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The Lost Battalion
Lost Battalion Embodies America As Melting Pot
By MICHAEL P. TREMOGLIE, The Bulletin
Editor’s Note: Third in a series about America’s armed forces.
Six hundred men from elements of New York’s 77th “Liberty” Division marched into France’s Argonne Forest on Oct. 2, 1918. Only 200 returned. They were awarded three Congressional Medals of Honor and 28 Distinguished Service Crosses for their actions. A quarter century later, their actions would be replicated at the Battle of the Bulge.
Commanded by Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey, the men of the 1st Battalion, 308th Infantry Regiment, along with units from the 307th and 306th Machine Gun Battalion advanced into the forest thinking their flanks were supported by other 77th Division troops. But they advanced further than the others.
The only troops flanking them were German.
From Oct. 3, 1918 until Oct. 7, 1918 they were cut off from the remainder of the 77th Division, surrounded and outnumbered by the kaiser’s soldiers. For more than 100 hours during this period, they were without food. The only water available to them was from a nearby stream — and they had to obtain it while the Germans fired at them. Their supply of ammunition was nearly depleted.
Some of them were killed by friendly fire the result of their own artillery. Mistaken coordinates sent by them by carrier pigeon resulted in a lethal barrage. The carrier pigeons were the only method of communication available. (One of which, Cher Ami, received the Croix de Guerre by the French for heroic service during a subsequent battle.)
They became known as the “Lost Battalion” even though they were not lost and they were not really a battalion. (The popular names of historical events have a tendency to do this. The Battle of Bunker Hill, for example, actually occurred on Breed’s Hill).
The soldiers of the Lost Battalion repulsed several attacks by the Germans. At one point they were given the opportunity to surrender by the Germans. Whittlesey, a graduate of Williams, never bothered to reply.
Whittlesey’s non-reply was not as eloquent in his rejection of the Germans offer as Gen. McAuliffe would be at the Bastogne almost 30 years later. But the men of the 77th did respond. The shouted expletives at the Germans.
The siege was broken as other units of the 77th Division broke through the German lines and joined with the Lost Battalion. The joint force then routed the Germans.
Besides the heroism of the Lost Battalion, one of the more notable characteristics of the unit was its ethnicity. It was comprised mostly of draftees from the New York City metropolitan area. Sprinkled among them were young men from other parts of the country.
This meant that many of them were immigrants or sons of immigrants to the United States. A review of the names of those killed in action is a testament to this.
Among them are Rocco Ali, who was born in Calabria, Italy, and Achille Funatelli from New York City. They were casualties alongside Bennie Wrotzlasky, of Brooklyn, Daniel McDade, of New York, and Herman Paff, of Lexington, Ky.
Then, as now, the military was a melting pot and a great equalizer. The American soldiers of World War I were young men from different racial, ethnic, religious and geographic boundaries. They also transcended economic class.
It would still be a long time before there was complete and total integration of the American armed forces. Units remained racially segregated until after World War II. But the American military was and is, like America itself, unlike any other in human history.
The Lost Battalion of WWI was a heroic unit. But it was also ethnically diverse and, like the nation, represented the success of the American melting pot.
Michael P. Tremoglie can be reached at mtremoglie@thebulletin.us
Six hundred men from elements of New York’s 77th “Liberty” Division marched into France’s Argonne Forest on Oct. 2, 1918. Only 200 returned. They were awarded three Congressional Medals of Honor and 28 Distinguished Service Crosses for their actions. A quarter century later, their actions would be replicated at the Battle of the Bulge.
Commanded by Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey, the men of the 1st Battalion, 308th Infantry Regiment, along with units from the 307th and 306th Machine Gun Battalion advanced into the forest thinking their flanks were supported by other 77th Division troops. But they advanced further than the others.
The only troops flanking them were German.
From Oct. 3, 1918 until Oct. 7, 1918 they were cut off from the remainder of the 77th Division, surrounded and outnumbered by the kaiser’s soldiers. For more than 100 hours during this period, they were without food. The only water available to them was from a nearby stream — and they had to obtain it while the Germans fired at them. Their supply of ammunition was nearly depleted.
Some of them were killed by friendly fire the result of their own artillery. Mistaken coordinates sent by them by carrier pigeon resulted in a lethal barrage. The carrier pigeons were the only method of communication available. (One of which, Cher Ami, received the Croix de Guerre by the French for heroic service during a subsequent battle.)
They became known as the “Lost Battalion” even though they were not lost and they were not really a battalion. (The popular names of historical events have a tendency to do this. The Battle of Bunker Hill, for example, actually occurred on Breed’s Hill).
The soldiers of the Lost Battalion repulsed several attacks by the Germans. At one point they were given the opportunity to surrender by the Germans. Whittlesey, a graduate of Williams, never bothered to reply.
Whittlesey’s non-reply was not as eloquent in his rejection of the Germans offer as Gen. McAuliffe would be at the Bastogne almost 30 years later. But the men of the 77th did respond. The shouted expletives at the Germans.
The siege was broken as other units of the 77th Division broke through the German lines and joined with the Lost Battalion. The joint force then routed the Germans.
Besides the heroism of the Lost Battalion, one of the more notable characteristics of the unit was its ethnicity. It was comprised mostly of draftees from the New York City metropolitan area. Sprinkled among them were young men from other parts of the country.
This meant that many of them were immigrants or sons of immigrants to the United States. A review of the names of those killed in action is a testament to this.
Among them are Rocco Ali, who was born in Calabria, Italy, and Achille Funatelli from New York City. They were casualties alongside Bennie Wrotzlasky, of Brooklyn, Daniel McDade, of New York, and Herman Paff, of Lexington, Ky.
Then, as now, the military was a melting pot and a great equalizer. The American soldiers of World War I were young men from different racial, ethnic, religious and geographic boundaries. They also transcended economic class.
It would still be a long time before there was complete and total integration of the American armed forces. Units remained racially segregated until after World War II. But the American military was and is, like America itself, unlike any other in human history.
The Lost Battalion of WWI was a heroic unit. But it was also ethnically diverse and, like the nation, represented the success of the American melting pot.
Michael P. Tremoglie can be reached at mtremoglie@thebulletin.us
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