NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS USED

ABMC  American Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington, VA

AHEC  Army Heritage and Education Center, US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA

CARL  Combined Arms Research Library, Ft. Leavenworth, KS

DRL  Donovan Research Library, Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries, Ft. Benning, GA

FDM  First Division Museum and the Colonel Robert R. McCormick Research Center, Cantigny, IL

LOC  Library of Congress, Washington, DC

NA  National Archives, Washington, DC

NPRC  National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO

PSA  Pennsylvania State Archives, PA Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA

WVM  Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, WI

WWR  World War Records, First Division A.E.F. Regular. 25 Vols.

PRELUDE: A Speech

“a cold, bleak April day”: Thomas F. Farrell, letter to Robert L. Bullard, January 11, 1925, Robert Bullard Papers, LOC, Box 5.

“Valley Forge of the War”: Charles P. Summerall, The Way of Duty, Honor, Country, 114.

“ready to do and to bear all…”: Allan Millett, The General: Robert L. Bullard and Officership in the United States Army 1881–1925, 193.

“all that we have”: John J. Pershing, My Experiences in the World War, vol. 1, 365.

“speak a few words of confidence…”: Ibid.

“the heart and arteries of a man…”: Donald Smythe, Pershing: General of the Armies, 242–43.

“slender as a sub-lieutenant”: Rheta Dorr, A Soldier’s Mother in France, 79.

“tall, powerful of frame…”: Ibid., 76.

“tailor-made for monuments”: S.L.A. Marshall, World War 1, 279; Smythe, Pershing, 243.

“Robert Lee”: Millett, The General, 22.

“couldn’t pronounce the ‘g’…”: Ibid., 23.

“respected [his] poise, aggressiveness…”: Ibid., 149.

“too impersonal”: Robert Lee Bullard, Personalities and Reminiscences of the War, 42.

“He spoke of the soldiers as…”: Dorr, A Soldier’s Mother, 5–6.

“formed a rare group…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 392.

“personal connection with the general”: Richard Newhall, “With the First Division—Winter 1917–1918,” The Historical Outlook, 10 no. 7, October 1919.

“makes me shiver”: Smythe, Pershing, 241.

“Lafayette, we are here”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 393.

“found no difficulty”: Ibid, 392.

“spoken under the inspiration…”: Ibid., 393.

“I did not want you to enter…”: Ibid.; “Speeches 1918–1920”, Folder: “Speeches—1918 (and previous),” John J. Pershing Papers, LOC.

“upon their stamina…”: Ibid.

“a few simple words”: Charles Dawes, A Journal of the Great War, vol. 1, 92.

“personality and his lofty sentiments…”: W. Gary Nichols, American Leader in War and Peace—The Life and Times of World War 1 Soldier Charles Pelot Summerall, 198.

“Pershing’s Farewell to the First”: Shipley Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 69; History of the Seventh Field Artillery, First Division, A.E.F., 43.

“solemn, determined look”: Thomas Farrell letter to Bullard, January 11, 1925.

“it was not oratory”: Bullard, Personalities, 181.

“[h]is manner and his expression…”: George C. Marshall, Memoirs of My Services in the World War, 79.

“very stirring talk”: James Harbord, Leaves from a War Diary, 265.

“earnestness impressed all hearers”: Stuart G. Wilder, “Operations of Co. M, 16th Infantry (Personal Experience),” Infantry School Advanced Course 1929–1930 Monograph, DRL, 10.

“a certain lack of Napoleonic…”: Edward S. Johnston, Americans vs. Germans, 40.

“I did not come here to make…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 394; “Speeches,” Pershing Papers.

“Centuries of military and civil…”: Ibid.

“Could there be a more…”: Ibid.

“Our people today are hanging…”: Ibid.

“said a few words”: Dawes, Journal, 93.

“There was no effort on the part…”: Ibid.

“made a profound impression on all…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 78.

“a weak speech saying we were…”: Richard Norton Smith, The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 201.

“[W]hat did you think of the…”: History of the Seventh Field Artillery, 43–44. Note: for clarity, the ending quote from the same source was changed from the original “… but did you get the boots?” to “but did you [notice] the boots?”

“We began to think when our…”: Experience Report of Lt. Anton W. Schneider, 1st Engineers, December 20, 1918, NA, Record Group 92, Entry 1241, Box 70.

“with a rather creepy feeling…”: Experience Report of Lt. Thomas F. Farrell, 1st Engineers, December 1918, NA, Record Group 92, Entry 1241, Box 70.

“A picture that vividly comes…” Thomas Farrell letter to Bullard, January 11, 1925.

“one of the outstanding incidents…”: Nichols, Summerall, 198.

“solemn”: Dawes, Journal, 93.

“supreme sacrifice”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 394; “Speeches,” Pershing Papers.

116,516 envelopes … Department of Veterans Affairs, “America’s Wars Fact Sheet,” May 2013.

“this great battle”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 394; “Speeches,” Pershing Papers.

“Americans Take Town Alone”: May 29, 1918, issue of Lima Daily News (OH).

“Sammies Shout ‘We’re on…”: May 29, 1918, issue of Clearfield Progress (PA).

“Yankees Yell As They…”: May 29, 1918, issue of Decatur Daily Democrat (IN).

“The world must be made safe…”: John Milton Cooper, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, 387; Source Records of the Great War, vol. 5, A.D. 1917, 116.

“great battle of the greatest war…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 394; “Speeches,” Pershing Papers.

1. Let ’em Come

“battle rehearsal”: Lt. Col. George C. Marshall, Memorandum on Infantry training for Operation Against Cantigny, May 19, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry1241, Box 18.

“great battle of the greatest war…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 394; “Speeches,” Pershing Papers.

“the most terrible and disastrous…”: Source Records of the Great War, vol. 5, 116–17.

“J-Day”: ‘Very Secret’ Memorandum on J-Day and H-Hour, Col. Campbell King, May 27, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“the fun maker”: Lt. Irving Wood, Letter to sister of Lt. John V. Curry, January 8, 1919, Private Collection.

“No such thing as a dugout…”: Gerald R. Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918, “Aiken Co. Boy Goes Over the Top,” July 10, 1918, issue of Aiken Journal and Review (SC).

“nothing can be done but wait…”: Cpt. Edward S. Johnston, Infantry School Monograph, “The Day Before Cantigny,” DRL, 30.

“wrapped in smoke and fire”: Ibid.

“when the scattered mist…”: Ibid.

“Ollie”: Report of Pvt. Franklin Berry, April 1920, Burial File of Fred E. Turner, NPRC.

“killed instantly by piece of shell…”: Report of Pvt. Franklin Berry, Burial File of Charles T. Shepard, NPRC.

“instantly”: Report of Pvt. Charles Morrison, Burial File of Homer H. Blevins, NPRC.

“It was more concussion than…”: Report of Pvt. Franklin Berry, Burial File of Fred E. Turner, NPRC.

“Captain, I don’t want to wake…”: Johnston, Monograph, 16.

“somewhat concerned”: Ibid.

“Lieutenant Desmond here”: Johnston, Americans, 52.

“Desperate”: Report of Pvt. Mitchell Crowell, Burial File of Lt. Thomas W. Desmond, NPRC.

“liaison officer”: Field Order No. 19, Relief in Northern Subsector, 26 May 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 15.

“[I]t’s hard to tell; the old…”: Johnston, Monograph, 16.

“too far from the platoons”: Ibid., 15.

“stood still in the hush…”: Ibid., 16.

“hard winter”: Johnston, Americans, 12

“a warm and living symbol…”: Ibid., 32.

“soul-searching experience”: Ibid., 34.

“If this man can be slain…”: Ibid.

“[W]e were particularly blessed…”: Irving Wood letter to sister of Curry, December 8, 1919.

“a happy family, bound together…”: Ibid.

“the confidence born of unity…”: Johnston, Americans, 35.

“was certainly the best in…”: Capt. Edward S. Johnston, Letter to sister of Lt. John V. Curry, November 20, 1918, PSA.

“Daylight had come”: Ibid.

“[t]he bombardment on the plateau…”: Ibid.

“plump and placid”: Johnston, Americans, 53.

“The Boches are going to attack…”: Johnston, Monograph, 18.

“keep in frequent touch by runner…”: Ibid.

“instantly”: Reports of Pvt. Franklin Berry, Burial Files of Mike Dummit and James W. Adams, NPRC.

“shell wound penetrating left leg…”: Report of Field Hospital No. 12, Daily Report of Casualties and Changes, May 27, 1918, NPRC.

“movement there … unquestionably something…”: Johnston, Monograph, 31.

“There was a tumultuous thudding…”: Ibid.

“Go to the captain. Tell him…”: Ibid.

“lengthen the range”: Annex 9 to Field Order No. 18, May 22, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“The trench had become a scene of horror”: Ibid.

“exploded at his feet”: Grave Location Data Form, Burial File for William Cameron, NPRC.

“exhibited unusual courage in…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“Dickie”: Lt. Jeremiah Evarts, Cantigny: A Corner of the War, 56.

“By God, I’ll bet they are as scared…”: Johnston, Monograph, 32.

“bit of sleep”: Ibid., 18.

“Gray with dirt, and somewhat…”: Ibid., 19.

“attacking”: Ibid., 31.

“I’m going up to look at things”: Johnston, Americans, 54.

“[T]he courteous calm of our distant…”: Ibid., 54–55.

“Lieutenant says Boches are attacking”: Ibid., 55.

“Notify battalion.”: Ibid.

“steady, even popping”: Johnston, Monograph, 32.

“the thin crackle of rifles”: Ibid., 31.

“the rear line of attack went down…”: Ibid., 32–33.

“Whatever it was, it meant a lot to them”: Johnston, Americans, 59.

“All six of them went down”: Ibid.

“new replacement”: Ibid.

“deserter, traitor, spy”: Johnston, Monograph, 35.

“[W]e all started to pick off the Germans…”: St. Paul’s School in the Great War, 58.

“cool, enthusiastic, and was doing good work”: Ibid.

“I’m through, take my rifle”: Ibid.

“had a smile on his face…”: Ibid.

“in spite of all the turmoil and death…”: Ibid., 59.

“over blocks of earth and debris”: Johnston, Monograph, 21.

“only three or four”: Ibid., 36.

“not a trench, but a twisted conglomeration…”: Ibid., 33.

“[H]e was immediately over me…”: Charles D. Avery, Letter to sister of Lt. John V. Curry, April 28, 1919, PSA.

“almost suffocated, and in pitiful physical condition”: Johnston, Monograph, 34.

“Ten minutes more and I know I should have suffocated”: Avery letter, April 28, 1919.

“tender way”: Ibid.

“a proud mental state”: Johnston, Monograph, 34.

“I think we both cried a little”: Avery letter, April 28, 1919.

“sat down suddenly, this steady, brave…”: Johnston, Americans, 60.

“that prisoners must be taken at all costs”: Col. Frank Parker, “Report on German Raid and Prisoners Taken This Date,” HQ, 18th Infantry, May 27, 1918, FDM.

“had told them everything they would have to do”: Ibid. 66.

“with courage and with dogged endurance”: Ibid.

“safe for democracy”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 387; Source Records of the Great War, vol. 5, A.D. 1917, 116.

2. The Advance Guard

“lack of belligerence”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 285.

“[t]he United States must be neutral…”: Ibid.

“put a curb on our sentiments”: Ibid.

“Plattsburg Movement”: J. Garry Clifford, The Citizen Soldiers: The Plattsburg Training Camp Movement, 1913–1920.

“call to duty”: Richard Newhall, Newhall and Williams College—the Selected Papers of a History Teacher at a New England College, 53.

“He kept us out of war”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 359.

“Zimmermann Telegram”: Barbara Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram.

“never saw a fight he didn’t…”: Smith, The Colonel, 180.

“Wilson Confirms Fact of German Plot Against U.S.”: March 1, 1917, issue of the New Castle News (PA).

“Three Musketeers”: June 5, 1918, June 28, 1918, August 14, 1918, September 24, 1918, and October 3, 1918 issues of the Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“distressing and oppressive duty”: Source Records of the Great War, Vol. V, A.D. 1917, 116–17.

“to employ the entire naval and military…”: Ibid.

“immediate addition to the armed forces”: Ibid.

“Citizens of Janesville: The National…”: April 7, 1917, issue of the Janesville Daily-Gazette (WI).

“[f]rom town and country, salon and factory…”: James Mead, The Doughboys, 73.

“I made such good progress in running…”: September 24, 1918, issue of the Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“We were at war, I was single…”: Herman Dacus, World War I Veterans Survey, September 1982, AHEC.

“wished to volunteer…”: Frank William Groves, World War I Veterans Survey, December 1980, AHEC.

“[A]pplied for enlistment on April 10, 1917…”: Ruben J. Nelson diary, WVM.

“None of the new weapons developed…”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“the training did nothing to equip us…”: Groves, WWI Veterans Survey.

“in active mutiny or sullen noncooperation”: Millett, The General, 302.

“Wilson was”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 396.

“plainly the estate of man…”: Bullard, Personalities, 42.

“Nigger Jack”: John Perry, Pershing, Commander of the Great War, 34.

“cool as a bowl of cracked ice”: Ibid., 34.

“four infantry regiments and…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 2.

“Find Co. of 70 men and one officer…”: Nelson diary.

“was not on the list of those to be transferred”: September 24, 1918, issue of the Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“Every man stepped forward”: March 18, 1919, issue of the Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“These volunteers…”: Clifford, Citizen Soldiers, 260.

“Like cadets at the U.S. Military Academy…”: Bullard, Personalities, 17.

“He knows how to handle men…”: Richard Newhall, letter to mother, May 19, 1917, Selected Papers, 57.

“learned quickly to obey acting non-coms”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“Commander-in-Chief”: The History of the First Division During the World War, 40.

“depressed”: Ibid., 18.

“impressed with his poise and his air…”: Ibid., 37.

“General, we are giving you some…”: Ibid.

“complete freedom in conducting operations”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 402.

“cooperate as a component of whatever army…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 38–39.

“in a most depressed frame of mind over being left behind”: Marshall, Memoirs, 3.

“First Expeditionary Division”: History of the First, 1.

“the best one received and the only complete one”: Forrest Pogue, George C. Marshall: Education of a General, 1880–1939, 89; Leonard Moseley, Marshall: Hero for Our Time, 32.

“Once an army is involved in war…”: Pogue, George C. Marshall, 29.

“fate”: Marshall, Memoirs, 5.

“for extended foreign service”: Millett, The General, 309.

“the next train”: Bullard, Personalities, 19.

“watching the endless column of infantry…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 6.

“Set sail for France…”: Nelson diary.

“About 1 p.m., June 14th, we put to sea…”: Bullard, Personalities, 32.

“Everyone was ill”: Groves, WW1 Veterans Survey.

“Everyone was new to everything”: Marshall, Memoirs, 6–7.

“On 19th day we run into school of porpoise…”: Nelson diary; Note: “porpose” in original corrected to “porpoise.”

“On the 24th we run into a sub zone…”: Ibid.

“We were soon zig-zagging…”: Bullard, Personalities, 32.

“Immediately all the ships changed their course…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 9.

“slept little until 1 a.m., and then with all…”: Bullard, Personalities, 35.

“June 28th 1917…”: Nelson diary; Note: the misspelled “battle cruise” in the original corrected to “Battle Cruiser.”

“the thing that impressed these unaccustomed eyes…”: Bullard, Personalities, 37–38.

“the green hill slopes and little cottages…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 11.

“There was not a cheer”: Ibid.

“There was an air of grimness and sadness…”: Charles Senay, “From Shavetail to Captain,” Unpublished Memoir, Private Collection, 15.

“the advance guard of America’s fighting men”: Pershing, foreword to History of the First, xv.

3. Must Not Fail

“The towns in which the division was billeted…”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“often dilapidated, always dark, and invariably cold”: Ibid.

“The nearest open ground…” Marshall, Memoirs, 15.

“untrained, awkward appearance”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 91.

“It was a fine, fine sight”: Bullard, Personalities, 51.

“The men of the newly arrived division…”: Theodore Roosevelt, Average Americans, 25–26.

“They call us the foreign legion”: Dorr, A Soldier’s Mother, 65.

“The Division was truly representative of America”: History of the First, 13.

“Harlem Hellfighters”: Stephen L. Harris, Harlem’s Hellfighters.

“troops lived daily and hourly…”: History of the First, 18.

“There was a constant rumbling of guns…”: Senay, “Shavetail to Captain,” 22.

“In the midst of war, we had to prepare for war…”: Bullard, Personalities, 60.

“There was nothing but drill every day…”: Nelson diary.

“First call about 6 o’clock…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 55.

“[T]here was no one with the command…”: Ibid., 59.

“devil-may-care”: History of the First, 20.

“They had a magnificent fighting record”: Marshall, Memoirs, 18.

“friendly rivalry”: History of the First, 21.

“Washington Center”: Ibid.

“Yeah, they tell you it is timed for 5 seconds”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Gazette.

“not too good—first military funeral I attended…”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“jammed frequently”: Ibid.

“French instructors were greatly surprised…”: History of the First, 22.

“must be won by driving the enemy out…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 152.

“[t]he infantry is the principal and most important…”: Field Service Regulations—U.S. Army 1914 (Corrected to 1917), 74.

“the essential weapons of the infantry”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 154.

“emergency weapons”: Field Service Regulations, 79; Mark Grotelueschen, The AEF Way of War, 15–16.

“the ultimate act”: Grotelueschen, The AEF Way, 23; Douglas Johnson and Rolphe Hillman, Soissons 1918, 153.

“as obsolete as the crossbow”: Grotelueschen, The AEF Way, 13.

“the benefit of our dearly bought experience”: John F. Votaw, The American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, 64.

“utter discouragement and spiritlessness”: Bullard, Personalities, 98.

“very tactfully”: Ibid., 103.

“Not only did no one know how to teach…”: Wilder, “Operations of Co. M,” 4.

“Both tactics and equipment were tried on the dog…”: Ibid.

“acclimatization and instruction in small units”: History of the First, 18.

“serve with French battalions in trenches…”: Ibid.

“The enthusiasm of the infantrymen reached…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 42.

“rolling and attractive country”: History of the First, 27.

“relatively quiet”: Ibid.

“Serious operations in this section of France”: Marshall, Memoirs, 45.

“were all very green and very earnest”: Roosevelt, Americans, 86.

“The first thrill of service in the trenches soon passed”: Marshall, Memoirs, 45.

“knew no bounds”: John S. D. Eisenhower and Joanne Thompson Eisenhower, Yanks, 83.

“During the ten days we spent in the sector”: Roosevelt, Americans, 86.

“The artillery on both sides contented itself…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 45.

“It is quite true”: Newhall, letter to mother, December 6, 1917, Selected Papers, 69.

“My own experience in the trenches…”: Ibid.

“rapid progress”: Historical Sketches of Subsidiary Units, Charles P. Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 23.

“generally reinforce the French Artillery behind trenches…”: 1st Division Résumé of Operations, October 21, 1917–November 7, 1918, Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 14.

“The enthusiasm of the French was tremendous…”: “History of the First Division from April 6, 1917 to Sept. 26, 1919,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 7.

“[t]he enthusiastic activity of the newly-arrived American…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 45.

“going over with a long, slow swishy sort of sound”: James L. Hartney, letter to Margaret, November 8, 1917, Private Collection.

“on having the honor to be the first American officer…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 86.

“tense with the novelty and the sense of danger”: History of the First, 30.

“blinding flash and a crash and a roar”: Ibid.

“Nothing but the boom of big guns and explosion…”: Nelson diary.

“about 300 Germans making our lines…”: Ibid.

“Our men were some nervous when it was over”: Ibid.

“Men! These graves, the first to be dug in our national soil…”: Mosley, Marshall, 54.

“We will inscribe on their tombs: ‘Here lie the first…’”: Ibid.

“Our losses were slight during the remaining days…”: Nelson diary.

“Must say [we] were glad to get out”: Ibid.

“At the end of the ten days we were relieved”: Roosevelt, Americans, 87.

“The men thought that now they were veterans…”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“The Division Commander wishes to congratulate…”: General Order No. 67, November 23, 1917, History of the First, 342–43.

“training of the combined division in the tactics of open warfare”: History of the First, 18.

“depend on every individual soldier to meet the situation…”: General Order No. 67, 35.

“highly essential”: Millett, The General, 321.

“He is without much training since cadet days”: Harbord, Leaves from a War Diary, 202.

“note of deep pessimism”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 199.

“institution is the lengthened shadow of one man”: Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, 17.

“If we cannot do the job, we will be replaced”: Millett, The General, 332.

“Under rattling fire from the enemy”: Bullard, Personalities, 110.

“saw rendered by any officer or man”: Ibid., 111.

“marked changes”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 23.

“the infantry would pay in losses for lack of artillery”: Ibid., 107.

“influence of a master artilleryman and commander was felt”: Bullard, Personalities, 114.

“the severest reprimand in the quietest words”: Ibid, 112.

“the hand of destiny”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 113.

“We have been enjoying a large quantity of snow recently”: Samuel Ervin, letter to mother, December 30, 1917, Senator Samuel J. Ervin Jr. Papers—Southern History Collection of the Wilson Library, UNC–Chapel Hill Subgroup 17.2, Box 288.

“When we were not cursed with mud…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 52.

“inured the men to withstand the worst exposure…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 5.

“[T]he Father of his country and Valley Forge…”: The Twenty-Sixth Infantry in France, 12.

“There were many Poles and Russians…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 8.

“A large percentage had never shot any firearms…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 93.

“staying power”: Millett, The General, 338.

“in handling men by the thousands…”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“very bad, unusually cold and exceedingly wet”: Ibid.

“long hikes on slippery roads”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead in the War Against Germany, vol. 3, 120–21.

“Seemingly in an instant the cause of the Allies…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 207.

“a present total of 150 divisions”: October 17, 1917, cable to Washington, Ibid., 198; November 15, 1917, cable to Secretary Baker, Ibid., 235.

“rushed to Italy…”: Ibid., 235.

“fit for open warfare”: History of the First, 67.

“I think we came too late”: Bullard, Personalities, 83.

“They must not fail.”: Ibid., 108.

4. Adventure of War

“Your letter of Nov. 12 arrived this week…”: James L. Hartney, letter to Margaret, December 31, 1917. Private Collection.

“dearest beloved”: Letters from Margaret to James L. Hartney, 1917. Private Collection.

“nine months had now passed since…”: Bullard, Personalities, 125.

“half-trained American companies…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 255.

“identity of our forces”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 402.

“full authority to use the forces…”: Ibid.

“any critical situation”: Ibid.

“Everyone was relieved that the period…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 57.

“terrific blizzard”: Ibid., 59.

“roads heavily glazed with smooth ice”: Ibid.

“The roads are full of ice and snow…”: Nelson diary.

“bitter cold”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 114.

“progress was slow”: Ibid.

“worst day he had seen troops out…”: Wilder, “Operations of Co. M,” 7.

“penetrated the thickest clothing”: Marshall, Memoirs, 59.

“The weather is much better now…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 154–55.

“spring weather” … Letter, Sam Ervin to Grandfather, January 24, 1918, Ervin Papers.

“[W]ith the prospect of spring”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“the front lines lay in low, marshy valley…”: Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 57.

“men and officers were in the mud…”: Bullard, Personalities, 160.

“neither quiet nor restful”: History of the First, 49.

“This was a real fighting front”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“a very lively sector with raids…”: Irving Wood letter, January 8, 1919, Private Collection.

“our first real taste of war”: Roosevelt, Americans, 108.

“hideous phase of warfare”: Bullard, Personalities, 193.

“I couldn’t speak for about a month…”: January 25, 1919 issue of Ironwood News Record (MI).

“water from a shell hole which happened…”: Maj. Raymond Austin, letter to his mother, March 27, 1918, AHEC.

“burned from sitting in the grass…”: Ibid.

“As soon as the shells hit the ground…”: August 5, 1918, issue of Waterloo Evening Courier (Iowa).

“SBR”: 1st Division at Cantigny, US Chemical Corps, 1958, DRL, 23.

“were not the easiest things to fight in”: Jesse O. Evans diary, FDM.

“painfully oppressive”: 1st Division at Cantigny, US Chemical Corps, DRL, 19.

“It seemed to me in all my trials…”: Bullard, Personalities, 159.

“I put on the French because it is more…”: Jesse Evans diary.

“Put on your mask, you damn fool…”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 117.

“I was never able to find this young man…”: Bullard, Personalities, 161.

“[T]here were vermin and rats…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 76.

“picking out cooties and their eggs”: Evarts, Cantigny, 50.

“I carry a blanket with me and…”: Vinton Dearing, letter to mother, June 12, 1918, My Galahad of the Trenches Being a Collection of Intimate Letters of Lieut. Vinton A. Dearing, 73.

“soaked with rain till they are…”: Newhall, letter to father, March 20, 1918, Selected Papers, 70.

“we even had to go so far as to…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 129.

“The men either huddled against the side…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 84.

“It is pretty hard to ask a man to be…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 128.

“The most disagreeable part about the trenches…”: “First Alumnus Killed in France,” Trinity Alumni Register, vol. 4, July 1918, 102.

“We had only two canteens of water each…”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“The only thing we lack is something to eat”: Nelson diary.

“soaked and muddy hardtack”: Evarts, Cantigny, 10.

“corned willie”: Ibid.

“They just couldn’t get that meat to us”: January 19, 1919, issue of Boston Daily Globe (MA).

“slumgullion”: Paul Clancy, Just a Country Lawyer: A Biography of Senator Sam Ervin, 66.

“a favorite method of preparing the meal”: Marshall, Memoirs, 91.

“Food and coffee were always cold…”: Bullard/Reeves, American Soldiers Also Fought, 30.

“a head, a hand, any sign of a human body…”: Bullard, Personalities, 117.

“I guess the worst thing is to sit in the bottom…”: Newhall, letter to mother, May 26, 1918, Selected Papers, 80.

“are indeed very noisy things and make you move…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 128.

“Jack Johnsons”: Paul Strong and Sanders Marble, Artillery in the Great War, xxi.

“nothing left to bury”: Report of Pvt. Austin Bradley, Burial File of Lt. Norborne R. Gray, NPRC.

“There’s a bunch of scrap iron…”: Emporia Gazette, July 4, 1918.

“Perhaps it is good luck”: James L. Hartney, letter to Margaret, March 28, 1918, Private Collection.

“A 3" shell will temporarily scare or deter a man…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 96.

“Be active all over no man’s land…”: Millett, The General, 343.

“I remembered the tradition of the loss of heart…”: Bullard, Personalities, 141.

“extremely dangerous but very necessary work”: Ibid., 147.

“If you kept your head down there was no firing…”: March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“We got into their trench and started the slaughter…”: December 31, 1918, Reno Evening Gazette (NV).

“Our artillery fire was so intense…”: Major Austin letter, March 27, 1918.

“[I]ts suddenness, its hand-to-hand deadly…”: Bullard, Personalities, 148.

“vigorously replied”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 115.

“Sitting Bull”: Ibid., and Millett, The General, 334.

“The support from our artillery came the moment…”: Nelson diary.

“Sausage Machine”: Edmond Taylor, The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order, 1905–1922, 237.

“shook the entire battle front”: History of the First, 64.

“a surf of ten thousand breakers…”: Frederick Palmer, Newton D. Baker: America at War, vol. 2, 104.

“Owing to the breakdown of Russia”: Erich Ludendorff, My War Memories 1914–1918, vol. 2, 537.

“This was only possible on the Western Front”: Ibid., 543.

“Von Hutier method”: A. W. Page, Our 110 Days Fighting, 15.

“The Germans had beaten Pershing to open warfare”: Nelson, The Remains of Company D, 74.

“the battle won. The English utterly defeated”: Martin Gilbert, The First World War—A Complete History, 407.

“last awarded to Blücher…”: John Keegan, The First World War, 403.

“The last man may count”: Gilbert, First World War, 410.

“threatened to bring the war to a sudden conclusion…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 62.

“The whole Allied world, especially America…”: Bullard, Personalities, 173.

“The big drive is on now in the west”: James L. Hartney, letter to Margaret, March 28, 1918, Private Collection.

“Fighting had to be done at once”: Bullard, Personalities, 173.

“[O]ur General Pershing is not a fighter…”: Ibid., 91–92.

“an extremely dark picture of disaster”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 356.

“any of our divisions that could be of service”: Ibid., 357.

“be held in readiness for any eventuality”: Ibid.

“I have come to tell you that the American people…”: Ibid., 365; Smythe, Pershing, 101.

“very much touched”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 364.

“rose to greatness”: Marshall, Memoirs, 79.

“At Pétain’s request…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 359.

“Never a commander received an order…”: Bullard, Personalities, 177.

“was a matter of great elation”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“were delighted”: Roosevelt, Americans, 122.

“a test of administrative ability”: The Twenty-Sixth Infantry in France, 12.

“With straw in the bottom, we had…”: Dearing, letter to mother, May 22, 1918, My Galahad, 57.

“corn-willie”: Ibid.

“To go to the toilet”: Senay, “Shavetail,” 19.

“no scars and no desolation of war”: History of the First, 67.

“a beautiful peaceful country, the most lovely…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 126.

“Every position must be held to the last man…”: Keegan, First World War, 405.

“Where would we be put?”: Bullard, Personalities, 179.

“constant sound of heavy cannonading”: History of the First, 66.

“Both officers and men were in splendid condition…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol.1, 392.

“[O]ne could not help thinking”: Ibid.

“[W]e started on a long march…”: Nelson diary.

“Spring was on the land…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 126.

“some wonderful old houses and gardens…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 133.

“Our move has been to quite an extent…”: James L. Hartney, letter to Margaret, April 5, 1918, Private Collection.

“I wouldn’t change places with anyone…”: Dearing, letter to mother, April 7, 1918, My Galahad, 46.

“more like a pleasure jaunt than a march into battle”: Irving Wood letter, January 8, 1919, Private Collection.

“where the rumble of guns, like distant thunder…”: Dorr, A Soldier’s Mother, 88.

“This was what we had crossed the Atlantic to do”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“They knew the discomforts of trench life”: Ibid.

“the war was still an adventure”: Ibid.

“an eagerness to go ‘over the top’…”: Ibid.

“did not know what they were going to…”: Ibid.

5. Life and Death

“sound of guns in the line warned…”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 121.

“Silver, linen, clothing…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 83.

“nearer the enemy than ever before”: Bullard, Personalities, 186.

“[Y]ou hardly ever see anybody…”: Anderson, “First Alumnus Killed,” 103.

“The guns could be heard from this billet…”: October 20, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“On the evening of the 23rd…”: Nelson diary.

“All Allied eyes were cast upon…”: September 20, 1919, issue of Portland Commercial Review (IN).

“He said we were going into a place…”: Nelson diary.

“Not far after we split the Co.…”: Ibid.

“burst at the roadside”: October 20, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“to hold its position”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 11.

“To say that we took over a line rather overstates the case”: Bullard/Reeves, American Soldiers, 29.

“a position consisting of practically nothing…”: Lt. George E. Butler, “Battle of Cantigny,” Personal Experience Monograph, DRL, 2–3.

“Dead Colonials still lay in the fields”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“large numbers of large black buzzards eating…”: March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“Trenches were shallow and scanty”: Roosevelt, Americans, 128.

“newly thrown-up earth”: “History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, RG 1241, Box 6, 22.

“In front of Cantigny, in woods on hill…”: Cpl. Tom Carroll diary, FDM.

“would peer through an opening in the clods…”: “History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, RG 1241, Box 6, 22.

“It’s not a sector…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 13; Johnston, Monograph, 7.

“sector-holding troops”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 13.

“by no means inferior”: Ibid., 13–14.

“The Germans were good…”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“typewriter”: Dorr, Soldier’s Mother, 94.

“The engineers were called on to do all this work”: Experience Report of Lieutenant Moses E. Cox, 1st Engineers, December 21, 1918, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 70.

“They simply rained shells everywhere”: Farrell, Experience Report.

“light from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m.”: Dearing, letter to mother, June 12, 1918, My Galahad, 72–73.

“because of enemy fire and the shortness of…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 16.

“I know of no duty which new troops dislike…”: Bullard, Personalities, 158.

“Here we worked for more than a month…”: Irving Wood letter, January 8, 1919, Private Collection.

“remarkable achievement”: “History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 6, 22.

“permitted deep and dry dugouts…”: Welcome P. Waltz, “Operations of Company C, 3d Machine Gun Battalion at Cantigny (Personal Experience),” Infantry School Monograph, Advanced Course 1928–1929, Ft. Benning, GA, DRL, 4.

“all the trenches in the sector had…”: Butler, Monograph, 3.

“showed badly on aerial photographs…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 12.

“pitch black nights”: Dearing, letter to sister Louise, May 15, 1918, My Galahad, 54.

“I averaged more narrow escapes per day…”: Farrell, Experience Report.

“Men lived in that sector under the most…”: Evarts, Cantigny, 2.

“We kept shovels and tools in small piles…”: Lt. Jason L. Bronston, letter to ABMC, May 29, 1926, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“Guns and machine-guns on both sides…”: Nelson diary.

“the Germans shelling us almost every 15 minutes…”: Bronston letter.

“First a few flashes can be seen…”: Roosevelt, Americans, 110–11.

“[S]hells come over so big…”: June 5, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“In a very heavy bombardment when…”: Evarts, Cantigny, 72.

“They gave off different sounds”: Senay, “Shavetail,” 35.

“largely imitated the lonesome night howl…”: March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“[W]e soon learned the different noises…”: Haydock, Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, 138.

“were hurled daily against our poorly…”: “The 5th Field Artillery in the Last War: Its Accomplishments and the Accomplishments of Its Commanding Officers,” Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 23, 6.

“Death Valley”: Johnston, Monograph, 9; Pvt. Bert Carl Tippman, letter to friend, October 20, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI); The Story of the 16th Infantry in France.

“[I]t certainly earned its name”: October 20, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“the knowledge that one would always run…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 10.

“the valley was one big shell hole…”: February 24, 1919, issue of Logansport Pharos Reporter (IN).

“At night every road was swept with a fire…”: Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 70.

“badly torn up by the intense artillery fire”: Butler, Monograph, 3.

“City of Suicides”: June 28, 1919, issue of Clinton Daily Clintonian (IN).

“Shells were bursting frequently”: Summerall, Way of Duty, 121.

“The Germans evidently spotted the kitchen coming…”: Memoir of Earl D. Seaton, American Voices of World War I, 71.

“whomp”: Ibid., 71–72.

“constantly subjected to a fierce fire”: History of the 7th Field Artillery (First Division, A.E.F.), 47.

“[O]ne of our Captains was buried by a shell…”: Smith, The Colonel, 203.

“a molelike existence”: Ibid., 202.

“While in this sector I wouldn’t…”: January 22, 1919, issue of Clinton Daily Clintonian (IN).

“grass-cutters”: Bullard, Personalities, 188.

“There is almost a continuous hum of airplanes…”: Dearing, letter to mother, March 11, 1918, My Galahad, 41. Note: “aeroplanes” in original corrected to “airplanes.”

“almost feel the whiff of [their] wings”: Bullard, Personalities, 188. Note: Bullard originally wrote “whiff of his wings” even though speaking collectively of German planes.

“became sometimes almost hysterical in the feeling…”: Ibid., 189–90.

“Our ammunition supply”: History of the 7th Field Artillery, 48.

“paralyz[ed] the enemy’s movements”: “The 5th Field Artillery in the Last War,” 6.

“demoralizing losses”: Marshall, Memoirs, 83.

“the whole German sky lit up…”: Evarts, Cantigny, 34–36.

“the blazing, crashing wall of steel…”: Ibid.

“[S]o prompt and rapid was the response…”: “The 5th Field Artillery in the Last War,” 4.

“I relieved Red Kelly of the 18th Infantry…”: Senay, “Shavetail,” 35.

“It was terrible to realize that there…”: January 25, 1919, issue of Ironwood News Record (MI).

“[f]or a quarter mile outside of the little village…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 85.

“holding the position”: Message from Bullard to Pershing, 5 p.m., May 28, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 27.

“mechanical limit”: Bullard/Reeves, American Soldiers, 26.

“capture the plateau north of Mesnil St. Georges”: Memorandum, May 12, 1918, 28th Infantry, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 54.

“The days passed without a hostile advance”: Marshall, Memoirs, 89.

“The Boche could look down our throats”: Senay, “Shavetail,” 46.

“to improve its position”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 2, 54–55.

“[A]t this moment the morale of the Allies…”: Ibid.

“Before we came Cantigny had been twice taken…”: Bullard, Personalities, 196.

“the best equipped, best officered…”: Ibid., 164.

“new and distinctly American operation”: Marshall, Memoirs, 89.

6. Marshall’s First Plan

“out of a clear sky”: Marshall, Memoirs, 89.

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy”: Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings, 45–47.

“By direction, this was to be an operation…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 90.

“We have taken no prisoners since…”: Col. Hamilton Smith, Memorandum, May 23, 1918, 26th Infantry Regiment, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 50.

“One or more prisoners”: Ibid.

“I’ve had a patrol out every night”: Tom Carroll diary.

“enemy working parties, enemy strongpoints…”: Lt. Samuel Smith, Memorandum, February 18, 1918, George Redwood Papers, Maryland Historical Society Library, Baltimore, MD.

“A machine-gun fired on us from a point…”: Lt. L. Irwin Morris, patrol report, May 17–18, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“moved towards enemy’s trenches…”: Cpt. Henry Mosher, patrol report, May 18–19, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“MG active and flash seen near…”: Lt. George Redwood, patrol report, May 20–21, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“like a Hun”: Pvt. “Paddy” Davis, interview in August 25, 1918, issue of Washington (DC) Post.

“extraordinary heroism”: WWR, vol. 23.

“our little adventure”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 158.

“did not know what fear was”: Ibid., 151.

“took prisoners he would read us…”: Ibid., 157–58.

“The joke of it”: August 25, 1918, issue of The Washington Post.

“the best reputation I ever heard a man get”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 152.

“brought something back that could walk”: James Carl Nelson, The Remains of Company D, 73.

“scout officer”: Lt. George Redwood, patrol report, May 18–19, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“During the night we could check up [on] most…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 84.

“we studied the lay of the ground until shortly…”: Ibid., 90.

“having for its object the capture of Cantigny”: Field Order No. 18, May 20, 1918, with Annexes May 22 and Amendments to May 24, Lt. Col. George C. Marshall, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Boxes 16 & 18.

“creeping barrage”: Ibid.

“mopping up the caves and the underground”: Ibid.

“follow the barrage as closely as possible”: Ibid.

“to absolutely prevent firing at the wrong range”: 1st Field Artillery Brigade Records, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 66.

“the counter battery artillery must be extremely…”: Field Order No. 18.

“work independently of the quality of the hand…”: Bullard, Personalities, 95.

“optional with the regimental commander…”: Capt. Paul Parker, “The Battle of Cantigny,” Infantry School Monograph, DRL, 339.

“giant of a man”: Bullard, Fighting Generals, 45.

“[F]ew officers of any army were as well prepared…”: Ibid.

“steam-roller”: Ibid.

“was chosen, because of its splendid discipline…”: “First American Attack Remembered,” May 29, 1938, issue of San Antonio Light (TX).

“about the size of a piano box”: Pvt. Earl D. Seaton, memoir published in American Voices of World War I: Primary Source Documents, 1917–1920, 78.

“special instruction”: Memorandum re. F.O. #18, Col. King, Chief of Staff, 1st Div. May 18, 1918. NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“a long, hard, all-night pull”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 139.

“Ground was selected as near the actual terrain…”: “First American Attack Remembered,” May 29, 1938, issue of San Antonio Light (TX).

“In addition”: Butler, Monograph, 8.

“represented by men carrying tree branches”: Col. Hanson Ely, Report for 28th Infantry Regiment on Capture & Consolidation of Position, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“During next two days the entire Regiment…”: Ibid.

“[W]e practiced for the attack for three days”: Wood letter, January 8, 1919.

“One French General gave a long critique…”: Dacus, WWI Veterans Survey.

“This demonstration was quite impressive”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 7.

“French machine gunners played the role of Germans”: July 23, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“They were kept at it until they were letter perfect…”: December 22, 1918, issue of Boston Globe (MA).

“They knew where they were to jump off…”: Ibid.

“In the last day’s practice the entire Regiment…”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“General Pershing said that ‘no inch was to be given up’…”: Smythe, Pershing, 125.

“a few rough edges could have been better smoothed off”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“In his characteristic, forceful way…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 8.

“a big batch of mail”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 139.

“This isn’t the eve of battle but it is so close…”: Newhall, letter to mother, May 26, 1918, Selected Papers, 78.

“Mother I will stay with you if I ever get back”: Carl Fey, letter to mother, May 26, 1918, Private Collection.

“Watch the papers and magazines for the efforts of…”: Lt. Dan Birmingham, letter to mother, May 1918, FDM.

“Things are very different this time”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 137.

265 men from two companies … 18th Infantry Regiment Daily Report, May 26, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 46.

“to help out on some rush trench digging…”: McClure, Experience Report.

“deeply concerned”: History of the First, 38–39.

“would disclose to the enemy our intentions…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 93.

“considered suspending the operation”: History of the First, 38–39.

“J day will be May 28”: Campbell King, Very Secret Memorandum on J-Day and H-Hour, May 27, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“This was the subject of careful consideration beforehand”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“This was wrong because it is the same as bringing…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 32.

“the dim white roads to the front”: Johnston, Monograph, 12.

“[T]heir minds”: Ibid.

“bon chance!”: Millett, The General, 363.

“All the French peasants in the nearby villages…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 8.

“All nights near the front lines were very dark…”: Ibid., 9.

“to avoid all possibility of error…”: Annex 1 to Field Order No. 18, May 22, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 16.

“in the dark”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 28, 1918, Selected Papers, 83.

“There was no moon at all at this late hour…”: Johnston, Monograph, 13.

“narrow trails winding through the wheat”: Ibid.

“The moon was veiled and the stars were hidden”: Ibid., 29.

“with a view to getting a little sleep”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 28, 1918, Selected Papers, 83.

“quite fatigued”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 10.

“a real drum fire barrage…”: Ibid.

“At five fifteen, the Germans opened bombardment…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 28, 1918, Selected Papers, 83.

“I got a little scratch on my left arm”: Lt. Samuel Parker, letter to brother John Parker, June 2, 1918, published in July 15, 1918, issue of Monroe Enquirer (NC); July 16, 1918, issue of Monroe Journal (NC).

“H-1”: Field Order No. 18.

“a 105 hit the place we had just left…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“huddled … in the bottom of the trench”: Ibid.

“[o]ver an hour had gone by and still…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 11.

“Retreat, they have broken through!”: Ibid., 12.

“took one look at those huge geysers of dirt…”: Ibid., 13.

“It made quite a show…”: Ibid.

“We were”: Herman Dacus, letter, August 15, 1984, Private Collection, provided to the author by James Carl Nelson.

“scurrying to escape the grenade fragments…”: Johnston, Monograph, 57.

“buried and shell shocked”: Morning Report, May 27, 1818, NPRC.

Pvt. Clifford Ledford … Burial File of Pvt. Clifford Ledford, NPRC.

“Tarnopol”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 39.

“Raid was repulsed with heavy casualties”: Johnston, letter to American Battle Monuments Commission, December 19, 1925, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“I do not believe that the Second Battalion, 28th Infantry…”: Capt. Charles Senay, letter to American Battle Monuments Commission, April 21, 1926, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“Their efforts failed…”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

7. A Hellish Clamor

“beautiful dug-outs”: Daniel Sargent, “Cantigny,” unpublished personal account, January 28, 1976, AHEC, 2.

“an unfamiliar sight…”: Ibid., 3.

“a grandiose nineteenth century chateau…”: Ibid., 4.

“a little bit”: Ibid.

“making dangerous headway”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 2, 60.

“feint attacks”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 39.

“Once more it proved a brilliant success”: Ludendorff, My War Memories, vol. 2, 629.

“This was a heavy blow”: Marshall, Memoirs, 94.

“As we left the trucks we heard…”: Pvt. John Johnston, March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“That night everything seemed quiet”: Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 75.

“as black as hell itself”: Lt. M.P. “Doc” Bedsole, Letter to sister, dated August 17, 1918., Alabama Textual Materials Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Box #SG017101, Folder #1 “World War 1, 1917–1918—Soldiers’ Letters.”

“Very secret. H hour will be 6:45 a.m.…”: “Very Secret” Memorandum on J-Day and H-Hour, Col. Campbell King, May 27, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“prepared schedules for each gun”: Major Austin, letter to mother, June 1, 1918, AHEC.

“in person”: Colonel King Memorandum, May 27, 1918.

“reliable watches”: “Very Secret” Memorandum on Synchronization of Watches, May 27, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“came a wait of perhaps an hour before…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 8, 1918, Selected Papers, 83.

“[I] tried my best to take a little snooze…”: Sgt. Cesar Santini, November 1, 1919, issue of Middlesboro Pinnacle News (KY).

“5440”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“Don’t be late”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 6.

“I could see the stars…”: Ibid., 10.

“still a chance of being late”: Ibid.

“seemed to be luminous…”: Ibid.

“could hear a fly buzzing in the air”: Cpl. Boleslaw Suchocki, first account, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184, 1.

“Suchocki, why don’t you rest…”: Ibid.

“but after one had slept…”: Experience Report of Lt. John McClure, 1st Engineers, 12/21/1918, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 70.

“I was colder than I had been…”: Ibid.

“all awake, half sitting up.”: Ibid.

“carrying on a very interesting conversation”: Suchocki, second account, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 70, 1.

“I remarked to Jones…”: McClure, Experience Report.

“It burst with a thunderous roar.”: Suchocki, first account, 1.

“go way up in the air…”: Ibid.

“is no need to run around…”: Ibid.

“an impossibility for a shell…”: McClure, Experience Report.

“We heard another one coming…”: Ibid.

“At once a tremendous explosion…”: Suchocki, second account, 2.

“I had a random thought…”: McClure, Experience Report.

“as soon as I put my arms…”: Suchocki, second account, 3.

“as soft as a pillow”: Ibid.

“Jones never knew what hit him”: Report of Lt. Moses E. Cox, Burial File of Lt. Hamlet P. Jones, NPRC.

“a small hole and…”: Suchocki, second account, 2.

“sitting on a stone pile…”: Report of 1st Sgt. Thomas M. Kelly, Burial File of PFC Albert V. MacDougall, NPRC.

“was hot as fire and…”: Suchocki, second account, 2.

“That was a busy bunch in there”: McClure, Experience Report.

“caused an immediate change…”: Experience Report of Capt. Horace Smith, 1st Engineers, 12/22/1918, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 70.

“made the work very hard…”: Cox, Experience Report.

“which glinted in the starlight”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 11.

“how small the village was”: Ibid., 8.

“blanched white”: Ibid., 11.

“seriously subdued”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“the first moment the light would permit…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 94.

“quite clear. More so than usual”: “Journal of Cantigny Operations”—First Field Artillery Brigade, NA, RG 92, entry 1241, Box 61; also “First Field Artillery Brigade, January 1918—November 1918, Memos and Notes,” Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 14.

“there was plenty to occupy…”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“at the first shots the Boches’…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“[t]hree enemy balloons up”: “Journal of Cantigny Operations,” NA, and Summerall Papers, LOC.

“Tout le artillerie est comme ça…”: Millett, The General, 363.

“How many guns there were…”: Bedsole letter, August 17, 1918.

“Mother of God!”: Ibid.

“at 5:45 all batteries began a heavy…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“you cannot see Cantigny on account…”: “Journal of Cantigny Operations,” NA, and Summerall Papers, LOC.

“The ground was pounded…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“[A]t 5:45 a.m., the world turned…”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 12.

“statistics can give no idea…”: Ibid.

“If the men felt confident before…”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“Every one of us came to life…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 15.

“All of us, at once, sensed…”: Ibid.

“practically melt down.”: Clancy, Just a Country Lawyer, 67.

“Cantigny itself took on the appearance…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 95.

“to destroy the enemy’s trenches…”: Ibid.

“The shells kept on going overhead…”: Recollections of Capt. Daniel R. Edwards, in Doughboy War, edited by James Hallas, 80.

“One could see half a building rise…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“a sight never to be forgotten.”: Capt. Stuart D. Campbell, “Positions Occupied, Situation and Events that took place before, during and after the Battle of Cantigny by ‘E’ Co. 2nd Bn., 18th Infty.” 7/4/1918, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 47.

“could not hear any response”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 13.

“Our artillery was pounding the German lines…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 8, 1918, Selected Papers, 83.

“brought the awaiting troops to their feet”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 15.

“still in the act of installing themselves…”: War Diary of 26th German Reserve Corps, 58, CARL; NA, RG 165, Box 15.

“had not yet become fully acquainted…”: Ibid.

“Enemy preparing attack against 82nd…”: Ibid., 56.

“special understanding”: Corps HQ Report, June 2, 1918, in Ibid., 82.

“cannot be justified”: Ibid.

“Enemy artillery very quiet”: “Journal of Cantigny Operations,” NA, and Summerall Papers, LOC.

“lengthen the range”: “Journal of Cantigny Operations—Headquarters, 1st Field Artillery Brigade,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“[a]nother report that 75’s…”: Ibid.

“in action”: Ibid.

“any Germans who were not in deep…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“a million dollar barrage”: March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune & Leader Press (WI).

“I can truthfully say…”: Ibid.

8. Zero Hour

“It is a queer sensation when you climb…”: December 31, 1918, issue of Reno Evening Gazette (NV).

“not fear, but a sort of excitement”: May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“I honestly was nervous and rather excited”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (Kansas).

“I can only tell of my feeling…”: November 12, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“We had practiced it until each man…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 8, 1918, Selected Papers, 84.

“One by one the batteries dropped their fire…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“a wall of heavy smoke within which…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory, Part II—Over the Top and Beyond,” Collier’s, The National Weekly, New York, September 7, 1918.

“Our guns made so much racket…”: May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“I would look at my watch and when…”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (Kansas).

“While waiting for H hour the men never…”: Capt. Adelbert B. Stewart, Report of Reg. M.G. Co, June 1, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“This was our first real attack and naturally…”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

“Everybody seemed to be more or less excited…”: Pvt. Frank J. Last diary, FDM.

“[A]t 6:45, as though by the command of a single…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“At the same time as the barrage left the line…”: Ibid.

“The jump-off at dawn”: “First American Attack Remembered,” article in May 29, 1938, issue of San Antonio Light (TX).

“started up from the earth and began…”: Maj. Frederick Palmer, Source Records of the Great War, vol. 6, A.D. 1918, 191.

“walked steadily along behind our barrage”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“beautiful plateau…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory,” Collier’s.

“It was a wonderful sight…”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (Kansas).

“I will never forget it as long as I live”: August 11, 1918, issue of Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette (IN).

“It was a wonderful picture when we went over…”: June 26, 1918 issue of Lima Daily News (OH).

“Zero hour itself consists merely of blowing…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 8, 1918, Selected Papers, 84–85.

“to act as a sort of pivoting unit…”: Letter from Capt. Francis M. van Natter to ABMC, April 24, 1926, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“to reach the German trenches and hold them,…”: Newhall, letter to mother, June 8, 1918, Selected Papers, 84.

“a plain ordinary frontal attack to make”: Ibid.

“the whole 1st line down toward the right…”: Ibid., 84–85.

“as far as the eyes can reach”: Newhall, “With the First Division.”

“It is impossible to imagine a sight more…”: Ibid.

“Everyone was on his toes…”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

“Attack formation was quickly taken up…”: Ibid.

“[W]e went over the top cheering…”: September 24, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“after that—well, I thought a little more…”: January 21, 1919, issue of Janesville Daily Gazette (WI).

“They went over into the fighting singing…”: Wood letter, January 8, 1919.

“I took my men, for the first time…”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (KS).

“The tanks looked like haycarts (horseless)”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 13.

“followed the tanks over, and ran ahead…”: Fred S. Ferguson, United Press Correspondent, “America Holds Power Balance,” July 23, 1918, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“The formations were the same as those…”: Major Palmer, Source Records, vol. 6, 191.

“Their line was perfect and they looked as if…”: Capt. Stuart Campbell, report, “Positions Occupied,” July 5, 1918, NA, RG 92, Entry 1241, Box 47.

“The barrage proceeded as we went ahead in waves”: December 31, 1918, issue of Reno Evening Gazette (NV).

“All the men were walking with a firm step,…”: July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (KS).

“trampling with high steps…”: Hopper, “Our First Victory,” Collier’s.

“The rolling barrage was extremely accurate”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“[T]he commanders, as well as the men…”: War Diary, 26th German Reserve Corps, 58.

“[a] defense could not be undertaken…”: Ibid., 70.

“destroyed”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 86.

“a heavy barrage”: War Diary, German 18th Army, 9.

“At the same moment”: War Diary, German 272nd Reserve Infantry Regiment, 69.

“an utter absence of confusion”: Lt. Col. Jesse M. Cullison, Report of 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918; NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy”: Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings, 45–47.

“heavy infantry and machine gun fire”: Ibid.

“saw flame come out of his back when he fell”: Burial Case File of Sgt. Harry Klein, NPRC.

“very feeble”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 17.

“enhanced by tanks…”: War Diary, German 18th Army, 17.

“one big howitzer shell after another”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 17.

“a complete surprise to the Huns”: September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“surrendered immediately”: Report of French Tank Detachment, translated by Maj. P. L. Ransom, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“We captured about all of them…”: September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“had erased them from the terrain,”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 17.

“The force of the blow knocked me over”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 89.

“My first reaction was astonishment that it hit…”: Ibid., 96.

“jumped up and resumed the advance”: Ibid., 89.

“[W]hat went on after that I only know…”: Ibid., 84–85.

“I got shot in the right jaw”: Letter from Pvt. Carl L. Fey to his mother, June 5, 1918; Private Collection.

“I got a hole through my right cheek”: Postcard from Pvt. Carl L. Fey to his mother, June 12, 1918; Private Collection.

“a part ran back to the trenches…”: Lt. von Vegesack, 10th Company Report; War Diary, 272nd Reserve Infantry Regiment.

“lost one or two men wounded by the advance…”: Lt. Samuel I. Parker, Report on 1st Platoon, Company K, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“began jumping out of shell holes and beating it…”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

“I saw your infantry coming…”: Recollection of a German Lieutenant, Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 40.

“The French tanks were right along with us”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“moved forward encountering little resistance”: Gerald R. Tyler, unpublished account, “The Cantigny Operation,” enclosed in letter to ABMC, October 23, 1929; NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“I went over there and could see no connecting…”: Ibid.

“suffered heavy losses”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 69.

“died instantly”: Report of Sgt. Louis Abend, Brooklyn, NY; Burial File of Harvey W. Fahnenstalk, NPRC.

“instantly”: Report of Sgt. Louis Abend, Brooklyn, NY; Burial Record of Thomas Larsen; NPRC.

“drill movement”: Capt. Stuart Campbell Report.

“everyone was enthusiastic and delighted”: Marshall, Memoirs, 95.

“the infantry has gone over the top…”: Phone message received at 6:46 a.m., “Journal of Cantigny Operations—HQ First Field Artillery Brigade,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“very little enemy fire”: Phone message received at 6:47 a.m., Ibid.

“First line went over led by tanks…”: Phone message sent from 2nd Brigade to Division at 6:50 a.m., Field Messages of 2nd Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 41. Note: “lead” in original corrected to “led.”

9. Second Wave

“The worst part was the minutes approaching…”: May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“We were”: Ibid.

“As the line reached the crest…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“advance was swift and unchecked”: Lt. L. Irwin Morris, Report for 2nd Platoon, Company K, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“The Germans just threw up their hands and ran…”: September 24, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“I was between the first and second waves…”: Ibid.

“[I]t was our duty to clean out…”: Lt. John Mays, letter to mother, published in article “Atlantan Writes of Terrific Fight At Cantigny Town,” July 7, 1918 issue of Atlanta Constitution.

“Two squads of automatic riflemen ran…”: Morris, Report for 2nd Platoon, Company K.

“I myself killed two Boches…”: Mays letter, Atlanta Constitution.

“covered with growing crops…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 20.

“The 2nd lines rapidly closed on the 1st…”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“[t]he Lieutenant walked from one end…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, Vol. III, 141.

“Lieutenant you keep low”: Ibid.

“They can’t kill me”: Ibid.

“He was hit by a machine-gun bullet…”: Ibid.

“he won the highest respect of every man…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, vol. 3, 141.

“displayed qualities of coolness and gallantry…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“rudderless”: James Carl Nelson, Five Lieutenants, 266.

“gallantry in action…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“[m]any machine-gun positions”: Cullison, Report of 3rd Battalion.

“advanced 20 yards when he was seen to fall”: Burial file of PFC Edward Lutz, NPRC.

“Mechanic Lockwood ran over to him…”: Ibid.

“the company reached its assigned objective…”: van Natter letter, April 24, 1926.

“The advance was made at schedule rate…”: Lt. Jim Quinn, report of Company G, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“skeleton squads”: Johnston, Monograph, 40.

“a football rush, only less rough”: Irving Wood, Rushville Daily Republican (IN), June 26, 1918.

“From the time we left our jumping off…”: Capt. James V. Ware, report of Company H, 28th Infantry, June 4, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“were given the complete plan and full liberty…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 94.

“should not precede the first infantry wave…”: Ibid.

“The sun, which had risen above the barrage…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory, Part II—Over the Top and Beyond,” Collier’s, The National Weekly, New York, September 7, 1918.

“Nobody was running,”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 13.

“climbing equally steadily up the slope”: Ibid., 14.

“And our soldiers were entering Cantigny”: Ibid.

“Cantigny had not a wall left standing when…”: Jesse Evans diary.

“Cantigny is completely wrecked”: Fred Ferguson, UPI, June 6, 1918 issue of Ackley World Journal (IA).

“I tell you, you can’t tell when you are…”: Lt. Harry Martin, July 4, 1918, issue of Emporia Weekly Gazette (KS).

“I raised my pistol on him…”: Ibid.

“The town was hit at the correct places”: Ware, report of Company H.

“strutting among them and displaying…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 17.

“charged in a straight rhinoceros line…”: Hopper, Ibid.

“these tanks got in some good work…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 17–18.

“They seemed to be off to themselves…”: Ibid., 18.

“Tell Ruth Uncle Levy killed her a big fat one…”: Levy Wilson, letter home, May 31, 1918, Denton Record-Chronicle (TX), June 28, 1918.

“falling down”: Boleslaw Suchocki, “The Battle of Cantigny—As Seen by One Who Was There,” The Military Engineer, 13, no. 71, September–October 1921, 393.

“[A] shell burst about ten feet in front…”: Ibid.

“I could not see farther than 100 feet…”: Ibid.

“[T]he shell exploded directly in front of him…”: Report of Cpl. Jesse Allen, Burial File of PFC Wilford Wethington, NPRC.

“Forward!”: Suchocki, “The Battle of Cantigny,” 393.

“violent machine-gun fire”: Pvt. Earl Simons, September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“there stop us some kind [of] unknown…”: Suchocki, “The Battle of Cantigny,” 395.

“lay down”: Ibid.

“the first man in Co. F that was killed”: Report of Pvt. Bernard E. Kavanaugh, Burial File of Pvt. Joseph Leiter, NPRC.

“only six of us left, the rest killed or wounded”: Suchocki, “The Battle of Cantigny,” 395.

“to watch closely the compass reading…”: Lt. Gerald Tyler, “The Cantigny Operation,” narrative of the battle enclosed in letter to American Battle Monuments Commission, October 23, 1929, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“had been killed by shell fire”: Ibid.

“a fan shaped forward movement”: Ibid.

“Our men have entered Cantigny”: 6:56 a.m. entry, May 28, 1918, 1st Field Artillery HQ Journal, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

10. We Took the Hill

“Nothing was seen any more of the other platoons…”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 72.

“in dense masses”: Ibid.

“No artillery fire followed these signals”: Ibid.

“Tomorrow we are going to attack”: Lt. Robert B. Anderson, letter to mother, May 27, 1918, Private Collection.

“prevent the right flank being turned”: Maj. George Rozelle, report of 1st Battalion, June 3, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“The digging in woods was very difficult”: Lt. James L. Hartney, report of Company A, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“about 50 yards of trench…”: Ibid.

“down the field under the kick-off…”: Lt. Nielson Poe letter, June 5, 1918, “Was in Cantigny Fight,” July 21, 1918, issue of The Baltimore Sun (MD).

“The artillery laid a beautiful barrage…”: Ibid.

“We were to take a hill to the right…”: Pvt. William McCombs, November 18, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“Sometimes you would hear shells…”: Poe letter, June 5, 1918.

“When we reached Cantigny it was only…”: Lt. George Butler, May 29, 1918, issue of Muskogee Times Democrat (OK).

“It was the finest example of teamwork…”: Ibid.

“Our fellows threw grenades like baseballs…”: Lt. George Butler, May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“Huns were called upon to come out”: Lt. Samuel Smith, Intelligence Officer, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, “Report on Conditions and Material in Captured Area of Cantigny,” June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“[A] general clean up took place…”: Ibid.

“The enemy ran out of caves…”: Lt. George Butler, May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“Map of enemy’s positions of rear…”: Smith report, June 2, 1918.

“The men were rolling cigarettes as…”: Pvt. John Johnston, March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“It was a great sight to see…”: Pvt. Ralph E. Loucks letter, June 27, 1918, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (IN), August 11, 1918.

“The platoon I was in was nearly up…”: Ibid.

“I crawled into a shell hole and just…”: Ibid.

“He was hit several times,…”: Report of First Sgt. Joseph L. Olbrych, Burial File of Pvt. Jacob Ciezielczyk, NPRC.

“I am going to die”: Report of Sgt. Walter Christenson, Burial File of PFC Frank Caralunas, NPRC.

“”Tell my mother I died like a man”: Report of Pvt. Joseph Lukaschonski, Burial File of PFC Clifton B. Eby, NPRC.

“the bark could be seen peeling off…”: Pvt. John Johnston, March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“On reaching the objective”: Parker, Report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“The enemy saw me rush-in”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

“Yes, a Hell of a Kamerad”: Ibid.

“The gun was then slewed around and…”: Morris, Report for 2nd Platoon, Company K.

“directed me to the exact location…”: Samuel Ervin Jr., letter to mother of George Redwood, May 2, 1920, FDM.

“I remarked to him that he was somewhat…”: Ibid.

“Instead of doing what is ordinarily…”: Ibid.

“I told him I thought it inadvisable…”: Tyler, “The Cantigny Operation.”

“decided to follow his advice”: Ibid.

“I gave him what information I could”: Ibid.

“I had nearly reached it when things…”: Lt. James J. Lawrence, July 13, 1918, issue of Atlanta Constitution (GA).

“Then I saw red”: Hamilton Holt, “The Black Snakes: A Visit to Bullard’s Boys at Cantigny,” The Independent, August 3, 1918, issue, 184.

“These men were also killed”: Capt. Clarence Oliver, Report of Company B, 28th Infantry, June 1, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“I was a pretty good baseball pitcher…”: Cpl. Lewis L. Kowaski, December 12, 1918, issue of Des Moines Daily News (IA).

“banged away”: Ibid.

“We took Cantigny on schedule time…”: Wood letter, January 8, 1919.

“And now our men were walking through…”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 14.

“Objective reached”: Message, 7:24 a.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 41.

“The success of this phase of the operation…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 95.

“Over 100 prisoners from two different regiments…”: Colonel Ely phone message, 8:00 a.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“most successful”: General Pershing diary entry, May 28, 1918, Pershing Papers, Box 2, Folder 13, Manuscript Division, LOC, 449.

“with the wonder of the performance”: Bullard, Personalities, 197.

140 German prisoners brought in … Pershing diary entry, May 28, 1918.

“We took the hill—and held it”: Pvt. William McCombs, November 12, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“losing our nerve”: Ibid.

11. A Pack of Bumblebees

“The pick or the shovel…”: Poe letter, June 5, 1918.

“Just as the digging began…”: Parker, report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“dodging from one shell hole to another”: Pvt. Emory Smith, September 24, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“taking an entrenching tool from comrade’s pack…”: Report of Cpl. Clayton O. Waite, Burial File of Pvt. Amelet Gialanella, NPRC.

“a quiet fellow”: Report of Pvt. Ernest Drake, Burial File of PFC Charles H. Harsch, NPRC.

“made a step for a shell hole to start…”: Report of Pvt. Harry C. Langley, Burial File of Pvt. Eugene Griepentrog, NPRC.

“As soon as he was injured he became…”: Report of Pvt. Harry C. Langley, Burial File of Cpl. Harry McCredie, NPRC.

“was struck in the left temple with a machine-gun bullet…”: Report of Pvt. Ernest Drake, Burial File of Cpl. Jethers Schoemaker, NPRC.

“I’m shot”: Report of Pvt. Richardson Peters, Burial File of Pvt. Matthew B. Juan (aka Matthew Rivers), NPRC.

Matthew Juan … Correspondence between Mary B. Juan with War Department, Burial File of Matthew B. Juan (aka Rivers), NPRC; also July 1, 1927, issue of Casa Grande Dispatch (AZ).

“encouraged his men by his example…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“We dug while the sun was coming up”: Pvt. John Johnston, March 2, 1919, issue of La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press (WI).

“As soon as we reached the objective…”: Poe letter, June 5, 1918.

Pvt. Harry Gums was still lying … December 27, 1918, issue of Janesville Daily Gazette (WI).

“chewed”: Lt. James J. Lawrence, August 3, 1918, issue of Indiana Evening Gazette (PA).

Lt. Soren Sorensen … Nelson, Remains of Company D, 49–54.

“most casualties were on reaching…”: Lt. Soren Sorensen, Report of Company D, 28th Infantry, June 1, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“between the shoulder blades”: Report of Sgt. Ira Huddleston, Burial File of PFC Walter Daw, NPRC.

“When they began digging in…”: George Butler, May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“The bullet hit him in the forehead…”: Report of Cpl. Oscar Roulo, Burial File of Pvt. William Fishette, NPRC.

“[d]ropped his head a little”: Report of Sgt. Willard Storms, Burial File of Cpl. George Anslow, NPRC.

“It was like a pack of bumblebees”: George Butler, May 29, 1918, issue of Marion Daily Star (OH).

“He was hit by at least five bullets…”: Report of Cpl. Walter B Rice, Burial File of Sgt. Roy N. Hockenberry, NPRC.

“Now I could see into its ruined…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory, Part II,” Collier’s.

“a bushy black beard”: Cpl. Daniel Edwards, Doughboy War, James Hallas, editor, 81–82.

“So many young boys…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory, Part II,” Collier’s.

“some running but few looking back…”: Cpt. Stuart Campbell, “Positions Occupied,” July 5, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 47.

“They were so thin it looked impossible…”: Cpl. George Ross, June 28, 1919, issue of Clinton Daily Clintonian (IN).

“seemed quite young and all…”: Major Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

“just as I had seen rabbits in Kansas…”: Edward Coffman, The War to End All Wars, 156–57.

“We didn’t have money in those days”: Capt. Clarence Huebner, March 10, 1971, issue of The Holyrood Gazette (KS).

“I took good aim right through…”: Suchocki, second account, 4.

“I saw that a Dutchman stick…”: Ibid.

“alone killing four enemy snipers…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“During this time the counter-battery…”: Brig. Gen. H. W. Butner, “Report on Operation Against Cantigny, May 28, 1918,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“Orders for the withdrawal of more…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 95.

“neutralization of enemy batteries…”: Field Order No. 18, May 20, 1918, with amendments to May 24 and Annex 1, 3, 4 (May 22), NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Boxes 16 and 18.

“The German guns, unsuppressed…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 95.

“everything changed. Our artillery…”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 14.

“made a direct hit and mangle[d]…”: Report of Cpl. Leon C. Kohmann, Burial File of PFC Marion Thompson, NPRC.

“had started to dig in”: Report of Sgt. James Whalen, Burial File of Pvt. Paul Davis, NPRC.

“instantly killed”: Ibid.

“so I can buy a nice stone to put…”: Eliza Davis, letter to War Department, Burial File of Pvt. Paul Davis, NPRC; Note: “semetery” in original corrected to “cemetery.”

“PAUL DAVIS CO D 28 INF”: Burial File of Pvt. Paul Davis, NPRC.

“I had been hit three times more…”: Newhall, letter to Paul Birdsall, April 29, 1963, Selected Papers, 96.

“drew hostile artillery and machine-gun fire”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 28.

“Within the first five minutes…”: Morris, Report for 2nd Platoon, Company K.

“Just as he got on the parapet…”: Report of PFC James Chastain, Burial File of Pvt. Joseph Zboran, NPRC.

“The trench being too crowded…”: Report of Pvt. Charlie Havens, Burial File of Cpl. August Schmidt, NPRC.

“Morris come over here and fix me up”: Report of Lt. Irwin Morris, Burial File of Lt. Paul Waples Derrickson, NPRC.

“Fearlessly walking up and down…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“lived only a moment or two”: Report of Lt. Irwin Morris, Burial File of Lt. Clarence Milton Drumm, NPRC.

“he was captured or is in a hospital…”: Letter from Linnie Booth to Lt. Irwin Morris, June 28, 1918, Private Collection.

“I opened my 1st aid packet…”: Report of PFC Thomas Fursh, Burial File of Pvt. Virgil Varnado, NPRC.

“very well-liked by the boys”: Report of Pvt. Edward Derrick, Burial File of Pvt. Raymond Branshaw, NPRC.

“Here’s my watch…”: Report of Lt. Samuel Parker, Burial File of Pvt. Raymond Branshaw, NPRC.

“immediately began to dig in…”: Capt. Clarence Huebner, Report of 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918.

“When I reached the colonel I found…”: Report of Capt. Clarence Huebner, Burial File of Lt. Col. Robert Jayne Maxey, NPRC.

“Maxey seriously wounded…”: Capt. Clarence Huebner, phone message, 9:07 a.m., May 28, 1918, Report of Capt. William Livesay, Adjutant, 28th Infantry, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“28th Inf. reports everything fine here…”: Marshall, phone message, 9:22 a.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 41.

12. Ignore the Bullets

“laughing at the photographer who…”: Nelson, Five Lieutenants, 259.

“It was nature to ignore the bullets”: Wood letter, December 8, 1919.

“queer sense of unreality”: Ibid.

“I saw his body jerk and then…”: Johnston letter, November 20, 1918.

“He was in an exhausted position…”: Capt. William G. Livesay, report of Adjutant, 28th Infantry, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“lengthen barrage 200 yards”: Message received at 28th Infantry P.C., 9:15 a.m., May 28, 1918, “Report on operations Against Cantigny,” Livesay, report of Adjutant, 28th IR.

“The slope of the plateau was…”: Butler, Monograph, 11.

“in order to shelter ourselves…”: Report of Pvt. Edward White, Burial File of Cpl. Arthur J. Wood, NPRC.

“I heard the shell coming and knew…”: Pvt. Earl Simons, September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“The large number of wounded…”: Ely, Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“I had never imagined that carrying a man…”: James Hopper, “Our First Victory, Part II,” Collier’s.

“Sure was an awful day”: PFC Vernon L. Scobie diary, FDM.

“went to the spot where the wounded…”: Report of Pvt. George Spitler, Burial Files of Pvt. Martin L. Shelton and Pvt. George Ratzlaff, NPRC.

“There was”: Report of Pvt. Austin Bradley, Burial File of Lt. Norborne R. Gray, NPRC.

“[I]n the face of the heavy fire…”: September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“I was taken on a two-wheeled dinky…”: Pvt. Earl Simons, September 5, 1918, issue of Altoona Mirror (PA).

“certainly wasn’t a pleasant place…”: Pvt. William McCombs, July 15, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“[D]octors work to the noise of bursting shells…”: Dorr, A Soldier’s Mother, 111.

“a series of more or less painful…”: Ibid., 116.

“evacuating patients on litters…”: Report of Pvt. Claude Medley, Burial File of Pvt. Harry H. Eschbach, NPRC.

“as close to the ground as possible”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 15.

“A splinter of it tore into…”: Ibid., 18.

“flank protection”: Annex No. 6 to Field Order No. 18, May 22, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 18.

“probable enemy strong points”: Ibid.

“well worthwhile if only for the moral…”: Huebner, Report of 2nd Battalion.

“kept together and travelled in a…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 22.

“very active”: Ware, Report of Company H.

“struck by a shell splinter…”: Report of Sgt. Vincenzo Farchi, Burial File of Cpl. Herman Evans, NPRC.

“He was holding his watch timing…”: Report of Sgt. Fred Benning, Burial File of PFC Ivan Stringer, NPRC.

“to God that whatever occasion…”: George Stein, letter to father, January 14, 1918, Private Collection.

“until so severely wounded as to be unable…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“until severely wounded”: WWR, vol. 23.

“We went forward about seventy-five…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land 5 Days,” August 29, 1928, issue of Aiken Journal and Review (SC).

“under heavy fire, back to a place of safety”: Mays letter, Atlanta Constitution.

“walking from one place to another…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“I am glad I was there to have my old friend…”: Mays letter, Atlanta Constitution.

“with great efficiency and coolness…”: John Mays, letter to John J. Parker, March 29, 1920, Samuel I. Parker File, Heritage Room, Union County Courthouse, Monroe, North Carolina.

“marked gallantry under the most difficult conditions”: Ibid.

“I fell where I lay and was bleeding…”: Pvt. Emory Smith, September 21, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“hit in the neck by a sniper’s bullet”: Report of Bugler William Turner, Burial File of Sgt. Thomas E. Peden, NPRC.

“He was conscious about thirty seconds”: Report of PFC William Mervyn, Burial File of Cpl. Nathan Korngold, NPRC.

“A good sized piece of the metal…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“that Captain Anderson and all other officers…”: Tyler, “The Cantigny Operation.”

“By this time machine-gun bullets…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“It was the sniper’s bullet”: Ibid.

“hit by a sniper”: Report of Cpl. Louis Abend, Burial File of Pvt. Archie Lackshire, NPRC.

“slim, very quiet…”: Report of Cpl. Louis Abend, Burial File of Pvt. Emery Dean, NPRC.

“The work of this carrying party…”: Capt. Willis Tack, Report of Company I, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“And so I got down and took…”: Clancy, Just a Country Lawyer, 67.

“He refused to believe they were Americans…”: Ibid., 68.

“Wir sind verdammte Schweine”: Ibid.

“exceptional courage and perseverance”: WWR, vol. 23.

“action had quieted down considerably…”: Lieutenant Sorensen, Report of Company D.

“‘[A] big one’ exploded within a yard…”: Nelson, Remains of Company D, 100.

“staggered forward as soon as he regained…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“giving a striking example of…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“in good condition”: Sorensen, Report of Company D.

“We were digging in when we heard…”: Report of Sgt. Barley Larkin, Burial File of Lt. Max Buchanan, NPRC.

“with a thick poultice of blood and brains”: Nelson, Remains of Company D, 102.

“about 100 men marching on road”: Report at 1st Field Artillery Brigade HQ, 9:46 a.m., May 28, 1918, “Journal of Cantigny Operations,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“doing us more harm than ever”: Ibid.

“When the Germans started their counterattack…”: Report of Sgt. Barley Larkin, Burial File of Pvt. Frank Beck, NPRC.

“trying to keep the other men down…”: Report of Cpl. Ira Huddleston, Burial File of Sgt. John R. Pooler, NPRC.

“carried him through heavy machine-gun fire…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“a direct hit”: Report of Cpl. John Rusinowecz, Burial File of Pvt. Jerome Angell, NPRC.

“seven of the enemy before he…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“dispersed”: Report at 1st Field Artillery Brigade HQ, 10:40 a.m., May 28, 1918.

“too combat strong”: Major P. L. Ransom, “The Capture of Cantigny—An Account Based Upon the Official German Records,” FDM.

“concentrated fire”: War Diary, German 18th Army, 8.

“[T]he main reliance must be upon…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 1, 393; April 16, 1917, speech, Pershing Papers.

13. Half Crazy, Temporarily Insane

“[a]ll objectives were taken”: Operations Report, 10:00 a.m. May 27 to 10:00 a.m. May 28, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 27.

“everything quiet on front”: 11:30 a.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“Cantigny is occupied by the enemy”: War Diary, German 18th Army, 17.

“concentrated fire”: War Diary, German 18th Army, 8.

“very heavy enemy shelling began…”: Lt. Col. George Marshall, Memorandum: Report of Incidents Immediately Prior to and During the Operation Against Cantigny carried out on May 28, 1918, May 29, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 42.

“terrific blasting”: “The History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 6, 25.

“Along in the afternoon the enemy…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 88–89.

“fainted with pain”: Ibid., 90.

“killed and not merely badly wounded”: Ibid., 89.

“Every once in a while I would loosen…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“Heavy shelling commenced…”: Lt. John Mays, Report of 4th Platoon, Company K, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“ragtime bugler”: August 22, 1918, issue of New Oxford Item (PA).

“He called out ‘Oh-la-la’…”: Report of Pvt. Emmet Shipp, Burial File of Bugler Joe Mayuiers, NPRC.

“We could look up out of our holes…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 26.

“Ashcans”: Ibid.

“They came over so slowly…”: Ibid., 27.

“stood out like a lighthouse in a storm…”: Ibid., 23.

“I remember when he joined up”: Report of Pvt. Webb LaPointe, Burial File of Pvt. Gaspare Ventimiglia, NPRC.

“shell exploded and buried him”: Ibid.

“completely shot away”: Report of grave searcher, Burial file of Pvt. George Hutchins, NPRC.

“Shortly after entering shell-crater…”: Stewart, report of Reg. M.G. Co.

“losing our nerve”: Pvt. William McCombs, November 12, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“Going over the top is not so bad…”: Ibid.

“I’ll be damned if I see any fun…”: Ibid.

“will have to be reinforced or relieved”: Message from Rozelle to Ely, May 28, 1918, Report on Operations Against Cantigny, HQ, 28th Infantry, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 54.

“has had three officers killed…”: Message from Huebner to Ely, 1:00 p.m., May 28, 1918.

“Capt. Mosher and Lt. Drumm have…”: Message from Cullison to Ely, 1:08 p.m., May 28, 1918.

“not much less”: Phone call from Ely to 2nd Brigade, 2:17 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“Casualties continue from m.g.…”: Ibid.

“extremely heavy losses in officers…”: Marshall, Memorandum, May 29, 1918.

“This was the high-angle stuff that…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 26-27.

“badly mutilated”: Report of Cpl. Leon Kohmann, Burial File of PFC Marion Thompson, NPRC.

“both arms and legs were torn away”: Report of Sgt. Harry Hildebrand, Burial File of Pvt. Cyrus P. Adcox, NPRC.

“The enemy barrage had cut us off…”: Mays, Report of 4th Platoon, Company K.

“Withdraw”: Parker, Report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“half crazy, temporarily insane”: Smythe, Pershing, 128.

“[T]he order was passed down from the right…”: Mays, Report of 4th Platoon, Company K.

“Lieutenant Ward”: Parker, Report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“some of the troops on my left…”: Morris, Report for 2nd Platoon, Company K.

“to hold out until the wounded were evacuated”: Parker, Report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“plow into our line of resistance…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 25.

“Those who were able to do so…”: Pvt. Emory Smith, September 24, 1918, issue of Denton Record-Chronicle (TX).

“intense machine-gun and intense artillery fire”: Nelson, Remains of Company D, 108-109.

“attempted to reach the lines again…”: Ibid.

“I would rather have that man Redwood…”: Memoirs of the Harvard Dead, Vol. III, 161.

“Lieutenant, the company has fallen…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 89.

“It was impossible to take me…”: Ibid., 90.

“number of small detachments…”: van Natter letter, April 24, 1926.

“the two companies withdrew…”: Cullison, Report of 3rd Battalion.

“The withdrawal was”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 20.

“the full force of the German preparation…”: Ibid., 21.

“The way [the enemy] shelled us…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“I was right alongside of him…”: Report of Pvt. Otto Bjorkman, March 15, 1919, Burial File of Cpl. Edward W. Gray, NPRC.

“thrust against an enemy fully prepared…”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 48.

“a number of Germans…”: Lt. Rudolph Koubsky, Report of Company M, 28th Infantry, June 2, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“All were beaten off before reaching…”: Ibid.

“smothered”: Gen. Robert Bullard, Special Situation Report, Noon, May 29, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 27.

“I now expected to be taken prisoner…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 90.

“killed in action”: Letter from Adjutant General’s Office of the War Department re: Private Carl Fey, June 22, 1918, Private Collection.

“increasing steadily”: Message from Rozelle to Ely, 4:55 p.m., May 28, 1918, Report on Operations Against Cantigny, HQ, 28th Infantry.

“he was hit by a shell and all that could…”: Mary Hawley, letter to Adjutant General, November 15, 1920, Burial File of Pvt. Ira A. Hawley, NPRC.

“My line of surveillance withdrew…”: Oliver, Report of Company B.

“infantrymen retreating and what I took…”: Stewart, Report of Reg. M.G. Co.

“the line was reported as retreating”: Ibid.

“D company has vacated sector…”: Message from Rozelle to Ely, 5:45 p.m., May 28, 1918, Report on Operations Against Cantigny, HQ, 28th Infantry.

“At 6:00 p.m.”: Capt. Horace D. Smith, Experience Report, December 22, 1918.

“company was called upon to reinforce…”: Cox, Experience Report.

“several dead German bodies”: Suchocki, second account, 6.

“[W]e rushed to the trench…”: Report of Pvt. John Dowd, Burial File of PFC Daniel S. Miller, NPRC.

“directing the men of his section…”: Report of First Sgt. Thomas Kelly, Burial File of SFC Carl G. Thoete, NPRC.

“Sgt. Thoete was unconscious…”: Ibid.

“When I saw him he was falling…”: Report of Sgt. William Riehl, Burial File of PFC Daniel S. Miller, NPRC.

“laying on the ground…”: Report of Sgt. Ray Deane, Burial File of Pvt. William R. Loftis, NPRC.

“very narrow and shallow and…”: Suchocki, second account, 6.

“you better get down”: Ibid.

“An enemy counter-attack…”: Rozelle, Report of 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, June 3, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1341, Box 55.

“the exhausted state of the troops…”: War Diary, German 272nd Reserve Infantry Regiment, 59.

“entirely too insufficient time…”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 77.

“Situation fine—enemy beaten off”: Phone message from 18th Infantry HQ to 2nd Brigade, 7:55 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

14. The World Is Watching

“a letter of congratulations”: Pershing diary, entry for May 28, 1918.

“astonished”: Bullard, Personalities, 197–98.

“I need not suggest that you give…”: Millett, The General, 365.

“Our Bn. needs relief”: Message from Rozelle to Ely, 6:20 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 28th Infantry P.C., NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 53.

“My company is practically…”: Message from van Natter to Ely, 7:00 p.m., May 28, 1918, Report on Operations Against Cantigny, 28th Infantry.

“Account shortage of officers…”: Message from Rozelle to Ely, 8:30 p.m., May 28, 1918, Ibid.

“Unless heavy artillery can give…”: Message from Ely to 2nd Brigade, 5:45 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 28th Infantry P.C.

“Recommend 18th Inf. relieve…”: Message from Ely to 2nd Brigade, 6:40 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“losses are heavy…”: Message from Ely to 2nd Brigade, 7:23 p.m., May 28, 1918, Ibid.

“Rozelle reports his Bn. has suffered…”: Message from Ely to 2nd Brigade, 8:40 p.m., May 28, 1918, Ibid.

“Inform Ely as follows…”: Message from Bullard to 2nd Brigade, 7:35 p.m., May 28, 1918, Ibid.

“Troops sent to you are not to be used…”: Message from 2nd Brigade to Ely, 8:25 p.m., May 28, 1918, Ibid.

“Ely, you must hold your position…”: Millett, The General, 366.

“I was weak from loss of blood…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“I would have given twenty years…”: Ibid.

“short lull”: Tyler, “The Cantigny Operation.”

“between it and myself several shells…”: Tyler, letter to mother, June 3, 1918.

“disorganized retreat”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 20.

“headed off”: Message from Cullison to Ely, 6:40 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 28th Infantry P.C.

“to round up all the stragglers…”: Parker, Report of 1st Platoon, Company K.

“I found about 25 men from various…”: Ibid.

“My company is practically wiped out”: Message from van Natter to Ely, 7:00 p.m., May 28, 1918, Report on operation against Cantigny, 28th Infantry.

“One of your companies will report…”: Message from Ely to Hunt, 11:00 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 28th Infantry.

“Word came from the Front…”: Pvt. Frank J. Last diary, FDM.

“when the attempt was made it was found…”: Cullison, Report of 3rd Battalion.

“I was ordered with my company to connect…”: Tack, Report of Company I.

“[W]e were given the rather unusual command…”: Lt. Herman Dacus, letter to Ed Burke, August 15, 1984, private collection.

“My platoon sergeant was a former miner…”: Nelson, Remains of Company D, 108.

“[B]y morning”: Tack, Report of Company I.

“extremely cold”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 30.

“[R]eports led me to believe…”: Rozelle, Report of 1st Battalion.

“relieve the remainder of Co.…”: Message from Col. Campbell King (for Gen. Robert Bullard) to 2nd Brigade, 8:40 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“thinning lines and reducing losses”: Message from Bullard to 2nd Brigade, 8:27 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“At 10:30 p.m. the company was…”: Capt. Charles Senay, Report of Company C, 28th Infantry, June 1, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 55.

“We moved forward in platoon column”: Ibid.

“If possible, will you please ship…”: E. A. West, letter to War Department, Burial File of Pvt. Tom West, NPRC.

“Send Co. D to relieve Co A/1…”: Message from Colonel Smith to Major Roosevelt, 9:45 p.m., May 28, 1918, Field Messages of 26th Infantry, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 49.

“The path lay through the woods”: Pvt. Frank Goseling, March 13, 1919, issue of Woodland Daily Democrat (CA).

“struck almost directly”: Report of 1st Sgt. John E. Francis, Burial File of Pvt. Wilbur Ward, NPRC.

“Men fell across the path…”: Pvt. Frank Goseling, March 13, 1919, issue of Woodland Daily Democrat (CA).

“The Company was relieved about 2:30…”: Hartney, Report of Company A.

“just a little path through a thicket”: Pvt. William McCombs, July 15, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“A shell-shrapnel struck in front…”: Pvt. William McCombs, November 12, 1918, issue of New Castle News (PA).

“[k]illed instantly by artillery fire”: Report of Sgt. James Rause, Burial File of Pvt. Emil Vanker, NPRC.

“instantly”: Report of Cpl. John Johnson, Burial File of Pvt. Samuel Buchalter, NPRC.

“he thought he would be killed…”: Ibid.

“only a few minutes”: Report of Sgt. James Rause, Burial File of Sgt. Edward Nesterowicz, NPRC.

“Operation against Cantigny executed…”: Telegram from Gen. Bullard to GHQ, 9:38 p.m., May 28, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 27.

“Danced upon the table tops”: Bullard/Reeves, American Soldiers, 32.

“a most encouraging thing in a day…”: Ibid.

“shell-shock”: Morning Reports, May 28–30, 1918, NPRC.

“By night everything was quiet except…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 90.

“I lay still, afraid to move…”: Ibid.

“Nobody ever came”: Ibid.

“listening to the music of warfare…”: Nelson, Five Lieutenants, 263.

15. Novelty of Silence

“long before I thought it should have”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 22.

“I was astonished to see a couple…”: Ibid., 23.

“cave”: Ibid.

“Lieutenant Sargent”: Ibid., 24. Note: In his original memoir, Sargent mistakenly recalled Ely saying, “You are to go to the command post of the 2nd battalion…” This is corrected to reflect what Ely would have actually said, “the 1st battalion…”

“that was the last he was seen or heard of”: Pvt. Fred Allen, letter to War Department, May 15, 1926, Burial File of Pvt. Barnard Farley, NPRC.

“patients there who cannot be moved”: Message, 2:36 a.m., May 29, 1918, Journal of Cantigny Operations, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“right alongside the chateau”: Maj. R. H. Lewis, Liaison Report, 9:00 a.m., May 29, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 28.

“Infantry believe the Boche are…”: Message, 4:20 a.m., May 28, 1918, Journal of Cantigny Operations, 1st Field Artillery Brigade.

“probably for enemy counterattack”: Message, 4:00 a.m., May 28, 1918, Journal of Cantigny Operations, 28th Infantry.

“hold itself in readiness to reinforce…”: Ibid.

“in position under extremely heavy fire”: WWR, vol. 23.

“repeatedly pass[ing] up and down…”: Ibid.

“left the security of the trenches…”: Ibid.

“died instantly”: Report of PFC Carl Powell, Burial File of PFC Joseph Rountree, NPRC.

“while advancing was killed by shellfire”: WWR, vol. 23.

“fortunate enough to escape injury”: Foster V. Brown Jr., letter to American Battle Monuments Commission, July 9, 1929, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“heavy bombardment of artillery”: Koubsky, Report of Company M. Note: original “envelope” corrected to “envelop.”

“showed remarkable coolness and…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“I never saw a braver man in all my life”: Pvt. Floyd H. Weeks, handwritten annotations in Division History, FDM.

“They were beaten off with heavy losses again”: Koubsky, Report of Company M.

“weakness in the organization”: War Diary, German 272nd Reserve Infantry Regiment, 67.

“powerful fire opposition”: Ibid.

“the combined fire of our artillery…”: 1st Division Journal, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 9.

“Enemy infantry started across…”: Message, 8:00 a.m., May 29, 1918, 1st Artillery Brigade Records for Cantigny Operation, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 66.

“When it began to get light I managed…”: Newhall letter, August 1, 1918, Select Papers, 90.

“I couldn’t lie flat because of the dead…”: Ibid.

“slowly thinking about how I would…”: Ibid.

“I shall always remember checking…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“I found Cantigny all ashes…”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 25.

“fragments of four walls”: Ibid.

“a black hole that stared out…”: Ibid.

“What fool is it that is coming…”: Ibid.

“Come in, Mr. Artilleryman…”: Ibid., 26.

“duties to perform”: Ibid., 30.

“incessant bombardment”: Ibid., 29–30.

“Being in it all was like being…”: Ibid., 29.

“We were fixing one of F Battery’s lines…”: Report of Cpl. John Baumgarten, Burial File of Pvt. Mirko Ivosevich, NPRC.

“I felt I was helping to win the war…”: Groves, WWI Veterans Survey.

“We are in pretty bad shape…”: Message from Huebner to Ely, 8:25 a.m., May 29, 1918, Report on Operations Against Cantigny, 28th Infantry.

“carrying party of inexperienced men…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“shell struck directly in front of…”: Report of Pvt. Henry Olson, Burial File of PFC Oscar Bolinger, NPRC.

“killed instantly”: Burial Files of Pvt. Leo Monien and PFC Raymond Pichotta, NPRC.

“I fully decided that our position…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 27.

“We’d hear its report & watch…”: Jefferson D. White letter, August 1, 1962, FDM.

“Their faces had turned black”: Report of Sgt. Phillip Bilgway, Burial File of PFC Leslie R. Venters, NPRC.

“This type of stuff is what makes…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 28.

“thought it was his duty to be…”:Ibid.

“[A]pparently the burst of the shell…”: Report of Lt. Jim Quinn, Burial File of Lt. Thomas H. Watson, NPRC.

“instantly”: Burial File of Pvt. Torgei Roysland, NPRC.

“only lived a minute or two…”: Burial File of Pvt. Elmo Ridges, NPRC.

“unusually intense”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 31.

“unsatisfactory”: Rozelle, Report of 1st Battalion.

“reinforce center and right”: Ibid.

“We had to traverse the ground…”: James L. Hartney, letter to father of Lt. Robert B. Anderson, “First Alumnus Killed in France” from the Trinity Alumni Register, vol. 4, July 1918, no. 2, 100–101.

“He was shot through the calf…”: Report of Cpl. Gust Behike, Burial File of Lt. Robert B. Anderson, NPRC.

“displayed courage and fearlessness…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“leading his command forward in…”: Ibid.

“His death was almost instantaneous”: Report of Sgt. Robert Doyle, Burial File of Pvt. George W. Austin, NPRC.

“attempting to get his men under cover”: WWR, vol. 23.

“[A]bout 15 other casualties occurred…”: Hartney, Report of Company A.

“Tell my sister I was not afraid”: Report of Cpl. Jefferson White, Burial File of Pvt. Stanley Mullins, NPRC.

“The first wave crawled…”: Hartney, Report of Company A.

“was struck thru the neck by a…”: Report of Cpl. Jefferson White, Burial File of Pvt. Joe L. Graham, NPRC.

“[S]everal of the infantrymen…”: van Natter letter, April 24, 1926.

“Never at any time did any…”: Huebner, Report of 2nd Battalion.

“We reached our objective but did…”: Hartney letter, “First Alumnus Killed in France.”

“[n]o infantry formation for counterattack…”: Oliver, Report of Company B.

“none seen”: Sorensen, Report of Company D.

“Everything O.K.…”: Message from 18th Infantry to 2nd Brigade, 6:26 p.m., May 29, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade.

“All is quiet along our lines”: Entry, 6:50 p.m., May 29, 1918, 1st Field Artillery Brigade HQ Journal, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 61.

“I did notice that about sundown…”: Sargent, “Cantigny,” 38.

“novelty of silence”: Ibid.

16. Final Determined Effort

“a personal reconnaissance…”: Message from Ely, 8:55 p.m., May 29, 1918, 1st Artillery Brigade Records for Cantigny Operation, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 66.

“Front line pounded to Hell and gone…”: Ibid.

“Let me tell you one thing…”: Smythe, Pershing, 128.

“It is an injustice”: Ibid.

“line is unchanged”: Lt. Col. George Marshall, phone call to 2nd Brigade, 9:19 p.m., May 29, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 41.

“At night as soon as it became dark…”: Quinn, Report of Company G.

“By midnight it was dark enough…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 90–91.

“The effort caused me to faint…”: Ibid.

“I put all my strength into the effort…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“There’s no need now”: Ibid.

“old wine cellar underneath a chateau”: Joseph Torrence, letter to Robert Bullard, April 29, 1936, Bullard Papers, LOC, Box 5.

“asked Colonel Marshall if this officer…”: Ibid.

“As a result of this contact with you…”: Ibid.

“The valley was full of gas…”: Wilder, “Operations of Company M,” 25.

“It was immediately apparent…”: Ibid.

“overcrowded with men”: Ibid., 27.

“The only way I could move was upright…”: Newhall, letter to mother, August 1, 1918, Selected Papers, 90–91.

“When I began to make my way through…”: Ibid., 91.

“My first query was ‘had we taken Cantigny?’…”: Newhall, letter to Paul Birdsall, April 29, 1963, Selected Papers, 97.

“Moving on my stomach caused such pain…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“wait on Division”: Message from 2nd Brigade to Ely, 8:15 p.m., May 29, 1918, Field Messages of 2nd Brigade, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 41.

“so that the sight of the bodies…”: Report of First Sgt. John Klima, Burial File of Pvt. Forest G. Johns, NPRC. Note: original “moral” corrected to “morale.”

“Battle, like baseball,…”: Senay, “Shavetail,” 37.

“enemy barrage came down on 1st and 2nd…”: Field message received at 3:30 a.m., May 30, 1918, Cpt. William Livesay, 28th Infantry Regimental Report on Operations Against Cantigny, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 54.

“[T]he first wave got through before…”: Ibid.

“final determined effort to retake the town”: “History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 6, 25.

“a feint attack”: War Diary, German 272nd Reserve Infantry Regiment, 150.

“no German set foot in Cantigny…”: Beaumont Buck, Memories in Peace and War, 176–77.

“heavy concentrations of 77…”: 1st Division Journal, 6:21–6:45 p.m., May 30, 1918, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 9.

“very quickly, ran from one gun position…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 31.

“[T]he thought came to me that I might…”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“the end of that pistol barrel pressed…”: Ibid.

“I got them on the surface with their guns…”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 31.

“I only went about 400 yards when I…”: Pvt. Harry Heath, quoted in Concord Enterprise (MA), October 30, 1918.

“They could only stagger back…”: Smythe, Pershing, 128.

“[T]here we found a great many dead…”: Frank Last diary.

“the first meal we’ve had in three days”: Suchocki, first account, NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184, 7.

“[j]ust in time”: Waltz, “Operations of Company C,” 31.

“The Division Commander takes great pleasure…”: Bullard, “Commendation of the 28th Infantry for the Capture and Holding of Cantigny,” June 2, 1918, History of the First, 87.

“Well planned, splendidly executed”: Allan R. Millett, Well Planned, Splendidly Executed: The Battle of Cantigny, May 28–31, 1918, 53.

“rolled in the nearest shell hole…”: John D. Licklider, letter to War Department, July 30, 1926, Burial File of Pvt. Paul Davis, NPRC.

“helped bury a number of bodies there…”: Report of Sgt. John R. Wallace, Burial File of Pvt. Harold H. Johnson, NPRC.

“under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire…”: Report of Cpt. Ray Harrison, Ibid.

“There are shell holes in Cantigny…”: John D. Licklider letter, July 30, 1926.

“Casualty lists of an attack like this…”: Maj. Raymond Austin letter, June 1, 1918.

There were 275 bodies recovered … Unpublished “History of the First Division,” NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 7, 7.

800 Germans killed … Col. Hanson Ely, June 3, 1918 attachment to June 2, 1918 Report on 28th Infantry Regt.

“combat strength”: War Diary, German 26th Reserve Corps, 86.

“I prodded myself into action”: Gillespie, “Pickens Man in No Man’s Land.”

“With renewed strength and hope…”: Ibid.

“a fellow Yankee”: Ibid.

“big jagged dent in the line”: The Story of the 16th Infantry in France, 24.

“played into the hands of the Allies.”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 2, 157.

“marked the turning of the tide.”: Ibid. 161.

“lost the initiative to the enemy.”: Ibid. 162.

“the black day of the German Army”: Ludendorff, My War Memories, vol. II, 678.

“set fire to all of the villages…”: Summerall, The Way of Duty, 136.

“as nearly simultaneous as possible…”: Pershing, Experiences, vol. 2, 280.

“[t]here is now no longer any possible hope…”: Ibid. 342.

“a wonderful and inspiring feat of arms”: Marshall, Memoirs, 192.

“Hostilities will be stopped on the entire front…”: History of the First, 236.

“brought a confusion of incredulity … “: Ibid.

“On Nov. 11 at 11:00 a.m. those sounds…”: Groves, WWI Veterans Survey.

5,000 killed in action—more than 1,200 … History of the First, 337.

“[Y]ou, sons of America…”: Gen. Charles A. Vandenburg, General Order from 10th French Army Corps, NA, RG 120, Entry 1241, Box 46.

“I saw more hell in two days at Cantigny…”: Gerald Tyler, letter to ABMC, July 10, 1929; NA, RG 117, Entry 31, Box 184.

“exceeded any experience they were to have…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 97.

“an electrical effect”: Page, Our 110 Days Fighting, 29.

“Had it not been for Cantigny”: Thomas, History of the A.E.F., 78.

“[T]he short story of Cantigny is going to expand…”: London Evening News, article reprinted in Galveston Daily News (TX), May 31, 1918.

“The artillery and infantry work of…”: Statements of German prisoner, Summerall Papers, LOC, RG 291, Box 40.

“place[d] a scare”: San Antonio Light (TX) May 29, 1938.

“This little village marks a cycle…”: Marshall, Memoirs, 99.

EPILOGUE: Until We Meet Again

“Tenderly she tore open the envelope…”: The Call (PA), June 21, 1918.

“Deeply regret to inform you that…”: Telegram from War Department to Lettie Trout, June 20, 1918, Private Collection.

“full particulars of the sad event”: Letter from War Department to Lettie Troup, June 22, 1918, Private Collection.

“going into the trenches again…”: Carl Fey letter to mother, May 6, 1918, Private Collection.

“Kriegsgefangenenlager, Darmstadt…”: Carl Fey letter to mother, June 5, 1918, Private Collection.

“Dear Mother, I thought I write…”: Ibid.; note: “let you no” in original corrected to “let you know.”

“Like word from the dead”: The Call (PA), August 9, 1918.

“he never talked about the wound…”: Michael Fey Hesser, e-mail to author, March 7, 2013.

“I forgot to say that Charley Avery…”: Lt. Harry Martin, Emporia Weekly Gazette (KS), July 4, 1918.

“I saw your son, Harry, today…”: Pvt. A. L. Strong, letter to Harry McCann, June 4, 1918, Janesville Daily Gazette (WI), August 31, 1918.

“asks you to give the news of him…”: Ibid.

“reported missing in action”: Letter from War Department to Linnie May Kendall, June 16, 1918, Burial File of Oliver J. Kendall, NPRC.

“Lieutenant Kendall—American Officer”: Report of Oliver Grosvenor, Graves Registration Service, Burial File of Oliver Kendall.

“when the body was disinterred”: Ibid.

on May 25, 1998 … Jeff Coen, “War Hero Finally Honored 80 Years After His Death,” Chicago Tribune (IL), May 25, 1998.

“I was born lucky”: Pvt. William N. Evans, The Oxford Mirror (IN), July 28, 1921.

Francis Redwood, the younger brother … Nelson, Five Lieutenants. 321–22.

kept his Distinguished Service Cross locked away … Interview with grandson, Hon. Samuel J. Ervin, IV, June 16, 2013, and June 15, 2014.

“old country lawyer”: James Dickenson, “Sen. Sam Ervin, Key Figure in Watergate Probe, Dies,” April 24, 1985, issue of The Washington Post.

“As a point of personal pride…”: Parker, letter to brother, June 2, 1918.

“the people of the state of Illinois”: Society for Military History, Headquarters Gazette, vol. 23, no. 2, Summer 2010, 1.

“bore his injury conspicuously…”: Susan Dunn, writing on behalf of James MacGregor Burns, e-mail to author, September 26, 2013.

“To the Memory of George Guest Haydock…”: Richard Newhall, The English Conquest of Normandy,1416–1424: A Study in Fifteenth Century Warfare, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924, v.

“Cantigny Day”: Nelson, Five Lieutenants. 330.

“his platoon in an attack…”: WWR, vol. 23.

“quite inaccurate”: Newhall, letter to mother, May 18, 1919, Select Papers, 86.

“I have no desire to fly any…”: Ibid.

“most perfect”: Nelson, Five Lieutenants, 159.

“No Retreat Bullard”: Millett, The General, 369.

“dilapidated, walk-up office…”: Ibid., 468.

“It seems only yesterday that I saw…”: Farrell letter, January 11, 1925.

“I am frank to state that in my opinion…”: Torrence letter, April 29, 1936.

“My job as an officer was to make…”: Millett, The General, 470.

his mind and memory sadly deteriorated…: Thomas Ricks, The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today, 189.

“He got hit, and I raised him up…”: Frank Groves, interview with First Division Museum director Tom Votaw, July 11, 1996, FDM.

“Dear Mother: I am writing…”: Pvt. Ruffus Shelton, May 27, 1918, letter to mother Ruth Ann, February 25, 1919, issue of Galveston Daily News (TX).