The George Washington Battalion
consisted of American volunteers in the International
Brigades that fought during the Spanish
Civil War. Its
commander was the Yugoslavian-American, Mirko Markovic.
The battalion fought alongside
the Abraham Lincoln Battalion at Brunete
in July 1937. Casualties were so high (around 50 per cent) that on
14th July the two units were merged.
(1)
After the war Ernest
Hemingway wrote about the role of
the International
Brigades.
The dead sleep cold in Spain tonight. Snow blows through the olive
groves, sifting against the tree roots. Snow drifts over the mounds
with small headboards. For our dead are a part of the earth of Spain
now and the earth of Spain can never die. Each winter it will seem
to die and each spring it will come alive again. Our dead will live
with it forever.
Over 40,000 volunteers
from 52 countries flocked to Spain between 1936 and 1939 to take part
in the historic struggle between democracy and fascism known as the
Spanish Civil War.
Five brigades of international
volunteers fought on behalf of the democratically elected Republican
(or Loyalist) government. Most of the North American volunteers served
in the unit known as the 15th brigade, which included the Abraham
Lincoln battalion, the George Washington battalion and the (largely
Canadian) Mackenzie-Papineau battalion. All told, about 2,800 Americans,
1,250 Canadians and 800 Cubans served in the International Brigades.
Over 80 of the U.S. volunteers were African-American. In fact, the
Lincoln Battalion was headed by Oliver Law, an African-American from
Chicago, until he died in battle.
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