The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-11-15
FAMOUS BATTALION
CAUGHT IN 2 TRAPS
Lieut.-Col. Whittlesey Tells
Thrilling Tale of "Lost"
Troops Experiences.
ONLY 1872 OF 600 UNHURT
New Workers. Figure in Two Of
the Wars Most Desperate
Fights for Freedom.

Lieut.-Col. Charles W. whittlesey sat
In the Williams Club yesterday and was
led into talk about how he and his
lost battalion" surrounded for five
days In the Argonne forest without food
or water, held out until they were
rescued.
I'VE used to send out runners twice
a day regularly to see II they could
slip through to headquarters" he said.
But they all were killed or wounded
or forced to return to us. After sew
eral days Of that sort Of thing. I asked
another II he would take a chance.
why, sure he replied. And that's
the way they all we're. I'd like to men
tion by name every man who performed
conspicuous service. but regulations for
bid. Every one of them, however, event
ually will appear in the citations"
And that was the tenor of all he had
" say--the bravery of his men, who
were nearly all New Workers..
1t was Capt whittlesey last spring.
When he underwent his trying expe-
rience in the Argonne II was Major
whittlesey. Now 1t is Lieut. Col. Whit
tlesey, which shows what they think OF
army.
incidentally Il was news to most OF
the friends who sought him out at the
club yesterday that ne had been In the
same FIX on two occasions. He was sur
rounded with his battalion during the
week of September 20. That was tho
occasion when Lieut.. Arthur McKeogh.
Adjutant to Lieut.-Col. whittlesey ana
foremerly reporter for THE EVENING
SUN. got back to the American lines
with runners Jack Munson and r. c.
Herschowitz and thus made possible the
rescue OF the surrounded contingent.
That story had been told rather fully.
But yesterday the modest comman-
der recounted his later and more bitter
ordeal during the wVk of October Q.
This Is his own all too brief account of
how 1t happened: y
battling in a Ravine.
You always attack on a sector"--he
Illustrated by drawing an imaginary
lane with his hands. Through the CEN
tire ~ this particular sector there was a
ravine about 200 feet deep with steep
sides The first day we attacked
L'IIomme Mort and we lost quite heavily
the better part OF one company. in
fact. including all the officers. At night
we stretched lines across both sides of
the roads, and the next morning the or
der was to go forward. and then ] ex-
pected the heavy resistance to be on the
west side of the ravine. So there were
orders to leave two companies there and
put the rest OF the battalion on the east
of the ravine and go ahead TO a certain
road.
I'VE got up to that road at about
o'clock at night. We were supposed 20
stop and establish camp. bivouac and set
out outposts. On our TANKS We Dro-
tacted ourselves with machine w"
Where we stopped there was
with a swamp behind us. Next
ing orders came that we were to I
back n company to attack the ives,
OF the ravine from the rear. s.nt
back n company to cut through from
the rear and loosen UP the way. At
1890 o'clock eighteen OF them came
back with a Lieutenant. He said tiat
In trying to get across they had ooen
surrounded and he thought II beat to
fight their way back.
Some men came running In from the
outposts saying that two Of the posts
had been cut off. One runner had been
CAPTURED Another came in with similar
news. SO then we knew we were sur
rounded. You see, the Argonne remind
ed me Of the BerkshiIes: the foliage Is
SO thick that you can see only few
yards in any direction. So the Germans
had been able to filter in behind us
Well. there We were, and there was
nothing to do but hope for relief.
strafed by Germans Daily.
THE Germans gave US hts. but ac-
cording to an invariable routine. They
machine gunhed us at certain times,
used trench mortars twice daily, and
along in the afternoon of every day they
used their potato mashers.' which Is the
doughboys' name for hand grenades."
"Our machine gunners were fine. They
would withhold their fire until the
Boches were near and then let them
have II until the cries ceased and the
attack was over Twice the Germans
attacked from the tanks, and then We
had the simple Job OF moving them
down.
We'll. there we were. as said. Each
soldier IL supposed to have two days
rations for an emergency, but we had
used them up when We were surrounded
the first time and we never had chance
TO replenish the supply. The morning of
October 2 we were issued a days ra-
tons, but the order to break camp came
so quickly that not every man got hia
At the end OF the first day we had
nothing TO eat at all. We were in
luck though TO have the swamp behind
u.s. BY night we could get water from
1t. One or two men were killed trying
to relieve their thirst in the daytime.
zone day we looked down there and
we saw wild boar which had been
wounded by machine gun fre. We tried
to get 1t. and we certainly could have
used II. but the attempt failed. l sup
pose that Is one OF the few regions In
France where you could see wild
boar
Il know they were trying to relieve us
all this time. Airplanes. they told me
afterward. tried to bring US food and
supplies and messages. But we got none
of the things they dropped.
Only Two Machine Guns Left.
I'VE we're fairly we'll hxed for rife
ammunition. Every man had 220 rounds
when we went in. But there we're only
Ave boxes of ammunition for the ma
chine guns. OF the eleven machine guns
all but two were smashed by German
trench motars before we were through.
II don't know what l would have done
without Capt George Z. McMurtry.
who was a broker here in town. He is
about IS years old. He was wounded in
the knee on the second day Of the ad-
vance. but he kept up and cheered his
men on wonderfully although he suf-
fered so much that he couldn't sleep.
One day he was hit on the shoulder with
potato masher' and the handle was
driven into his back. And stili he kept
on until we were relieved.
I'VE went in with six or seven hun
dred men, don't recall the exact num-
Der at the moment. But | do know we