Epic in the Argonne : The Story of the Lost Battalion
On the evening of 2 October 1918, Major Charles W. Whittlesey led nearly 700 men under his command into the narrow, muddy, Charlevaux Ravine, deep in the heart of the Argonne Forest of Northeastern France. That night, the Germans surrounded the ravine; cutting off the force ensconced there nearly a kilometer ahead of their main line. Five days later, 194 survivors walked out of the ravine and into history...
Few events of the U.S. participation in the First World War have captured the popular imagination quite as strongly as that of the episode of the "Lost Battalion." Arguably the most over-reported story of the war, the legend of that epic event lives on to this day as a tale of valor and torment, courage and terror, determination and death. Few, however, know the true story of what really happened to those men during those five terrible days in early October 1918, and fewer still are aware that the forces concerned were actually trapped twice, or that the U.S. Army Air Service played a part in the event as well.
When the AEF launched its massive offensive into the Meuse-Argonne on 26 September 1918, holding the far left flank of that enormous drive was the 77th Division, originally raised from the streets of New York City but by then peppered with inexperienced replacements from the Midwest after a summer of brutal combat. Charged with attacking through the dense Foret d'Argonne, the 77th slammed forward that morning into a fog shrouded, broken battlefield – and fragmented. The atrocious attack conditions fractured the individual units of the division, and it was two days before commanders were able to begin to tie the loose ends of their commands together again. Fortunately for the doughboys, the Germans in the forest were not prepared for an attack on the scale launched by the AEF, and their lack of readiness proved to be the one saving grace for the 77th. By day two of the offensive, orders had been issued by the German High Command for all units in the Argonne to fall back into pre-prepared positions along the Gieselher Stellung (the first of three successive German main lines in the area) and maintain their defense there.
The unit holding the far left of the 77th's battle line was the 308th Infantry Regiment, which had its 1st Battalion forward in the attack, with its 2nd Battalion in support 500 meters behind. We join the battle there...
The "Small Pocket"
By the evening of the second day of the offensive into the Meuse-Argonne district, the attack into the Argonne Forest itself was slowing considerably under a blanket of exhaustion, bad weather, and combat stress. There, the 77th Division faced stiff resistance from a successive series of German emplacements, entrenchments, and thick barbed wire belts buried within the forest brush; in addition, they were being hammered almost continuously by heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. Nevertheless, as the doughboys pressed their attacks relentlessly forward, the Germans began an ordered retreat back to the prepared positions of the Giselher Stellung main line deep in the forest, leaving small rear guard units behind armed mainly with light machine-guns to cover the withdrawal of the main body.
During the course of the drive forward, on the afternoon of 28 September 1918, Major Charles W. Whittlesey, the Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion/308th Infantry Regiment/154th Infantry Brigade/77th Division, and the 2nd Battalion/308th Infantry Commander, Major Kenneth P. Budd, broke through that German rear guard line and advanced, under competent and direct orders, across a wide hill known as "l'Homme Mort." (1) Battling over the top by the late afternoon, the little force of around 400 men took up a squared position along the wooded northern slope of the hill, dug in, and settled down in the rain swept, dark forest for the night. The position measured no more than 300 meters square but was well outposted. Liaison parties sent out on the flanks discovered that the majority of the 2nd Battalion/308th Infantry had failed to keep up on the right and that the liaison unit meant to connect the 77th with the French on the left, the 368th Infantry Regiment, had also failed to keep up – as had been the case since the beginning of the battle. (2) With no flank support for at least 400 meters in either direction, and only a thin line of runner posts connecting them with the main line behind, the little force was an island of khaki in a sea of field gray. Nevertheless, Major's Whittlesey and Budd, following their orders to the letter, established a Post de Command in a captured German bunker (see illustration above) and waited for the morning, when they were confident that their flanks would catch up. Pigeon messages were sent back to 308th Regimental Headquarters alerting them to the situation and a carrying party was sent out to fetch ammunition, food and water; all of which the American force was very short of. By 2100 hrs all was quiet in what would later become known as the "Small Pocket."
During the night, however, elements of the German 122nd Infantry Regiment/2nd Landwehr Division – the rear guard force covering the general withdrawal in the area – slipped in behind l'Homme Mort and the small American force thereon, and severed the runner line, eliminating at least three runner posts in the process. Unaware of the actual strength of the force that had penetrated their line, but believing it to be considerable, IR122 set up machine-gun posts behind the American bivouac and called for assistance. Elements of the 254th Infantry Regiment/76th Reserve Division, newly arrived to the area and brigaded to the west of IR122, responded and brought more machine-guns. Quietly then, throughout the rainy night, German machine-gun teams and snipers moved into position around the doughboy perimeter line and waited. (Photo above of l'Homme Mort Mill.)
When the carrying party had not returned with supplies by the morning of 29 September, and with stray doughboys coming over the hill stating that the runner line had apparently been cut during the night, Major Whittlesey decided to send out a scout party to investigate. Within a short time, messages back from that party confirmed the facts concerning the runner line. By that time however, the small U.S. force was already under attack by machine-guns, snipers, and at least one light trench mortar, taking fire from all four points of the compass. Another scout party went out and brought in a mortally wounded German officer who, just before he succumbed to his wounds, informed Major's Whittlesey and Budd that worse lay yet ahead for them in the forest. It was mid-morning by this time, and the flanks had not yet caught up. Realizing then that Regimental Headquarters might not be aware of the rapidly deteriorating situation, and with supplies and ammunition about gone and the German fire from all sides growing heavier, Major Whittlesey decided to send out his Battalion Adjutant, Lieutenant Arthur McKeogh, to try to break through the German cordon to the rear and lead up a rescue force. Lieutenant McKeogh took two enlisted men with him and set off through the thick brush. In the distance, they could hear their comrades on the main line battling desperately to drive the line forward.
By nightfall, all food was exhausted in the Small Pocket. A small stream at the bottom of the hill was under fire from a 
particularly expert German sniper, and thus water was unobtainable as well. Thankfully, the number of wounded the force had taken during the previous 24 hours had been low. Nevertheless, the terrible weather and rough combat conditions in the battle through the thick forest thus far had left few of the doughboys in anything like a healthy state. German combat patrols 'nibbled' the doughboy perimeter well into the night but so far no serious attack had been mounted, although the doughboys were sure it would come. In order to prevent any panic, Major's Whittlesey and Budd kept the truth of the predicament from their men, telling only the few officers under them of the situation. Nevertheless, word leaked out. Soon nearly everyone knew what was happening and the tension on l'Homme Mort that night was intense as sporadic rifle and machine-gun fire continued.
Just after dawn that morning of 30 September, outposts of the Small Pocket were surprised by a small squad of doughboys coming through the trees up the hill, dragging several German prisoners and a captured German machine-gun. They were a scout party sent out from the main line to locate the bivouac of the 1st Battalion/308th. Lieutenant McKeogh and his two cohorts had, after several harrowing adventures, made it back through the lines earlier that morning and informed 308th Regimental Headquarters of the situation. (3) The incoming squad had run into only one enemy machine-gun crew, whom they captured, and it now appeared that the Germans were in full retreat. Major Whittlesey sent the squad back down the way they had come, along with several of his own men to reestablish the runner line, and soon supplies were coming up the hill and wounded were being carried back down it. By 1700 hrs that evening, the main line had battled up to the l'Homme Mort position, covering Major Whittlesey's flanks, and all was well again. It had been a very close call, the lesson of which would not be lost on Major Whittlesey.
The next day, 1 October 1918, the 308th received orders to continue their attack forward, up a nasty slice of ravine 
buried deep within the forest known as the "Ravin d'Argonne." Two kilometers ahead, the north/south running Ravin d'Argonne terminated, emptying into the east/west running Charlevaux Ravine. Major Whittlesey's orders were to drive straight up the Ravin d'Argonne, cross the Charlevaux Ravine, and take up a position along the east/west running Binarville-La Viergette Road, which cut across the northern slope of the Charlevaux. There he was to form solid flank liaison with French forces to his left (at the Charlevaux Mill, see picture at left), and the 307th Infantry Regiment to his right, consolidate the position, and await further instructions for a coordinated attack. (4) Orders handed down by the 77th's Division Commander, Major-General Robert Alexander, heretofore had been to "advance without regard to flanks." These were now amended to also include the addition "...or losses." The ground ahead was to be taken at all costs, and there was to be no relinquishing of taken ground without permission from the Commanding General himself.
The 308th slammed forward, with bloody results, up the Ravin d'Argonne for all of 1 October. Casualties were very heavy and by the end of the day, they had advanced barely a kilometer. Late that afternoon the Brigade Commander, Brigadier-General Evan Johnson, sent Major Whittlesey a new attack plan, designed to bypass much of the resistance he faced at the outlet of the Ravin d'Argonne. (5) An attack using the new plan on the morning of 2 October failed, with further heavy casualties. That afternoon, however, Major Whittlesey and the replacement 2nd Battalion/308th Infantry Commander, Captain George G. McMurtry, tried again and managed to narrowly break through the German lines. (6) Between 1730 and 1930 hrs, they led nearly 700 men down into the Charlevaux Ravine.
Although he had argued strenuously – twice in fact – that the attack orders were likely to lead to yet another entrapment of his unit behind enemy lines, Major Whittlesey had, while again acting under well-defined and competent orders, been able to pierce the German Giselher Stellung main line and was now on to his objective. Reconnaissance revealed however that, once again, his had been the only unit to take its objective; flanking forces to the east and west had been unable to keep up with them, just as Whittlesey had earlier predicted to his Regimental Commander, Colonel Cromwell Stacey. They were therefore now in a veritable untenable position: stranded nearly a kilometer ahead of their main line and once again with no flank support whatsoever. However, the two Battalion Commanders – who understood, as before, that their orders forbade their retreat, and not yet aware of the full magnitude of their peril – ordered their men to dig in as darkness fell.
The Siege of the Lost Battalion
They dug into the northern slope of the Charlevaux hillside, between the Binarville-La Viergette roadway above and an undeveloped wagon path below running between the hill and the Charlevaux Brook (see illustration above). This is the position that over the next five days would become world famous as simply "The Pocket." They refused their flanks into a well-defined defensive perimeter stretching approximately 300 meters long by 100 meters wide following the contour of the hillside. Machine-guns covered both flanks, while liaison to the rear was, as before, maintained through a series of runner posts that stretched back to the Regimental Headquarters, now at the l'Homme Mort bunker 2 kilometers to the south. Messages sent back by Major Whittlesey along this line on the evening of 2 October alerted Regimental Headquarters to the situation in the Charlevaux Ravine, and thus elements of the 3rd Battalion/307th Infantry were dispatched to establish liaison from Major Whittlesey's right flank and extend back to the main line behind the Charlevaux position. However, only Company K of the 307th, led by Captain Nelson M. Holderman, (7) was able to proceed up to The Pocket, arriving there about 0400 hrs on the morning of 3 October. Meanwhile, believing his position still somewhat tenable on the evening of 2 October, Major Whittlesey had decided to wait until the morning of 3 October to send the connecting link from his left flank rearward to remaining elements of 2nd and 3rd Battalions/308th back on the main line and already liaisoned to French forces further to the west.
The German forces along the mainline of the Giselher Stellung along the top of Hill 198, knew that Major Whittlesey's force had taken up a position in the Charlevaux Ravine, but did not know their exact numbers or what support they might have. Yet, seeing no further reinforcement after Captain Holderman's Company K/307th came up over the night of 2-3 October, elements of IR122 and RIR254 repaired the break in the Giselher Stellung line on Hill 198 which Major Whittlesey's forces had pierced open. The Germans again slipped in behind the Americans in the early hours of the morning, and eliminated the U.S. runner line, thus cutting off the force ensconced in the Charlevaux Ravine from any support behind. Remaining elements of the runner line retreated into The Pocket to inform Major Whittlesey of this at about 1000 hrs on 3 October. About that same time, remnants of a patrol the Major had sent out earlier that morning from Company E/308th to attempt the left flank connection back to the main battle line, straggled back into the position reporting that they had been ambushed with heavy casualties. (8) Soon thereafter, the Germans began to pound The Pocket with heavy trench mortar and machine-gun fire from entrenchments to both the north and south. A strong patrol of Company K/307th sent out by Major Whittlesey late that morning to attempt a breakthrough to the southeast also failed with heavy casualties.
With the only form of communication left available to him that of carrier pigeon, Major Whittlesey kept 308th 
Regimental Headquarters informed of the rapidly deteriorating situation as best he could, but was unable to receive orders back. Believing then that his orders to hold the position he had taken still stood, Whittlesey and his men held onto the ravine bivouac and beat off several strong German attacks during the course of the day, but took many casualties for the effort. By the evening of 3 October, the four remaining enlisted medics in The Pocket were reporting to Major Whittlesey that all medical supplies were exhausted, as was nearly all of the food supply. Water, which should have been obtainable from the Charlevaux Brook, was not accessible, due to intense German machine-gun fire. Casualties had been terrible during the day, with nearly 20% of the force killed or wounded already, including Captain McMurtry who had had a machine-gun bullet shatter one of his kneecaps.
The next day, 4 October, the surrounded force again repelled repeated German attacks in the morning and continued to absorb German trench mortar fire. Hand grenades were now exhausted, and ammunition was beginning to run low. Meanwhile, to the south, what remained of the 308th Infantry, along with elements of the 307th, launched repeated attacks to affect a breakthrough of the German line in order to reach Major Whittlesey's surrounded force – all to no avail. That afternoon elements of the 152nd Field Artillery Brigade made plans to attempt to fire a "barrage of protection" around The Pocket in support of the ground attacks, in order to draw German troops away from it. However, due to an error in map coordinates (which was not Major Whittlesey's fault, as is often thought), at least one battery of artillery mistakenly fired directly onto the American position in the ravine instead of around it. With German mortar and machine-gun fire keeping the beleaguered U.S. troops corralled into their narrow position, the Americans had no choice but to endure. At 1500 hrs, after half an hour of continuing U.S. barrage, Major Whittlesey released his last carrier pigeon, named "Cher Ami," with a plea to lift the fire:
We are along the road parallel 276.4
Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us.
For heaven's sake stop it.
Whittlesey, Major 308
Twenty-two minutes later, Cher Ami arrived at Mobile Pigeon Loft #9 with the message, though he was missing an eye, a leg, and had been shot through the breast and wing. The artillery, however, had already discovered their error by that time through other means and had begun to lift their fire. Nevertheless, the damage in The Pocket had tragically been done: some 80 men had been wounded during the barrage (including one of the four remaining medics), while approximately 30 had been killed. Additionally, a group of men from Company E had been captured during a German attack that slammed into the position immediately following the barrage. Among them were two officers, Lieutenants James Leak and Victor Harrington who, under questioning, would be largely successful in fooling the German commanders of RIR254 into believing that the American force in the ravine was nearly twice the size that it actually was.
As 5 October dawned, the force in The Pocket was rapidly weakening. With no food or water available and the strain of combat weighing heavily on them since 26 September, few of Major Whittlesey's men had the strength left to bury their dead, and therefore bodies littered the hillside. Without any supplies available to the three remaining medics, and forced to remain out in the chilling and rainy elements, the wounded were in a terrible state and beginning to succumb to infection and gangrene. Repeated German attacks were again fended off throughout the day, while to the south could be heard the desperate sounds of battle, as the remainder of the 154th Infantry Brigade continued to attempt to penetrate the Giselher Stellung and break through to the Charlevaux Ravine.
Also that day, DeHavilland DH-4 aircraft of the 50th Aero (Observation) Squadron appeared over the ravine, flying low and slow, in an effort to positively locate Major Whittlesey's exact position in order to attempt an aerial resupply. This would be the first such large-scale endeavor in history. (9) Their efforts to locate Major Whittlesey's men were largely unsuccessful, however. They were far too well dug in to the heavily wooded, brush-covered hillside to be seen. If they could be seen from the air, then they could also be seen by the German on the high ground around them. This meant that the 50th was up against a tough stump; they had to attempt an air drop – an operation which had never been done before – to resupply a group of men whose exact position could not be positively confirmed.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, newspapers were already reporting the plight of what they were popularly calling "The Lost Battalion." The name was a gross exaggeration of the facts – Major Whittlesey's men were not "lost" in the sense that no one knew where they were; in fact, nothing was further from the truth. The term "lost," in fact, was in reference to their apparently hopeless situation. Nor were they a single battalion, but instead a composite unit of four different battalions. Major Whittlesey's command in the ravine actually consisted of portions of Companies A, B and C of the 1st Bn/308th; E, G, and H of the 2nd Bn/308th; approximately one platoon each from Companies C and D of the 306th Machine Gun Bn (with nine heavy Hotchkiss weapons); and Company K of the 3rd Bn/307th Infantry. Additionally, there were also several men in the Charlevaux from Companies D and F/308th, as well as from the 3rd Bn/308th and the 302nd Ammunition Train. Though there has never been any official U.S. Army record of exactly who or how many men were actually in The Pocket between 2 and 7 October 1918, the most accurate list to date positively places 694 men and officers as originally entering the ravine on 2 October. (10) Yet, whatever their numbers, the fact remains that by sunrise of 6 October 1918 – just as the plight of these men was making headlines back home – the casualty total in The Pocket was approaching 70%.
That morning of 6 October, as Major Whittlesey's men fought off the first of several attacks which would be launched against them that day (including one late that afternoon that incorporated flamethrowers), the first of several relay 
flights made by the 50th Aero Squadron in an attempt to resupply The Pocket from the air was begun. None of these attempts would prove to be successful however, with the squadron losing three aircraft that day to enemy ground fire. From the air, the featureless and heavily fog-enshrouded forest landscape of the Argonne made pinpointing The Pocket beyond difficult, and therefore all of the dropped packages fell into enemy hands. However, during their first flight of the day, Lieutenants Harold E. Goettler (pilot) and Erwin R. Bleckley (observer) believed they had seen signs of Major Whittlesey's men through the ground fog. Though their normally assigned DH-4 #2 had been so severely shot up on that flight so as to be of no use for the remainder of the day, they borrowed DH-4 #6 that afternoon from fellow pilot, 1/Lt. Floyd Pickrell. They then set out on yet another extremely dangerous, low level mission to obtain a precise location of the Lost Battalion. Their plan was to record on their map "hot spots" from where ground fire was coming and thereby pinpoint the exact correct position through process of elimination. During that second flight, however, Lt. Goettler was shot in the head from ground fire, and in the ensuing crash Lt. Bleckley sustained massive internal injuries and died in an ambulance on the way to a field hospital. Though the resupply efforts would continue, nothing dropped from the air would ever reach Major Whittlesey's beleaguered men.
However, the 50th Aero Squadron's efforts would have another, unanticipated effect on the episode then playing out in the Charlevaux Ravine. About 1000 hrs of 7 October, nine men slipped away from the left flank of The Pocket – without orders – to try to locate one of the airplane packages dropped the previous afternoon that they believed to be close at hand. Not far off the flank, German machine-gunners ambushed them, and five of the party were killed outright, while the four remaining wounded were taken prisoner. One man, Private Lowell Hollingshead of Mt. Sterling Ohio, had received only a slight knee wound, and was therefore taken before the German intelligence officer of RIR254, Ltn. Heinrich 'Fritz' Prinz. Prinz requested that Hollingshead take a letter back to Major Whittlesey, suggesting the surrender of the remaining forces in the ravine. (11) After some debate, Private Hollingshead agreed to do so and he was duly released along the wagon road at the bottom of The Pocket with the letter. Private Hollingshead presented the letter to Major Whittlesey and Captain McMurtry at about 1600 hrs that afternoon, whereupon legend holds that the Major, upon reading the missive, turned to the German lines and yelled that they could all "Go to hell!" In truth, Major Whittlesey said nothing of the sort, but instead ordered his men to prepare for an attack he was sure would come once the letter was left unanswered. Orders were also passed that all white airplane signal ground panels (which were hardly anything close to white anymore) be gathered in, lest they be mistaken for a sign of surrender. Once word of the German surrender request had passed along to the men on the hillside, however, they began to shout back to the Germans of their own accord what they thought of the ultimatum – and in no uncertain, or none too polite, terms! (12)
The final German attack hit the beleaguered command shortly after 1700 hrs that afternoon, coming from all points of the compass, and lasted for over an hour and a half. Once again, as they had in the final attack of 6 October, the Germans brought flamethrowers to bear against The Pocket, but they were all driven off and killed, again as they had been the day before. Nevertheless, the attack was the fiercest to date and virtually exhausted both Major Whittlesey's men and their meager remaining supply of ammunition. However, attacks launched farther along the German main line to the east by American forces had had a telling effect that day, and the German line was again in full retreat by the time the final attack against The Pocket ground to a halt that evening. With their last effort to eradicate The Pocket repulsed, and under intense pressure from the 307th Infantry and what remained of the 308th (attacking to the south and southeast), the German forces surrounding the Charlevaux Ravine abruptly withdrew from the area just before 1900 hrs. Shortly thereafter, relief finally broke through to Major Whittlesey's position in the form of Company B/307th Infantry. The epic in the Charlevaux Ravine was over. Major Whittlesey and his men had stood their ground and held out, against incredible odds.
The price had been high however. Of the 694 officers and men that went into the Charlevaux Ravine on the evening of 2 October, only 194 were able to walk out on the afternoon of 8 October – a casualty rate (killed, wounded/sick, or missing/POW) of nearly 72%. Of the 20 officers that originally entered The Pocket, only four were able to walk out. For their efforts in the ravine in holding their ground, as well as holding the beleaguered command together under incredibly difficult circumstances, Major Whittlesey, Captain McMurtry, and Captain Holderman were each bestowed the Medal of Honor. Major Whittlesey was also immediately promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain McMurtry was promoted to Major. Additionally, two enlisted men that had been fighting to affect the breakthrough to The Pocket were each also presented the Medal of Honor, as were Lieutenants Goettler and Bleckley of the 50th Aero Squadron. Thus, there were seven Medals of Honor awarded for this one five-day event – more than would be given out for any single modern combat event until the famous U.S. Army Air Forces raid on the Ploesti oil fields in 1943. For many years afterwards, the event in the Charlevaux Ravine, and the tales that grew up around it, would make the Lost Battalion one of the most popular war stories of American participation in the First World War. General John J. Pershing, overall commander of all American forces in France, labeled the episode as one of the three most outstanding events of the war, and Charles Whittlesey one of its three most outstanding soldiers.
And so, Charles Whittlesey and his men found themselves heroes upon their return home. Yet, that was a distinction which ill suited Whittlesey, and he tried hard to avoid it; something which proved to be all but impossible. His fame as the first man of the war to receive the Medal of Honor, as well as illnesses related to his gassing during the war and a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, followed him constantly. Therefore, in 1921, after three years of almost nonstop publicity over the event, failing health, and unending psychic torment, Whittlesey booked passage on a vacation steamer to Cuba, telling no one of his plans. At about 2330 hrs on the night of 26 November 1921, the first night of the voyage, Charles Whittlesey stood up from the table in the ship's saloon that he had been sharing with a fellow passenger, politely excused himself, strode out the door into the darkness beyond, and leapt over the side of the ship.
His body was never found.
1) Charles White Whittlesey was born 20 January 1881 in Florence, Wisconsin. When he was 10 years old, his family moved out east, where his father was from, and settled in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Charles attended Williams College and Harvard Law School, before going into practice in New York City. Politically, he was a died in the wool Socialist and a pacifist, but he was also a strong patriot and to that end he enrolled in General Leonard Wood's 1916 Plattsburg Officer's Training Program. When the U.S. went to war in 1917, he was called up for a refresher course and following that, at Camp Upton, on Long Island, he was made Commanding Officer of Headquarters Company/308th. In France, during the summer of 1918, he was advanced to Regimental Operations Officer for the 308th, but never actually saw combat on the front lines himself, though he was severely gassed behind the lines (an episode which he never reported and that would later contribute to his death). Just two weeks before the drive into the Argonne Forest, he was promoted to Major and placed in command of the 1st Bn/308th, partly because the attrition rate among officers in the regiment had been so high that summer and he was next in line. Therefore, his first actual combat assignment where he would lead troops into battle was the largest and most difficult offensive of the war. His 1st Bn was made the point of the 308th's drive, and his regiment was almost a third untested and largely untrained replacements when they stepped off into the forest that morning of 26 September. He himself was a very sick man, due to the gassing he had undergone, without treatment, the month before.
Kenneth Pepperell Budd was a Harvard Business School graduate and a successful New York businessman when he too went to Plattsburg in 1916. After retraining in 1917, he was offered a Battalion Commander's job straight out of the course (in August, 1917), so astute had he been during his training. He turned down the offer, but by January of 1918 he was thrust into the job with the rank of Major anyway. He was placed in command of 2nd Bn and led them all through combat that summer, being heavily gassed and wounded once in the process. Taking his battalion into the Argonne as support behind Major Whittlesey, he was more than likely already suffering some degree of combat exhaustion as he led his men into battle once again. This may explain (in part) his lack of sound judgment on 28 September, when he joined his Battalion Headquarters Detachment to Major Whittlesey's during the advance up l'Homme Mort and left the majority of his battalion – still spread out along the main line just east of Whittlesey's advance path – leaderless and unguided in the midst of a stiff fight.
2) The 368th Infantry was an African-American unit, sent to fight with the French without proper training, equipment, and support. They were in no way adequately prepared for combat, let alone a tricky liaison mission such as they were charged with off Whittlesey's left flank. Without proper artillery support, on 26 September they were met by stiff German resistance and shattered, falling back to the jump-off line three times. Officers had to drive the men back to battle at gun point. On 27 September, they fell back behind the jump-off line. By 28 September, some companies of the regiment had managed to advance, but nowhere near far enough to cover Whittlesey's left flank.
3) Lieutenant Arthur McKeogh, Pvt. John Monson, and Pvt. Jack Herschkowitz would each receive the D.S.C. for their adventures that night. Monson died in 1920, an alcoholic; McKeogh became the first Lost Battalion historian, but died in 1923; Herschkowitz lived into the early 1980's.
4) The objective was never the actual Charlevaux Mill itself, despite popular myth.
5) The attack plan specified that Company's D and F of the 308th would be left back on the main line on the west side of the ravine attacking Hill 205, a major point of resistance holding them up in the area. Meanwhile, Whittlesey took the reminder of the 1st and 2nd Bn's on a flanking mission around the hill, to the east side of the ravine and over the ridgeline there called Hill 198. Then, once on the objective, he was to send two of his companies back over Hill 198 to connect up with D and F and complete a solid line off his left flank back to the main line.
6) Ken Budd had been relieved of command of the 2nd Bn immediately following the Small Pocket episode and was sent to Staff School at Langres. In truth, his orders for Langres had arrived just before the jump-off into the Argonne, and since there wasn't anyone to take his place at the head of 2nd Bn at that 11th hour, the order was shelved until something could be figured out. Obviously, his abandonment of his battalion of leadership at such an inopportune moment as on 28 September must have had some effect on the decision, because by then the 308th was even shorter of officers than at the start of the battle.
George Gibson McMurtry Jr. was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was an immigrant Irishman who had come to America without a penny and had virtually built the town of Vandergrift, Pensylvania, to serve the tin mills he built and there. George Jr. grew up then with a healthy respect for the common man, while having a silver spoon in his hand. He went to Harvard Business School and interrupted his studies in 1898 to go to Cuba with his family friend, Theodore Roosevelt, in the 'Rough Riders', serving in Troop D under Captain R.B. Huston. When he returned home again, he studied hard enough to still graduate with his class in 1899. By 1910 he was a millionaire on Wall Street and well respected by all who knew him. A Plattsburg graduate, almost all the officers in the 308th knew him and he was probably the most well liked officer in the entire regiment during the war.
7) Nelson Miles Holderman was a replacement officer from the 7th Infantry, California National Guard. In combat, Holderman was in his element and was without doubt the best officer in the Charlevaux Ravine. He took seven separate wounds during the event in the Charlevaux, some of them serious, but within a year was little worse for the wear.
8) Among these casualties was one of the five medics up with the force in the Charlevaux, who had volunteered to go back for much needed supplies and was captured by the Germans during the ambush.
9) Each of the attacking divisions involved in the offensive had an observation squadron attached to it for aerial liaison duty. For the most part they performed their work admirably. The biggest difficulties seemed to involve activities over the Argonne Forest and the Bois d'Septsarges.
10) Lost Battalion historian and author Robert J. Laplander has spent considerable time over the last 20 years compiling a list of those definitely known to have been in the Charlevaux Ravine and believes that the number may actually be slightly higher. However, no further proof has yet been found to include any from the 'possibles' list.
11) Prinz had lived in Seattle for 12 years before the war, working for a German tungsten mining outfit, and by that stage of the war knew Germany had no chance at winning. His offer for Whittlesey to surrender was an honest one and made with the thought of both saving the lives of the remaining Americans in the ravine, as well as saving the honor of RIR254, whose only blemish was not having been able to eject the Americans from that ravine.
12) Later, when asked about this portion of the event Whittlesey – ever the master of understatement – would laconically reply, "The men swore a good deal."
Lost Battalion historian and author Robert J. Laplander has studied the experiences of Charles Whittlesey and his men for over 20 years. For a full, definitive accounting of the actions of the Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest, please read his book Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legend of America’s Famous WW1 Epic. Mr. Laplander also runs Doughboy MIA on the US WW1 Centennial Commission website. He lives in Waterford, Wisconsin with his wife, Trinie, their three children, and a tall, skinny dog. For more information, please visit: www.findingthelostbattalion.com
End Game
On the overcast, misty morning of November 12th, 1918 – the first morning of peace in Europe in four years and four months – Corporal Roy Holtz of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, an AEF dispatch rider and motor scout, became the first American to cross the Rhine River and onto German soil, riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. A short time later, Cpl. Holtz’s commanding officer, Major Frederick W. Hackett of Champlain New York, lead the first American contingent of U.S. Army occupation forces across the river, giving the German populace an initial glimpse of what would soon become a familiar sight – the American Doughboy. In the days to come, a veritable herd of brethren to these first troops followed as the AEF set up the newly formed 3rd Army for occupation duty, which quickly established headquarters in the city that Cpl. Holtz had motored through that first, blessed day – Coblenz, on the Rhine River.
All through the month of November and into December, troops of the 1st and 3rd German Armies streamed across the bridgehead and through the town as well, surrendering their arms and stores before being discharged from service by the American Bridgehead Commission (by then the controlling governmental power for the district). Only then were they allowed to return to their homes. It was a strange atmosphere, notable for the lack of general triumph elicited by the victors, as well as a certain measure of pride still maintained by the vanquished troops, who believed in their hearts that the war had been lost not on the battlefield, but in the political offices far behind the front. As such, the occupying army allowed the retreating German divisions the honor of parading their troops and regimental colors one last time in farewell before disbanding.
It was a hollow honor.
Interestingly, the last division to appear on final parade in occupied Coblenz was the 76th Reserve Division from Hesse; the same division that had fought so magnificently against the American 77th Division during the Argonne Drive, and the one that had been largely responsible for bottling Major Whittlesey’s men up in the Charlevaux Ravine that previous October. Their final parade came on the morning of December 11th, after which they marched off toward their homes in what would later be described as “good order”. And of the two officers of the 76th RD left behind to hand over their division’s stores to the American Bridgehead Commission, one of those that had been chosen was none other than Lt. Fritz Heinrich Prinz...
After the failure of the 254th Infantry Regiment to dislodge Major Whittlesey’s men from the Charlevaux Ravine before their ordered retreat from that area, Lt. Prinz had found little in the rapidly diminishing German cause to believe in. Though he fought on with his division right up until the end, he was well aware – most particularly following the events in the Charlevaux Ravine – that it was only a matter of time before the bitter end came. When it finally did, on that gray December afternoon, AEF reporter Wilber Forrest, who had arrived in Coblenz on December 8th looking for something to write about (along with 900 men of the 39thInfantry/4th Division) was there to see it. Forrest, whose dispatches had been among the first to report Major Whittlesey’s earlier predicament on l’Homme Mort that would eventually become known as the ‘Small Pocket’, found Lt. Prinz to be:
“...a dapper little Prussian officer who looked as if he had just jumped out of a bandbox; a pleasant person, courteous and anxious to please. He spoke faultless English and, thus accomplished, had been chosen as interpreter (by) the American Bridgehead Commission. Lieutenant Prinz was the man who wrote the note to (Lt. Col.) Whittlesey demanding the surrender of the remnants of the “Lost Battalion”. He expressed great admiration for Whittlesey and his heroic command. He said he hoped someday to meet the American officer, but did not confirm the popular story of the manner in which Whittlesey was said to have replied to his note...”
Forrest made special note of that last fact, and some weeks later would make his way back to 77th Division PC at Chateau Villain to “check the truth about the Lost Battalion”, as he put it, and thus help perpetuate one of the many legends that sprang from the episode in the Charlevaux Ravine.
Another figure that found himself there to interview Lt. Prinz was a tall, quiet American officer that had been detailed to the General Staff of the American Bridgehead Commission and arrived in Coblenz only on December 5th. Colonel Clarence S. Sherrill had ended the war as Divisional Chief of Staff of the 77th “Metropolitan” Division, and had been involved to no small degree in the orders that came from General Alexander’s PC during the Charlevaux incident. Now, much to his surprise, he found himself face to face with the very man that had composed the now famous ‘surrender letter’. Though there meeting was little more than a minor footnote to what had fast become one of the most famous stories of the war, it was nevertheless an epic footnote, to be sure. In a report that he wrote on Christmas Day, 1918, to General Alexander, Col. Sherrill had this, in part, to say about the extraordinary meeting he had with Lt. Prinz:
“(Lt. Prinz) informed me that he was in command of a platoon (sic) of the German forces which were between Major Whittlesey and the remainder of the 154th Brigade. He also was the officer who transmitted to Major Whittlesey the note urging him to surrender to avoid further useless sacrifice of life. I questioned Lt. Prinz to give the German view of our men, and he expressed himself as being a great admirer of our division for its gallant offensive operation, and especially was loud in praise of Major Whittlesey and his gallant detachment. He stated that the Germans felt that it was absolutely suicidal for the American detachment to persist in its defense, and it was for that reason that he sent the message requesting the surrender... Lieutenant Prinz, previous to the war, had been for six years the representative of a German tungsten company in Spokane (Washington), and expressed his desire to return to America after the war, saying that he intended to look up Colonel Whittlesey for the purpose of expressing to him his personal admiration for this gallant conduct... (He) said one of the most discouraging things (the Germans) encountered was the absolute lack of “nerves” shown by the American troops, as opposed to the shaken nerves of the German, who were absolutely worn out by the prolonged service at the front. He said our men seemed to be absolutely devoid of any such things as “nerves” at that time, and this buoyancy had a very depressing effect on his men.”
After his duty had finished at Coblenz, Fritz Prinz returned to his hometown of Stettin, up on the coast, where his wife, Auguste, was waiting for him. He had served honorably as an officer in the war since early 1915, been wounded twice, and had seen action on the Russian, Romanian, and Western (France) fronts. In the immediate post war years, he went back into the mining business that had been his trade before the war and within a few short years wound up as manager of a large coal mine just outside of Kassel. In December of 1926, he realized his ambition to return to the United States on a business visit. By then, however, Charles Whittlesey was already dead, and as the old German campaigner later wrote, “I saw and heard nothing of the comrades of the Lost Battalion. I went into a bookshop in New York, but even they could not tell me anything about a book or history of the Lost Battalion.” Since he had no idea how to get hold of Lowell Hollingshead, he was not able to meet up with him either, something that truly disappointed him. And by the time that Hollingshead had heard, by sheer chance from a newspaper reporter, that Prinz was in the country and looking for him, it was too late and Prinz had already sailed for home. Holly, for his part, later told Tom Johnson, co-author of the 1938 book The Lost Battalion, that he would have “walked all day” to have seen Prinz again.
Nevertheless, Prinz and Hollingshead later on did exchange a few infrequent letters, in the 1930’s, mostly exchanging family pleasantries and rarely mentioning the incident in the Charlevaux Ravine. By that time, both men had families and had tried to put the war behind them. Prinz had two sons; one was serving in the German army and another as a private in a Nazi public works program. The last letter Hollingshead had from Prinz was dated May 19th, 1939. Then, four months later, Hitler kicked off World War Two, with his invasion of Poland, and all correspondence between the two men stopped, apparently for good.
In late 1962, Lowell Hollingshead enlisted the aid of the Columbus Dispatch, a local newspaper that was preparing to follow the old campaigner on a return to France, 44 years after his adventure in the Charlevaux, to help him try and locate Prinz before they went over. They, in turn, contacted the Hamburg branch of Bernsen’s International Press Service (a private news service then based in New York City). Holly was then disappointed to learn that the last administrative record of Prinz and his wife that could be found had them listed as living in the town of Paderborn, Germany – which had been completely flattened during the Allied strategic bombing campaign toward the end of the Second World War. Their youngest son, Gunther, had been killed on the Russian Front. No trace of the older son, George Hans, was ever found.
Theodore Bernsen, president of the press service, rather neatly summed it all up in the last line of his report, sent to Hollingshead on December 4th, 1962:
“This then, is the end of the story.”
Finding the Lost Battalion: Roster of Men Known To Have Been in the Charlevaux Ravine Between 1900 HRS 02OCT1918 and 1930 HRS 07OCT1918
There never was a complete and total list of who was or was not in the Charlevaux Ravine between the evenings of October 2nd and October 7th, 1918. Therefore family legend, miscommunication, misunderstanding of unit designation and just plain subterfuge has led there to be considerable speculation on the subject. During the 1920’s and 1930’s it was a rather glamorous thing to have been a member of the Lost Battalion and some who were not actually in the Charlevaux Ravine but were in the 77th Division and in the area at the time, and sometimes those just seeking attention, were not above stretching the truth a bit and laying claim to the distinction (including the gangster Al Capone). In fact, had every man who made the claim, or whose family did years later, actually been in the ravine, it would have been more akin to a lost division rather than the degraded battalion strength unit that it was!
What follows is the culmination of 20 years’ worth of research into the question of who actually was in the Lost Battalion and who was not. Dozens of sources were consulted for the creation of this list and it represents what may be considered to be the most accurate accounting possible.
KEY: W=Wounded; KIA=Killed in Action; POW=Prisoner of War; S=Sickness; DOW=Died of Wounds. (Note: Sickness includes those simply too weak to walk out of the Pocket. Though frequently unspecified, most often the cause was influenza.)
Adams, Charles F. PVT K/307 W – GSW
Adams, Charles I. PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Ahlstedt, Rueben H. PFC G/308 W – right thigh
Albis, Stanislaus PVT B/308 W – right leg
Altiera, Samuel A. PVT K/307 Sick
Amatetti, Bart PVT B/308 Sick
Anastasia, Anthony PVT /308 W – left leg
Anderson, Carl A. PVT K/307 W – DOW 1/24/19
Anderson, Gus PVT K/307 KIA
Anderson, Herman G. SGT A/308 W – face
Anderson, Joseph A. PVT D/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Andrews, Paul F. PFC G/308 KIA
Armstrong, William W. PFC C/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Arnold, Harold V. PFC F/308 KIA
Baker, David H. PVT B/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Baker, Edward PVT K/307 W – right thigh
Bakker, Richard W. PVT E/308 KIA
Baldwin, Frederick W. SGT E/308
Baldwin, Joseph K. CPL C/308
Baldwin, Walter J. CPL HQ/308
Bang, John PVT K/307 KIA
Baskin, Louis PVT C/308 Sick (severe constipation)
Becker, Gustav A. PVT C/306 MGB KIA
Becker, Martin CPL D/306 MGB KIA
Bedrna, Louis W. PVT HQ/308
Beebe, Leonard PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Beeson, Leonard R. PVT K/307 W – right shoulder
Begley, William A. PFC G/308 KIA
Bejnarowicz, Joseph CPL C/308
Bell, Morris C. PVT HQ/308
Bendheim, Lionel SGT C/308 W – both legs
Benson, Arthur E. PVT C/308
Bent, Elmer E. PVT H/308
Benthagen, George M. PVT G/308 KIA
Berg, Louis PVT K/307
Berkowitz, Max PVT E/308 POW
Berlev, Floyd PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Beske, Arthur A. PVT B/308 KIA
Bickers, Everett PVT C/308 W – GSW
Bickmore, Harold PVT B/308
Bivalace, Giovanni PVT K/307 W – GSW
Blackburn, Raymond SGT C/308
Blanchard, Alonzo D. CPL K/307
Bland, Charles J. PVT E/308 KIA
Blevins, George PVT G/308
Blomseth, Ludwig PVT G/308 W – burned
Blowers, Bert L. PVT K/307 W – DOW 12/18/18
Boden, John CPL G/308 KIA
Bolvig, Eiler V. CPL H/308 KIA
Bonaventura, Pistoria PFC B/308 W – left leg
Botelle, George W. PVT C/308 W – head
Bowden, John PVT H/308 W – left leg, left foot
Bradford, Robert F. CPL K/307
Bradshaw, Stanley O. PVT B/308 W – left shoulder
Bragg, James M. PVT Med. (G)/308 Sick
Brennan, George H. PVT D/306 MGB
Brennan, Harold PVT E/308
Brennen, Thomas J. CPL C/308 W – GSW
Brew, William F. PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Brice, James E. PVT E/308 Sick
Bringham, Victor L. PVT K/307 W – left thigh
Brinkoma, Ralph PVT K/307 W – left shoulder
Brody, Irving PVT B/308 W – left leg
Bronson, Emery PVT B/308 W – right leg, right hand
Bronstein, Benjamin PVT E/308 POW/DOW
Brown, Clifford R. PVT C/308
Brown, Edwin C. SGT H/308 W – right arm
Brown, Gilbert E. PVT K/307 W – DOW 10/15/18
Bruton, James PVT G/308 KIA
Bueskins, Herbert PVT K/307 W – left arm
Buhler, Frederick 2LT G/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Burns, William C. PVT H/308
Buth, Henry O. PVT H/308 KIA
Cadieux, Henry J. PVT B/308 W – head
Caldwell, Lewis B. PVT H/308
Callahan, William SGT E/308
Cappiello, Savino PVT C/308 Sick
Carnebucci, Catino PFC C/308 KIA
Carroll, James B. 1st SGT K/307
Cassidy, Henry C. PVT C/308 W – left shoulder
Castrogiovanne, Samuel PVT C/308 KIA
Cathcart, Joseph E. PVT H/308
Cavallo, Thomas PVT H/308 KIA
Cavanaugh, William M. PVT HQ/308 W – broken shoulder
Cella, Innocenzo PVT A/308 Sick
Cepaglia, Philip PVT C/308
Chamberlain, James CPL K/307
Chambers, Joseph H. PVT H/308 W – neck
Charlesworth, Percy W. PVT C/308 W – left leg
Chavelle, Charles H. PFC B/308 W – left arm
Chin, Henry PVT H/308 KIA
Chiswell, George H. PVT E/308 W – right wrist, head
Christ, Charles F. PVT K/307
Christensen, Hans W. PVT K/307
Christenson, Phillip PVT K/307 W – chest, right side
Christian, Robert E. PVT H/308 KIA
Christopher, Joseph J. PVT K/307 W – DOW 10/28/18
Chupp, Ammon PVT I/308 W – left knee
Church, Roscoe G. PVT K/307 KIA
Clark, Raymond O. PVT H/308 KIA
Clarke, Nathan PVT D/306 MGB KIA
Clay, Thomas H. PVT H/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Clemons, Melvin E. PVT G/308
Coatney, Arthur F. PVT H/308 W – right thigh
Coe, Richard R. PVT H/308 W – left arm
Cohen, Morris PVT D/306 MGB W – right shoulder
Colan, James CPL G/308 W – back
Colasacco, John SGT C/308 Sick
Cole, Harvey R. PVT K/307 KIA
Collins, John PVT A/308 W – left knee
Condon, James T. PVT C/308 Sick
Conneally, John PVT G/308
Connelly, John PVT E/308 W – right foot
Connelly, Timothy PVT K/307
Conrad, James M. PVT D/306 MGB KIA
Copsey, Albert V. CPL B/308
Cornell, Charles B. CPL H/308
Cornell, Henry C. PVT C/306 MGB W – left ear, neck
Covert, Parley J. PVT E/308 POW
Crosby, John A. PVT C/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Crotly, Martin J. PVT D/306 MGB W – left hip
Crouse, William P. PVT K/307 KIA
Cullen, William J. 1LT H/308
Cummings, Roy PVT H/308
Cunningham, Niles F. PVT C/308 Sick
Curley, Edward T. PVT C/308 W – left side
Dahlgren, Gust A. PVT G/308 W – shrapnel (slight)
D'Amato, Patrick PVT C/308
Damcott, John F. PFC C/308 KIA
Damon, Harold P. PVT H/308
Daomi, Patrick PVT E/308 KIA
Dayo, Harrison PVT HQ/308
Deaderick, Osro PVT G/308
Deahan, James A. SGT K/307
Delsasso, John L. PVT E/308 W – DOW 10/20/18
Delgrosso, Frank PFC G/308 W – head
Delmont, John PVT H/308 Sick
Delserone, John PVT H/308 W – shrapnel (slight)
Devanney, Patrick PVT E/308 W – DOW 10/11/18
DeWitt, Roy PVT E/308 KIA
Diesel, Louis PFC D/306 MGB KIA
Dimmick, Frank C. PVT D/306 MGB KIA
DiGiacomo, Frank PVT G/308 W – nose
Dingledine, Elliot N. PVT D/306 MGB DOW 10/9/18
Dodd, Robert PVT H/308 W – right shoulder & leg
Doherty, Arthur A. CPL E/308 W – shrapnel
Domrose, Walter L. PVT E/308 MIA
Donato, Thomas F. PVT D/308
Dorr, Donald E. PVT H/308 KIA
Downs, Lee H. PFC C/308 Sick
Drake, Herbert M. PVT H/308
Duffy, George W. CPL B/308 W – sprained ankle
Dunham, Ralph O. PVT F/308
Dunnigan, Thomas PVT F/308
Duryea, Cecil L. PVT H/308 POW (W)
Dyrdal, Joseph B. PVT B/308 KIA
Eager, Sherman W. 2LT G/308
Edlund, Herman D. PVT G/308
Edwards, Lyle J. PVT H/308
Eggleston, George PVT D/306 MGB
Eichorn, John PVT HQ/308 W – left foot
Eifert, Otto PVT E/308 POW
Elkin, Gabriel PVT H/308
Ellbogen, Martin PVT F/308 W – left shoulder
Elliott, Frederick PVT G/308 W – GSW
Engen, Conrad PVT H/308 W – GSW
Englander, George M. BGLR G/308 W – right leg
Erdahl, Olaf PVT H/308
Ericson, Alfred E. PVT H/308 KIA
Erickson, Arthur PVT G/308
Erickson, Frank G. S. PVT H/308
Erickson, Henry PVT A/308 W – right thigh
Esch, Hubert V. PVT C/308
Estes, Frank R. PVT H/308
Euteneuer, Albert A. PVT K/307 W - GSW
Evans, Peter PVT B/308 W – face
Evermann, Frederick PVT B/308
Fairbanks, Truman P. PVT G/308 W – both legs, left hand
Fare, John PVT K/307 W – right leg
Farncomb, Harvey M. PVT D/308 W – left ankle
Fassett, Ancel E. PVT H/308 KIA
Feeney, Francis PVT B/308
Fein, Arthur E. PVT K/307 W – back, right arm
Felton, James P. PVT K/307 W – left arm
Feuerlicht, Samuel PVT C/308 W – DOW 10/14/18
Fitzgerald, Peter A. PVT G/308 W – right leg, left hand
Flack, Earl A. PVT H/308
Flaming, Henry P. PVT H/308
Flower, Leo A. PVT C/306 MG Sick
Flynn, John T. PVT B/308 Sick
Flynn, Raymond E. PVT E/308 Sick (severe diarrhea)
Fortunato, Joseph C. MECH C/308
Foss, Sidney J. PVT K/307
Francis, William E. PVT H/308 W – left wrist
Freeman, Harold SGT G/308 W – right shoulder
Friel, Joseph PVT A/308 KIA
Frink, Charles W. PVT C/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Gaedeke, Benjamin F. SGT MJR HQ/308 W – DOW 10/9/18
Gafanowitz, Robert PFC G/308 W – right arm
Gallagher, Dennis A. PVT G/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Gallob, Hyman PFC B/308 KIA
Gaupset, Sigaurd PVT H/308 W – right leg
Gavin, George M. PVT B/308 KIA
Geanekos, Angel PVT B/308
Gehris, John D. PFC Med (G)/308 W – shrapnel, concussion
Gibbons, Peter PVT K/307
Gibson, Charles A. PVT K/307 Sick
Gibson, Frederick PVT B/308 KIA
Gibson, Herbert B. PVT H/308 W – forearms
Giefer, Joseph PVT D/308 W – head, hands
Giganti, Joseph A. PVT C/308 Sick (severe constipation)
Gilkey, Ralph PVT HQ/308 W – shrapnel (slight)
Gill, Thomas H. PVT K/307
Gillece, Bernard CPL E/308
Gilley, George N. CPL K/307
Gitchell, Leonard C. PVT H/308 KIA
Gladd, David E. PFC C/308 KIA
Glenn, Leonard N. PVT B/308 W – GSW
Goldberg, Irving R. CPL E/308 POW
Goldhorn, Henry W. PVT H/308 Sick
Graham, Robert J. SGT D/306 MGB KIA
Greally, Michael J. SGT G/308 KIA
Green, Bert M. CPL K/307 Sick
Greenfield, Barney PVT B/308 Sick
Greenwald, Irving W. PFC E/308 W – GSW right leg
Griffin, Maurice V. 1LT H/308 W – left shoulder
Griswold, Lester PVT C/308 W – left eye
Gross, Herbert PVT E/308
Grossberg, Percy PVT G/308
Gudis, Peter C. CPL E/308
Habeck, Frank PFC E/308 W – GSW left side
Hagerman, Mark C. SGT G/308
Halligan, William C. PVT B/308 MIA
Hamilton, John R. PVT HQ/308
Hammond, Raymond E. PVT B/308
Hansen, Hans S. PVT HQ/308
Hanson, Theodore PVT H/308 KIA
Hanson, Walter PVT B/308
Harkleroad, Lee C. PVT C/306 MGB W – shrapnel, GSW
Harlin, Albert D. PVT D/308
Harrington, Victor A. 2LT E/308 POW (W)
Harris, Thomas PVT B/308
Hatch, Boyd S. CPL K/307
Hatcher, Otto R. PVT C/308
Hauck, George E. SGT D/306 MGB
Havens, George E. PFC E/308 KIA
Hazen, Louis N. PVT C/308 W – left shoulder, left foot
Healey, Jeremiah SGT G/308 W – right leg
Hearty, James B. PVT B/308 W – right wrist
Hecker, Arthur J. PVT H/308
Held, Jacob CPL C/308
Hendrickson, Alfred PVT K/307 W – DOW 10/19/18
Hepworth, Clyde PVT H/308 Sick (rheumatism)
Hermsdorf, Harold J. SGT B/308
Heuer, Joseph P. 2LT K/307
Hicks, Arthur PVT K/307 W – left leg
Hicks, Stacy M. PVT C/308 POW
Hiduck, Anthony PVT A/308 W – head
Hildenbrand, Carl PVT B/308 KIA
Hinchman, John A. CPL C/308 KIA
Hintz, Clyde A. PVT B/308
Hission, William PVT C/308
Hoadley, George PVT K/307
Hoff, Henry PVT D/308
Hofstetter, Benjamin J. PVT H/308 KIA
Hogue, Frank D. PVT K/307 Sick (severe diarrhea)
Holbert, Edward PVT H/308
Holden, Wyatt L. PVT C/308
Holderman, Nelson M. CAPT K/307 W – shrapnel/GSW(multi)
Holen, George G. PVT D/308
Holliday, William M. PVT B/308 KIA
Hollingshead, Lowell R. PVT H/308 POW (W)
Holt, James M. PVT D/306 MGB
Holt, John PVT B/308 W – DOW 10/13/18
Holzer, William PVT G/308 W – left leg
Honas, Stephan M. PVT B/308 W – right leg
Hott, John E. PVT E/308 POW
Hoven, Sylvester PVT B/308 KIA
Hudlow, Rubin PVT A/308 W – left hand
Huff, George PVT K/307
Huntington, Lloyd A. PVT H/308 W – left arm
Hurd, Ervin C. PVT E/308 KIA
Hyde, Richard W. PVT E/308 KIA
Ilardo, James P. PVT H/308 POW (W)
Iltz, Henry PVT C/306 MGB Sick
Indiana, Dominick PVT C/308
Ingraham, Theodore W. PVT F/308 POW
Iraci, Alfio PVT E/308 KIA
Irvin, James PVT C/308
Jacob, William SGT C/308
Jacobson, Charles PVT E/308
Jacoby, Leo J. PVT C/308
Jammaron, Victor PVT I/308 W – right arm
Jeffries, Charles B. PVT D/305 FA MIA
Jepson, Earl F. PVT B/308 KIA
John, Ralph E. PVT A/308
Johnson, Charles A. PVT K/307 KIA
Johnson, Edward PVT G/308 KIA
Johnson, Frank L. PVT D/308 KIA
Johnson, Louis N. PFC C/306 MGB W – DOW 10/12/18
Johnson, Maurice E. SGT D/306 MGB
Johnson, Raymond PVT C/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Johnson, William F. PVT K/307 W – shrapnel, GSW
Johnson, William H. PVT A/308 KIA
Jolly, Samuel PVT H/308 KIA
Jones, Arthur H. PFC B/308 MIA
Jones, David O. PVT K/307 W – left arm
Jorgenson, Arthur F. PVT F/308
Jorgenson, Herbert PVT G/308 W – right arm
Joyce, Joseph PVT H/308 W – neck
Judd, Roland P. PVT A/308 KIA
Kaempfer, Albert O. PVT K/307 W – right arm
Kandel, Benjamin PVT E/308 KIA
Kaplan, Harold 1st SGT E/308 POW (W)
Karalunas, John PVT K/307 W – left arm, chest
Karpinsky, Frank PVT B/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Kaspirovitch, Jacob PVT E/308 W – GSW left side, hip
Kaufman, Emil PVT C/308
Keegan, James A. PVT B/308 Sick (influenza)
Keenan, Joseph C. CPL D/306 MGB
Keene, Earl A. PVT I/308 KIA
Keeney, Jesse PVT C/306 MGB
Keim, George PVT C/308
Kellog, Ernest L. PVT E/308 KIA
Kelly, Joseph D. PVT D/306 MGB W – left leg
Kelly, Kennedy K. PVT A/308 KIA
Kelly, Michael A. PVT E/308
Kelmel, William PVT K/307
Kennedy, Edward A. PVT D/306 MGB W – multiple
Kennedy, Frank PVT D/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Kennedy, Joseph C. CPL G/308
Kiernan, Joseph PVT E/308 Sick
King, Joseph R. PVT C/308 POW (W)
Kirchner, Gerard SGT H/308
Klein, Irving CPL A/308 W – left elbow
Knabe, William H. PFC K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Knapp, John PVT E/308 KIA
Knauss, Daniel M. PVT H/308
Knettel, John J. PVT K/307
Knifsund, Otto M. PVT C/308
Knott, Carlton V. PVT B/308 KIA
Koebler, George PFC H/308 KIA
Koernig, George C. PVT H/308 KIA
Kolbe, Charles A. PVT C/306 MGB W – left shoulder, back
Kornelly, Phillip PFC B/308 W – right leg
Kostinen, Frank J. PVT C/308
Kozikowski, Stanislaw PVT C/308
Krantz, Walter J. PVT C/308
Krogh, Magnus B. PVT B/308 W – shrapnel (slight)
Kronenberg, Max PVT E/308 POW
Krotoschinsky, Abraham PVT K/307
Kurtz, Nicholas PVT H/308 W – right forearm
Landers, Patrick J. SGT H/308
Langer, Julius PVT H/308
Larkin, Archibald F. PVT C/308
Larney, James F. PVT HQ/308 W – right arm, left thigh
Larson, Erik PVT C/308
LaSalle, Erhart PVT K/307
Lauder, Frank N. PVT C/308
Lavine, Joseph PVT E/308
Layman, Raymond E. PVT G/308
Leak, James V. 1LT E/308 POW (W)
Lee, Bernard J. PVT C/308 KIA
Leflaer, Len L. PVT H/308
Lehmeier, Joseph PVT K/307 W – head
Lekan, Michael PVT K/307 KIA
LeMay, Adlare J. PVT D/308 POW (W)
Leonard, William J. BGLR H/308
Lesley, James E. PVT H/308
Lesnick, Maxwell PVT C/308 W – right shoulder
Lightfoot, Roy H. PVT H/308
Lima, Sigurd V. PVT G/308 KIA
Lindley, Gilbert L. PVT G/308 Sick (rheumatism)
Liner, Irving L. PVT D/308
Lipacher, Isaac PVT K/307 W – head
Lipasti, Frank I. PVT K/307 KIA
Little, Robert G. PVT H/308 KIA
Loendorf, Jacob PVT C/308 W – head, back
Loering, George C. PVT F/308
Lokken, Martin O. PVT B/308
Lonergan, James E. PVT D/306 MGB W – shrapnel, GSW
Long, Marvin B. PVT B/308 KIA
Long, Patrick PVT K/307
Looker, Arthur R. PVT B/308 W – head
Looslie, Daniel H. PVT B/308 KIA
Lovell, Arthur, R. PVT G/308
Lowman, Cecil O. PVT C/308
Luckett, Henry C. PVT H/308 KIA
Lucy, William J. PVT H/308
Lukas, Michael J. PVT E/308
Lund, Engval PVT F/308 Sick (influenza)
Lynch, James A. PVT H/308 KIA
Lyons, Frank T. PVT K/307 W – shrapnel
Lyons, Thomas J. PVT H/308 KIA
Lysen, Chester PVT C/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Macali, Joseph PVT B/308 W – left wrist
Mace, Daniel B. PVT B/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Magnusson, David PFC F/308 W – right foot
Mahony, Marion E. PVT B/308
Main, Frederick T. SGT C/308
Mandell, Frederick A. PVT C/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Mann, Sydney C. PVT H/308 Sick (trench foot)
Mannion, Thomas J. PVT K/307 Sick
Manson, Robert PVT B/308 W – right hand
Marchelewski, Stephan PVT C/308
Marcus, Samuel SGT B/308 Sick (neuritis)
Marcy, Leon W. CPL D/306 MGB KIA
Mares, Rito PVT G/308
Marion, Roy L. PVT C/308 W – right chest
Marshallcowitz, Saul PVT Med (H)/308 POW (W)
Martin, Albert E. PVT K/307 W – GSW both knees
Martin, Wayne W. PVT A/308
Martin, William H. PVT G/308 W – DOW 10/24/18
Martinez, Frank PVT G/308 KIA
Mastricola, Archibald PVT B/308 W – GSW
Materna, Joseph PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (slight)
Mathews, Andrew PVT H/308
Mathews, Richard W. CPL B/308 Sick
Mauro, Frank PVT H/308 W – right foot
Mayhew, George PVT C/308
McCabe, John PVT C/308
McCallion, John J. PVT E/308
McCauley, Jesse J. PVT G/308
McCoy, Bert C. PVT A/308 W – GSW
McElroy, Joseph A. PVT C/306 MGB Sick
McFeron, Olin PVT C/308
McGowen, Joseph L. PVT C/308
McGrath, Eugene M. PVT C/308 MIA
McMahon, Martin CPL B/308 W – right hand
McMullin, William PVT E/308 POW
McMurtry, George G. CAPT HQ/308 W – left knee, back
McNearney, John A. PVT H/308
Mead, Joseph P. PVT C/308 KIA
Mears, Robert L. PVT C/308
Medboe, Joseph PVT B/308 W – right hand
Medesker, Peter L. PVT D/308 KIA
Mele, Michael PVT G/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Meltam, Nicholas B. PVT A/308 Sick
Melvin, Harold J. PVT F/308
Mendenhall, Jesse J. PVT H/308 KIA
Merry, Ernest S. CPL E/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Meyerowitz, Tobias PVT K/307
Meyers, Charles PVT B/308 Sick
Mikulewicz, F.M. PVT I/308
Miller, Fernnau PVT H/308
Miller, Henry MECH H/308 KIA
Miller, Henry I. PVT E/308 KIA
Miller, Nathaniel PVT G/308 W - shrapnel
Miney, Patrick PVT E/308 W – GSW
Monan, Robert F. PVT K/307
Monk, William PVT C/308 W – chin, left knee
Mooney, James E. PVT D/308
Morem, Arnold M. PVT E/308 W – GSW, left side
Morris, Albert PVT C/308
Morris, Louis PFC B/308 W – left thigh
Morrow, Bert B. SGT C/308 Sick
Mouse, William J. PVT C/308
Mulvey, James J. PVT F/302 Am Tr.
Munson, Gustave PVT H/308 W – right hand
Murphy, James J. SGT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Murphy, John PVT C/308
Murray, Frederick PVT F/308 W – left hand
Murray, Kenneth PVT K/307
Murray, Thomas PVT K/307 W – head
Mynard, Edwin S. SGT D/306 MGB
Nauheim, Alfred P. CPL A/308 W – bayonet
Nell, John W. PVT G/308
Nelson, Arthur G. PVT H/308 W – right foot
Nelson, Olaf CPL H/308 Sick
Neptune, Harold B. PVT H/308 W – right leg
Newcom, George H. PVT G/308
Nies, George W. PVT H/308 KIA
Noon, Alfred R. 2LT C/306 MGB KIA
Norton, Grant S. PFC B/308 MIA
Novotny, Otto PVT F/308
O’Brien, Lewis PVT C/308 POW
O’Connell, James P. CPL D/306 MGB
O’Connell, John F. PVT E/308 POW
O’Conner, Patrick J. PVT G/308 KIA
Officer, Arthur E. PVT H/308
Ofstad, Gile PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
O’Keefe, John J. PVT E/308 W – GSW, left foot
O’Keefe, Thomas C. BGLR D/306 MGB KIA
Oliver, Walter T. PVT D/306 MGB W – right arm
Olson, Frederick PVT C/308
Olson, Lars PVT C/308
Olstren, Andrew PVT K/307
Orlando, Angel PVT H/308 W – GSW
Osborne, Lawrence M. SUP SGT B/308 MIA
Ostrovsky, Isadore PVT H/308
Oxman, Charles PVT C/308
Pagliaro, Benjamin PVT G/308 Sick (influenza)
Pardue, Robert M. PVT E/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Parker, George W. PVT F/308
Patterson, Clarence PVT ?/308
Paulson, Oscar PVT C/308 POW
Payne, Andrew G. PVT C/308 W – head
Peabody, Marshall G. 2LT D/306 MGB KIA
Pennington, Joseph R. PVT E/308 W – left thigh, buttock
Perea, Enrique PVT H/308
Perrigo, Myron D. PVT G/308 W – right eye
Pesetti, Salvatore PVT K/307
Peters, Clarence PVT B/308 W – neck, face, left leg
Peterson, Emil A. PVT H/308 POW (W)
Peterson, Holgar CPL G/308 KIA
Peterson, Walter S. PVT B/308 W – left eye
Peterson, William L. PVT E/308 KIA
Petti, Alfred J. PVT H/308
Phelps, Harry L. PVT C/308 KIA
Phelps, Jacob C. PVT K/307 W – right leg
Phillips, Henry PVT E/308 POW
Pierson, John L. PVT K/307 W – shrapnel, GSW
Pinkstone, Charles W. CPL C/308 W – left foot
Pollinger, Frank J. PVT G/308 W – right foot
Pomeroy, Lawrence PVT B/308
Pool, Thomas G. 1LT K/307 W – GSW, back
Pope, Calgere PVT K/307
Potter, Oscar PVT G/308 Sick (arthritis)
Pou, Robert E. PVT E/308
Powell, Josephus PVT H/308 W – back
Powers, William J. PVT HQ/308
Probst, Louis M. MECH E/308 Sick
Prusek, Joseph PVT K/307
Pugh, Charles J. PVT E/308
Puniskis, Joseph H. PVT C/308
Raidant, Silas L. PVT G/308 W – shrapnel
Rainwater, Carl A. PVT G/308
Rainwater, James B. PVT D/308 KIA
Rangitsch, Jacob PVT E/308
Rank, Lloyd PVT F/302 Am Tr.
Ratonda, Herman E. PVT D/308 W – severe gas
Ratto, Vito PVT E/308
Rauchle, Frank CPL C/306 MGB Sick
Ray, Guy W. PVT C/308
Raygor, Ernest E. PVT E/308 KIA
Rayony, Spiro PVT ?/308
Rayson, Homer PVT G/308 KIA
Recko, Jack PVT H/308 POW (W)
Rector, Frank C. CPL D/306 MGB
Regan, William PVT G/308
Reid, Lauren G. PVT G/308 KIA
Reiger, John PVT B/308 W – GSW
Renda, John PVT H/308 W – left leg
Revnes, Maurice P. 2LT D/306 MGB W – left foot
Rhoads, Solomon E. PVT H/308
Rice, Chauncey I. CPL D/306 MGB
Richards, Omer PVT HQ/308
Richardson, ? PVT C/306 MGB
Richter, Morris PVT C/308 Sick
Ridlon, Ernest J. PVT G/308 W – right hand
Rissi, Bernard PFC G/308 KIA
Ritter, Charles PVT H/308 W – right thigh
Roberts, Benjamin PFC K/307 W – back, right leg
Roberts, Clarence PVT B/308
Robertson, Arch PVT H/308
Rochester, Nathaniel N. PFC E/308 KIA
Rodriquez, Alfred PVT ?/308
Roesch, Clarence R. SGT MJR HQ/308
Rogers, Harold M. 2LT B/308 KIA
Ronan, Maurice H. PVT C/306 MGB
Rosby, Thornwald PVT K/307 W – both arms & legs, head
Rose, Sidney PVT E/308 W – GSW, head
Rosenberg, Samuel PFC H/308 W – DOW 10/12/18
Ross, Albert A. PVT G/308 KIA
Rossum, Haakon A. CPL G/308 POW (W)
Royall, Joseph PVT H/308
Rudolph, Aloysius J. PVT E/308 KIA
Rugg, Hiram M. PVT H/308 W – head, back
Rumsey, Wilbert F. PVT K/307 KIA
Ruppe, John PVT H/308 KIA
Ryan John F. CPL D/306 MGB KIA
Sackman, Julius SGT D/306 MGB W – left side, abdomen
Sadler, Thomas G. PVT D/305 FA W – left leg
Sands, Lester T. PVT H/308
Santillo, Anthony PVT D/306 MGB KIA
Santini, Guiseppe PVT G/308
Scanlon, John H. PVT D/306 MGB W – left back, side & hip
Schaffer, Harold L. CPL H/308 W – face
Schanz, Joseph A. PVT G/308
Schenck, Gordon L. 2LT C/308 KIA
Schettino, Lememe PVT K/307
Schmidt, John H. MECH G/308 W – left leg
Schmitt, Frederick F. PFC D/306 MGB KIA
Schmitz, Joseph J. PFC D/306 MGB W – right leg
Schultz, Otto J. PVT E/308 W – DOW 11/7/18
Schultz, William PVT G/308
Schwartz, Paul A. CPL K/307 Sick
Scialdono, Guiseppe PVT K/307 W – leg
Segal, Paul PVT B/308
Selg, Eugene PVT G/308
Semenuk, Harold PVT C/308
Senter, Henry H. PVT H/308 W – left knee
Shea, James E. PFC H/308 KIA
Shepard, Arthur H. PVT B/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Sica, Rocco PVT E/308 KIA
Simonson, Alfred PVT C/308 W – shrapnel, GSW
Sims, George P. CPL K/307
Sirota, Irving PVT Med (D)/308 Sick (trench foot)
Sketson, Orlander PVT B/308 KIA
Slingerland, James E. PVT G/308
Smith, Sidney PVT H/308 W – GSW
Sobaszkiewicz, Stanley PVT H/308 W – GSW
Solomon, Arthur PVT F/308
Spallina, Joseph PVT K/307 W – right hand
Speich, George F. CPL K/307 W – knee
Spiegel, Isidore PVT H/308
St.Cartier, Lucien PFC C/308 KIA
Stamboni, Joseph PVT D/306 MGB W – shrapnel, GSW
Stanfield, John A. PVT H/308
Steichen, Albert N. PVT H/308 Sick (rheumatism)
Stenger, William PVT H/308
Stingle, Frank PVT K/307 W – face, right leg
Stoianoff, Blaze PVT H/308
Strickland, James R. PVT H/308 W – right thigh
Stringer, Edward PVT E/308 W – GSW, spine
Stromee, Leo A. CAPT C/308 W – right side, face
Stumbo, Leroy A. PVT K/307 W – head
Sugro, Benedetto PVT C/308
Sullivan, Jerry H. PVT E/308 POW
Summers, Albert E. PVT H/308
Sundby, Melvin G. PVT H/308 W – DOW 10/15/18
Swanbeck, Arthur PVT K/307 W – right arm
Swanson, Edward PVT H/308
Swanson, Olaf W. PVT E/308 KIA
Swanson, Sigurd V. PVT B/308 Sick
Swartz, John B. PVT H/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Sweeney, Bernard J. PVT D/306 MGB W – left wrist
Swenson, Oscar A. PVT G/308 KIA
Taasaas, Andrew J. PVT H/308
Talbot, William R. PVT E/308 KIA
Tallon, Daniel B. CPL E/308 KIA
Teichmoeller, John G. 1LT D/305 FA W – severe concussion
Test, Pietro PVT K/307 W – right chest, shoulder
Thatcher, Lee C. PVT B/308
Thomas, Clifford PVT K/307 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Thomas, Harold H. PVT H/308 MIA
Thompson, Arthur A. CPL D/306 MGB W – GSW
Thorbone, Roland PVT B/308
Thorsen, Harold PVT G/308 W – shrapnel (multiple)
Tiederman, Herbert PVT HQ/308
Todisco, Amos 1st SGT G/308 W – right hand
Tollefson, Theodore PVT HQ/308 KIA
Tolley, Courtney W. PVT D/306 MGB
Torpey, Leslie C. PVT D/306 MGB
Trainor, Leo W. 2LT C/308 W – GSW
Travers, John H. PVT D/306 MGB W – DOW 10/17/18
Treadwell, Raymond PVT K/307 Sick
Trigani, Antonio PVT G/308
Tronson, Melvin C. PVT E/308 POW
Tucker, Jack CPL C/308 POW
Tuite, Martin F. SGT C/308
Tulchin, David PVT C/308
Tumm, Charles G. CPL H/308 KIA
Turnquist, Benjamin E. PVT K/307
Underhill, Lester MECH K/308
Untereiner, Hugo E. PVT H/308
Vitkus, Joseph PVT E/308
Vittulli, Constantine PVT C/308 W – stomach
Voelker, Alphonsus F. CPL C/308 W – GSW
Volz, Otto M. PVT K/307 W – face
Voorheis, John L. PVT C/308 Sick
Wade, Farland F. PVT G/308 W – head
Walker, George PFC Med (G)/308 W – shrapnel, back
Wallace, Dosia W. PVT G/308 W – left eye
Wallen, Oscar PVT G/308 W – GSW, back
Wallenstein, Charles PVT C/308 Sick
Weaver, Glenn H. PVT G/308 W – right arm
Weiner, Walter PVT F/308
Weinhold, Frederick PVT E/308 POW
Weinmann, George J. PVT F/308 W – both legs
Wenzel, Edward L. PVT H/308 POW
West, Harry A. PVT E/308 POW
Wheeler, Otto PVT H/308 KIA
White, Peter H. PVT F/308
White, Scott R. PVT H/308 Sick (influenza)
Whiting, Wilbur C. CPL H/308
Whittlesey, Charles W. MJR HQ/308 W – nose (unreported)
Wilber, Frederick L. PFC G/308 W – face
Wilhelm, Karl E. 1LT E/308 W – right hand
Williamson, Henry J. 2LT A/308 W – left foot
Willinger, Isadore PVT K/307 POW
Willis, Oscar PVT H/308 W – left leg
Witschen, Vincent PVT K/307
Witthaus, Albert R. PVT H/308 W – left shoulder
Wolf, Samuel PVT B/308
Wolfe, Earl I. PVT C/308
Wondowlesky, Stephen PVT A/308
Woods, James R. PVT G/308
Workman, William J. PVT H/308 KIA
Wornek, Ernest PVT G/308 W – left foot
Wright, William J. PVT D/306 MGB
Yoder, Robert PVT E/308 W – shrapnel (slight)
Zeman, Louis PVT H/308 KIA
Ziegenbalg, William PVT B/308
The total number listed as killed during the episode comes to 122, while the total number listed as wounded equals 242. Additionally, there are also 9 men listed as missing, 34 that were taken prisoner, 49 evacuated as sick. Added up then, this gives a total number of casualties of 456, or a casualty rate of just over 66 percent, against a total strength of 694. Yet this does not reflect those losses due to hunger, general weakness and the process of ‘weeding out’ that the four remaining officers went through just before the march out from the Charlevaux Ravine. These further detracted from Whittlesey’s remaining force, and figuring again from an original strength of 694, less the 194 that walked out of the ravine, we then get a total loss of 500. This then gives an aggregate loss of over 72 percent, or in other words, 2 out of 3 men became a casualty of some kind during the five days of the siege in the Charlevaux Ravine.
A Brief Biography of Charles White Whittlesey
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The 50th Aero kicked off their part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the morning fog of September 26th with a pair of general observation missions to report on the progress of the offensive and its effect on the Germans. These were followed by an attempted infantry contact mission. However, all missions launched were ineffective until later in the afternoon when the ground finally came into view clearly out of the fog and powder smoke from the intense artillery. Altogether, the Squadron would fly six complete missions that first day; half of which were observational and the other half attempts at infantry contact. The squadron would continue to fly missions each day of the offensive, but their DH-4's were plagued by a series of spark plug failures, leading to a number of abandoned missions and several hairy moments for aircrews. Further difficulties arose when the infantry refused to cooperate and acknowledge requests for positional signals. It was later reported that in some cases - particularly when they were in low lying spots with the Germans occupying hills above or operating known observations points in high trees ahead and able to see the panels as well - that the infantry units did not want to give away their position and thus center themselves for enemy fire. Other units claimed they were unaware that the flares issued could be used and seen in the day, and since no airplane had ever called for signals at night they considered the flares useless. Still other units had lost or never received the current code key and had no way to answer correctly the requests from the air. In time all these issues would be corrected, but it made for many difficulties in the first weeks of the offensive.
The Lost Battalion Survivors Association was set up officially in September, 1938 though members of the Lost Battalion had been meeting unofficially for years before. The group formed originally to greet the publication of Thomas Johnson and Fletcher Pratt's new book The Lost Battalion, which many of the men who had been there in the Charlevaux Ravin had contributed to. 200 'survivors edition' copies, signed by both authors, were produced and handed out by Johnson and Pratt to those who had contributed the most. This work was considered a major triumph for the men and became THE book on the subject for decades, though many of the men were far from happy with the results. (Many considered large sections of the book to be at best a work of supposition and at worst pure B.S.) Nevertheless, James Larney (who had been Whittlesey's signalman), and Walter Baldwin (who had been in charge of Whittlesey's runners and later became 1st Battalion Sergeant-Major), together with George McMurtry formed the organization that summer and the first official meeting was held at the Hotel Shelboure in New York with the release of the book the major focal point of the meeting. Baldwin became chairman of the organization for life, Larney became secretary for life, and McMurtry underwrote the entire thing each year out of pocket (no matter the expense, no questions asked) until his death in 1958, when his estate continued the payments for another 10 years. From 1938 on, each year the organization sponsored a luncheon and drinks far into the evening at one of several fine hotels in New York and survivors from all over the country had an open invitation to attend. Baldwin and Larney, however, went to great lengths to 'vet' those men who claimed they were there in 1918 and consequently there was a strict admission policy to the group to proven survivors only and honorary members who had to be voted in. A smaller West Coast version of the organization was set up in California by Nelson Holderman as well, with Leo Stromee acting as chairman and secretary, but it was never as big or successful as the original New York version.
The hall chosen was always set up the same, with the tables being arranged in a large 'U' configuration with McMurtry at the center of the head table. In the middle of the U would be placed a stool or chair on which would be arranged a bouquet of Dahlias, sent every year by the former fiance of Marshall Peabody, one of the Lieutenants from the 306th Machine Gun Battalion who had been killed in the Pocket. The bar opened at 11:00 am and men would begin wandering in and congregating almost immediately. There was usually much camaraderie and the atmosphere was quite jolly. Most of the talk concerned families and lives since the last reunion or since the last time men had seen each other, which in some cases might not have been since war, though the war and
greeting in their stead, at no time did a reunion ever have more than 100 men attend, and it was usually the same men over and over again. Still, there was an award given out for the man who had traveled the greatest distance and a newsletter was printed afterwards that was sent out that following Christmas. Baldwin and Larney also made available a professionally printed booklet listing all the men on their 'official' list and kept up with who had passed on during that previous year. There was usually a reporter or two skulking around who was allowed in and it was almost always they who asked the questions that brought up the war in detail. However one survivor summed it up the general feeling about the old stories: "To tell you the truth," he said, "we had the subject talked to death years ago."
seats, the blue and gold reunion ribbons pinned to their chests flashing gaily in the defused light. Then, promptly at 1:00 pm, McMurtry would rise and hold his glass aloft and everyone would fall silent. Holding his glass toward the Dahlias in the middle of the room, McMurtry's normally booming voice would soften as he would impart, "Gentlemen, to the dead of the Lost Battalion." Each man would stand and hold his glass forward and repeat the toast. All would drink, sit, and McMurtry would then speak a few words. Following that, William Cullen, former Captain of Company H/308th who had received the Distinguished Service Cross for his defense of the difficult left flank of the Pocket, would stand and bark out that the roll be called, and each man would in turn stand and state his name and old outfit. The roll called, luncheon would then be served. After the meal they would all gather in the bar again and drinks would flow late into the night. Then it would be over until next year.
The regular meetings went on for 30 years until 1968, the 50th anniversary of the events in the Charlevaux Ravine. 
Donations began to be collected early in 2008, and we soon learned that also in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the episode in the Charlevaux, the ABMC and the town of Binarville had commissioned a sculptor to create a new memorial for the Lost Battalion, which was to be placed at the northern foot of Hill 205, along a walking trail through that section of the Argonne and with a view of the hillside off the left flank of the Pocket. It was decided that the storyboard would make a nice addition to the new sculpture. The text of the storyboard was translated into French by Mr. Gilles Lagin (USMC) and a company in Canada commissioned to build it. When completed, our storyboard was shipped via UPS to the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, where the cemetery superintendent at the time, Mr. Phil Rivers, had it installed next to the new sculpture.
The next day the tour moved on, but an official dedication of the new sculpture and the storyboard was conducted by the ABMC and the Mayor of Binarville, with the guest of honor being Major-General William Terpeluk, the final General Officer commanding the 77th Regional Readiness Command, which had carried the lineage of the old 77th Division forward. (That lineage is now being carried forward today by the 77th Sustainment Brigade.) The event was well attended and we were proud to be part of the ceremony at the request of MG Terpeluk. After the ceremony, the town of Binarville hosted a wonderful dinner party under a huge tent in an open area off the left flank of the Pocket and the 2001 movie The Lost Battalion, starring Rick Schroeder and Phil McKee, was shown. The party lasted well into the evening, with plenty of regional wine and champagne flowing, and if one listened really close, I swear it was possible to hear the echoes of the LBSA in the background...
