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In the early morning darkness of March 9, 1916, guerillas
of the Mexican Revolution led by Pancho Villa crossed into the Unitied
States and attacked the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico.
The attack was prompted by the fact that a local merchant had refused
to deliver arms to Villa's gang, which they had bought and paid for.
As the sun rose that morning, Columbus was a smoking ruin. News of
the attack flashed across the country by telegraph, making headlines
from coast to coast.
As a result, a Punitive Expedition was organized, led
by General John "Black Jack" Pershing, who would later command
the Allied Forces in World War I. For 11 months, 10,000 troops ranged
the deserts and mountains of the state of Chihuahua, but to no avail.
Pancho Villa could not be found. The Punitive Expedition was the last
true cavalry action mounted by the Army, and the first military operation
to use mechanized vehicles. The troops, toughened by the rigorous
march through Mexico, would later board trains that would take them
to the looming conflict in Europe.
WHO WAS PANCHO VILLA?
Pancho Villa was born Doroteo Arango, a share-cropper
peasant on a hacienda in Durango, Mexico in 1878. Legend has it that
one day he returned home from the fields to find that his sister had
been raped by the hacienda owner. Enraged, he shot and killed the
owner, then escaped into the mountains on horseback. He joined a band
of cattle rustlers headed by a man named Pancho Villa. When their
leader was killed in a skirmish with mounted police, Doroteo assumed
leadership of the gang and took the fallen leader's name, Pancho Villa.
He was a very successful bandit, leading raids on towns, killing and
looting, until the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, and he was
recruited to lead the struggle in Northern Mexico. His charisma and
victories made him an idol of the masses. After the war ended, many
attempts were made on his life by relatives of those he had killed.
Finally, in 1923, Pancho Villa was assassinated in the town of Parral,
Mexico.
WORLD WAR I AND THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
The United States declared war on Germany in 1917, but
it had only fought in support of British and French units. That is,
until September of 1918, when the American Expeditionary Force (AEF),
led by General Pershing, launched its first major offensive. Their
successful campaign was a major turning point of the war for the Allies.
Ultimately, U.S. forces would bring about an earlier than expected
end to the war.
CHATEAU - THIERRY AND THE BATTLE FOR BELLEAU WOOD
This was the first battle where the AEF experienced
the heavy casualties associated with the Great War. The three week
long action was simply a confused mess tactically. None of the participants
ever quite knew where they, the front line or the enemy were inside
that mile-square dark forest. - from the Doughboy Center
These men had never been in a forward movement and they
had come up there looking upon an attack as something of a lark. This
helped the situation materially, even though the events of the morning
had dampened their enthusiasm considerably. Also, while not exactly
understanding the situation, there was a settled feeling among the
men that somehow things had been messed up and that they were the
goats.
…(As they advanced, one) lieutenant was badly
wounded crossing the wheat field. As for barbed wire, the men stamped
it down with the butts of their rifles and shoes, hurdled it, crawled
under it - got through it somehow.
The advance began at 8:20 in the indicated formation.
As soon as it started, hell broke loose. The enemy knew that this
attack was coming and they were prepared for it. The artillery that
was not already firing at the woods apparently had his guns laid ready
to open up. Its fire was supplemented by a terrific fire from Hills
193 and 190 which were thoroughly organized and infested with machine
guns, minenwerfers and some Austrian 88's - the notorious whiz-bangs.
They had a perfect field of fire, controlling the whole wheat field
and valley. Meanwhile, the rifles, machine guns and automatics in
the enemy front line and in the ravine went into action. This combined
enemy fire completely covered the wheat field.
Several incidents deserve mention here. Quick judgment
and prompt action on the part of Lieutenant Livermore commanding the
third platoon of Company M, the right assault company, probably saved
the whole battalion on the way over. An enemy machine gun nest was
established out on the right flank, with the crews lying quiet and
well concealed, waiting for the lines to advance to a point where
they could be mowed down by enfildaing fire. Lieutenant Livermore
discovered them just as they were starting to get into action. With
what men he could rally at the moment, he rushed the nest, captured
all the guns and killed or captured all the crews.
Lieutenant Rachek commanding a platoon in Company L,
was an old regular army infantry sergeant - from the 29th Infantry,
I believe. One of the 'backbone of the army' type. Going through the
wheat field he was knocked flat by a piece of shrapnel. Strangely
enough, his clothing was not even cut. In describing his sensations
later he said that he felt as if someone had slipped up behind him
and floored him with a sledge hammer. He arose and went on. It seemed
to increase his morale. The next day, a machine gun bullet ploughed
a furrow along his cheek, nose and forehead, which had the effect
of raising his morale even higher. The third day a rifle bullet went
clear through his chest. That stopped him, but he is alive and well
today.
Belleau was taken promptly, without much trouble, and
the Boche were chased part way up Hill 193. Givry was harder and a
bayonet fight occurred there. Prisoners, arms and ammunition were
captured in both Belleau and Givry. In Belleau a large German supply
dump fell into our hands.
After bombardment the enemy was seen advancing though
the wheat field on our front. We opened fire on them and the advance
was checked and they started to call out 'Kamarad', and thinking that
they wanted to surrender, we ceased firing and one of our men, who
could speak German, told them to come out in the open with hands above
their heads, but instead of complying they started to jump around.
So, being suspicious of some trick, we opened fire on them again and
dispersed them with three killed and a number wounded.
It was not so easy on the right. The battalion there
never reached its objective, and the enemy filtered down the ravine
on that flank for various counter attacks. They had machine guns in
trees in this ravine and their snipers were exceedingly active and
pernicious.
About this time a very disconcerting rumor was circulated
to the effect that the American artillery was falling short. Now the
physical effect of one of your own shells is no different from that
of the enemy but the morale effect is much worse. Nothing is more
apt to cause a panic among troops than the idea that their own artillery
is shooting them in the back. Unit commanders should sternly repress
these rumors, even if they know them to be true and should get word
back at once to the artillery. It is too common a saying "Is
that one of theirs, or one of ours?'
- from The Regiment: A History of the 104th Infantry
AEF 1917-1918 by James H. Fifield
July 18,1918 -- "Quite badly shelled. Only two
gunners first platoon. Advance through open about 7 a.m. Take village
with little resistance. Advance on side hill, then take positions
on road back of hill, near Belleau. Germans come through wheat field
after bombardment. They don't return."
-- from the battlefield Diary of Carl Hemenway
"THE BIG SHOW" - THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the biggest operation and greatest
victory of the American Expeditionary Force in the war. It was a complex
operation requiring the majority of ground forces to fight through rough,
hilly terrain that the German Army had spent four years fortifying.
The objective was to capture and control German railways in France and
thus force their withdrawal from occupied territories. Most of the troops
involved in this campaign had to be transferred from the St. Mihiel
Salient, assaulted less than two weeks before. The reshifting of these
forces in such a short period of time was one of the great accomplishments
of the war. The logistics were planned and directed by Col. George C.
Marshall, establishing his reputation and preparing him to lead, in
the not too distant future, American forces to victory in the Second
World War. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive successfully forced the German
retreat and leaders signed the Armistice November 11, 1918, much earlier
than anyone had expected.
The AEF initially mounted a series of attacks resulting in high casualties
but with small gains in ground. On October 8, 1918, Sergeant
York of the 82nd Division wiped out a nest of 35 machine gunners
and captured 132 German soldiers. His exploits earned him the Congressional
Medal of Honor and a film was made about him starring Gary Cooper. The
following excerpts are taken from Sergeant York, His Own Life and War
Diary by Alvin C. York
"After the first few bursts a whole heap of other machine guns
joined in. There must have been over twenty of them and they kept up
a continuous fire. Never letting up. Thousands of bullets kicked up
the dust all around us. The undergrowth was cut down like as though
they used a scythe. The air was just plumb full of death….I was
caught out in the open, a little bit to the left and in front of the
group of prisoners and about twenty-five yards away from the machine
guns which were in gun pits and trenches upon the hillside above me.
I was now in charge….
"Well, I was giving them the Best I had….Every time I seed
a German I jes teched him off. At first I was shooting from a prone
position; that is lying down; jes like we often shoot at the targets
in the shooting matches in the mountains of Tennessee; and it was jes
about the same distance. But the targets here were bigger. I jes couldn't
miss a German's head or body at that distance. And I didn't."
"The German Major could speak English as well as I could. Before
the war he used to work in Chicago. When the prisoners in the first
trench surrendered I yelled out to my men to let's get them out. And
one of my men said it was impossible to get so many prisoners back to
the American lines. And I told him to shut up and to let's get them
out….I ordered the prisoners to pick up and carry our wounded.
I wasn't agoin' to leave any good American boys lying out there to die.
So I made the Germans carry them. And they did. And I takened the major
and placed him at the head of the column and I got behind him and used
him as a screen. I poked the Colt in his back and told him to hike…
"And so I done marched them straight at that old German front-line
trench. And some more machine guns swung around to fire. I told the
major to blow his whistle or I would take his head and theirs too. So
he blowed his whistle and they all done surrendered. All except one.
I made the major order him to surrender twice. But he wouldn't. And
I had to tech him off. I hated to do it. I've been doing a tolerable
lot of thinking about it since. He was probably a brave soldier boy.
But I couldn't afford to take any chance, and so I had to let him have
it. There was considerably over a hundred prisoners now. It was a problem
to get them back safely to our own lines. There was so many of them
there was danger of our won artillery mistaking us for a German counter-attack
and opening up on us. I sure was relieved when we run into the relief
squads that had been sent forward through the brush to help us. "
On the way back we were constantly under heavy shell fire and I had
to double-time them to get them through safely. There was nothing to
be gained by having any more of them wounded or killed. They done surrendered
to me and it was up to me to look after them. And so I done done it.
I had orders to report to Brigadier General Lindsay, our brigadier commander,
and he said to me, "Well. York, I hear you have captured the whole
damned German army." And I told him I only had 132." -- Alvin
C. York
A see-saw battle ensued so Pershing ordered a reorganization. The reorganized
army began its final push in November.
November 6, 1918 -- "Dirty
Germans send H.E.s ( High Explosives ) with gas in them. Fearfully gassed.
Throat, lungs, nose, mouth…"
- From the battlefield Diary of Carl Hemenway
ARMISTICE
On that final morning it seemed as if all hell had broken loose along
the entire front. In the back areas the artillery had slammed everything
it had over the heads of the crouching infantrymen. The fire was unremitting
as the hail of steel went sailing toward the German lines. As 11 o'clock
neared every gun was firing as fast as it could be loaded. To the bark
of the smaller field pieces was the heavier crash of the 155's and still
further back the roar of the great 14-inch naval railroad guns as these
poked their big snouts skyward and blasted out a final defiance.
Promptly at 11 o'clock the cannonade ceased and instead of the horrible
din - the explosion of deadly missiles - there was an uncanny quiet.
For the first time in weeks it was possible to stand upright without
fear of sudden death. Again men could walk like men. No longer was it
necessary to burrow in the ground like animals, to crawl and slide from
muddy shell hole to still another crater exactly like its previous counterpart.
On the front lines there was neither celebration nor jubilation. It
was too big - too sudden. The climax had been reached. Numbed human
senses failed to respond. Officers peered out across No Man's Land through
eyes red rimmed from fatigue and loss of sleep. When they spoke it was
in tones hoarse and husky from the effects of gas. The men, with the
exception of sentries posted to keep the lines intact, too exhausted
to do more, dropped where they were and, unmindful of wet, cold and
mud, slept.
- from The Regiment: A History of the 104th Infantry AEF 1917 - 1919
CHOCTAW CODE TALKERS
When the Germans were making their final push in the Argonne, for a
while things did not look good for the Allies. It was discovered that
the Germans had not only broken the American radio codes but also tapped
the telephone lines. To make matters worse, they were able to consistently
capture 25% of the messengers who ran between companies on the battlefield.
Within the AEF, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, while virtually
surrounded by Germans, Captain Lawrence was walking through the field
in which his company was positioned and happened to overhear a strange
language between two of his soldiers. The language was the native tongue
of the Choctaw people and the soldiers were Corporal Solomon Lewis and
Private First Class Mitchell Bobb. Inspiration struck the Captain and
he proceeded to organize eight Choctaw men to transmit messages between
units on the battlefield in the Choctaw language. Their secret weapon
confounded the Germans and turned the tide of battle. Within 72 hours
of implementing the "scrambled" voice messages, the Germans
were in full retreat of the attacking Allied forces. The Choctaw Code
Talkers not only saved their battalion, but also invented secure communications
in the closing days of the war.
Later, during World War II, the most ambitious effort to employ native
languages as secret codes was championed by Philip Johnston. Johnston
was a World War I veteran who had come by covered wagon to settle on
Navajo land in northern Arizona with his missionary family. By age 9,
he was one of the few whites who were proficient enough in the Navajo
language that he served as interpreter between Navajo leaders and President
Theodore Roosevelt. Johnston had heard of the Choctaw Code Talkers during
World War I and set out, successfully, to convince the military leadership
during World War II that the Navajo language could be similarly used.
The rest is history.
"Your achievement, which is scarcely to be equaled in American
history, must remain a source of proud satisfaction to the troops who
participated in the last campaign of the war. The American people will
remember it as the realization of the hitherto potential strength of
the American contribution toward the cause to which they had sworn allegiance.
There can be no greater reward for a soldier or for a soldier's memory."
By Command of Major General Hale:
Duncan K. Major, Jr.
Chief of Staff
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