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| | | From: Butch (Original Message) | Sent: 4/26/2006 5:01 PM |
History of The Lost Battalion
THAT proper recognition may be given all units represented in the Lost Battalion, I quote herewith; General Robert Alexander's Citation of the "Lost Battalion" published April 15th, 1919 in France, as follows:
"General orders No. 30:
"I desire to publish to the command an official recognition of the valor and extraordinary heroism in action of the officers and enlisted men of the following organizations:
Company A, 308th Infantry
Company B, 308th Infantry
Company C, 308th Infantry
Company E, 308th Infantry
Company G, 308th Infantry
Company H, 308th Infantry
Company K, 307th Infantry
Company C, 306th Machine Gun Battalion
Company D, 306th Machine Gun Battalion
These organizations, or detachments, therefrom, comprised the approximate force of 550 men under command of Major Charles, W. Whittlesey, which was cut off from the remainder of the Seventy-Seventh Division and surrounded by a superior number of the enemy near Charlevaux, in the Forest d'Argonne, from the morning of October 3, 1918, to the night of October 7, 1918. Without food for more than one hundred hours, harassed continuously by machine gun, rifle, trench mortar, and grenade fire, Major Whittlesey's command, with undaunted spirit and magnificent courage, successfully met and repulsed daily violent attacks by the enemy. They held the position which had been reached by supreme efforts, under orders received for an advance, until communication was re-established with friendly troops. When relief finally came, approximately 194 officers and men were able to walk out of the position. Officers and men killed numbered 107.
"On the fourth day a written proposition to surrender received from the Germans was treated with the contempt which it deserved.
"The officers and men of these organizations during these five (5) days of isolation continually gave unquestionable proof of extraordinary heroism and demonstrated the high standard and ideals of the United States Army.
Robert Alexander
Major General, U. S. A. Commanding."
Originally the 77th Division was made of New York men, almost entirely from East Side or the "Melting Pot" of New York This Division was popularly known as "New York's Own," and was organized at Camp Upton, Yaphank, L. I., during the early part of September, 1917.
Before taking over their sector of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the division was strengthened by replacements from the 40rh Division, which was composed of men from all parts of the West, and they were originally stationed at Camp Kearney, California.
The 1st Battalion was led by Major Charles W. Whittlesey, and the 2nd Battalion by Captain George G. McMurtry, with Major Whittlesey in command. Both men were gallant leaders and men that we would follow anywhere. During those trying days the thoughtfulness, courage and leadership displayed by those two men was something wonderful to see. It instilled into the hearts of their men that undying faith of purpose, the courage to go ahead against overwhelming odds, and carried them through six indescribable days and nights of suffering after being completely cut off from their comrades with practically no food or water. They were subsisting on the roots and leaves of trees, at all times under the stress of heavy enemy fire, and fighting off counter-attack after counter-attack with no relief in sight.
The members of this unit were never at any time "Lost," as the name would seem to imply. They were, however, cut off from the balance of their command and were in two separate and distinct "traps," sometimes referred to as first and second "pockets." At the time they were in the second "pocket" Major Whittlesey was in Command, Captain McMurtry second in Command, Captain Holderman was in charge of the right wing or right flank, and Captain Wm. Cullen was in charge of the left wing or flank.
The Argonne Forest was considered impregnable and the Germans felt secure in their possession of this strategic position.
That they never anticipated this stronghold ever being taken from them is mutely proven to this day by the wonder work that some of their sculptors carved in great rocks which still stand silently guarding German graves in that forest. During the four years of their possession they built an elaborate net work of concrete trenches, some theaters and mammoth dug-outs. Some of these dug-outs were equipped as well as our "Twentieth Century" homes, including electric lighting systems and in some isolated cases even bath tubs and pianos. The forest had been used by the Germans during this time as a rest area for their battle-worn troops of other fronts.
In all those four years the Allied Armies, had failed to make a dent on this position., It was a natural stronghold and so dense with underbrush that paths had to be cut through it before travel was possible. The Germans or their prisoners had cut mile upon mile of trails through these woods, and had laid their larger roads with young saplings in order to withstand the travel of their heavier vehicles and dogs of war. These positions were fully covered by machine guns from protected and well camouflaged points, some even in trees on hilltops, giving them a full sweep as far as they could see. These trails were alive with machine gun and snipers' fire and even after an objective had been taken you would receive their fire from all sides as well as back of you from their concealed "nests." This natural stronghold was strengthened tenfold by their wonderful line of trenches, and their mammoth dugouts that extended so far into the bowels of the earth that even aerial bombardment could not affect them.
The Germans had taken advantage of all this by interlacing its ravines, mountains and wooded slopes with barbed wire entanglements and small tripwires in such a manner that every inch of that ground was a helltrap of its own. Every art known to these past masters of "The Art of War" was brought into play to make this one point invulnerable.
The first "trap" or "pocket" in which we were caught came about as the result of the 92nd Division (a negro unit) retiring a distance of from two to three kilometers after encountering stiff resistance from the Germans on September 28th. This left a large gap on our left flank, which they had formerly occupied, and the Germans immediately took advantage of this and closed in on us cutting us off before we realized that the 92nd had fallen back.
The French Division which replaced the 92nd Division was unable to regain this captured ground as the odds against them were too great.
We were in that "trap" September 28th, 29th and 30th, and were reunited with the rest of the division on October 1st. On the night of October 2nd the battalion was again caught in another "trap," which lasted for a period of six days and nights. It is needless to say that the men suffered greatly during these periods until the balance of the division fought their way through to them.
During the day of October 2nd, Company A (of which I was a member) was badly cut up while taking a small hill, and during the attack we lost 90 men in less than 30 minutes fighting. About 40 members of the company, including myself, were sent back by Major Whittlesey to establish posts of communication and to act as stretcher bearers, as men were being wounded faster than they could be handled. Eighteen of the company remained with the Major and were caught in the second trap.
We fought desperately during those six days, going "Over the Top" as often as three times in one day. That you may have some idea of the cost of the ground taken in those Argonne Woods, can give you the facts of my own company of which I have an intimate knowledge. We went "Over the Top" on the morning of September 26th with 250 men, and on the night of October 15th there were only 44 of us followed Major Whittlesey out of the front lines to the second lines of support near Grand Pre.
.
How The Lost Battalion Was Lost
The True Story of an Heroic Incident of the World War
in the Light of a Tragedy of Peace
By WILLIAM E. MOORE
Formerly Captain, S. C., Historical Branch, G. H. Q., A. E. F.
Reprinted
by courtesy of
The American Legion Weekly
and William E. Moore
A LEADING New York newspaper that should have known better, since a score of its pre-war staff were officers in the 77th Division, suggested the other day that Lieutenant Colonel Whittlesey might have been driven to suicide through a feeling of guilt for having led the "Lost Battalion" into a trap in the Argonne ravine since famous as "The Pocket." But since all America is so fully misinformed not only concerning Whittlesey, but as regards most everything else that took place in the A. E. F., it would be unjust to single out one newspaper for criticism.
Every overseas veteran knows that the folks back home are crammed full of bunk about things that happened in France. When we first came back some of us tried to correct these errors when first we heard them repeated, but it didn't take long for us to realize that our fellow citizens resented having the myths exploded. They wanted to believe the foolish and improbable things they did believe.
So today probably a hundred million people believe that the Lost Battalion was lost and that when summoned by a German officer to surrender the gentle, but heroic, Whittlesey replied: "Go to Hell." It may be that Cambronne uttered the words at Waterloo that Hugo says he did. Perhaps Farragut cried "Damn the torpedoes" at Mobile, but we have Whittlesey's own word that he never said "Go to Hell" in the Argonne.
What he actually did was so much finer, and in character with the man, that it should not be lost to the world in the musty files of the War Department.
To understand what brought about the so-called Lost Battalion's advance, and its resultant pocketing by the Germans, one must realize that after seven days' continuous fighting in the Argonne the 77th Division on October 2, 1918, found its advance checked before the heavily-entrenched German positions. The success of the American operations depended upon breaking through the enemy line.
In the face of this impasse the then Major Whittlesey, commanding the First Battalion of the 308th Infantry, received from his commanding officer, Colonel Stacey, an order to attack which contained this sentence: "The general says you are to advance behind the barrage regardless of losses." How strictly the heroic major complied with his orders is testified to in the undramatic language of his official Operations Report written October 9th, the day following his relief. He writes: "The advance was continued to the objective stated, which was reached at 6 p.m. with about 90 casualties from M. G. fire. Two German officers, 28 prisoners and 3 machine guns were captured. His trench system was crossed, one heavily wired."
Here then we have Whittlesey and his composite battalion on their objective---the Pocket---under competent and mandatory orders. This answers the question raised by the New York newspaper quoted above as to whether the lawyer-soldier might not have been driven to suicide through a feeling of guilt for having led his men into a trap. He led them there because he was ordered to, and his later troubles resulted from the inability of units on his right and left to make advances equal to his. He and his command, therefore, were left "up in the air."
Having reached his objective there were two good reasons why he could not have retired to safer ground even had he wished to. In the first place he had received orders to hold his position until the other elements came abreast of him. But they were unable to do so. In that situation the Germans filtered through on either flank, got in his rear, and strung wires across the path through the ravine, thus linking up the two sections of the German trench system, and placing a closed German line behind Whittlesey.
It is of interest to know that the officer commanding the Germans in Whittlesey's rear was from the United States. He was Lieut. Heinrich Prinz, 76th Infantry Reserve Division, and he had lived for six years in Seattle, Wash., prior to the World War. While the Americans clung to their hillside for five days, under constant fire from rifles, machine guns, artillery, mortars and hand grenades--- several false orders were found to be passing down the American lines. On one occasion at least some one was heard to cry out in English, with a German accent: "Gaz masks." It may well be that the former citizen of Seattle was the one who was giving these orders.
Lieutenant Prinz was the man who wrote the note to Major Whittlesey demanding his surrender on the ground of humanity, in order to save further casualties to the surrounded American forces.
There had been casualties, serious ones. Give note to this significant sentence from the Operations Report of Captain Barclay McFadden, Company A, 308th Infantry: "On the 8th of October the Pocket was relieved and all that remained of A Company which could walk back were three men."
A great many word pictures, at the time and since, have been painted of the Gethsemane through which the heroic battalion was passing during those five days. Most of them were fanciful, based on stories told by self-nominated heroes or by artists in words who were not there. In this connection it is interesting to read what the chief actor in the drama was writing himself, and sending back to headquarters by his carrier pigeons, the only line of communication left open.
Pigeon No. 1---"We are being shelled by German artillery. Can we not have artillery support?"
Pigeon No. 2---"Our posts are broken, one runner captured. Germans in small numbers in our left rear. Have located German mortar and sent platoon to get it. E Company met heavy resistance---at least 20 casualties."
Pigeon No. 3---"Germans are on cliff north of us and have had to evacuate both flanks. Situation on left flank very serious. Broke through two of our runner posts today. Casualties yesterday 8 killed, 80 wounded. In the same companies today 1 killed, 60 wounded. Present effective strength of companies here 245." (Whittlesey went in with 679 effectives.)
And so the story ran until his last pigeon was released on October 4th. After that he went militarily dumb. His last message read: "Men are suffering from hunger and exposure and the wounded are in very bad condition. Cannot support be sent at once?"
Four days were to elapse, however, before the desired relief was able to battle its way to the beleaguered forces lying in their funk holes on the exposed hillside. They were days of hunger as well as danger and death from bullets. The men had gone in with only their iron rations. Efforts were being made by American airplanes to drop packages of food for the men but in each instance the food fell outside the lines. This led indirectly to the written demand for surrender from Lieut. Heinrich Prinz. But before going into that it should be explained that, in order to mark his position for the American aviators, Major Whittlesey had placed in position the white cloth panels employed in the Army for such a purpose. These later were to play a part in the drama.
It was tantalizing to the suffering, hungry men to see the precious food meant for them falling outside their position. Nine men, without asking permission, went out into No Man's Land to search for some of the fallen parcels. They paid a heavy penalty. Five were killed, four captured. Among the latter was private Lowell R. Hollingshead. These men fell into the hands of the German forces commanded by Lieutenant Prinz. The latter already knew by observation and reconnaissance what extremities the Americans were in. With some difficulty he compelled Private Hollingshead, blindfolded, to carry a note to Major Whittlesey demanding surrender.
The note was couched in polite terms, praised the bravery of the Americans, and wound up with a demand for surrender in the name of humanity.
We now approach the moment when in the apocryphal histories of the event Whittlesey cried: "Go to Hell." That would have been what our French allies call a beau geste and certainly no American soldier, or civilian, would condemn the major had he indulged in some profanity at the moment. Fortunately, we have the major's own words for what actually occurred. Writing in his official Operations Report he says: "At 4 p. m. a private from H Company reported that he had left without permission in the morning with eight others. They encountered a German outpost. Five of the nine were killed, the rest were captured. This man was given by the Germans a demand for our surrender, a copy of which is hereto attached. He was then blindfolded and returned to our lines. NO REPLY TO THE DEMAND TO SURRENDER SEEMED NECESSARY."
Undramatic you will say, but then those of you who were in it know the United States Army doesn't go in for drama. But, to continue in the language of the stage, there is restrained acting that our better critics deem superior to the fustian and claptrap which so wins the gallery. That was the school of Whittlesey. In the message sent to him by the German officer he had been asked to display a white flag if he meant to surrender. Whittlesey's answer to that was an order to take up the white cloth panels that marked his position to his own airplanes. In doing that he cut his last connecting link with the American army, knowing when he did it that this action might delay, and perhaps prevent, his rescue.
The Demand for Surrender
TO the Commanding Officer---Infantry, 77th Division.
"Sir:--The bearer of this present, Private Lowell R. Hollingshead has been taken prisoner by us. He refused to give the German Intelligence Officer any answer to his questions, and is quite an honorable fellow, doing honor to his Fatherland in the strictest sense of the word.
"He has been charged against his will, believing that he is doing wrong to his country to carry forward this present letter to the officer in charge of the battalion of the 77th Division, with the purpose to recommend this commander to surrender with his forces, as it would be quite useless to resist any more, in view of the present conditions.
"The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines, and we are appealing to your humane sentiments to stop. A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with these conditions. Please treat Private Lowell R. Hollingshead as an honorable man. He is quite a soldier. We envy you.
The German Commanding Officer."
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There is a made for TV movie about the "Lost Battalion" that came out in 2001. I've seen it twice (on cable) and it is very true to the actual facts. The movie itself was shot on a limited budget, but is very accurate in its depiction of World War 1 trench warfare and weapons. Australian director Russel Mulcahy directed; Rick Schroder played Maj. Charles W. Wittlesey and Phil McKee played Capt. George McMurtry. The American troops in the film use M1917 rifles that were much more common than the M1903 Springfield. The film depicts the gritty nature of combat with great realism. It is very intense. Trivia: in the final hand-to-hand fight, Maj. Whittlesey gets off 10 rounds from his .45 automatic pistol. The maximum number of rounds for a .45 pistol is eight. Just a minor continuity glitch. The producers of the film tried to get things correct historically, and they succeeded. There is very little of the typical Hollywood war movie in this film. Another made for TV movie that's a "sleeper" is Rough Riders (1997). Tom Berenger does a great job as Teddy Roosevelt, Dale Dye as Col. Leonard Wood, and Sam Elliot as Bucky O'Neill. John Milius wrote and directed it. John Milius made sure that the weapons used in the film were correct: 7mm Spanish Mausers for the Spaniards, M1896 Krag carbines for the Rough Riders, M1896 Krag rifles for the Regular Army troops and .45-70 rifles for the state militia troops, M1895 Colt-Browning machine guns for the Rough Riders, .45-70 Gatling guns, and 37mm Hotchkiss revolving cannon for Regular Army. Trivia: the M1895 Colt-Browning guns were modified for 7.62x54R ammunition. During the filming, they almost ran out of blank cartridges for these machine guns. The Maxim guns (brass water jackets) shown in the film are historically correct, but records are sketchy whether they were actually used during the fights at San Juan and Kettle Hills. |
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Those pidgeon dispatches make for grim reading when you put them in context...  |
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| | | From: Butch | Sent: 5/26/2006 10:50 PM |
Andy, There is more to the pidgeon part of the story.... the pidgeon that is credited with saving the battalion made it back to HQ with one bullet in his breast and one leg shot off... the note was hanging by just a thread of flesh. IIRC I believe this pidgeon was awarded some kind of medal by the french and was treated as a hero...again IIRC he/she lived for a couple years The movie is one of my favs... who would think little ricky shroder could pull off such a performance... a must see movie The story was well known in the states prior to WWII, the book I have (Rhymes of a Lost Battalion Doughboy) was published and republished many times till 1939, sadly now the story is all but forgotten here... so much so that you can get original copies of the book on ebay for less then $10 USD excerpt from book Gassed | I've gone all day in sort of a daze,
Have felt the horror of death,
Don't mind the fight 'cause know I'm right
But I'm worried about my breath. It feels like a ball of red-hot fire,
Turned loose from hell's own door,
There seems to be no relief for me,
It's hurting me more and more. I can feel myself go crumpling,
And fall in a sudden heap,
Slowly the truth dawns upon me,
"Gassed last night in my sleep." Doctor says I'll pull thru all right,
Will be good for a few more years,
I'm thinking of my mother dear,
And I just can't keep back the tears. I've paid the debt that manhood brings,
To make an ideal stand true,
If perhaps I forget how to smile,
Remember, 'twas all for you. Maj. Charles W. Wittlesey commits suicide in 1921 online version: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/Lost/LostBatTC.htm#TC | |
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Here is the rest of the story . . . Cher Ami [French: Good Friend] was a pigeon owned by the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was assigned to Major Whittlesee's battalion. On 4 October 1918, at approximately 1500 hours, the survivors of the battalion came under American artillery fire. Cher Ami was the last pigeon left by this time and was dispatched with a "Cease Fire" message by the desperate soldiers. At approximately 1600 hours, a severely wounded Cher Ami arrived in his loft with the message. The bird lost an eye and a leg (according to the book, The Lost Battalion by Johnson and Pratt). There is contradictory evidence as to whether Cher Ami was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) by the Army. (A 1919 movie about the Lost Battalion so stated this.) However, the French awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Palms for his service. In 1931, Cher Ami was awarded a gold medal by the Organized Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers and inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame for his extraordinary service in World War 1. Upon his death, Cher Ami was preserved and enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. He is currently on display in the National Museum of Natural History's "Price of Freedom" exhibit. |
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Typo: Major Whittlesey not Whittlesee. |
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| | | From: Butch | Sent: 5/28/2006 12:09 AM |
wow... nice update Bob  you must have one heck of a libary mate, very nice Butch |
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Hi Butch, Good to know you're lurking about in cyber space and keeping an eye on the literary thrashings that go on at the L1A1 Armourer. Wes has gone off the radar screen, and I suspect that his new job is burning up most of his spare time. I did send him an e-mail some weeks ago, but I don't know if he ever got it or, if he did, couldn't get a reply out. With the situation heating up again in East Timor, I wonder if he'll be involved. I just saw a news article that the U.S. will be providing transport help with logistics for Australian troops deployed there. Of course, the Australian forces deployed to the Iraq-Afghan theatre of operations is still on-going. One thing that I try to do, in my own small way, is to recognize the sacrifice and bravery of the troops involved in this war against the Islamic terrorists. I've been a military history buff since I was in grade school. In fact, I can tell you the first book that got me interested: Richard Tregraskis' Guadalcanal Diary. I must've read that book three times. After that, I was hooked and read other books like the Battle of Britain and Day of Infamy by Walter Lord. That was 50 years ago and I haven't stopped reading. Courage under fire is the stuff of heroes. This world needs true heroes, now more than ever before. Maj. Dick Winters jumped into Normandy on 6 June 1944 with his "Band of Brother" in the 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division. After a confused night on the ground, rallying scattered 101st and 82nd Airborne troops, Dick came upon a battery of four German 105mm howitzers that were getting ready to shell the landing beaches. Maj. Winters deployed his collection of paratroops. They took the battery and destroyed the German guns and saved many troops on the invasion beaches. To this day, his action is a classic still taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Later, Maj. Winters was asked if he was a hero. He said, "No, I'm not a hero. But, I served in the company of heroes." Dick Winters was and IS a hero and his deeds in Normandy, Holland, Belgium, and the Reich demonstrated his abilities as a combat leader. One of the things I like to do is to try and educate folks on various goings-on. I hope that our various readers have gotten some knowledge that they didn't have before and L1A1 Armourer has been a good educational tool. I've always been fascinated with science and technology along with the history. You cannot have one without the other. So, where possible, I try to weave the history and technology into the story. As you know, we are all the products of past history. Everything we have, everything we do, is tied inevitably to the actions taken by other people who have come before us. To ignore the history of our past is to imperil the future, for we are creating it now. We are now on holiday, Memorial Day, to remember those soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that served and are serving. We also remember those who did not come home to their loved ones. We cannot, must not forget the freedoms that they purchased for each and every one of us with their very lives. The cost of freedom isn't free. Bob |
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