Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-24
NOTE TELLS STORY
OF LOST BATTALION
Letter From WhittIesey to
Adjutant Reveals Plight
of Stranded Unit. :

NEW YORK, March AZ CN.A.N.A.) -
An intimate account of the pocketed
"Iost Battalion" written by its COM
rnander, Mai. Charles w. -Whittlesey, to
his adiutant, Lieut.. Arthur McKeogh,
was made public to-day for its bearing
on the story of tire battalion as told
by Gen. Pershing in recent install
ments of his memoirs. The accouns
is included in a letter sent by Maj.
Whittlesey from Fittsfield, Mass, on
November 20, 1918, to Lieut.. McKeogh.
LET me try a dab" the letter runs,
cat the events after you left, say Sep
TENDER 90. We got grub September 30,
drew equipment, etc, and went for
ward October /. A Company was held
up at Mort Homme and we couldn't get
through. So on October 2 we left D
and F Companies on the left (west)
side of the ravine as a retaining force,
the rest Of us attacked on the east side
of the ravine &C and 3 in advance, E,
q and H in support. a not function
ing as a company.
One Officer Left.
''Then we got stuck, etc. Capt. Nc
Murtry was commanding the I'd Bat
talon. He was magnificent-the life
of the party. And Lieut., Cullen,
commanding II Company, was fine. A
Company was disorganized, as there
was no officer lefts B was commanded
by Lieut.. Rogers--a wonderful soldier
ed Lewis was sick and had to be
forced to go TO the hospitaD. Lieut.
Rogers was killed and his death was
q great blow to us. Paul knight stayed
on the crest of the rAEine, and was
twice wounded, but not severely. We
heard great things of him wi1en we
came out. Lieutss Peabody and Moon
1f N - - al
killed during that time with lis, and
several officers were wounded. In fact,
Paul Knight was the only officer left
in the LIST Battalion when we came
out October 8. We got 20 new officers
that day as requirements for the bat
talon.
Manson stuck, and stuck well. He
was wounded and went to the hospital
when We came out; but I was very
proud Of him. He more or less adopted
me after you left" ~
Mr., MeKeogh is now major in the
intelligence service and managing
editor of Good Housekeeping, a periodi-
cal. Mai. Whittlesey died in November,
1921.
Author Visits Pershing.
In the April issue Of Good Heusekeep-
Ing Mary Roberts Rinehart teElsf of
meeting with Gen. Pershing in France
In November, 1918, and a visit to the
place where Mai Whittleseys battalion
was 'lost
"At last we were there" she writes
Ia reporting the meeting with Gen.
Pershing, and l was Strengthening my
hat and being taken into Gsn PERISH
1ngS private office. He was standing
there smiling and holding out both
hands. m
SO yo,r rot here after allp
He locked thinner, very tired. But
he looked every inch assif1an and q
soldier. He had fought not only his
part Of the war he had fought for his
army as an entity. fought Fochs all the
interallied command. Stood up To them,
seen them fling away in wrath and i'm
patience ana now he had struck the
the war.
STANDING by map, he showed me
the strategy OF the final snash.'of the
German lines: the terrible choice be-
tween the battle loss of an attack that
Summer and Fall with green troops or
the slow attrftiDn BY disease of a
French Winter and the attack in the
Spring..
Advocates Preparedness
MAJ 1EcKeosh said flaat he believed
Gen. Pershing,s memoirs have brought
out definitely the need for a sane pro-
gram Of preparedness for war through
universal training
Whether 70 send green troops to
the front where sheer undertaking
would result ia the death OF many, or
to let Others die of disease through the
long Winter, WIS, aS Mrs. Rinehart
points out 3 terrible choice for Gen.
Pershtng. he said. ssThere were 354
unframed troops in our battalion, over
balancing an organization reduced by
previous engagements TO 443, and out
there IN the pocket It was found that
some Of them did not understand how
70 work the bolts of their rifles, others
had never thrown live bombs, and most
OF them carried only the original 10
rounds OF ammunition issued them in
the States and by that time oxidized
by salt water"
He advocates larger appropriations
Tor citizens training camps and an in
creased standing Army.
Copyright, 1881. by North American News
paper Alliance.)