The Great Fire (56 page)
348
The pier was made of rough
A sketch of the pier is saved in the logbook of the
Edsall
.
349
The Turkish soldiers placed
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
128.
351
An old woman
Esther Pohl Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans
(New York: Macmillan Company, 1933), 154.
351
At one point, a woman became hysterical
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
112.
351
There was a quarter-acre wedge
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
143.
352
“The din was terrific,”
“Smyrna and the Dardenelles,” 474.
352
The relief committee had been relying
Biographical detail on Lovejoy: “Esther Pohl Lovejoy,” Historical Collections & Archives, Oregon Health and Science University; Kimberly Jensen, “Esther Pohl Lovejoy and the Oregon Woman Suffrage Victory of 1912,”
Oregon Historical Quarterly
108, no. 3; “Lovejoy’s City Work Shines in New Light,”
Portland Tribune,
Oct. 19, 2012.
353
“In a city with so large . . .”
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
159.
353
After he and the other older
Hatcherian, 38. 39
354
“Outside the house where . . .”
Hatcherian, 40.
357
Among the Americans on the pier
“Hasten Evacuation of Smyrna Hordes,”
New York Times,
Sept. 27, 1922.
358
Jennings sent a message
Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” Sept. 24–27, 1922.
360
Five days earlier
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey, 110.
361
Piraeus ships joined
Jennings to D. Darius.
362
Going ashore to help
“Smyrna and the Dardanelles,” 475.
363
“One poor old thing sank . . .”
“Smyrna and the Dardanelles,” 477.
363
A British officer who
“Smyrna and the Dardenelles,” 475.
364
“In all the heat,”
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
119.
364
“As family after family . . .”
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
157.
365
“They would be used . . .”
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
127.
365
“With great difficulty . . .”
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
160.
367
The sounds of the night
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
151.
367
“A sudden wailing . . .”
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
128
367
“There was a strange murmur . . .”
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
149.
368
The young men were responding
Lovejoy,
Certain Samaritans,
166.
368
While on the Quay
“Smyrna and the Dardanelles,” 476.
CHAPTER 31: THE RHODES LETTER RESURFACES
369
Caffrey did not receive a response
Caffrey to Bristol, Sept. 25, 1922. MLB.
370
Bristol finally responded
Bristol to Caffrey at Athens, Sept. 25, 1922. MLB; “Bristol Relief Plan Denied in Washington,”
New York Times,
Sept. 25, 1922.
370
A cable Bristol had
Bristol to State Department, Sept. 25, 1922. MLB.
374
The next day, September 27
, Powell to Bristol, Sept. 27, 1922. MLB.
374
Later, much later, Bristol would extol Powell’s action.
CHAPTER 32: REVOLUTION
375
On his return to Mytilene
Jennings to D. Davis.
375
The revolt had
begun The story of the revolt is drawn largely from a detailed U.S. intelligence report. “The Role of the Greek Navy in the Revolution, G-2 Report,” December 1930. MLB.
376
On landing at Mytilene,
Jennings to D. Davis.
377
“The island is facing starvation . . .”
Jennings’s cable to Powell as quoted in
Edsall
’s Ship’s Diary, Sept. 26, 1922. MLB.
CHAPTER 33: BRITISH ASSISTANCE
378
On Wednesday September 27
This and subsequent references to Powell’s actions and observations in this chapter come from Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” USS Edsall, Sept. 27–Oct. 1, 1922. MLB.
379
On Thursday September 28
“Smyrna and the Dardanelles,” 477.
380
The commanding officer of the
MacLeish Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” Sept. 28, 1922. MLB.
380
There were thousands,
Jennings to D. Davis.
380
Jennings, in consultation
Jennings to D. Davis.
381
On this day, Prentiss
Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” USS Edsall, Sept. 29, 1922. MLB. Lieutenant (j.g.) E. B. Perry and Prentiss traveled, under Turkish escort, to Alashehir, following in reverse the retreat route of the Greek army and path of the fleeing Ottoman Greek and Armenian refugees. Lieutenant Perry reported back, “All cities except Menem practically destroyed by burning. There are many stories of robbing, looting, rapine, and pillaging by the retreating Greek Army. Saw many wounded and dead Moslems passing through this country. Country absolutely desolate and all shelter and feed has been destroyed.” Merrill to Bristol, October 3, 1922. MLB. In addition, Perry sent a report, via Bristol, to the
New York Herald
. “All refugees evacuated Smyrna . . . (Turkish authorities)
great desire friendship Americans/wish business relations American born Americans/wonderful opportunity American business.” Perry to STANAV, Oct. 3, 1922. MLB.
381
On the following day,
Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” USS Edsall, Sept. 30, 1922. MLB.
381
“Pieces of paper fluttered . . .”
Woodrooffe,
Naval Odyssey,
130.
CHAPTER 34: AFTER SMYRNA
383
The evacuation of Smyrna
Chater, “Trek,” 568; Bierstadt,
Great Betrayal,
53–68; Howland, “Greece and Her Refugees,”
Foreign Affairs,
July 1926: “At the time of the Greek disaster in Asia Minor 800,000 Greeks fled across the Aegean Sea to the mainland and islands of Greece, most of them destitute, and 200,000 more with their household goods and flocks trekked out of eastern into western Thrace and Macedonia. With the latter arrivals expelled from Constantinople and the ‘voluntary’ migrants from Bulgaria, Greece has had to receive and to absorb into her national life some 1,400,000 persons, or about 26 percent of her former population of approximately 5,375,000 people.”
383
On that last day of September
This and subsequent passages in this chapter that describe the actions and observations on Powell come from Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” USS Edsall. MLB.
383
At Vourla, Turkish soldiers marched
Powell, “Ship’s Diary,” Oct. 7, 1922.
383
“The usual raping went on . . .”
Lieutenant H. A. Ellis, “Report of Movements,” USS MacLeish, Sept. 30, 1922. MLB.
384
On October 2, the
MacLeish “Report of Movements,” USS MacLeish, Sept. 30, 1922. MLB.
384
“Thousands more had only . . .”
Jaquith to Near East Relief, Oct. 2, 1922, NER Reports, Rockefeller Archive.
385
At about the same time,
Jennings to D. Davis.
385
At Mytilene, Jennings constituted
Jennings to D. Darius.
385
People trekked over the mountains
Chater, “Trek,” 559; “Report of Operations for Week Ending 3,” Ship’s Diary, Black Sea.
386
President Harding convened
“Harding Appeals for the Near East,”
New York Times
, Oct. 9, 1922.
386
In November, Turkish authorities
Beirstadt,
Great Betrayal,
55–59; “Report of Operations,” Dec. 17, 1922, BWD.
386
So, Jennings, who remained
Jennings to D. Davis. See also BWD, e.g., Dec. 22, 1922.
386
At Rodosto, in Thrace
Jaquith to Near East Relief, Oct. 2, 1922. NER Reports, Rockefeller Archive
386
“ADRIANOPLE—In a never-ending
Hemingway,
Dateline, Toronto
.
387
The tidal wave of refugees
Bierstadt,
Great Betrayal,
188–190. Howland, “Greece and Her Refugees,” ff.
387
A refugee ship from Samsun
Bruce Clark,
Twice a Stranger
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 142.
387
“Many died on their journey . . .”
Post related his experiences in accounts that were published in many American newspapers. See, e.g., “State of Near East Refugees Held Appalling,”
Eugene Daily Guard,
April 28, 1923.
388
Powell had remained
Bristol Diary, Oct. 21, 1922. MLB.
388
At the urging of his crew
“The Destroyer’s Own Orphanage,”
New York Times,
May 20, 1923.
388
Jennings had become a central
Jennings and the continuing evacuation frequently appear in Bristol’s diary and his commanders’ ships’ diaries from October 1922 through February 1923. See, e.g., Bristol Diary, Nov. 9, 1922: “I received a call from Mr. A. K. Jennings accompanied by Mr. D. J. Van Dommel. I had a very amusing talk with Mr. Jennings and found just a bundle of nerves and energy, as Captain Hepburn and the other officers had told me he was.” Also, Dec. 22, 1922. BWD.
388
In December, following a report
BWD, Dec. 4, 1923.
388
Bristol quietly resisted
See, e.g., Bristol War Diary, Nov. 22, 1922: “I had a short conference with the staff, giving them in general in a few words the result of my conference with Cannellopoulos (Greek High Commissioner in Constantinople) and directed Hepburn to immediately send a strong dispatch to all our destroyers warning them against appearing in any way to escort or protect Greek ships going to Anatolian ports for refugees.”
389
Bristol’s natural antagonisms
See, e.g., BWD, Oct. 7, 1922, MLB: “This conversation with Mr. Nansen convinced me more than ever that we are absolute fools to give our money to the League of Nations . . .”
389
Faced with a mounting crisis
BWD, Nov. 29, 1922.
389
The situation was reminiscent
“Report of Operations for Week Ending Dec. 3, 1922,” BWD.
389
The first refugee ship
BWD, Dec. 9, 1922.
389
In May 1923, as the
“Powell, Halsey,” NPRC.
389
“I have wondered since . . .”
Abernathy, “The Great Rescue,” 11.
390
He went ashore
Amy Jennings to Schneider.
AFTERWORD
391
Greece awarded Asa Jennings
“Headed Relief Work at Smyrna,”
New York Times,
Jan. 28, 1933; Refat Bali,
The Saga of a Friendship—Asa Kent Jennings and the American Friends of Turkey
(Istanbul: Libra Publishing, 2009).
391
An American policy of engagement
The debate over the proper relationship of the United States to the Republic of Turkey was bitter in the 1920s. An insight into the division comes in the correspondence of Ralph Harlow, one of the missionary teachers at International College. Harlow was outraged about Turkish brutality and spoke out after returning to the United States. His colleague and friend, Cass Reed, remained at the college and criticized Harlow for his outspokenness and called for his resignation. Others were dragged into the dispute, which mirrored the larger debate in the country. Harlow’s papers are collected at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane. See, e.g., Harlow to Cass Reed, Dec. 27, 1922.