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Pigeon Message from Major Whittlesey to the Commanding Officer of the 308th Infantry
Record Group 120: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I) Series: Records of Divisions File Unit: Field Messages - 32.16
This is a message delivered by pigeon from the commander of the "Lost Battalion" to the headquarters of the 308th Infantry requesting a halt of the artillery barrage that was causing numerous friendly fire casualties.
May 11, 1919 #OnThisDay New York Times publishes this picture of the 1st or Famous Lost Battalion, 308th Infantry. 77th Division, after passing through the Victory Arch on Fifth Avenue, New York City
Does anyone have any good resources/information on the Lost Battalion of WWI? I've been doing some research on a relative who I found out recently was part of the 307th Infantry, and may have been either a part of the Lost Battalion or been part of the rescue/relief effort.
October 3, 1918 - Cut-Off and Surrounded, the Lost Battalion is Saved by a Pigeon
Pictured - Cher Ami.
American soldiers were eager to see action in October 1918 after a long time serving as reserves on the Western Front. As the First US Army attacked the Germans in the Argonne Forest, its leaders urged aggression.
“It is again impressed upon every officer and man of this command that ground once captured must under no circumstances be given up,” ordered one corps commander. “Whoever gives such a command is a traitor and it is the duty of any officer or man who is loyal to his country and who hears such an order given to shoot the offender upon the spot. "WE ARE NOT GOING BACK BUT FORWARD!“
But the American troops were green and the Argonne a hellish place to fight, with its wooded hills concealing German machine-guns. Many units got chewed up in frontal attacks through this jungle-like terrain.. One group of seven rifle companies was caught off after advancing too far without realizing the units on both sides had fallen back. These 500 or so men were cut off by the Germans and surrounded, attacked continuously by snipers, mortars, flamethrowers, and enemy bombing parties.
The “Lost Battalion” quickly used up its food and water. The rest of the division bravely tried to cut its way through to help, but was forced back seven times. The trapped soldiers sent a pigeon asking for artillery support, but to their horror the shells began falling on their own positions. The blasts killed many of the men, and most pigeons but one that tried to take off to correct the error. German sharpshooters plucked off the birds that ran the gauntlet. Soon only one bird was left. The American commander, Major Charles White Whittlesey, scrawled a message and attached it to the bird: “We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heavens sake stop it.”
Cher Ami took off but immediately debris from another explosion brought her to the ground, stunned. She took off again, only to be shot by a German rifleman. Amazingly, she got back into the air, dodging German bullets and arriving to inform the artillery battery to cease firing. She had lost an eye, been shot in the breast, and one leg hung from a tendon. Thoughtful US medics patched her up and acclaimed her as a hero; she was later awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
The Lost Battalion, still cut off, fought for another four days before US troops could reach the pocket. Only 194 men had not been killed or captured, but their lengthy stand helped the rest of the US forces break through elsewhere in the Argonne.
The Lost Battalion
Cher Ami, the pigeon whose last flight stopped the American bombardment of their own Lost Battalion. She received the Croix de Guerre for her efforts, though she would ultimately die of her wounds the next year.
October 2 1918, Charlevaux--After four days of fighting in the Meuse-Argonne sector, the American First Army had been badly mauled. They had gained most of the first day’s objectives, but at high cost, and the failure to take Montfaucon early meant the Germans were able to reinforce the sector and even launch limited counterattacks. Late on September 29, Pershing called a stop to the offensive, though he couched it as subtly as possible: “The American First Army will continue the attack on further orders.”
Despite this, the attack did continue on the extreme left of the First Army. On October 2, an American detachment of seven companies from the 77th Division took Hill 198. However, German counterattacks and poor coordination with the French to their left meant they were quickly cut off. Confusingly, the French unit on their immediate left was actually comprised of Americans--the 368th Regiment, a unit of black soldiers under white officers that, like many other black units, had been subordinated into the French chain of command. Whether distrust of the black troops by the 77th Division led to the poor communications is unclear, but it is known that the 368th Regiment’s white officers’ lack of respect for their troops caused severe issues for the fighting effectiveness of the unit, ultimately putting their fellow countrymen in the 77th Division in danger.
On the night of October 2, 550 men of the 77th Division were surrounded by the Germans on Hill 198. Quickly deemed the “Lost Battalion,” they would suffer greatly over the next few days; over 300 were killed or taken prisoner. Water quickly became a major problem, with the only nearby source well-covered by German snipers. Furthermore, they were bombarded by their own artillery, and the only form of communication they had left was carrier pigeon (many of which were shot down by the Germans). Their very last carrier pigeon was able to convey a message with their exact coordinates to headquarters twenty five miles away (despite being wounded in flight), and the bombardment stopped. The survivors would be rescued after another American offensive on October 7-8.
Today in 1917: Socialists Defeated in Finnish Elections Today in 1916: Romanians Briefly Cross the Danube Today in 1915: German Expedition Reaches Kabul Today in 1914: Belgian Government’s Plan To Abandon Antwerp Worries Britain
Sources include: Andrew Carroll, My Fellow Soldiers; Gene Fax, With Their Bare Hands.
“FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT.” Pigeon Message from Capt. Whittlesey to the Commanding Officer of the 308th Infantry. 10/4/1918
File Unit: Field Messages - 32.16, 1917 - 1920. Series: Records of Divisions, 1917 - 1920. Record Group 120: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I), 1848 - 1942.
This is a message delivered by pigeon from the commander of the "Lost Battalion" to the headquarters of the 308th Infantry requesting a halt of the artillery barrage that was causing numerous friendly fire casualties.
For more information on the "Lost Battalion," see our post: The Lost Battalion of World War I.
Uncover more World War I Centennial Resources at the National Archives.
Charles White Whittlesey, 01.20.1884 to 11.26.1921. Commander of the Lost Battalion in the First World War. Unable to cope with survivor's guilt, he disappeared from the SS Toloa on the night of November 26, 1921.
Diane Jergens and Leopoldo Salcedo in Escape to Paradise aka Lost Battalion
