with the losses—read the order.’”

“Three bare rolling hills stretched toward Gesnes,” Granger observed. “Every square yard was visible from the higher hills beyond, occupied by the enemy, and the concrete pill-box on Hill 255, and every foot swept by machine-gun and artillery-fire. Protection there was none—not even concealment for one man. The gullies between the hills were swept by enfilading fire from the wooded hills above Gesnes, and the hillsides were commanded by nests hidden in the flanks.”

“Bradbury turned to me and quietly said, ‘Well, Farley, lets go.’ I gave the signal to the Company Commanders and, despite the withering hail of steel and lead, as one man the leading Companies rose up and started forward. We moved off directly behind the first wave. Perhaps the charge of the Light Brigade was more spectacular, more melodramatic and picturesque, but not more gallant. Man after man fell but the others continued on through a ‘hell’ of shrapnel and machine gun fire as would be impossible to exceed.

“Unfaltering the line of combat groups rolled steadily on over the open, a trailing wake of olive-drab marking its progress. One must not think of this as happening in an instant—over an hour of this bloody plodding along under a tornado of missiles passed before the worst was over. Finally the last crest was topped, and in irregular groups these Gallant boys swept down the last slope into Gesnes. At the first corner stood a German tank. This was taken and the crew shot as they tried to escape, and its gun turned on a machine gun nest.

“The town was promptly cleared—the satisfaction of some bayonet work was given us. Now, however, with a machine gun bullet through my canteen, four holes through my loose trench coat and one more noticeable through my ankle I made my way back through the still heavy artillery barrage placed to prevent the advance of our Reserves. Dead and dying literally covered the field. Who was responsible for this costly order of attack, why this needless sacrifice of precious lives, was not for us to question.”

A Soldier’s Message to His Son

American Doughboys. National Archives
Years later, in a commentary left for his son, Granger gave tribute to those who died: “Nor are the brave men who now lay forgotten in our Government Hospitals, broken in mind and body as a result of the war, any less heroes, than those who died in battle. Perhaps the sacrifice of the living is even greater. Still they live on; forgotten.

“Do not think me bitter for it is quite natural to forget; that is life. On the contrary, I am exceedingly grateful to have had the privilege of my experiences; and the same ‘something’ that prompted me to go, would always make me feel I had not ‘kept faith’ had I remained at home. And greater than the satisfaction gained at having done my little part as best I could—I received the greatest of all rewards in having made a Mother proud.”

Learn

More About the AEF in World War I, and the Lost Battalion at War
Learn more about the AEF in World War I and the famed Lost Battalion, in my upcoming book Never in Finer Company: The Men of the Great War’s Lost Battalion! Please share your email address below. You’ll get monthly emails about research discoveries, book updates, and more.