USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume II > Part 4
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Homeward Bound-At the time of the armistice more than 5,000 men of the 27th Division were in hospitals as a result of wounds re- ceived in battle. General O'Ryan took a week's leave of absence to go to London to see the men in the hospitals there. Arrived at the dock at Boulogne to take steamer to Folkestone, his party met a greatly disturbed detachment of furlough men of the 27th and 30th divisions, some two hundred. They had planned to board the steamer for England to enjoy the brief period allotted to them, only to be told that a change in plan had given priority to some British soldiers also on furlough,
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and that they would have to wait over a day. Their dejection was banished when the Division Commander hustled about to secure a revision of orders, and within half an hour the Yanks were joyful. The London hospitals were visited and the wounded men there cheered by the Commander and his staff.
Later the "Leviathan" was in the harbor at Brest and about 13,000 troops, or half of the division, embarked, including the 106th Infantry, on February 26th. The arrival in New York and the parade and review have become historical. The division was formally welcomed by the Mayor, various committees and millions of people. The city committee arranged for an immense service flag to be borne at the head of the column by soldiers. This flag contained more than 1,900 gold stars to represent the number of men killed in battle or dead from wounds. "The great number of wounded soldiers, many of them carrying crutches, others with heads and arms still bandaged, created a deep impression. There was little cheering. The crowd seemed spellbound. Their emotion was too deep for cheers. The scenes on this occasion will never be forgotten." The following day all the units of the division were either at Camp Upton for final muster or on their way home.
Decorations-The decorations and other tokens of appreciation for bravery and extraordinary services awarded to individuals of the divi- sion were many, and many of them were to men whose homes were in The Bronx. The Distinguished Service Cross was given to Edward N. Thompson, First Sergeant, Company I, 105th Infantry. This was for extraordinary heroism in action near Mont Kemmel, Belgium, in August, 1918. When the two platoons commanded by him met with heavy machine-gun fire, Sergeant Thompson placed his men under cover and singlehanded went forward to reconnoiter his objective in the face of heavy shell and machine-gun fire. Residence at enlistment : 617 West 152nd Street, New York.
The Distinguished Service Cross also went to Thomas Kenny, Ser- geant, Company H, 105th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near St. Souplet, France, October 17, 1918. While patrolling alone in advance of the line, he discovered a German officer directing a detachment in establishing machine-gun posts. He immediately opened fire, killing one and forcing the others to surrender. Later, reinforced by the remainder of his squad, Sergeant Kenny captured thirty-four of the enemy, including seven officers. Residence at en- listment: 1808 Third Avenue, New York.
Another to receive the cross was James A. Cavanaugh, Corporal, Company D, 102 Engineers. For extraordinary heroism in action near Mont Kemmel, Belgium, August 29, 1918. After several runners, sent back through a heavy barrage for reinforcements and ammunition, had
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failed to return, Corporal Cavanaugh, who was on duty with the in- fantry, volunteered for this mission and successfully accomplished it. Residence at enlistment : 464 West 152nd Street, New York.
Another was Matthew S. Fox, Corporal, Battery F, 104th Field Ar- tillery. For extraordinary heroism in action near Consenvoye, France, November 4, 1918. While the battery position was being subjected to severe bombardment of gas and high-explosive shells, Corporal Fox, in an effort to rescue two wounded comrades, extinguished a pile of burning camouflage, which was used as a cover for the ammunition and fuses. While fighting the camouflage the ammunition was ex- ploded by another bursting shell. Residence at enlistment: 867 West 181st Street, New York.
Another was John McClave Granger, Corporal, Company M, 107th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Bony, France, Sep- tember 29, 1918. He crossed an area exposed to heavy fire to deliver a message, and while in the act of delivering his message his left leg was torn off by a shell. He refused assistance and shouted words of encouragement to members of his platoon in action. Residence at en- listment : 535 West 135th Street, New York.
Another was Henry G. Kramer, Corporal, Company D, 107th In- fantry. For extraordinary heroism near Ronssey, France, September 29, 1918. During the operations against the Hindenburg Line, Corporal Kramer, with four other soldiers, left shelter and went forward into an open field under heavy shell and machine-gun fire and succeeded in bandaging and bringing back to our lines two wounded men. Residence at enlistment: 28 West 181st Street, New York.
Another was John P. Murphy, Corporal, Company C, 107th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Ronssey, France, September 29, 1918. Corporal Murphy exposed himself to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire to rescue a wounded man who lay in front of our lines. By crawling from shell hole to shell hole he was able to accomplish the rescue in spite of the heavy enemy fire. Residence at enlistment : 429 East 139th Street, New York.
Another was Edwin W. Mclaughlin, mechanic, Company I, 107th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Ronssey, France, September 29, 1918. While the rest of his company was being held up by intensive machine-gun fire of the enemy, he advanced alone and put the guns out of action. On several other occasions he volunteered and accompanied patrols in attacks against enemy nests, each time proving himself of the greatest assistance, successfully accomplishing his mission despite great hazards. Residence at enlistment : 1386 Og- den Avenue, Bronx, New York.
Another was Ernest W. Blomgren, private, first class, Sanitary De-
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tachment, 106th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Ronssey, France, September 27, 1918. During the operations against the Hindenburg Line, east of Ronssey, on September 27, 1918, Private Blomgren displayed unusual courage and bravery by going forward through the terrific shell and machine-gun fire to rescue wounded com- rades. Residence at enlistment : 1491 Westchester Avenue, New York.
Another was Isaac Rabinowitz, private, first class, Company A, 107th Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near St. Souplet, France, October 18, 1918. When the advance of his battalion was checked by heavy machine-gun fire, Private Rabinowitz, with two other soldiers, went forward under heavy fire to reconnoitre the enemy positions. By effective rifle fire they drove the gunners from two machine-gun nests into a dugout near by, which they captured, together with thirty-five prisoners, including three officers. Residence at enlistment : 510 West 146th Street, New York.
The history of the 77th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, a division enriched in human material from The Bronx, has many elements of interest. It was organized on August 25, 1917, at Camp Upton, New York. The majority of officers and all the enlisted men were from New York State, and practically all of the latter from the metropolitan district. The division was called the "Liberty Division," and its shoulder insignia was a Statue of Liberty in gold on a blue background. This division was the first National Army division in Europe, and was the first to be made responsible for a sector of the European battlefront.
Operations in the Argonne-During the whole of the operations which cleared the Forest of the Argonne the 77th Division was at all times operating within the forest itself, of which it was assigned a front at the beginning. The 77th emerged from the forest into the open after the first day's operation. The forest itself, considered im- practicable ground for an offensive, was cleared of the enemy by this division, against which were opposed five German divisions. As a great French general stated before this decisive engagement: "The Allied armies will strike at the door of Germany. To the American Army has been assigned the hinges of this mighty door. Either you will push it open or you will tear it down." To the 77th was given the post of honor, the core of these hinges, which had stood practically unmolested during years of the conflict, seemingly by mutual consent of both bel- ligerents.
The volume, "History of the 77th Division," bears an extraordinary imprint : "Designed and written in the field-France." For years to come bits of the history of the battle of the Argonne Forest will come to light as individual experiences of many. It is to be recalled that the
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forest was fortified both by nature and the vast ingenuity of a nation bred to war; and that it was subdued by citizen soldiers from the met- ropolitan district-men who had been trained hurriedly, and whose habits were of peace. Lieutenant Arthur McKeogh, of the 77th Divi- sion, wrote an entertaining monograph of that body of young American soldiers and their work in the Argonne. The 77th Division started from a five-mile front and drove back the Germans day after day for two weeks, gaining no less than seventeen miles-a feat more remarkable when the nature of the ground and the opposition are considered. "Four- teen miles of heart-breaking plunging through thickets that spat death with the rapidity of the serpent's fangs." And in those two weeks the 77th lost in killed, wounded, and missing 3,697 men. "The New Yorkers paid the score unflinchingly," wrote Mr. McKeogh, "paid it-and carried on. For after two weeks' breathing spell, still under shell fire, for re- equipment and refilling the ranks, the 77th took up where it had left off and advanced twenty-three additional miles. Thus, with the armis- tice, they achieved the gates of Sedan after reclaiming a total of more than thirty-seven miles for France." And this conquest gave freedom to 10,000 French civilians of the region.
There were twenty-one American divisions in this offensive, but not one of them won as much as the 77th, and no other was in the fight from start to finish. It was a miracle that the young civilians from the New York district, after comparatively short training in military ways, could beat veteran German hosts in such a stronghold. The Germans had balked the French on the ground for four years, and the latter had lost some 60,000 men in trying to reduce the forest. The 77th was a polyglot division. It was recruited from all races and creeds in New York. Necessarily there was secrecy at the time of sailing, as to the identity of ships and other detail, and the American forces gradually sailed away. Various dates were rumored for the 77th's departure, but it was not until March 27, 1918, that the first contingent marched out of camp to embark for foreign service. The first ship waited in Halifax harbor for the remainder of the fleet, and in the early evening nine ships steamed out of that harbor, led by a United States cruiser.
In France at last after varied experiences and the uncertainties as to dates and the like that characterize military movement, the men of the division gazed with awe at the multi-colored uniforms of a heterogene- ous mass of soldiers. Every allied nationality was represented-French, Scotch, Belgian, English, Moroccan, Canadian, Algerian, Australian, Italian, Serbian, New Zealander. This was in Calais. "Marching from the dock through the city it became apparent that this was part of the theatre of war, though far from the firing line. The square was ob- structed by the ruins of several buildings which had been bombed by Boche aviators a few nights before." The division was ordered to go
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to a rest camp to recover from the sea trip, but were suddenly ordered back to change their Springfield rifles for Enfields. "The Boche has broken through and the 77th is to fill the gap," was the rumored an- swer. From Calais the division entrained in course for the vicinity of Pas-de-Calais, where it assembled early in May, 1918, for a month's in- tensive training under the direction of the British 39th Division. Much trouble was experienced by the Americans in getting used to the verbiage of their British instructors. "In the main, differences were generously smothered, and the men absorbed British bayonet drill and British combat methods. It was a bit more difficult to absorb the British ration. Tea and jam for breakfast; jam, tea and meat for din- ner; jam, tea and cheese for supper drew a thriving business to the local estaminets. With the aid of pocket dictionaries and ingenious gestures the madame was made to understand that the famished soldier desired beaucoup d'oeufs, pommes-de-terre and vin rouge. At once the laws of economics were reversed; prices no longer depended upon de- mand and supply, but rose steadily with the knowledge that the soldat Américain received the fabulous sum of $1.10 per diem."
Finally the 153rd Brigade had completed its training and entrained on the same date as the 154th. The entire division had assembled at the middle of July for the first time since it had arrived in France, and had taken over a sector in Lorraine from the Rainbow Division. The artillery did not sail from New York until after the middle of April. The "Leviathan" was the first vessel used to take this contingent. On this trip she carried 15,000 souls, 10,000 of whom were soldiers and the others the crew and naval replacements for the European fleet. These soldiers debarked at Brest, May 2nd, and put up at Pontenzain Bar- racks, a great stone structure and parade ground.
Welcome from the Germans-The brigade was finally moved to Bac- carat, where it entered the line. There a close friendship grew up among the French and American soldiers. The 77th was to "relieve" the 42nd Division. This movement was completed between the 16th and 26th of June. All the movements of the troops were restricted to night time, and every precaution was taken to avoid discovery by the enemy. Yet the enemy was aware that a relief was in progress, and he only waited the division's safe arrival to give it a warm welcome. From his observation balloons, such messages of felicitation as "Good- bye, 42nd Division-Hello, 77th Division," were floated, and on the morning of June 24th, when the relief was practically complete, he started his celebration of the event. Early in the morning he began shelling with mustard and phosgene gas, and this was the 77th's first experience with this modern device of warfare. Gas masks were ad- justed with perhaps too little care. Some 3,000 rounds were fired by
Bronx-30
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the enemy artillery during this attack, resulting in one hundred and eighty casualties.
The Baccarat sector was in Lorraine, south of Strasburg, on a line between Lunéville and St. Die. The part held by the 77th extended from Herberviller on the left to a point east of Badnoviller on the right. Each subsector had a one-battalion front, with one reserve battalion in rest. Each sector had two lines of defense. On July 21st a patrol was undertaken by Captain Blanton Barrett of the 307th Infantry for the purpose of taking prisoners. His party of fifty-four had already passed the enemy wire, and were just entering the woods beyond, when the patrol was attacked on both sides with rifle, machine-gun and grenade fire from two companies of the enemy. "The fight was brief but furi- ous, and the courage of the Americans magnificent. Fire was returned with undaunted determination, and the attempt to surround the Amer- ican patrol was frustrated. Of the men who originally constituted the patrol only twenty-one returned. Nearly all of these were wounded. Captain Barrett, after being severely wounded, continued fighting un- til killed."
The end of July finished the stay in Lorraine. The relief was success- fully made by the 37th Division, and once more the 77th was on its way. But in the Baccarat sector every man had received useful training.
"The long nights of alert waiting, the rattling bursts of machine- guns, the brilliant trains of colored fires, the endless stretches of wire entanglement, the shell-torn expanse of No Man's Land, the ever-star- ing enemy lines, the watchful balloons hanging above the wooded hills, the weird singing of shells, the tell-tale clatter of duck-boards echoing in the stillness of the night, the rest camps-they had all made indelible impressions."
At Chateau Thierry-The division was in motion August 1st. By easy stages of entrainment the artillery went to Bayonne; the infantry hiked to Charmes. Chateau Thierry was the objective. "It began to dawn on the men in the trains when they passed Bar-le-Duc, with sand- bags on its station platform and with places on the road marked 'Abri --- 60 Personnes,' or 'Cave-50 Personnes,' and the like. The 77th was on its way to real war. It became more evident when all along the line the train passed great hangars, elephantine railway guns on sidings, and French camps of all kinds. Hospital trains, trains with French soldiers coming and going, were passed at frequent intervals, and a hur- ried word shouted from one to the other showed the 77th that these men were battle-bound too, for some of them were veterans of many fights."
Detrainment after a ride of some forty hours was by night, and then followed the approach to the Vesle. "Lorraine was only a boxing match but the Vesle-that was a real fist fight" is the epigram of an officer
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of the 77th. The doughboys learned to call the place "The Hell-hole Valley of the Vesle." And at the Vesle the 77th found itself facing the Prussian of the old days, the Boche, who still harbored his fond dream of world dominion. The Vesle is not much of a river, but as an obstacle to the passage of our troops it was more valuable to the Germans "than a hundred dozen tons of barbed wire."
The divisions which had participated in the Chateau Thierry counter- offensive had been relieved by the 62nd French Division and the 4th Division of Americans. Through the area just cleared of Germans the 77th was being rushed - the infantry in Camions via Fere-en-Tar- denois and the artillery by night marches through Chateau Thierry, once magnificent, but now mutilated, graphic of the scenes of but a short time before. "From there on the 77th, new to the game, received a pre-taste of the ruin and wreck of war. Battered buildings, shell- marked roads, scattered equipment, carcasses of animals, freshly-dug graves, with the hundred and one odors of the battlefield, forewarned the men from New York that this promised to be no gentlemen's war. And toward these desolate, war-torn woods, and villages, came echoes of the valley of the Vesle; to the ears of the infantry rushing from Fere- en-Tardenois, and to those of the artillery rattling and clanking along from Chateau Thierry through the white dust of the rutted roads came the full, distant, thunderous, 'boom-boom-boom' of the 'heavies.' And ever-nearer grew the sound until, mingling with the roar of General Mangin's army further north, it became a terrific drumming."
The Chateau-Bruyere became division headquarters of the 77th. It had been but recently evacuated by German troops and was in bad con- dition. Inside and out there were piles of rubbish and dirt, abandoned ammunition and equipment, with all the signs of careless living and hasty leaving. Traces of the ancient splendor of the chateau in the form of a handsomely framed mirror, a bit of porcelain, or a beautifully carved fireplace suggested luxurious living at some period. Here for several weeks division headquarters functioned while the doughboys and the artillerymen hammered the Boche along the Vesle and finally crossed and started in pursuit of him. A division of the French held the sector to the 77th's left, while the 28th Division of Pennsylvania were on the right. Opposing the 77th during this time and the subse- quent advance were the 17th, 2nd, and 216th divisions of the regular German army, and the 4th Prussian Guards-a formidable array against a fresh American division of young men hardly yet removed from the amateur class as soldiers.
By September 5th the division's line extended through the Bois de la Vicomte, Bois Genettes, Pierre la Roche, La Butte de Bourmont, Revillon and around the village of Glennes, the latter being on the
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front of the division on the right flank, which had not closed up. The enemy was then entrenched strongly between the canal and the Aisne and in the old French works behind La Petite Montagne. By Septem- ber 10th it was planned to take Glennes, and as this was not a 77th Di- vision objective, the division offered to "go halves" with the division on its right; this division, however, did not think it could spare the men, so the 77th decided to bear the burden alone. Though exuberant, the men were by this time fatigued by the rapidity of the advance, al- though hot meals had been brought up constantly. On September 13th, with all preparations made for attack, came the order for relief. The Italians were coming to take over the sector. The 77th had entered the sector a recruit division. It left a month later a veteran one, pre- pared for any task that might be assigned to it. "One name above all others has the 77th Division won from the map of France," says the division history, "and written into American history-The Argonne. If ever the patriotism of our country should wane, and the national pulse slow, let a veteran of the Argonne rise and tell the story of the courage, self-sacrifice and endurance that carried the Liberty Division through this wilderness of France-to victory. In the annals of the nation the 'Spirit of Argonne' must be placed alongside the 'Spirit of '76!' "
The Argonne Forest, black, gloomy, forbidding, the largest expanse of woodland from the Mediterranean to the Rhine, stretches a distance of thirty-nine kilometers from Passevant and Beaulieu in the south, with St. Menehold as its southern confines, to Grande Pré and the valley of the River Aire on the north, on the eastern edge of the forest of Varennes, Montblainville, Cornay and St. Juvin. The capture of this forest was imperative, for it was the hinge of the great swinging move- ment that was to drive the Germans across the Meuse. It was the key to Grand Pré, Sedan, and the great German communication centres along the Sedan-Mezzieres railway. The decisive battle of the great war is known as the Argonne-Meuse operation, or popularly as the battle of the Argonne. To the 77th Division was assigned the task of direct attack through the forest. After the first day this division oper- ated alone within the confines of the forest and fought its way through its entire length. When the division emerged eighteen days later it completed its record by crossing the Aire and capturing St. Juvin and Grand Pré, two positions controlling the northern limits of the Ar- gonne, and the sector of the Aire Valley.
On the night of September 25th the infantry of the 77th moved from the front line and the division was ready for the attack. The 28th American Division was on the 77th's right and the 1st French Divi- sion on its left. At five-thirty on the morning of September 26th it
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was "over the top" for the infantry. The greatest American barrage of the war tore for three hours into the German defenses. The 77th went over the top and hurled itself against the remnants of the 2nd Landwehr Division of the German Army, which had been guarding this part of the Hindenburg Line. Thus began the "Wilderness Campaign" of the Great War. All four regiments of the division took the jump- off, one battalion in the front line, one in support, and one in either di- visional or brigade reserve. An advance of two kilometers was made on the first day. The 153rd Brigade on October 2nd had fought its way to the enemy's entrenched and wired position on the heights of the Bois de la Naza. By the middle of October the Argonne had been completely cleared of the Germans. The final push of the 77th Division was the advance on Sedan. It was this city that was about to be liber- ated by the Liberty Division when Berlin accepted the terms of the armistice.
The division had nine hundred and fifty-eight officers and 25,553 men when it arrived at Vesle, August 11, 1918. With thousands of replace- ments it came out of the conflict with eight hundred and thirty-one officers and 20,973 men. The total casualties approximated 17,000.
Distinguished service crosses were awarded to the following officers and men of the 77th Division from The Bronx : First Lieutenant William J. Cullen (later captain), 308th Infantry, 1187 Woodycrest Avenue, New York; Sergeant James H. Quinn, Company I, 308th Infantry, 1660 Monroe Avenue, New York; Sergeant Francis W. Wagner, Company C, 308th Infantry, 1821 Prospect Avenue; Sergeant Frank J. Roskoski, Company F, 302nd Engineers, 1488 Bondell Avenue; Corporal Louis Sorrow, Company B, 307th Infantry, 835 Beck Street; Private Algot Johnson, Company A, 308th Infantry, 515 East 184th Street.
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