By: Michael Fouts
By the late summer of 1918 the Allied forces were pushing Germany to the brink of defeat. American soldiers, who had been fighting with the allies on the Western Front since 1917, were preparing for one final push to end the First World War. A plan was set in motion for a massive attack on the entire German front line beginning in September of 1918. Its architect was the Supreme Allied Commander, Ferdinand Foch who adopted the rather telling slogan, “Tout le monde à la bataille”, or “everyone into battle.”
Ohioans part of the U.S. Army’s 37th “Buckeye” Division, 42nd Division and the 2nd Battalion of the 372nd Infantry Regiment, a battalion made up of African American soldiers fighting with the French Army, were soon thrown into the carnage of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Over 47 days, from September 26 to November 11, 1918, around 1.2 million American troops fought against the Germans entrenched in Northern France, not too far away from the city of Verdun.
The accounts and images of Ohioans who witnessed the events of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive have been archived on ohiomemory.org.
On October 3, 1918, medic E.A. Pastelnick wrote a letter to Ohio State University history professor, Arthur M. Schlesinger in the hope of “preserving the records of this war for Ohio”. Pastelnick detailed his experiences as a medic during the battle from September 26 to September 29, 1918.
The work of medics like Pastelnick was pivotal in saving the lives of soldiers wounded during the fight. Dalton Smith Hayes, the grandson of former president Rutherford B. Hayes, was one such soldier.
Hayes wrote in a letter to his mother about the experience, “I saw a Jerry (that’s what we call ’em now) about two hundred yards away aiming his rifle in my direction. The thought sprang to my head ‘Here’s where I make my score three instead of two’; and I jerked my rifle up. That’s the last I remember till I woke up flat on my back in a shell hole with my shoulder hurting like the dickens.” In the end Dalton Smith Hayes did survive his injury.
Unfortunately, not all were as lucky as Hayes. By the end of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive the Americans claimed victory but suffered around 122,000 casualties, including 26,277 killed in action. German losses were comparable to that of the Americans.
Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, General John J. Pershing later commended the achievements of the soldiers who participated in the campaign. Stating in General Order No. 232, “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.”
Harold Jackson Gordon letter 1, 37th Division
Harold Jackson Gordon letter 2, 37th Division
Robert C Gill diary, 37th Division
“Official Photographs of the 37th Division A.E.F. Vol. 1”
