n, in public or private life, urged so vigorously and
effectively the call to arms against evil and for the right. His was
the "voice crying in the wilderness," and to him the American spirit
hearkened and awoke.

At last the moment came. Roosevelt had but one desire and one thought.
He wanted to get to the firing-line. This was no impulse, no newly
formed project. For two months he had been in correspondence with the
Secretary of War on the subject. A year or more before that he had
offered, in case America went into the war, to raise a volunteer force,
train it, and take it across to the front. The idea was not new to
him, even then. As far back as 1912 he had said on several different
occasions, "If the United States should get into another war, I should
raise a brigade of cavalry and lead it as I did my regiment in Cuba." It
never occurred to him in those days that a former Commander-in-Chief of
the United States Army, with actual experience in the field, would be
refused permission to command troops in an American war. The idea
would hardly have occurred to any one else. But that is precisely what
happened.

On February 2, 1917, Roosevelt wrote to the Secretary of War reminding
him that his application for permission to raise a division of infantry
was already on file in the Department, saying that he was about to sail
for Jamaica, and asking the Secretary to inform him if he believed there
would be war and a call for volunteers, for in that case he did not
intend to sail. Secretary Baker replied, "No situation has arisen which
would justify my suggesting a postponement of the trip you propose."
Before this reply was received Roosevelt had written a second letter
saying that, as the President had meanwhile broken off diplomatic
relations with Germany, he should of course not sail. He renewed his
request for permission to raise a division, and asked if a certain
regular officer whom he would like to have for his divisional Chief of
Staff, if the division were authorized, might be permitted to come to
see him with a view to "making all preparations that are possible in
advance." To this the Secretary replied, "No action in the direction
suggested by you can be taken without the express sanction of Congress.
Should the contingency Occur which you have in mind, it is to be
expected that Congress will complete its legislation relating to
volunteer forces and provide, under its own conditions, for the
appointment of of