New-York tribune., 1919-05-04

Suppoaeu ASSO III Waiefflled fox
holes, became utterly exhausted, hut
following their officers, they con-
tinued on indomitably.
SThe Spirit Of
The Argonne''
Here" said General Alexander
'the spirit of the Argonne was
bornl"
The Germans threw in reinforce
ments, but the 77th never halted.
On the second began the trial of
the Lost Battalion. Major Whit
tlesey and six companies-A, B. c.
E, G and H, of the 30sth, with Com
pany K, of the 307th, had been Or
dered to push forward without re-
gard to fianks. The French on the
left, out of liasion, had been unable
to make headway against the Ger
mans. Whittlesey was headed for
Charlevaux Mill, which he had been
instructed to hold until other ele-
ments came up. AS he proceeded
the Germans got in behind him from
the left. He was surrounded in
deep ravine of the forest, which
afterward came to be known as "The
Pocket"
He went into that ravine with
679 men. He came out with 252.
During the next four days the en-
tire division engaged in the fiercest
fighting of its career. Brigadiers
led their troops in person against
German artillery positions. There
were hand to hand encounters as the
infantry regiments attached machine
gun nests. The battle never ceased
now, night or day. The American
guns found the German artillery
positions and registering accurately,
gradually silenced them.
Nine companies of the 154th
brigade launched an attack on the
afternoon of the sixth and that
evening the 307th Infantry sent
back word that it was nearing Whit
tlesey and his beleaguered band. i.
Whittlesey discovered his stu
alton on the morning of October 3,
when details were sent back for
rations. They never returned. Re-
serve rations had already been con-
sumed and the men had nothing TO
eat. Fortunately, they found a
spring near by, but the Germans
kept it under fire night and day, and
it cost life for nearly every can
teenful
Lieutenant Lenke, of Company f,
returned with eighteen men and re-
ported that the battalion was sur
rounded. The Germans had already
opened with mine throwers, gren-
AIDES and machine guns.
The commander and his men
heard the orders given by the Ger
man officers and non-coms, form
ing their men for rushes upon the
Americans.
The fast dwindling battalion
formed hollow squares each day, re-
pelling all attacks. American aero
planes accommodating saw their
white signal panels on the ground
and reported the position both to
the approaching infantry and the
artillery, who got the range Of the
German guns.
October 6 was Sunday, but the
Whittlesey battalion didn't know it.
The day was like the three preced-
ing, until a private, who had gone
out to hunt a parcel of food dropped
by an airplane, reported hours later
with note from the German conf
mander, Lieutenant Heinrich Prinz,
"appealing to the humane senti-
ments' of the American commander
to surrender and stop the fight.
Whittlesey has been reported as
replying go to He'll" He himself
has never said shat, but according
to the official records of the division
both he and his men answered, you
Dutch --- come and get US" or
words to that effect.
On the night Of the seventh the
Germans opened with mine throw
ers and liquid fire. BY that time
the decimated battalion had heard
the unmistable rattle of the Chau-
cats of the approaching relief bat
ralions. Its one machine gun
opened again and the Germans
faded off into the forest by the right
flank as the attacking troops of the
30Sth came into view from the
south. On the morning of the eighth
the battalion marched out of the
pocket with its wounded, lost no
longer.
Nearly three months later, Colonel
c. 0. Sheriff., of the general staff.
writing from Coblenz, where he had
witnessed the retreat of the Ger
man Third Army acroSS tho Rhine