th

1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida.

47

Trip to Chateau-Thierry

Documented in Letter 27–

July 2 1918

In connection with this

“World War” the name of

Chateau-Thierry will

forever stand in our

memories as the proving

ground of the American

valor.(Smith)114

On July 2, 1918, Smith wrote his 27th

letter home. He described a recent trip to the

front. During this six-day outing, Smith, Peixotto, and Morgan would travel over 500 miles.

―In all,‖ Smith writes, ―we…had a delightful trip, free from tire trouble, under the most

favorable weather conditions and ran the gauntlet of shell fire without the least mishap.‖115

He returned from this trip with an increased admiration for the fighting men of the A.E.F.

and a better understanding of what they had gone through and what still lay ahead of them.

Months prior to the latest artists‘ trip, in May of 1918, General von Ludendorff, the

German commander-in-chief, planned to use superior numbers in a massive and violent

offensive in the hope of crushing the Allies before the host of American troops poured across

the sea, changing the balance of power on the western front.

Von Ludendorff‘s plan was to attack the Chemin des Dames front. He hoped that

with one blow, he could bring about the fall of Reims. The French were unaware of the

massing of German troops, so they failed to reinforce their lines. At first nothing could be

114

J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919): p. 59. 115

J André Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29th

1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida.

Where the German Crossed the Marne (64), by J Andre Smith

48

done to stop the German advance. By the 30th

, the Germans had captured 30,000 to 40,000

prisoners and 400 artillery guns. The German forces gained a southwest penetration of the

line of more than 30 miles. With the German advance, Paris came as near to panic as it ever

had to that point and thousands of people fled the city. The French commander used every

division at hand, including the Second and Third United States. On May 31, the Third

Division of the United States was scattered across the front from Chateau-Thierry to

Dormans.

The injection of the American forces stalled the German offensive. The Marne

became a defensive flank for the German advance, turning their remaining driving power

westward. In a concentrated effort, the Germans pushed toward Paris hoping for a crossing

of the river at Chateau-Thierry. It was there that elements of the Third and all of the Second

Divisions faced the most aggressive part of the German attack. On May 31 at 6:00 in the

afternoon, the Third‘s Seventh Machine Gun Battalion moved into a sector of the old city of

Chateau-Thierry, with the support of the French 38th

corps, and stopped the Germen advance.

116

The American forces in this sector that Smith visited were those who fought in the

May offensive of Chateau-Thierry. To Smith, it seemed unbelievable that human beings

could endure so much, live through it and come out of it smiling and eager for more. The

Americans, using their own traditions and methods, would be victorious. They showed the

116

Joseph Mills Hanson,‖ Those Desperate Days at Chateau-Thierry‖, The Independent, Volume 102, April

1920, 119.

49

Germans the sort of fighting that in its intensity and fierceness was beyond anything they had

experienced before.117

Taken as a whole, the battle for Chateau-Thierry was a small part of a bigger defense against

the German drive. But for Smith, it was a forecast of what America‘s armed forces could do

once they became more numerous and gained more experience.118

On the first day

of the trip to

Chateau-Thierry,

they traveled all

day, coming in

the late afternoon

to the town they

decided to use as

a base for their

excursions to the front. They passed through towns where French and British troops were

billeted in reserve, past airfields and on to where U.S. forces began to appear along roads and

in the villages and finally to the center of American activity.119

They found a comfortable

hotel suddenly grown busy with the rush of war trade and there they spent two nights.

117

J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29th

1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida.

118J Andre Smith. Letter to Elizabeth Connor. April 29

th 1918. J Andre Smith Collection. Maitland Art Center,

Maitland, Florida.

119 Ibid., 1

Road at the Front (8), J Andre Smith

50

However, these nights were not entirely restful since below their windows the street passed

to the Front and all might long they were conscious of the war.

Smith writes his mother:

Thundering of supply trains, great camions loaded with materials of war, ammunition,

food, men or we were wakened to hear the clatter of horse‘s hoofs as a battalion of

French lancers passed through on their way up the line.120

The next morning, the three Captains, Smith, Peixotto and Morgan, started out for

Division Headquarters to make their usual formal announcement of their arrival. Smith

referred to this as a military politeness that was well worth the lost time. Smith and his squad

could waive a lot of the formalities, but time and again, they found it better to play the game

of military frills and refinements. By doing so, they had again and again been brought in

contact with higher officers who have proved at times to be courteous and sometimes

entertaining. And so

it was true on this day.

The Colonel at HQ

was kind enough to

send them out with an

escort and then

postponed his lunch

until 2:30 so that The

Art Squad might join

him in the officer‘s mess.121

120

Ibid., 1

Regimental headquarters (48), by J Andre Smith

51

From there, The Art Squad went on to the Brigade Headquarters, a mile or so up the

road. ―Another wait, salutations, formalities and explanations,‖ writes Smith,‖ when visiting

the Front there is a rather formal proceeding.‖ There they left their car, making sure they

covered it with branches to hide it from passing planes. They traveled single file at intervals

of fifty yards so as to cheat a shell of too many victims as they crossed the field of a large

farm that served as Regimental H.Q. More salutations, formalities and explanations followed

before they were assigned a ―runner‖. The runner took them up to where they could look

down on Chateau-Thierry and the surrounding country, which had been the theater of the

recent American fighting.122

Their path led them to the edge of a wood of ―jungle-like growth.‖ They walked

quite a way before they realized that woods were teeming with French and American troops.

―No longer,‖ Smith writes, ―do you see men in open fields; the old-time war pictures of camp

fires and rows of tents…are not to be found.‖123

They crossed through the woods and out the other side where Smith and fellow artists

could look down into the valley and on to the village of Chateau-Thierry. An occasional

shell was still threatening the area. Smoke was rising from one or two places and constantly

the air was torn with the sound of artillery and the disagreeable noise of shells in flight. At

last they reached the ―farthest north‖ point and so under the shelter of an apple tree, Smith

got out his sketching materials and drew the sketch that is here ―A View of Chateau-

Thierry.‖124

121

Ibid., 2. 122

Ibid., 3. 123

Ibid., 3. 124

Ibid.,3.

52

In his book, In France with

the American Expeditionary

Forces, Smith would reflect

on this moment:

In our minds thereafter, we

saw Chateau-Thierry as the

gate which, held by our

unfailing strength, barred

the Germans from their

hopes of victory and peace. And although they made one more effort to break this barrier, it

failed; and when this gate was open again it swung wide to give way to the charge of our

triumphant forces in pursuit of a beaten enemy.125

During the early days of September, 1918, the first all-American offensive wrestled

control of the St. Mihiel sector, ending four years of German occupation. Smith was there

ready with his pencil, as much as the American soldier was with his rifle. During the fierce

fighting in the Argonne, when every mile of front was won step by step, until the final drive

through the German lines across the Meuse on the eve of the Armistice, Smith was there.

―War to End all Wars‖ would be over with the signing of the Armistice on November 11,

1918. But until then, Smith and his Art Squad would continue to sketch the war producing

over 500 pieces of art. Smith would stay even after November 11, following the Germans

into Germany and across the Rhine.

125

J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919).

A View of Chateau-Thierry (59), by J Andre Smith

53

Conclusion

Andre Smith was an artist, architect, painter, etcher, and author. He was successful in

each of these fields. At the age of 37, he enlisted in the army to join the Camouflage Corps,

a way to be a part of the ―big show‖ by utilizing his skills. Through his work there, he

became friends and associates with those who were putting the ―Art Squad‖ together. He

significantly helped the initiation of this unit through his consistent inquiries as to the status

of its creation. The issue of control over the unit, starting with the CPI and ending with the

Corps of Engineers, would lead to the message of the artists‘ work. Again, Smith‘s

determination was to have the artwork produced by the eight artists not be sensational, to be

kept from being used for propaganda. He wanted the art to become part historical document,

valuable not only as record of the conflict, but also as works of art.

Smith‘s place in the history of World War One should be stronger than currently is.

The primary source documents utilized in this thesis bring to light Smith‘s strength in his

convictions, his role in the creation of the Art Squad, and his creative genius.

After the war, Smith moved to Maitland, Florida and established an artist colony.

Here he continued his career. Though his involvement in the art program of World War One

would become a side note in history, the art colony he created in the 1930s continues.

The documents mentioned throughout this paper and the art produced by Smith,

before, during and after World War One should have a more visible place in history. Future

opportunities to make this happen will be pursued, as more and more research is done to

discover even more information concerning Smith.

54

When writing this paper about Smith, it is impossible to end without the following

quote:

―My contribution to this vast storage of war records is slight. War posed for me in

the attitude of a very deliberate worker who goes about his task of fighting in a

methodical and thorough manner. If the picture of war which is the sum total of my

drawings shows has any virtue of truth or novelty it is in this respect: It shows War,

the business man, instead of War, the warrior. It is an unsensational record of things

actually seen, and in almost every instance drawn, as the saying is, ―on the spot.‖

(Andre Smith)126

126

J. André Smith, In France with the American Expeditionary Forces (New York: A. H. Hahlo, 1919).

55

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57

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