Editing Lincoln Battalion (section)

===1937===
Seeking help to defeat the armed rebellion, the Republicans asked for volunteer fighters worldwide. The American volunteers, many of them Communists, started arriving in Spain in late 1936. Utilizing the name of Abraham Lincoln, they formed the Lincoln Battalion in January 1937 as part of the [[XV International Brigade]]. The battalion initially fielded three companies: two infantry and one machine gun. Sections of Latin American and Irish volunteers were also included, organized as the Centuria Guttieras and the [[Connolly Column]], respectively. After less than two months of training, the Lincolns took action in February 1937. Many of the volunteers recalled that training was rudimentary: "They give me a gun, and they give me 100 bullets, and they send me to fight."<ref name="npr.org">[[Jacki Lyden|Lyden, Jacki]] (October 8, 2006). [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6221378 "Spanish Civil War Volunteers Revisit Battlegrounds"]. ''National Public Radio''. accessed March 29, 2015.</ref>

The International Brigades were usually deployed as [[shock troops]], resulting in high casualties. As an example, the Lincoln Battalion lost 22.5% of its strength by war's end.<ref>Payne, Stanley G. ''The Spanish Civil War''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 154.</ref> The Lincolns were especially depleted by the [[Battle of Jarama]]. On 27 February 1937, the unit lost two-thirds of its forces, including commander [[Robert Hale Merriman]] (who was badly wounded) in a futile assault on Nationalist positions. Merriman had begged Lieutenant Colonel [[Vladimir Ćopić]] (described as "rather inept") not to launch the attack, fearing slaughter. Ćopić insisted it proceed and promised air and armored support, which never came. Merriman was almost immediately wounded, and the Lincolns suffered 136 deaths.{{sfn|Clifford|2020|pp=93-94}} The battalion remained in combat and was slowly rebuilt while maintaining its front-line positions. The unit was finally pulled out of the lines for a brief rest before the [[offensive at Brunete]].

Joined by the newly trained George Washington Battalion, the XVth Brigade took action at [[Villanueva de la Cañada]] on the second day of the Brunete Offensive and secured the town after hard fighting. The Washingtons attacked the north end of the village, while the [[British Battalion|British]] and [[Dimitrov Battalion|Dimitrov]] battalions attacked from the south.<ref>Thorpe, Richard (2009) [http://www.lacolumna.org.uk/article_abriefhistoryof%20the%20bb.htm "A Brief History of the British Battalion of the International Brigades, 1936 -1938"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927221657/http://www.lacolumna.org.uk/article_abriefhistoryof%20the%20bb.htm |date=September 27, 2013}} Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref>

The XVth Brigade then deployed against "Mosquito Ridge", but despite repeated assaults, they could not dislodge the Nationalist troops holding that critical piece of terrain. The Lincoln Battalion's commander [[Oliver Law]]—the first black commander of an integrated American army unit<ref>{{cite web |title=June 12, 1937: Oliver Law Became Brigade Commander |publisher=Zinn Education Project |last=Katz |first=William L. |url=https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/law-oliver/}}</ref>—was killed during this action. The XVth Brigade again sustained severe losses. Due to the high rate of casualties, the Lincoln and Washington Battalions were merged. Thereafter, the unit was officially known as the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, though it was more commonly referred to as the Lincoln Battalion.

From August–October 1937, the Lincoln-Washington Battalion fought in a series of battles in the [[Aragon Offensive]]. It fought well at both [[Quinto, Spain|Quinto]] and [[Battle of Belchite (1937)|Belchite]]. The engagement at Quinto was a combined arms action as the Lincoln-Washington Battalion was led into their second assault on the town by Soviet tanks, T-26 tanks, and Soviet crews. [[Belchite]] was a hard battle with house-to-house fighting that produced heavy casualties.

After Belchite, the XVth Brigade was again reorganized. The newly formed Canadian [[MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion]] joined the brigade, and the veteran [[Dimitrov Battalion]] departed. A majority of the volunteers in the "Mac-Paps" were Americans. On 13 October 1937, the XVth Brigade fought at [[Fuentes de Ebro]]. Men from the brigade's 24th (Spanish) Battalion rode Russian tanks into the attack. The remaining battalions were supposed to follow the tanks, but the attack fell apart because they did not coordinate their advance with the infantry. Casualties were especially heavy in the 24th and MacKenzie-Papineau Battalions. After Fuentes, the XVth Brigade was pulled back to a reserve position, receiving its first extended period of rest and relaxation since going into combat at [[Jarama]].

In late December, the Lincoln-Washington Battalion was alerted for service at [[Battle of Teruel|Teruel]]. The XVth Brigade was deployed to hold the recently captured city of [[Teruel]] against the expected Nationalist counterattack. The winter of 1937/38 was among the coldest on record, and many troops suffered frostbite during the campaign. The Lincoln-Washington's initially held positions overlooking Teruel that they called the North Pole. Later, they moved down into the city. During January, the Nationalists launched coordinated attacks against the Republican defenses. The XVth Brigade's British Battalion and MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion both lost an entire company attempting to hold the territory. Nationalist superiority in both numbers and [[materiel]] eventually pushed the XVth Brigade out of Teruel. The XV BDE, including the Lincoln-Washington Battalion, were pulled out of the line for rest after three weeks in the lines. But before the units could get to the rest areas, their trains and trucks were stopped, and they were redeployed to the front, where they participated in an offensive that was expected to relieve some of the pressure on Teruel. In a dawn attack, the XVth Brigade attacked a series of Nationalist fortifications at [[Segura de los Baños]]. While the attack succeeded, the Nationalist forces did not transfer any forces away from Teruel.