THE LOST
BATTALION
ARCHIVES PAGE
Mr.
Baldwin's trip to the Pocket
THE LOST
BATTALION
Our trip to the "pocket" below the Charlevaux
Road
June 12, 2001
On Tuesday, June 12th , we met our guide, Phillippe
Sauvagnac, in the lobby of du Coq Hardi Hotel, in Verdun,
France at 9 A.M. The hotel is one-half block from the
Meuse River. Phillippe apologized for his abilities with
the English language, but, as far as we were concerned,
he was an excellent linguist.
He showed us his plan for the day as well as a French
version of the chapter on The Lost Battalion recounted in
the book " The History of the 308th Infantry" -
he had the page opened where it mentions Walter J.
Baldwin recalling something "Quarante ans plus
tard" - forty years later. Dad was recalling
Holderman's bravery in the face of enemy fire.
Our first destination was the American Memorial 26 miles
north of Verdun in Montfaucon, 10- 12 miles east of the
Argonne. It is a beautiful spot on a hillside. The
monument lists on its base all the American Divisions
that fought in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On the wall
inside the base, is a chiseled map pinpointing the areas
of the Meuse Argonne battlefield that each division was
responsible for. The 77 th was on the extreme left or
westernmost sector-farthest away from the Meuse River.
From the base of the monument, looking west, you can
clearly see the Argonne Forest rising up from the French
countryside. Behind the monument, to the East, are the
ruins of the church that was the center of the original
village of Montfaucon that was destroyed in the battle of
Verdun in 1914.
We then drove north to the American Cemetery at Romagne.
Thank goodness for Phillippe. The route was winding with
lots of turns in tiny villages. The cemetery is in one of
the most beautiful/peaceful spots I have ever
experienced. Over 14,500 American soldiers who died in
the First World War are buried there, the largest
American Cemetery in Europe. It appeared that we were the
only visitors at the time. At the Visitors Center, the
gentleman quickly produced a list of the men of the 306th
307th and 308th buried there.
They asked if we wished to visit any specific graves and
I chose two men who were part of the group in the
"pocket":
Btln. Sgt. Maj. Ben Gaedeke - He was standing next to my
dad, when dad was helping a wounded man, Sam Feuerlicht
of C Company. They came upon Jim Larney and dad
"introduced" him to Freuerlicht. Gaedeke said
they "ought to get down to the new command
post" - after several steps a shell hit right on the
spot Gaedeke was standing, killing him. Feuerlicht "
sagged from Baldwin's arms, his chest torn out: Larney
went down with a chunk of iron in his right elbow, and
Baldwin was beside him, tearing a shirt to pieces to try
and stop the blood. Together they rolled down the hill
and began to scratch at the hard earth, Larney with his
one good hand and a bayonet, Baldwin with a trench shovel
he had picked up from the side of Paul Andrews, who had
valiantly volunteered to get water earlier in the day and
valiantly done it, but now lay dead with a piece of
American shell in him".
Lt. Marshall G.Peabody - wounded on October 3, when he
got "the full burst of a machine gun in one leg just
below the knee". He was the most seriously wounded
of the officers, yet "led his men with his
courage". On October 6th, lying wounded in his funk
hole wearing one of the few trench coats available, he
was hit by mortar and machine gun fire. Knocked out of
his hole by the blast, his body rolled down the hill
" right on top of signal man Larney". Larney
and Cepeglia and Richards, who were in a hole with him
took turns wearing the coat to ward off the cold. At
every reunion, Peabody's fiancee, Ms. Anita deGoll, would
send a bouquet of flowers which my dad would arrange to
have set at a place at one of the tables, in front of an
empty chair.
The grave sites are immaculately kept and the setting, as
mentioned above, is beautiful. We then visited the chapel
which is on the hilltop looking down on the grave sites,
with the Visitors Center at the opposite end of the
graves. In both the Visitors Center and the chapel,
Marilyn - ( my wife ) inscribed on the log "In
memory of Battalion Sargent Major Walter J.
Baldwin". On the massive outside wall of the chapel
is a list of all the men whose bodies were never located
below a phrase that includes the words, "dedicated
to those men whose final resting place is known only to
God"
From Romagne, we then drove southwest through the
villages of Epinonville and Charpentier, near Apremont to
Varennes-en Argonne, where we had lunch.
Varennes-en-Argonne is on the western edge of the
Argonne. Those names stiffed memories of dad reciting
them.
After our repast in a small hotel's restaurant, we
started out on our trip to what Phillippe referred to as
"the big show". This was the term the doughboys
used to refer to the Meuse-Argonne offensive. We then
drove slightly south, then west through the Argonne,
passing through tiny villages with signs like Clermont,
Mounblainville, Harazee, and Vienne le Chateau, and then,
finally Binarville, again, names of villages that sent
tingles up my spine.
We drove north along the western edge of the Argonne and
stopped in several places that Phillippe indicated were
the jump-off points for our guys the morning of October
2. He had never heard of the location, referred to in
accounts of the advance as L'Homme Mort. In this area, to
the right of the road there were some open meadows
between the road and the forest, where cows were now
roaming. To the left of the road, Phillippe indicated
were the wide open fields that were the responsibility of
the French who were to supply support in the advance on
our left, or west flank.
There were several spots that Phillippe pointed out as
being critical locations where the French were stopped
and thwarted in their efforts to move northward and
provide that flank support. Again, the terrain was wide
open and it must have been difficult to move forward
against entrenched troops. The road turned slightly to
the right, closer to the forest and suddenly on the right
was a pond, perhaps 250-300 feet wide. On the left were a
small house and several other buildings on the site of
what once was the Charlevaux Mill. Here the road took a
dramatic turn to the right around the north side of the
pond and we entered the wall of the Argonne Forest -
trees and brush beginning at the edge of both sides of
the narrow two-lane road. This was the
Charlevaux-Apremont Road originally built by the Romans.
My estimate is that we drove perhaps 200-250 yards into
the forest and came upon the monument on the right, or
south side of the road. The marker, about four feet high
indicates with an arrow pointing down the slope, the
location of "The Lost Battalion" - the pocket.
These are several of my observations that I feel were
significant: Firstly, the severe angle of incline on the
slope, perhaps 110-120 degrees in spots. The terrain was
densely covered with trees. I was disappointed because I
did not feel confident about making it down without
tumbling down the slope. The area was densely wooded and
littered with fallen, dead limbs and tree trunks. There
were spots here and there that sunlight would dapple the
ground but mostly the canopy of trees kept the area
shaded, beautiful on this clear June day, but cold and
damp in October, 1918. Couldn't determine if I could see
the ravine at the bottom due to the tree cover.
Secondly, and perhaps more profound, was the observation
that in certain spots, on the north ( or German ) side of
the road, the ground rose from the side of the road in
cliff-like fashion. There were places where the cliff was
8-10 feet high. This must have given them tremendous
sight line advantages from these places that appeared to
tower over the road, and of course, the positions of the
men in the pocket.
Lastly, I do not recall any place where the road was
straight for more than 150 feet. These curves or bends in
the road created places where the doughboys would have
been exposed to not only forward fire from directly
across the road, but also fire from the side across the
road - some pretty tough spots.
As I mentioned above, I was initially disappointed about
not going down the hill. We drove perhaps 200 yards
further east to a spot that I guess Phillippe had checked
out that presented an open area where the slope was not
as severe. We walked down through heavy underbrush,
weeds, ferns etc. and were able to look back, westward
through the ravine. From this vantage point I could see
both sides of the sloping hills rising from the bottom of
the ravine. Whittlesey had led his men from the
Charlevaux Mill area along the ridge to my left (
sustaining 90 casualties before they ever got to the
pocket ). They could look to their left ( right from
where I was standing across the ravine and see their
objective - the Charlevaux Road. They turned to the left,
or north, and proceeded down the southern slope across
the Charlevaux Brook and took up positions on the
northern slope below the road.
Since the slope became more severe, we went back to the
car and drove back to the site of the monument. After
some hesitation, Phillippe and I proceeded down the
slope. Starting out on the seat of my pants for the first
30-40 feet, I went from branch, to tree trunk, to branch,
down the hill of the pocket. On the way down, I saw what
had to be the remains of a funk hole, dugout, fox hole;
oval shaped, deeper at the top or the higher spot on the
hill. Nearer the bottom of the hill the ground cover,
bushes, etc. became heavier and then, right ahead of me
at the base of the ravine, I saw the waters of the
Charlevaux Brook, flowing from east to west, apparently
towards the mill pond we had passed earlier. The stream
at this point and time was only 3-4 feet across. People
who have been there after heavy rains have said that it
is much wider and a real morass of mud down there. NOTE:
It rained most of the time the men were in the pocket.
I realized that I could be standing at the spot where
Phil Cepeglia, and many other brave men went for water
for themselves - and their buddies. Some of them died
right there in their efforts - they were exposed to fire
from all sides. This was the most significant moment for
me. The experience made all the planning worthwhile.
Looking up the southern slope, it was difficult to see
through the tree cover where the hill stopped, but it was
obvious that the Germans , who had come around behind our
guys and occupied this slope had a tremendous advantage
in firing into the rear of the position of the 77th . You
could get some sense of the trap our guys were in.
Looking up the northern slope gave me a bottom-up view of
the steep slope of the hill below the road, and we
proceeded to climb up that slope. On the way up, we
passed three additional dugouts or fox holes, two on my
left, one just up from the other, and one to my right
that was canopied by a netting of roots and branches. The
last 10- 15 feet of the climb were on my hands and knees.
Another look or two up the path of the Charlevaux -
Apremont Road and a long look down the hill and we left
the monument to the men of " The Lost Battalion
" with vivid recollections and a feeling of having
fulfilled a life-long dream.