Lost Battalion (World War I)

Meuse-Argonne Offensive - Lost Battalion
Part of the Western Front (World War I)
Location Argonne Forest, France Result AEF rescued, Allies break through German lines
Belligerents
United States American Expeditionary Force	German Empire German Fifth Army
Commanders and leaders
Charles White Whittlesey George G. McMurtry
Strength
554 - 575	3,000 - 5,000
Casualties and losses
197 killed 150 Missing/Captured 194 Rescued	600 - 800 Killed

The Lost Battalion is the name given to nine companies of the United States 77th Division, roughly 554 men, isolated by German forces during World War I after an American attack in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. Roughly 197 were killed in action and approximately 150 missing or taken prisoner before 194 remaining men were rescued. They were led by Major Charles White Whittlesey.

77th Division

Units involved

308th Infantry Regiment:

A,B,C,E,G,H Companies

307th Infantry Regiment:

K Company

306th Machinegun Battalion:

C, D Companies

Action in the Argonne

On October 2, the division quickly advanced into the Argonne, under the belief that French forces were supporting the left flank and two American units were supporting the right flank. Unknown to Whittlesey's unit, the French advance had been stalled. Without this knowledge, the Americans had moved beyond the rest of the allied line and found themselves completely cut off and surrounded by German forces. For the next six days, surrounded by the putrefying corpses of fallen comrades, the men of the division were forced to fight off several attacks by the Germans, who saw the small American units as a threat to their whole line.

The battalion suffered many hardships. Food was short, and water was available only by crawling under fire to a nearby stream. Ammunition ran low. Communications was also a problem, and at times they would be bombarded by shells from their own artillery. As every runner dispatched by Whittlesey either became lost or ran into German patrols, carrier pigeons became the only method of communicating with headquarters. In a famous incident on October 4 inaccurate coordinates were delivered by one of the pigeons and the unit was subjected to "friendly fire". The unit was saved by another pigeon, Cher Ami, delivering the following message:

WE ARE ALONG THE ROAD PARALELL 276.4. OUR ARTILLERY IS DROPPING A BARRAGE DIRECTLY ON US. FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT.

Despite this, they held their ground and caused enough of a distraction for other allied units to break through the German lines, which forced the Germans to retreat.

Aftermath

Monument to the Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest, France.

Of the over five hundred soldiers that entered the Argonne Forest, only 194 were able to walk out unscathed. The rest were killed, missing, captured, or wounded. Major Charles White Whittlesey, Captain George G. McMurtry, and Captain Nelson M. Holderman received the Medal of Honor for their valiant actions. Whittlesey was also recognized by being a pallbearer at the ceremony interring the remains of the Unknown Soldier. However, it appears that the experience weighed heavily on him. Whittlesey disappeared from a ship, in what is believed to have been (and was reported as) a suicide, in 1921.

Former Major League Baseball player, and Captain of the 77th Infantry Division, Eddie Grant, was killed in one of the subsequent missions in search of the battalion. A large plaque was placed in center field of the Polo Grounds New York in his honor.

Brigadier General Billy Mitchell wrote after the rescue that the Germans had managed to prevent supplies being air-dropped to the battalion. He ordered:

...chocolate and concentrated food and ammunition dropped.... Our pilots thought they had located it from the panel that it showed, and dropped off considerable supplies, but later I found out they had received none of the supplies we had dropped off. The Germans had made up a panel like theirs and our men had calmly dropped off the nice food to the Germans who undoubtedly ate it with great thanksgiving....

Citations

Medal of Honor:

• Maj. Charles White Whittlesey (Commander, 1st Battalion)
• Capt. George G. McMurtry (Commander, 2nd Battalion)
• Capt. Nelson M. Holderman (Commander, K Company)
• 1Lt. Harold E. Goettler (Pilot, 50th Aero Squadron)
• 2Lt. Erwin R. Bleckley (Observer, 50th Aero Squadron)
• 1Sgt. Benjamin Kaufman
• Pvt. Archie A. Peck

Distinguished Service Cross:

• Pvt. William Begley, Sgt. Raymond Blackburn, Pvt. George W. Botelle, Pvt. James W. Bragg, Pvt. Clifford R. Brown, Pvt. Philip "Zip" Cepaglia, 1Lt. William J. Cullen, Cpl. James Dolan, Cpl. Carmine Felitto, Pvt. Joseph Friel, Pfc. Jack D. Gehris, Sgt. Jeremiah Healey, Cpl. Irving Klein, Pvt. Stanislaw Kosikowski, Pvt. Abraham Krotoshinsky, Pvt. Irving Louis Liner, Pvt. Henry Miller, Cpl. James J. Murphy, Cpl. Holgar Peterson, Pvt. Frank J. Pollinger, 2Lt. Harry Rogers, Cpl. Haakon A. Rossum, Cpl. Joseph C. Sauer, 2Lt. Gordon L. Schenck, Pfc. Irving Sirota, Pvt. Sidney Smith, Pvt. Albert E. Summers and 1Lt. Charles W. Turner

Fictional portrayal

An account of the Lost Battalion was given in a 1919 film, The Lost Battalion, directed by Burton L. King. A&E made a 2001 television movie based on the exploits of the battalion during the Battle of the Argonne in 1918, directed by Russell Mulcahy, also entitled The Lost Battalion. Major Whittlesey was played by Rick Schroder.

Also, the character of Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby appears to have been a member of the "Lost Battalion," based on statements he makes to the narrator, Nick Carraway.

In the pilot episode of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, Al Capone claims that he has been a member of the "Lost Battalion." Later in the series it is suspected that this isn't true. The actual Capone didn't participate in the war and never served in the U.S. military at all. In fact the only member of the Capone family to have served was Richard Hart (born Vincenzo Capone).

See also

• Meuse-Argonne offensive
• Cher Ami, one of the carrier pigeons used during the battle.

Cher Ami was not the only pigeon used but is by far the most famous. His stuffed body is still displayed today at the Smithsonian. In his last mission, he delivered a message despite having been shot through the breast. The bird was awarded the Croix de Guerre, for heroic service delivering 12 important messages in Verdun.

External links

• Pictures of the area in 2005 by Martin Galle
• Personal account of private Ralph E. John
• Wings of Valor - The Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forrest
• Website for the movie
• The IMDB page
• Burton L. King The Lost Battalion (1919).
• Example letter delivered via carrier pigeon in October 1918