ERNEST HEMINGWAY and the 15th International Brigade, December, 1937

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists.
As time went on, the name Abraham Lincoln Brigade became used loosely, in the United States, as shorthand to describe any unit with an American component. Volunteers from the United States also served with the Canadian MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion, the Regiment de Tren (transport), and the John Brown Anti-Aircraft Battery. North Americans also ran a very well-organized and well-equipped field hospital (funded and staffed by the American Medical Bureau to Save Spanish Democracy).
History
Creation of the Battalion
Washington, D.C., Feb 12, 1938. Americans, all of whom fought and many wounded while fighting for the Republicans in Spain, met this day in Washington at the First National Conference of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, left to right: Francis J. Gorman, President of the United Textile Workers of America; Lieut. Robert Raven, wounded and blinded in the Spanish War; and Commander Paul Burns of Boston Commander of the Lincoln Brigade.
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade (in fact, a Battalion—see the etymological note below) was made up of volunteers from all walks of American life, and from all classes. Many of the people who volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were official members of the Communist Party USA or affiliated with other socialist or anarchist organizations, such as the Uruguayan Hugo Fernández Artucio. Members of the Industrial Workers of the World ("Wobblies") were also represented. It is sometimes thought to be the first American military unit to be commanded by a black officer, Oliver Law.
American volunteers began organizing and arriving in Spain in 1937. Centered in the town of Figueres, near the border with France, the battalion was organized in 1937. The Lincolns went into action in February 1937 after less than two months of training. They initially fielded three companies, two infantry and one machine gun.
They suffered heavy losses during the Battle of Jarama on February 27, 1937, including their commander Robert Hale Merriman (who was badly wounded), in a futile assault on Nationalist positions. The battalion was slowly rebuilt while maintaining their front line trenches. The unit was pulled out of the lines for the Brunete Offensive.
Joined by the newly trained George Washington Battalion the Lincolns went into action at Villanueva de la Canada on the second day of the Brunete Offensive and secured the town after hard fighting. The Lincolns were then deployed against Misquito Ridge but were unable to dislodge the Nationalist troops holding that key piece of terrain. The Lincoln's commander Oliver Law was killed during this action. The Lincoln and Washington Battalions were merged after this action and took the name Lincoln-Washington Battalion.
During August and September the Lincoln-Washington Battalion fought at Quinto and Belchite in the Aragon Offensive. The engagement at Quinto was a combined arms action as the Lincolns were led into their second assault on the town by T-26 tanks. Belchite was a severe test for the Lincoln-Washington Battalion as they fought house to house. The Battalion took heavy casualties at Belchite.
On October 13, 1937 the Lincoln-Washington Battalion fought at Fuentes de Ebro. The Lincoln-Washington Battalion took far fewer casualties than the other battalions in the XV BDE. After Fuentes the Battalion was pulled back to a reserve position where it received 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 Teruel. The winter of 1938 was among the coldest on record and the troops fought off frostbite.