They Called Them Soldier Boys: A Texas Infantry Regiment in World War I by Gregory W. Ball (review)

They Called Them Soldier Boys: A Texas Infantry Regiment in World War I is an impressive addition to the War and the Southwest Series from the University of North Texas Press. Historian Gregory W. Ball provides readers with an in-depth analysis of the recruitment, training, deployment and combat experiences of members of the Texas National Guard’s Seventh Texas Infantry Regiment during World War I. While the literature on the war and the American Expeditionary Force is voluminous, Ball’s contribution with this volume represents the first comprehensive study of a Texas regiment in the war. The author’s extensive research into the demographics of the regiment’s members is impressive. Utilizing primary sources, including census records, newspapers, and military archives, Ball’s study is a valuable blending of social and military history.

In the summer of 1917, recruiters in fourteen North Texas counties began enlisting young men for service in the Seventh Texas Infantry Regiment. President Woodrow Wilson soon federalized National Guard units, allowing the Army to reorganize the units along War Department guidelines. Subsequently, the Seventh Texas combined with the First Oklahoma Infantry Regiment to become the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the Army’s Thirty-sixth Infantry Division. Ball’s research follows the experiences of members of the Seventh Texas as they evolved from raw recruits to seasoned combat veterans.

Ball’s analysis of the supposition by many contemporaries that the contributions of Texans to the war effort was in some way “unique” will undoubtedly generate controversy amongst historians of the Lone Star State. The author’s extensive demographic data regarding the background and social status of recruits offers compelling support for his analysis. Leaders in Texas spoke of the vitality and rugged endurance that made their men superior to other soldiers. Ball challenges these assertions and asks the reader to question how “the military experience of Texans in World War I clarify[ied] or sharpen[ed] that perception of a unique Texas military experience” (x). As the author demonstrates, such an analysis becomes difficult to assess due to the Seventh Texas’s merger with the First Oklahoma Infantry.

Deployed with the American Expeditionary Force to France in 1918, the 142nd Infantry combined with the French Fourth Army. Ball’s research follows the Texas soldiers as they engaged the enemy. The author demonstrates that soldiers continued to express a strong connection to their local communities and their state throughout the war, effectively blending social and military history. The author makes a valuable, if somewhat limited, contribution to local Texas history as he explores the impact of the war effort on communities both large and small. For example, his research into the development of Camp Bowie and the training of soldiers in Fort Worth supports his examination of the social aspects of military organizations, as community leaders in Fort Worth strove to meet the demands of a burgeoning force. One of the most unique avenues of research the author explores concerns the contributions of Choctaws to the war effort. Assigned to the 142nd Infantry, the Choctaw code-talkers were the first to utilize their linguistic skills in a tactic made famous during World War II.

This book will be of interest as much to historians pondering the social implications of war as to military historians of World War I. Ball deserves our admiration for producing a highly specialized monograph based on solid research.