Blood in the Argonne: The "Lost Battalion" of WW I

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From Parameters, Quarterly Journal of the U.S. Army War College, Summer 2006

Blood in the Argonne: The “Lost Battalion” of World War I. By Alan D. Gaff. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. 384 pages. $32.95. Reviewed by Dr. Douglas V. Johnson II (LTC, USA Ret.), Research Professor, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.

This reviewer had the pleasure of previously reviewing this book in draft and was immediately intrigued by the breadth and depth of research into the personal stories that form its essence. At that time I wrote, “It is a rare author who can tell a story of blood, savagery, and death without becoming engrossed in the gore, or who is quickly repelled by it all and becomes distant. I rather doubt many will be able to read this without being themselves worn and numbed. The transition from that murderous time of isolation to an undramatic rescue is so deftly done that the reader too will find him/herself on the other side of it all almost before noticing. That is one of the distinguishing marks of this work—its lack of heroics and hollywoodisms. Instead, it is told as I suspect [Charles] Whittlesey [commander of the 308th Infantry Battalion—the “Lost Battalion”] himself might have told it, save for his own role—in a matter-of-fact detailing of what was important and who did what, if all too often of how they died.”

With the published work now in hand, I can reaffirm my opinion and add a strong approval of the ancillary aspects of an excellent collection of photographs, sketches, and the marvelous interweaving of World War I American soldiers’ war poetry, some of which, though well-enough known, has for reasons of propriety seldom been seen in print. One or two pertinent sources evidently were not examined, including the 77th Division Summary of Operations in the World War and a 1987 draft study by the Center of Military History, Fighting Encircled: A Study in U.S. Army Leadership. While the former is an authoritative but rather sterile document, the latter might have provided some comparative insights that could be useful to today’s leaders. However, these are minor detractors.

The story that surrounds this tale is told equally well, if in a not particularly sympathetic vein. The fact that General Alexander is portrayed as a very hard, driving man is probably accurate, but that is what General Pershing required of his division commanders. Given today’s focus on coordinated, even interdependent actions, the predominance of continuous infantry frontal assaults can only be seen as appalling, but at this point the reader needs to take a deep breath and examine the range of possibilities. It is a given that artillery support for much of the Meuse-Argonne campaign was inadequate, and in this particular fight the inability to locate friend or foe, much less the ability to observe the effects of artillery, and the inability to communicate between those firing the guns and the infantry simply made a bad situation worse. The inability

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of the flank units to achieve their missions, including French to the north and Americans to the south, not only led to the initial isolation, but crippled relief efforts. Here, this reviewer must add that although the German performance throughout the battle is not the subject of analysis, it is evident they performed with remarkable effectiveness. What really bothered this reader was the lack of any action by the division commander to do anything more imaginative than demand continuous forward progress. At least some of Alexander’s subordinate generals went forward enough to fully understand what truth looked like.

Gaff describes the relief of the “Lost Battalion” undramatically and then recounts how the demands of war provided the functioning survivors precious little recovery time. The author then proceeds to describe the postwar treatment of the soldiers and officers with a calm recitation that must somehow resemble Jonathan Edward’s delivery of his fabled sermon “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God,” a sermon reportedly read without emotion, but having electric impact on his listeners. It is difficult to read the “Living Legends” chapter of this book without being alternately enraged and driven to deep philosophical reflection. For the soldiers who did not slip into some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), refuge must have been found in a cynical recitation of that classic of all postwar poems, “Tommy.” Whittlesey managed to fight his inner demons for several years and then, one night after boarding a cruise ship to Havana, “stepped overboard to join the dead of the Lost Battalion.”

This reviewer has nothing but praise for this work and hopes that it will be received as well as Charles Whittlesey was upon his return to America. For those who have not seen it yet, the made-for-TV special on the “Lost Battalion” is one of the best of such efforts and tracks nicely with this very good book.