The the XV International Brigade (XV Brigada Internacional), more popularly known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Spanish: Brigada Abraham Lincoln), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War as a part of the International Brigades.
The brigade mustered at Albacete, Spain, in January 1937, comprising mainly English-speaking volunteers – arranged into the mostly British Saklatvala Battalion and the mostly North American Abraham Lincoln Battalion. It also included two non-English-speaking battalions, the Balkan Dimitrov Battalion and the Franco-Belgian Sixth February Battalion. It fought at Jarama, Brunete, Boadilla, Belchite, Fuentes de Ebro, Teruel, and the Ebro River.
It was common for International Brigade entities to take their names from a hero who specifically advocated freedom. In this case, it was a reference to Abraham Lincoln's advocacy for the Emancipation Proclamation and the Reconstruction Amendments.
Abraham Lincoln Brigade in "The Hill of the Beast"[]
In July, 1938, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were part of the Republican forces that successfully crossed the Ebro River and seized some Nationalist ground with minimal bloodshed. However, the Abe Lincolns realized that the Nationalists had the greater numbers and superior weaponry (provided by Italy and Germany).[1]
The Republican forces began their advance. One night, after the Abe Lincolns bunked down, Moishe Leutner of the Abe Lincolns heard a Catholic Mass on the Nationalist side. However, he also heard the sound of a flute or piccolo that wasn't part of the standard Mass. He pointed it out to his comrade George Kurculiotis who was dismissive of Leutner's concerns.[2]
The Republican advance continued until it reached the outskirts of Gandesa, Catalonia. The Nationalists had a position on a hill, designated Hill 666. At this point, company commander Lt. Peck had been shot in the knee, and Sgt. Jacoby had taken command. Leutner succeeded Jacoby. After the initial drive on Gandesa was halted, Jacoby informed Leutner that the Abe Lincolns were now tasked with taking Hill 666. Leutner was familiar enough with the New Testament that he realized the significance of the number 666, and joked that they were tasked with taking "the Hill of the Beast."[3]
The Abe Lincolns took fire almost as soon as they moved. Still, they were able to make their way up the hill for nearly three days.[4] However, at the stroke midnight on the third night, the Nationalists began another Mass. Soon, the piping began, and the Nationalists successfully summoned a shoggoth which immediately descended upon the Abe Lincolns.[5] Other shoggoths soon followed, and the Abe Lincolns retreated in a panic. Leutner realized that flamethrowers were in short supply in the Republic, and so the Nationalists would prevail in the long run.[6]
Abraham Lincoln Brigade in The War That Came Early[]
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade had been one of several brigades fighting against José Sanjurjo's Nationalists for two years when a broader war broke out in Europe in 1938.
Leaders of the Brigade hoped that the Allies might take a more direct hand in the Spanish Civil War as a consequence of the wider war. Initially, the Republicans received a supply of munitions from France enabling the Republic to maintain the Ebro line, retake Vinaroz, and gain a new lease of life. However, as the broader European war continued, aid to both sides dried up, and the war became stalemated. Moreover, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade volunteers felt increasingly frustrated at finding themselves in a forgotten backwater, with the world's attention riveted to the struggle of French, British and exiled Czechoslovak troops blocking the German offensive at the northern approaches of Paris. The Brigade's soldiers were also disheartened by the severe wounding of their admired commander Milton Wolff - nicknamed "El Lobo" ("The Wolf" in Spanish); Chaim Weinberg was involved in saving Wolff's life and getting him to urgent medical treatment.
In mid-1939, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade was moved from the deadlocked Ebro Front to Madrid, with the aim of pushing away the Nationalist forces which had posed a threat to the Spanish capital since 1936. In the following years, they had a leading role in the Republican's limited success in moving the front from the direct outskirts of the city to a line about 45 minutes' drive away, leaving the destroyed campus of the University City of Madrid - long a hotly disputed battleground - far behind their lines. However, they failed to achieve a strategic change in the long-stalemated trench war, resembling the battles of the First World War more than the fast-moving war in other parts of Europe.
In the fighting, many of the original American volunteers were killed, their places taken by Republican Spaniards - as the war in Spain was now considered a backwater and there were no new Americans arriving. All members of the brigade, whether American or Spanish, called themselves "Abe Lincolns" and were highly respected - grudgingly, also by their Nationalist foes - as one of the Republic's best units.
See also[]
- Condor Legion, a unit of foreign volunteers, mostly from Germany, who fought for the Nationalist side.
References[]
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