World War I
Charles W. Whittlesey
Major · U.S. Army
U.S. Army, 308th Infantry, 77th Division
2-7 October 1918 · Northeast of Binarville, in the forest of Argonne France
Public domain. United States Army Source file
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Era
- World War I
- Home state
- Massachusetts
- Action
- The Lost Battalion in the Argonne
The citation
Official citation
Although cut off for 5 days from the remainder of his division, Maj. Whittlesey maintained his position, which he had reached under orders received for an advance, and held his command, consisting originally of 46 officers and men of the 308th Infantry and of Company K of the 307th Infantry, together in the face of superior numbers of the enemy during the 5 days. Maj. Whittlesey and his command were thus cut off, and no rations or other supplies reached him, in spite of determined efforts which were made by his division. On the 4th day Maj. Whittlesey received from the enemy a written proposition to surrender, which he treated with contempt, although he was at the time out of rations and had suffered a loss of about 50 percent in killed and wounded of his command and was surrounded by the enemy.
Sources
- U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation index
- Wikipedia. Linked only. The article text is not copied here.
