The Message

Given the extensive library that now bares his name, in Tennessee, it is hardly imaginable that this would be the first time that Cordell Hull shows up on the historical record. It is not entirely true since I have discovered at least one newspaper article where his name does appear in a list of graduates from the prominent McTyeire Law School, in Nashville. This, obviously, predates even the mention he received once passing the State Bar Exam a year later and has been claimed by some to be his entry on the stage of public affairs. I have to admit that the significance of either of these articles is, at best, a foot note in history since it was Hull’s action in January of 1901 that was his first real notice by anyone.

This would not be an act of war, as everyone knows, since it was later the subject of a movie that was, ironically, filmed in California. It is well known that exceptions to the rule are what make headlines in newspapers and, with that being the case, what Hull did on the morning of the twenty-third was most definitely an exception because it was an act of peace. Hull would later go on to note that his participation in this matter was not an act of divine providence nor any particular skill. He was, by luck, simply at his battalion headquarters when the orders arrived and was picked for no other reason than he was standing around and looking as if he had nothing to do. Hull would go on to explain that this was true insofar as he had been patiently waiting his turn to report to his battalion commander on an unrelated issue for which he had been summoned. Naturally, the movie would show none of this.

It would also seem as if word of Hull’s mission had beaten him back to the trenches because, in Hull’s own words, everyone seemed to be jumping in anticipation of his return. As is often the case with the military rumor mill, many of the men in Hull’s company thought this was the end of the war. Hull noted smiles and pats on the back as his company First Sergeant tied a big white flag to the stick that Hull would carry across no man’s land. The enemy soldiers, on the other side, held their fire and, strangely enough, they seemed to also have some clue that he was coming.

This is where the Hollywood version drastically departs from reality. Contrary to popular opinion, Hull was not the only Confederate Officer marching out to meet his counterpart on that day. This scene was playing itself out, up and down the lines of a fifteen hundred mile long front, and was hardly unique nor was this the first time. Both sides had cause to communicate with each other from time to time and it was quite often that a flag of truce would present itself. What was unique about this instance was that the flags were going over, front wide, all at the same time.

This might note some importance to the request being made by the Confederacy, however, it might also be important to note that not a single officer over the rank of Captain was presenting the request to the United States. For that matter, not a single respondent was anything more than what the Confederates were using as their messenger boy. It would seem that the Lieutenant Colonels were not particularly interested in getting their hands dirty on this matter but, in reality, they were simply following a protocol that had developed along the front.

This detail is also important if, for no other reason, than to set the historical record straight. The movie was very wrong on many points and, while it was very dramatic, the man that Hull talked with on that day was not a young, recently graduated second lieutenant from West Point, by the name of George C. Marshall. The man was, in fact, the company commander of E co, 10^th Ohio Infantry (Reserve), and his name was Captain William McFarland. At the time that Hull and McFarland conversed, Marshall was still at West Point and would not graduate for another six months. It would seem clear that the movie chose to replace McFarland due to later events involving both Marshall and Hull but, there is no truth to the story. McFarland would go on to win the Medal of Honor but, unfortunately, it would be a posthumous award.

The most unique factor in Hull’s mission was not anything that Hull did himself. Something that is not shown in the movie was the fact that Hull did not talk with McFarland alone. The Ohio Captain was followed out into no man’s land by someone who was no man, even if Hull did not quite recognize this at the time. Elizabeth Cochrane was dressed much the same as any US soldier would be with the exception of the rifle. Both Hull and McFarland carried only their flags since that was custom for these meetings, so, Hull thought that this thirty-six year old woman reporter, who went by the pen name Nellie Bly, was some kind of aid.

What Nelly was armed with was something that, for the time, was very high tech. It was so new, in fact, that Hull had no idea what it was. As Hull wrote in his journal, he first thought that it was a weapon, and then after seeing it, in detail, thought it might be a box of cigarettes, and after that he had no clue until Bly asked if she might get a picture of the two men together. The item in question was an instant camera from the Eastman Corporation and they were becoming very common on the US side of the line. Hull was distracted from what he described, at the time, as this ‘impossible camera’ when he realized he was talking with a woman. Still, he agreed to let her take several photographs, one of which became somewhat famous and has survived to this day as the negative is preserved in the vault of the Eastman Corporation’s museum.

Of course, the fanfare surrounding this incident is largely due to later events and the significance we place on this meeting, today. At the time, Hull delivered his message to McFarland and there was little fanfare besides Bly’s pictures. Both men would meet a second time, several hours later, when a reply from Chicago, where Elihu Root was recovering from his Inauguration, was cabled back to the front. It is often said that this was the first major decision of the Root Administration’s second term. He agreed to the Confederate request which he stated in his cable as being the “spirit of a true gentleman.” There would be a general cease fire between the forces of the United and Confederate States, beginning at noon, on that day, and lasting until noon of the next.

This temporary halt to the killing was allegedly in response to the death of Queen Victoria and, while it is true that this prompted the cease fire, one has to note that both sides were very tired of war at this point. It was also winter in the northern hemisphere and offensive operations were at a virtual stand still for the time being, so, the general staff’s were more than willing to go along with a virtual halt in hostilities if, for no other reason, than to just catch their collective breaths. They had no idea what kind of jar had just been opened.

At that moment, in Germany, Canada, and Poland, similar flags of truce were going out into the fields between the combatants and similar requests were being made to the forces of the Entente. Again, in contrast to the film, there is no evidence that this was a coordinated effort on the part of the allies. It seems to have been an idea who literally fit the category of the ‘time has come.” This is significant because one has to consider the true meaning here. If these requests had initially come from men like Balfour, Waldersee, Wilhelm, Franz Joseph, Porter Alexander, or, others who were in charge of the strategic picture then, you could make a case that this was indeed a request for memorializing the passing of a Queen that had true global influence. What seems to be more likely here is that many, who were much closer to the fighting, were looking for any excuse to stop. Again, this conclusion is the result of hindsight but, it seems logical.

The fact that their superiors, those mentioned above, went along with what became an almost universal truce, seems like it is a case of ‘what could it possibly hurt?’ Despite later portrayals, it would seem that the initial response from national leaders was that this was of little consequence. At the time, there is no way they could have known what kinds of problem it would cause nor, did they seem to realize exactly what it truly meant until some time later. The movie started out by showing the leadership as cautious, reactionary, and quite antagonistic but, this was not the case. Those were attitudes developed later and not for the afore mentioned reasons. What caused the leadership of the world to eventually reel from this truce was, most obviously, plain and simple fear.