Monday, May 21, 1917

Recruiting for Saratoga County’s Company L of the Second New York National Guard Infantry regiment resumes this week as the company is ordered to build up to full war strength, The Saratogian reports.

The Second regiment was called into federal service shortly before the U.S. declaration of war against Germany last month. It was assigned police protective duty guarding strategic bridges, canals and railroads in northeastern New York State. Troops have come under fire in a number of mysterious incidents, but no one from Company L has been hurt so far.

While the exact location of Company L is a military secret, the company headquarters is currently located on Grand Boulevard near Schenectady. Captain Harry J. Young receives orders today to bring the company up to 150 men.

“As the company now has a strength of 103 enlisted men, it will be necessary to recruit nearly fifty men from Saratoga Springs and vicinity at once,” a reporter notes, “a ready response is expected.”

Men between the ages of 21 and 30 face a military draft this summer and have to register for the draft on June 5. Captain Young advises the eligible men of Saratoga County that they “would be much more pleasantly situated with their own friends and townsmen than they would be if conscripted and thrown among strangers.”