They weren’t really lost, but a series of command failures and
tactical errors kept them trapped for days while the whole world
wondered what would happen to them.
THE CAMPAIGN TO END ALL WARS
The final campaign of World War I was set for H-hour, 5:30AM on
October 4, 1918. General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, commanding the
U.S. Expeditionary Force in Europe, had ordered the left wing of the
U.S. 1st Army to push forward into the Argonne Forest on September 29.
German artillery hidden in the forest had been clobbering American and
French forces, and Pershing wanted the guns silenced before the massive
Allied advance. Major General Robert Alexander’s 77th Infantry Division
drew the assignment; his orders were to push forward “without regard to
losses.”
Major Charles W. Whittlesey
The Argonne was different from other battlefields. A few trails
meandered through the woods, but the enormous size of the forest and the
density of the trees made it difficult to organize cooperative action
among units, some of which quickly became separated. Brigadier General
Evan Johnson, commanding the 154th Brigade, made it clear to the
battalions under his command that “Any ground gained must be held… If I
find anybody ordering a withdrawal from ground once held, I will see he
leaves the service,” meaning dishonorably. Major Charles W. Whittlesey’s
1st Battalion of the 308th Infantry Regiment was part of Johnson’s
brigade and received the same message.
INTO THE FOREST
Whittlesey’s composite battalion consisted of Companies A, B, C, E,
G, and H from the 308th Infantry, Companies C and D from the 306th
Machine Gun Battalion, and Company K from the 307th Infantry, which
accidentally joined them later. All the companies were depleted from
earlier losses when they entered the Argonne Forest. Whittlesey had been
told not to worry about safeguarding his flanks because an American
battalion with the French infantry would be on his left and two American
battalions would be on his right. On October 2, he and his roughly 670
men plunged into the foggy, rain-drenched Argonne Forest, lost contact
with the units on his flanks, but kept pressing forward.
By accident, Whittlesey’s battalion found a gap in the German line,
but lost about 90 men before resistance subsided. With nightfall
approaching, Whittlesey moved the battalion in to a ravine that ran
along the side of a steep and rocky slope about 300 yards long and 60
yards wide with good defensive ground and protection from mortar fire.
Whittlesey then waited through the night for the other units to make
contact.
DAY TWO
The
other units never arrived, and on the morning of October 3, German
mortars opened fire. Whittlesey sent 50 men back through the forest to
find General Alexander and wait for reinforcements. An hour later, 18
men returned and said they had been ambushed about a mile away. They
also reported a more serious problem. The Germans had strung wire
defenses between their battalion and the 77th Division -they were
trapped. Whittlesey’s only communication system was carrier pigeons; he
handed a message to Private Omar Richards, the pigeon keeper, who sent
the first of six birds off to division headquarters to report the
battalion’s position and to request reinforcements and supplies. They
wouldn’t know for hours if the message had reached headquarters.
SO NEAR AND YET …SO FAR
Captain George G. McMurtry
Meanwhile, the men were hungry and thirsty. To reach water, they had
to crawl 50 yards to a stream running along the base of the ravine -but
the stream was covered by a German machine gun. Too many men had been
hit trying to reach it, so Whittlesey posted guards with orders to shoot
anyone attempting to fill their canteens.
During a mortar barrage, both Whittlesey and Captain George G.
McMurtry had been hit by shrapnel. McMurtry’s knee began to fester, but
both officers continued to hobble among the men, stopping at each
foxhole to assure the men that help was on the way. The men knew their
major would never surrender. Newspaper correspondents hanging around
headquarters learned about the trapped unit and started writing daily
accounts about the “Lost Battalion.”
ONE MORE DAY
On the morning of October 4, a mortar bombardment and firefight did
more damage. The major sent a second pigeon, again asking for help and
reporting 222 casualties, with 82 men dead. His machine gun crews were
decimated -only five were left with little ammunition, and the medics
were running out of bandages. General Alexander detached two companies,
but they were stopped by the enemy and turned back after losing more
than half their men.
“FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, STOP IT”
Cher Ami
October 5 opened with another German mortar attack on the remaining
machine gun positions. Whittlesey sent another pigeon requesting
artillery support -but with the wrong coordinates. American artillery
opened at 1:15PM, and for four hours shells rained down on the Lost
Battalion instead of the Germans. There were only two pigeons left, but
when Private Richards opened the cage, one escaped. The other, Cher Ami,
carried this brief message from the major: “Our own artillery is
dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it!” The
pigeon flew to a nearby tree and settled on a branch. When throwing
stones failed to dislodge the bird, Richards dodged howling artillery
shells, climbed the tree, and shook the branch until the pigeon flew off
and disappeared. No one expected much to come of it, but Cher Ami
reached division headquarters at 4:00PM, with one leg and one eye
missing.
THINGS COULDN’T GET WORSE, COULD THEY?
Finally, on October 6, artillery fire began to fall on the Germans,
taking pressure off Whittlesey’s battered men. Germans still lurked
around the perimeter but were too busy to attack. New enemies intruded
on morale- hunger, thirst, cold, battle fatigue, and the stench of
putrefying corpses. With all the pigeons gone, Private Richards ate the
birdseed.
Later in a the day, a reconnaissance plane spotted the battalion and
reported its position. An hour later, planes from the 50th Aero Squadron
dropped supplies, dehydrated soups, and ammunition, all which landed on
the Germans. Whittlesey’s men heard the enemy rejoicing over the
bungled airdrop. Nine desperate men from the battalion were captured
trying to rescue the parcels.
THE VOLUNTEERS
On the morning of October 7, Private Lowell B. Hollingsworth lay in
his foxhole with a slight wound, weak with hunger, and feeling hopeless.
When told that Whittlesey wanted eight volunteers to infiltrate through
the German lines to contact nearby friendly forces who were searching
for the battalion, Hollingsworth knew it could be his last chance to
find food. Seven more volunteers stepped forward, including Private Carl
Rainwater, a full-blooded Indian from Montana, who the volunteers chose
as their guide and leader. The eight men worked silently through the
forest, stopping frequently to let the wounded rest. After less than a
mile, Rainwater halted and raised his hand for the others to stop. A
machine gun opened fire, and Hollingsworth fell unconscious. When he
came to, there was a German gun pointed at his head. Four of his buddies
were dead and the other three wounded.
Hollingsworth was taken prisoner and fed, then the Germans returned
him to his battalion with a note encouraging Major Whittlesey to
surrender. Whittlesey read the note but didn’t reply. When the men
learned of the contents of the message, they shouted rude things in
German back across the lines.
LOST AND FOUND
The survivors of the Lost Battalion
Early in the evening, elements from the 77th Division broke through
the German lines and located the Lost Battalion. Of Whittlesey’s
original 600 men, only 191 were able to walk. Five men from the
battalion received the Medal of Honor, including Whittlesey and
McMurtry, and 26 men were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
The carrier pigeon, Cher Ami, was awarded the French
Croix de Guerre
for heroic services delivering 12 important messages to his
headquarters in Verdun. His stuffed body is on display in the National
Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D.C.
reports that the business grossed over one million dollars.
This
is what happens when someone forgot to turn off the light: 
On
Memorial Day, we remember those who lost their lives in wartime. But
there have been more wars and conflicts in U.S. history than you covered
in history class at school, as the school year only allows time to
touch the big ones. For example, you may have learned that the
Revolutionary War ended with Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown in 1781.
However, fighting actually continued for another 13 months!
Think that plants are just sitting around photosynthesizin’, think again: some
