He left his wealth to establish the foundation in Michigan Avenue and chicago. Park those ofn he you who have come come down are welcome. Built a museum but didnt. This is a great talk to introduce because it is about the battle of canteen he france. Battle inricas First World War i. The day before yesterday, the First Infantry Division welcome 500 soldiers. Women of the first everydayhave served since june 1917. Was inst time that far france and i was not only americas first battle in world war i, it was the first battle for security and democracy in europe. And we are still concerned. Was privilege to look it over when it was a manuscript and i had two reactions. The first was this is probably the best thing i ever read on. He battle of canteen he matt did this as a hobby. Profession and he did this on the side. E has a family here sisterinlaw are all here with desperate welcome. [applause] heated not tell his family he was working on this for a couple of years. To date it outd of him. For those of us who pretend to study history as a profession, to say whenense someone comes out of a law rights. And he is a veteran of the u. S. Army reserve. He is a devoted family man, a whoessional and someone very much loves the history of he would not give me much more of the introduction. Very nice, the best dad ever, hilarious, up piano player, loses the tickle fights, smokes cigars when he can get away with it, likes to control the model trains, particularly big boy, a wonderful collection of strange halloween uniforms. Including some that he wears at halloween when he dresses up like a world war i soldier. I thought that picture was pretty good. Without further ado, i would like to introduce you to matthew davenport, author of the book, first over there. [applause] matthew thank you, colonel. It is difficult to get the facts right on an event that occurred 97 years ago in a field in france. It is impossible to do that without the help of archives and museums and archivists and librarians and institutions from coasttocoast and overseas. And of the long list of institutions and groups of people that i am grateful to on that long list, above all would be the 1st Division Museum here. Wonderful staff at the research center. Those of you that support them, thank you. They are a wonderful, wonderful group. This book would be impossible without you. Those of you dont support them, i urge you to. So, a plug. I know i am in the presence of a lot of people that know a lot about the battle of cantigny, here in this audience, from the colonel who has written about it himself, many of you out theyre. I hope you have partaken. It will take a little bit of pressure off me. I hope you have partaken into the cash bar. It will take a little bit of pressure off me. I learned early on when i decided to tell the story that to tell the story, really you cannot tell it without getting into the experience of the men that led up to the battle. So their experience in volunteering, shipping over to france, in training, then in the trenches, it informed their decisions when they planned and executed the battle, which ended up being our 1st victory on the western front. The book is 16 chapters. I dont even get to the battlefield until chapter eight. So tonight i will get into detail about the battle itself, but i need to get you there first and i want to give you a little bit of a roadmap of how they got there at first and then the puzzle of the great war holistically. Combat in world war i occurred between august 1914 and 1918, four years and three months. The u. S. Did not get involved really because it took the United States so long to get its industrial and manpower up to speed to then form, add the volunteers to the regular army, equip them and armed them and send them over there to train. Participationual in the war was limited to the last five and a half months, from the battle to the armistice. And i was curious when i started researching, where did the actual casualties occur on that timeline . As a think many of you know, the u. S. Lost over 116,000 men killed in action over the course of 19 months, but to say they were lost over that time is not painting an accurate picture. The u. S. Entered the war in 1917. By the end of that year, eight and a half months into our participation in the war come deaths as a result of sickness, 53,000 in combat. I will tell you, by the end of 1917, eight and a half months into our time in the war, are actual combat deaths by the War Department records, the combat deaths at the end of that year where only, and i do not use , only relatively, only 33. 33 men in the first eight and a half months. By the time of this battle, by may 28, 1918, combat deaths, u. S. Combat deaths were only about 594. So what does that tell you . , it tells me from this day on for the next five and a half months the u. S. Lost about 52,000 men in combat. That is more than we lost combat deaths, then we lost in korea , 10hen we lost in korea years in vietnam and over a decade in iraq and afghanistan. October 1918, when we finally had full presence on the front, divisions fighting, american divisions fighting under american core and american armies, eventually killed them on the western front at full capacity, that last few months of the war we lost 27,000 men in combat. The deadliest single month in American Military history. It was deadlier than the deadliest month in world war ii. That tells you that youre for yard and man for man, the western front was the deadliest combat our troops, american troops, have ever experienced. Before it or since. Imagine if the armistice did not occur in midnovember. And november carries the same casualties and the same combat deaths, then december and january. What the totals would have been. The british and the french, the allies did not have to imagine. They had been fighting this for years. They had been suffering. Row was low and they knew it. So when the u. S. Entered the war, the british and french sent delegations to president wilson right away and said we need an american presence on the front right now. Whatever you have, send them over. We know what your plan is and it will take a while, so get some troops over. The orders are sent down to the general who deployed the chief of the adf, the mac and expeditionary forces, to immediately handpick for regiments for the army, beefing it with volunteers and sending it across right away. So the 16th and 18th and 26 regiments are sent in midjune, by june 14 they ship out and by late june they land in france, a day the day when they shipped they were the First Expeditionary division. Wednesday landed in france, they were designated the First Division. As i said, they have been on continued active duty ever since. And immediately on landing, they are put into what general pershing envisioned with his general headquarters, that all aef divisions they would train under the allies, mostly the french, then they would go into a frontline sector for experience under british or french command and then they would take over a part of the sector under their own control as an autonomous division. As the divisions shipped over and went through these three stages they could assemble an , american corps and then an American Army and then take over part of the western front. That was the plan. The First Division is the first foot into it and immediately sent to im not french. I looked up so many pronunciations. I will just say, this is where they went. And they trained there through the summer. This is where they learned. All they brought with them where the spring photo rifles and the colt. 45s. They have to learn how to fire the machine guns, the automatic rifles, and three filled artillery regiments are trying to separately. Are put together separately. They learn how to fire the 155 and by the end of summer when , they finish training, they are still the only division in france, when the 22nd arrives by fall. At this point, the first goes to somerviller and they enter the trenches. And they fire the first shot at the germans. They are bound by their wire. They cannot go past the wire. So they do not watch raids, but they learn what it is like to hold a frontline sector. It is a quiet sector. It has not moved much since the first months of the war. The inevitable happens. On november 3, Early Morning hours. As battalions are rotating, they did tenday tors. The second battalion of the 15th and jeffrey that every tree is struck by the germans. And they launch a trench raid and i think as many of you know, the first three americans are killed in that raid. And that is a photograph of the funeral, the french general given the eulogy. I think 11 were captured and more injured. They then rotate the next battalion and after a month they all rotate back in december. Now, at this point there are three more divisions u. S. Divisions in france. Theyre getting ready to go into the frontline trenches. The First Division has finished their second phase of training and general pershing knows of all the american divisions they will be the first ones into combat. So in december, lacking confidence in the initial commanders, he replaces him with the man at the top there. We could justify an entire hour on these two men in the photograph. Bullard on horseback. Alabama, he was one year ahead of pershing at west point. He was an infantry man. His first move when he takes over command of the First Division is to appoint charles summerall. He is photographed there as a major general. He appoints him as the commander of the first Field Artillery brigade for the division. When they both fought together in the philippines in 1901, general bullard was a volunteer commanding an infantry regiment of volunteers and was very impressed by a long a young lieutenant, general summerall and it was something he never forgot. On. Les summerall then goes he goes on to the next commander of the division. Of 1917, these two men are put into play and it is very consequential. Thing to get general bullard asfoor was to get his battalion into an active the first thing general bullard asked for was to get his the time into an active sector. In any event, they move then in isuary in this sector probably two or three times as as the other sector. Daily and nightly bombardments and mustard gas attacks. They are given control of the sector. This is where they learn how to andch intelligent patrol enemy trench raids. The casualties are high. Thes here that most of , most of whom or earlier. A year collegethese guys were students or cashiers at banks a year earlier and now they are leading man. Formal training was 90 days. Sector that many of this isld later say where they learned how to lead the men. Backof them would hearken to this as the reason for their success. 21, the germans launched the first of their spring offenses. The previous november was the russian revolution. The fighting was winter. Leadership saw what was coming. They saw what was brewing across the atlantic and every month was going to be much more exponentially more troops. Germans decided they were going to throw the full weight of the Eastern Front and a spring offensive to knock the allies out of the war. At this point, the u. S. Had five divisions in france in the First Division was the only one that finish all three stages of training. General pershing abandons his original plan to assemble an of a front portion that he will hand his divisions over to the allied high command. General pershing goes to him and says all i have is yours. He wasnt going to split up his divisions into regiments or battalions. He would hand is over to british or german command. Whenever they need. That was you look up at the map. This actually includes all of the german offenses. Is down below was named general pershing goes pulled the and leavesion out them with the 26 division and pulled him back for two weeks of training. Themng that he is sending and they will be the First American troops, he goes to general bullard and officers, overhe 900 of them. I start the book with this speech because it was very historic. At all of these men would go on and theyn world war ii were sending in this courtyard. Bullard that is general. Obscured is his operations officer. Would leave the he was theld war ii g3. Sion this photograph is one of the and inown photographs wanted to show it to you tonight because many people think of the western front of some dantes inferno landscape. If you look at it, this is fresh farmland. Pushed 40 miles. This is on a fronts were victory about three weeks of for the author, this was farmland. Hilltop. E sat on a does sit elevated. What happened was the germans and a frenchwest colonial vision was heading north. It was a reserve division. Germans dug in and retook the village for the germans push them back out. Since then, the germans have helped the village. They dug into the village dwelling. When the americans arrived, the First Divisions arrive. They are not an established sector at all. Theres no 54 six foot trenches. The very first task the division has to build is the sector. That photograph there is one of many if you go through the division history. Over up time they take until midmay, almost all the pictures were of them dating. While they are there, the germans are pounding them day and night. Bullard getseneral the green light to plan a limited offensive. Meaning, he is going to retake the village from the germans in this position. These are the lines as they look. Sector,ey establish the all of the trenches that were dug. In between the german line to the west and the american line, no mans land. Objectives general bullard gives it to his officers. Marshall sends orders and says we need intelligence. We need to know where all german machine guns are. Which village shelters and sellers have ammunition. We need to know this. We need to know the locations of everything. Every night from midmay up until the battle, for two weeks some nights there were as many as five or six patrols in no mans land, coordinating with each other. They would go out and crawl to enemy lines after dark. In the national archives, they had stacks of these reports. They are the most fascinating things to look at. The men would handrolled what they got. Some of the men actually got through the village to the east on the far side and into the field on the other side. All under the cover of darkness and quiet. They would come back before dawn, hopefully and fill out a , patrol report. That was sent back to marshall and his staff bullards staff. They would plug it into the map. Slowly, the Operations Plan took shape. I show you this photograph. You can see this. What is great about going to the archives, you can hold these up and see what the original plans were and how they above. They of all from midmay up until battle. You can see where the changes took place. As they got more intelligence, which parts of the attack plan evolved. There on the right, there were many slips of paper that i saw. They were tucked into these folders and they were all in George Marshalls handwriting. He would write these memos. He was very much the architect of the infantry plan. Because this was a long, wide front, the fortified enemy dug in. The artillery was going to play a huge role. On the left, this is the map of the village. Those red marks are the hand drawn labels. Intelligence would come back from patrols and this is how cantigny looked before the battle. They would then mark which once had a seller. All of those arrows on the left, those are machine guns. Up on the right, the french aviator would go out on clear days and take aerial photographs. That is one of the many photographs they used in planning. The artillery, general summerall and the artillery and his staff planned the artillery. This was going to be a very much combined armed attack. The artillery and the infantry was going to have to work the plan was there would be a destructive bombardment of the village. This appears on the right, this is actually i have a laser pointer. This does not show any of the village structures. This is all of the different batteries that were given targets in the village. All of them are aimed at the village. This would be almost 300 french guns. For a total of 386 guns. 150, andp from 75 to 240 up to 280. For one hour, they would pummel the village. They would destroy all of the structures, destroy, render all of the german garrisons incapable. Then, that would be from 5 456 40. 455 minutes. And then then the plan would be that the artillery would start from 75 meters. 75 would fire a protective arise out to no mans land. It was described as a wall of smoke and flame. At 6 45 they would jump up and blow their whistles and at zero hour, the first wave of infantry would go forward toward the protective barrage in no mans land. It would create forward another hundred meters until they reached their objectives. On the left, i put this in the book. On the left, you will see that each one of these rectangles is one of the rifle companies. This is the 28th infantry. It is a three battalion wide infantry attack. Down here, the first battalion, two companies, right here. A company would wait in the cantigny woods. Then they would create forward another hundred meters and another hundred meters. Although it through the village. When it reached here, a company would swing out and meet with b company. They would fight off that portion of the german line and hold that against an inevitable counterattack. Here is the operation plan to map showing the Infantry Company and how they would move forward. That was the objective line right there. Not having ever experienced an offensive before, they were holding the line at this time. On may 24, they were taken out of the frontline by the 18th infantry and sent back to the rear to reverse the battle. It was 2. 5 days of rehearsal. Not only would it be protected by artillery it would be accompanied by a battalion, a french schneider tank. There would be 12 of them in the middle and there would also be a dozen french flamethrower teams accompanying the center of the attacks to mop up the village ruins. These are the photographs of them rehearsing. There is a schneider from the side. Up here is a spot for the french plane that would fly over and report back any german batteries that were fired. One of the biggest part of the Operations Plan as i told you, it evolves. In the evolving, what i found interesting was that they kept emphasizing more and more that when the infantry got to the far side of the village and doug lines, they would be exposed. They needed to keep the german artillery undercounter battery fire, especially during that time while they dug in. That is why the french got pushed back out. They could take it but they couldnt hold it. The holding portion went from one paragraph to three paragraphs to two pages to 2. 5 pages. Emphasizing that the french artillery had the range. 240s40s e would keep them under fire as the americans dug in. As with most military plans, something happens beforehand and throws everything off. That is what happens on the morning of may 27. A couple of things happen. As on the morning of may 27, the attack is scheduled. J day is scheduled for may 28. The morning of may 28. They rehearsed. On maytalion comes back 26. They figure they need to spread the lease over two nights. The Center Battalion is brought in two nights before. The Center Battalion comes in and takes over to portions of the line. The germans launch a trench raid. Of all the places along the line that they could hit the american trenches, a hit the one place that was being held by the members of the 28. They just came back from rehearsal. They knew everything about the attack. No morning of may 27, about 50 german raiders crossed no mans land. Ofy hit wonderful tune company e. They more than decimated the company. 30 americans are killed. 20 more are wounded. They take 50 men out of the center of the attack for the next day. They cant be replaced. The critical thing is that americans defend their lines of effectively and keep the germans from capturing anyone. If one man had been captured they would have known everything about the attack. And it might have caused cancellations of the battle. No americans are captured in that raid, but the grade indicated something a lot more ominous. The raid was part of a series of german attacks for the next german offensive. Down intohed the way the south. The problem was in gaining ground quickly. The french high command sends orders up that the french artillery needs to go support defense of the line to the south. They cant be used for the battle. After a series of matches back and forth. General bullard said that we will stay but we will only stay for the preparatory bombardment. Most of the big guns and then will leave after americans agree to the objective. That is critical. Especially given how much that Operations Plan had emphasized the french artillery. Now americans are hopefully going to reach their objectives and then they will be exposed and these french guns are going to be gone. This was a task organization. To add to it, we are three Machine Gun Companies, they had a company of engineers. They had a full battalion of the 18th infantry in reserve. One of those companies was up in the from line near company a. This was plus the french flamethrowers. And the tank battalion. These photographs were taken by the french arial observer at the end of that, right after the bombardment or toward the end. This is from the east, northeast looking back. The americans would have attacked this direction. You see the smoke rising from the ruins. The clarity of this original is amazing. You can zoom in and you can see that there is not a single untouched building in the entire village. One of the americans, one of the doughboys that went to the village, they looked like matchsticks or piles of rubble. Here is another aerial photograph and down here this photograph of the village was after the battle. This was charred landscape. At zero hour, the infantry went over the top. The famous photograph that you see is on the cover of my book. That is actually the second way of going over the top. These are more pictures of the attack. This is the only closeup that i have ever found of the infantry Going Forward across no mans land. It is not identified. Given the fact there are tanks to the left, im going to guess that it is probably company e or f. They are moving forward. The platoon leaders are standing with the pistol here. Up here on the north end, this kneedeepat was about or waist deep. They were waiting for the barrage in front of them to quit forward again. Creep forward again. This is a great photograph because you can see a silhouette of the first wave up there. You can see all of the protective barrages on the horizon. You cant see the village. It is completely obstructed by the preparatory barrage. The third wave were carrying parties. Each company went for two platoons in the first way. Two platoons in the second way in about six minutes later. Also accompanied by a couple of machine gun teams. The companies on the flank had the four machine gun teams. They were to carry all of these. They would make repeated trips toward the front. One of the best quotes i ever heard from a military story. Rick atkinson said topography is fate. It is very true of this battle. One things you can appreciate about the battle is the topography. It hasnt changed much since then. I have shown you two photographs. On the left, this is the best map to show the platoon configuration at zero hour. You will see each one of these sticks here. He was a company a situated in the cantigny woods. Up at the top, you get to be different in the topography. It was relatively flat and open. This is the the you up here from the german trenches as it looks today toward the american lines. This photograph was taken about right here back in the second company. This is the view from the german trenches. It is downhill toward the american lines. The americans were going on a slight uphill. One of the key factors is that these german trenches right here were not really part of the preparatory compartment. They were not hit from 5 45 to 6 45. They were almost untouched. The only shells that hit them were when the american barrage moved forward. Especially on the far north and right here. These german platoons were entirely capable of defense. Down on the south end of the village, right here, right about on this line was what they called a draw. I called it a ravine that cut through the fontaine woods. Right back here and there are a whole lot of german machine guns. The german lines went right along this road. Youll see how low that ground is. The first battalion, company d went up through the village. Right here, company b had to cross this field right there. These were the german lines. This road right here was a dirt road than and the germans had built their frontline trench along that road. The german Possibility Company d company b all across no mans land. These germans were entirely capable of an effective defense, the only shelters worthy american protective barrage. Over on the left, these were the cantigny woods. The actual woods line has moved back. Company a was supposed to swing out here. They connected across the open ground. One of the things that i found most fascinating was the casualties. You can see the topography. It took a long time to figure this out. You crossreference these with the morning reports, you can figure out where and when most of the individual soldiers were killed. History has told us that the death total for the battle of cantigny is 199. That is not accurate, 199 were killed but it was far more. That was based on colonel elys report. He was the commander of the 20th. He issued a report on june 2. It only covered the 28th. It only covered what he knew at that point. When you factor in the replacement that was still classified as 128 infantry regiment. They still fought in this battle. You factor in all of the added units of Machine Gun Companies and the companies in the 18th that were thrown in. The number i was able to confirm 318. 318 killed in this battle and this battlefield in the 2. 5 days. I think the number is probably more. Buck, but i know it is at , least 318. When they died and where tells you about the flow of action. The Center Battalion second battalion right here with the tenets any flamethrowers going across no mans land, they are headed toward the area that the hourlong preparatory bombardment has destroyed. The garrison has crushed or trapped or going across no mans land, zero deaths. The second battalion zero deaths up to this point. The first battalion, reaching this point right here, they are crossing no mans land to include company a swinging out. 21 deaths. That is in the first 10 minutes. 21 dead, 110 wounded. Second battalion zero dead and from all i can tell about eight or 10 wounded. Third battalion at the top, coming across the open field, again, the bombardment did not hit the german lines. The germans open up their machine gun fire right here, especially on company l and k. Company l never reached their objective. They get to platoon leaders killed. One is rendered absolutely incapable of any leadership, he is shot through the arm and left in no mans land. There is only one platoon leader left. He digs in halfway to the objectives. The men below them splinter off some run back to the old lines. Some assimilate with company k and a few gather around lieutenant hawkins. They never reach their objective. The far right platoon actually reaches the line here. They fall back quickly. Crossing this battalion to this point suffers 31 killed and 180 wounded. Compare that 31 killed, 180 wounded. You see the difference based on the topography and where they had hit the germans leading up until then. The second battalion drives through the village. This is where they had their heaviest resistance. This is the main village structures right here. Up here, this has been pummeled by artillery. All this right here is the orchard north of the village. If you read the book, you read a lot about the orchard. The second battalion tanks went for two lines. One group of them, a group of five went this way, too stalled out. They were 10 tanks left. They came down here and hit every strong point they could. Another group came across no mans land straight into the orchard. The second battalion one company goes into the village. The other two companies funnel through and between the cemetery and the buildings on the north end. As they enter the orchard, these are teaming with german machine guns. That is where they suffer most of the casualties, and the orchard, based off the 12 killed, at least 90 were wounded. Lieutenant colonel robert maxey, he was a west pointer, he led second battalion four. He was carrying maps in one hand, his pistol in the other. Every soldier that talks about him say that he makes him sound like he was chuck noris. One of them said he had a pistol and lead us to victory. He had a handlebar mustache. He was a quite an interesting character. He gets to this point. The objective is right about here. He gets up to about here and is struck by a shell. From what i can tell, other than artillery of the division, there were about six or 10 soldiers of the 28th that were killed by artillery shortages fired by the Division Artillery and the french artillery. Most of those reports were redacted but you can still see them. The german artillery was entirely silent. From zero hour all the way up until about the time that they received the objectives, i cant find any reports of an american killed by german artillery. One of the first or maybe the first is Lieutenant Colonel maxey. He is struck in the neck by a shell fragment. He is still alive but his wound is mortal. They try to evacuate him to a Field Hospital and he says take me to the captain. Here is the captain. He was the best kind of officer. He is commanding the reserve company of the second battalion. His men are going through with the french flamethrowers. He gives him his maps, he tells them where he wants his command posted. He tells them the plan for the consolidation of the line. For all i know, he falls on heous and he dies by falls unconscious and dies by nightfall. The captain then takes command of the battalion. By the end of the war, claire to better clarence is a commander. In world war ii, he commanded the first infantry. Through the forest he ended the war as a three star and a corps commander. This is a photograph as it looks this is a photograph as it looks today. A lot of the german artillery was in these would lines back here. This was the mopping up the village. These are the french flamethrower crews. The men described it as the french flamethrower teams. One guy with a flamethrower, one with a bag of grenades. They would go through any seller cellar opening, and he stares any stairs that looked like it was going down into the rubble. They would go up and yell in in german. They would prime the grenade and throw it in and wait for the detonation. A lot of germans were taking cash taken prisoner. They crushed and killed much of the german garrison. Consolidation of the line now the french artillery start pulling out. This is the deadliest chapter of the entire battle. The americans get on the far side of the village. The french artillery now the big guns are moving out. More every hour. The german artillery starts opening up. The americans pushed through the village and the end up on the far side, mostly in open fields that are exposed to the german lines. They have to get up there in open ground and their platoon leader leaders say dig a trench. The machine gun fire and the artillery fire is coming. The consolidation is where most Companies Receive their heaviest casualties. Down here is a good panoramic at the south end of the village. I showed this to you so you can see how it looks today. They finally conquered the germans here. They took this line and they had to dig in here along the line. I know i am a lot closer but if you back up two or 300 yards, this is the view that the germans have of company bs lines. Even worse with company a. Company a over here in the cantigny woods have swung out. They could never connect with company b. They hug back to the tree line and dig into lines here. They start getting pummeled by the artillery. Up here, you can see the lines just to the east of the and north. A slope of the land tells you everything. You can see this is front facing. The village is back on the other side of the trees. Company b digs in over here. Company d is on a forward facing slope. The germans have an easy shot at this to their right and left. You can see the natural crest of the ground floating up. You cant see but over here, company a is digging in. Company a receives the lowest casualties in the battle. In consolidation, d company suffers 15 killed. B company suffers 11 killed. I think it was 15 killed and at least 120 wounded during this time. This is only about a two or three hour. Period. One was killed and it was after consolidation. You can see that the topography is safe. Where they were trying to dig in meant a lot about their casualties. This is the operations map showing that this was done prior to the battle. This was completed on may 25 or 26. This shows the plan of the organization of the lines. All of these Companies Reached their objective and dug in. Because company l never reached their objective. Company k is exposed on the far left. They have become the left flank. Company k suffers the highest casualties of any company. Company k and the consolidation 21 killed and 180 wounded. That is almost the whole company. Almost the whole company is gone. The surviving platoon leaders end up coming back with a couple dozen men. The fire gets so heavy that by the first german counterattack they end up pushing them back. You can see company k there. They are exposed on the left. They suffer the heaviest during the digging in of the consolidation. This is taking the afternoon of the 28th. These are german prisoners. Most are happy to be back and getting fed. Most of the american soldiers and up staying afterwards. They were happy to have survived that inferno. Now they would be well fed. They heard that americans that their prisoners well. This was a photograph taken of them heading back toward division headquarters. A lot of the individuals who bought at canteen he canteen at cantigny, ended up becoming leaders in the army in world war ii. The most obvious was george marshall. I wanted to emphasize a few. This is john church. He was a lieutenant of company b. In world war ii, he is a one star general. In the korean war, he takes command of the 24th infantry division. That is a photograph of him during korea. This is clarity of their clarence. This was him carrying his favorite colt 45 that he carried all the way through the world war ii. Up here, Theodore Roosevelt junior, he was a major, he commanded a battalion of the 26th infantry to the south end of the village. They were tasked with flank support. One of his companies had to come in and reserve to plug the line during the battle. Of course, in world war ii he was the one star general. He was a Deputy Commander of the first infantry and he lands at utah beach. He is a first general officer for utah beach. After the 28th, after the men dig in to their line, the germans push an immediate counter stroke. The americans called it their first counter attack. What ever they had in reserve, they try to throw it at the americans. The interesting thing about the german garrison is unplanned again. The regiment that was holding the north half of the village had just come to the line that night. They had relieved a regiment that held the line for some time. They were entirely unfamiliar with a lot of their positions. The regiment that was released marched back to rest position. They were about eight miles away. They arrived there around 8 00 a. M. Around 8 20 or 8 30, they get orders to go back to the front. The americans have attacked. They turn around and they had to march back to the line because they are told that they will counter attack. When they arrive around 1 00 in the early afternoon they have not slept for all of over a day. They have marched 16 hours with no food, no breakfast and little water. These are the troops that the germans sent an for the counter attack that afternoon. I think that is important to note. They counter attacked and they were supposed to counter attack at 5 00. The last was coordination between the two german infantry regiments. They end up delaying the attack by 45 minutes. They got pushed back. Company k was so exposed and decimated, they were down to just a few men. I dont know there is a different way to say this, they were in a panic and they fell back. They took a lot of the men in company l out in no mans land with them. They will left with the north end of the left flank. The reserve company has to come in and plug the gap. After dark, down in the south where company a is, they never joined up with company b. The objective is consolidated. The next morning, the germans counter attack again. They are pushed back. The men are Still Holding the lines. The next afternoon, the next evening, the germans counter attack again down to the south and the americans pushed them back. Then, through the night, the americans continue to hold the line. A lot of companies didnt get any more water. They were short on ammunition. The next morning on may 30, they had been holding the lines for two days. The germans counter attack again. It was splintered and uncoordinated but the americans fight them back. The germans do not attack again. The colonel gets his wish and his men are released when the 16th infantry goes and. Goes in. One of the soldiers said after he reached the rear that no german set foot in canteen he cantigny again. This was the first time that they took enemy territory. It was the first push back during the germanspring offensive. I am very candid in the book that this was a small battle. There was no disputing that, it was small, if you look at the line on the western front, almost inconsequential. The cause of the rebels were the ripples were big. It was big news because this is the first time americans planned and operation an operation and succeeded. The deadliest fighting that we ever experienced. This is a view from the south and southwest of the village. You can see how it is elevated in their position. This is where company b would have cut through in canteen he cantigny woods. This was right here in the village in 2008. My favorite picture is general pershing. They are looking at their first maneuvers. That is the story of cantigny. Thank you for your attention. [applause] i know that there is time for questions i believe. What were the german casualties . Matthew they main every imprecise very imprecise. We had over 250 captured. I think the total germans killed the claims went upward of 800 or 1000. I think the number is somewhere around 600 total. Their total casualties was right over 1000. I know they said the division was left with a combat strength of an infantry of over 2500. The garrison holding the village was small. It was two battalions 858. It is impossible to give any precise number on german casualties. That is the best number i can get from german documents. We have a question over here. Where was colonel mccormick during all of this . [laughter] matthew thank you so much. Colonel mccormick commanded the battalion of the fifth Field Artillery. They had the 155. He had suffered from the spanish flu. The spanish flu decimated the ranks. He was struck with the spanish flu but insisted on remaining with his battalion. All i had read i am not saying that because i am on the colonels state. He was an exceptional artilleryman. He insisted on being with them through the rehearsal and going up to the front lines. He was with his battalion when they they fired the preparatory bombardment. As they fire the protective barrage from zero hour on until they reached their objective. From earlier in the day before, medics and some of his staff had been begging him. You are sick, please go to the Field Hospital. He insisted on remaining there with his battalion. This was when they executed the most important part of the mission. He allowed himself to be taken to the Field Hospital after. He was in place for the most important part. He commanded one of the battalions. As a nurse, i am curious about the Field Hospitals and were American Nurses there what was the Health Care Like at all . Probably not too good . Matthew not very good. There was a french Field Hospital. I cant find any sign that there were nurses there. It was all members of either the First Division or members that were brought up to man the hospital. The morning reports and the Field Hospital intake are how i crossreferenced a lot of the casualties. The men were evacuated those that could be evacuated were taken. A lot of them that couldnt walk were carried on these two wheeled dinghies. They were very rough rides, all the way back to the Field Hospital. At the Field Hospital they perform some surgeries, very painfully. They could be removed to the french hospital. Most of the men are recovered in the french hospital. I cannot find any records of any nurses at the Field Hospitals that supported this attack. Another one over here. There are some stories of extraordinary personal valor and perseverance among our new soldiers in this fight. What were the one or two that struck you . Those were the real examples of the potential and the courage of the american soldier. It is good for a Family Member to try to stop you with a question. One that struck me, i have lived in North Carolina for the last 22 years, one of our favorite sons sam irving was a u. S. Senator from North Carolina. It wasnt until i got into research for this book that i knew that sam irving thought at cantigny very bravely. Sam led one of those parties in the third way. He was a private. He led a 12 man carrying party in the third wave. He was part of the reserve company. He and his men made five trips across no mans land especially after the machine gun ire. Gunfire. He kept making trips back and forth. By his fifth trip he had lost six of his men. Two killed and four would it. It was only him and five other guys i believe. On the way back, he spotted a german soldier that was wounded. He is shot through the foot. By german machine gun. He goes back to the Field Hospital. He did not actually recover in time. The next big operation was in july. He convinces the doctors at the hospital to allow him to go back to the front. The reports were that he actually used a rifle as a crutch for part of it and helped guy named samuel parker. They were friends at carolina. They were taking a german machine gun and they were actions for which he would earn the medal of honor. I think that one of the most amazing men in this story that is impossible to say it is probably George Redwood. If you read the book or gift if you have read the books you have learned by George Redwood. He was the battalion Intelligence Officer. His bravery was renowned. He was just a citizen soldier. He was a young lieutenant gone through ninetyday officer training. He goes through no mans land on these intelligence patrols. Redwood went out every night. During a battle George Redwood is seen during the battle by guys all over the north end of the battlefield. There is times where he appears out of the smoke and shows guys where to go and then goes back. He is shot during the early part of the battle threw his shoulder. Either the chest with the shoulder. He continues going through no mans land. He had been in a no mans land so many times that he knew it better than anybody. During one of the heavy machinegun barrages the men are all down in their trenches. He is down there marking where the machine guns are being fired. When company k and l received in the afternoon and the troops fall back he actually rallies them to try to drive them back to the front line. That is when he is killed by a shell. It is impossible to pick out any more. Those are just some of the individuals that stick out in my mind. There is countless. One of the frustrating things about the book and about publishers you have to cut out so much. I can really only cover only about 20 or 30 of these men. I was able to uncover the letters and diaries and personal recollections. That is a lot of digging. It paints an accurate map. There are a lot of stories out there that are told and untold do know if they were attached to the First Division . No, no. Are you asking how colonel mccormick ended up with the First Division . I know that unit was not attached. None that i know of. Colonel mccormicks journey into the First Division was individual. He was very much a citizen soldier. He wanted to wanted to volunteer immediately. He started as an Intelligence Officer and ended up thank you for an excellent presentation. One question would be did you run across any records of the german opinion of the u. S. Fighting capability or opinion of appreciation . Matthew yes, the best ones were from the german prisoners. They may have been flavoring what they said at the time. If you read a german operation, they were after the war. I believe it was the army war college. The army translated all of the documents. You can read what the germans attributed the loss of the village to. Every single one of them, they talk about the lack of coordination. The exhausted state of the troops. Men had just taken over the sector and were not familiar with the defenses. They always talk about the fire of the enemy and could not retake the village due to heavy infantry and artillery fire of the enemy. As colonel herbert said many times, here was the time the United States but in a combined arms attacked successfully and held it successfully. All of the german high command that i could find did a tribute part of that to the american firepower and of course the Ripple Effect from there. It was successful. That was a black eye. I think the german troops were rated third on a scale of four. It is still not too long of a distance. This was part of the 18th army. Thank you very much for coming. How long did it take you to do the research for the book . How long did it take for the editing to be published . Matthew the research took four years. I started writing after about three years. You dont know what you need to know until you start writing. When i started writing, i got three years into research and i had gone through archives coast to coast. I had all the documents and i said i have enough, i will write it. I started to write and that is hard. I got to the second sentence and i said i dont know what the weather was like. I dont know when sunrise was. As you write, you start to realize you need more research. The editing is awful. I finished the manuscript in about a year and the editing took about a year. It was arduous. Editors are not really human. When the americans were being bombarded by the germans, did they still have the artillery to support their own artillery support . Matthew they did, they had groupings in these different commanders. The smaller french guns remained with the americans. Problem was counter battery fire requires longer ranged weapons and bigger caliber. The two tens, the two 40s the 155s did not have the range. I think a lot of it the failure in that first hour of destroying some of the positions, north and south. The american artillery was able to respond to german infantry movement and i cover that in the book. I am over here. I am interested in the rehearsal and the actual battle. From the Soldiers Point of view, where there any documentation from the Soldiers Point of view . Did it help them . Did it introduce them to something unknown . The best way to summarize it they said the rehearsal was absolutely helpful. It was like muscle memory when they went into battle. This was such a fixed plan. Their descriptions of the rehearsal were very interesting. They actually allowed war correspondents embedded to cover the rehearsal with the agreement they could not report on it until after the battle, obviously. The soldiers were told they were going into the battle on the 24th. They did not learn jj was not until 2, 3 days later. So many of them, lieutenant newhall in particular, said we felt the bombardment leading up to zero hour, i thought i would be a pile of nerves. And because of the rehearsal, my men and i knew what we were expecting. We knew what we had to do. We were just going to do it. Of course he is understating things. It was absolutely helpful. It was essential, especially being able to work in liaison with the tanks and the flamethrower crews, because they had never done that before. Ok, matt. Thank you very much. Great presentation. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] join us today at 10 a. M. For a ceremony marking the anniversary of americas entry into world war i. The United States world war i Centennial Commission host the program from the National World war i is he him and memorial in kansas city. The ceremony includes the retelling of the american debate over whether to join the global conflict. President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional declaration of war against germany on april 6, 1917. More than 4 million american men and women served in uniform. And more than 100,000 died. That is tomorrow on American History tv here on cspan 3. This weekend on american pulitzerv, prizewinning historian David Mccullough talks about how the founders, particular john adams, valued education and viewed slavery and how they persevered in the face of hard to. Here is a preview in the face of hardship. I dont think we can ever know enough about the revolutionary era. I dont think we can ever know enough about the founders. And we have to see them as human beings. History is human. When in the course of human events. Human is the operative word. History is not about dates and memorizing quotations. Its about people. Its about human beings. And theyre different from each other. And they all have their faults, their feelings. And they all, none of them ever knew how it was going to turn out any more than we do. They talk foresight, about the foreseeable future no such thing as the foreseeable future. Be remembered. To that is how history should be taught and how it should be written. Oh, thank you. Im not at all one who favors the view from the mountaintop, the wise historian, who says, they should have done this or that. It yourself in their places and then try to judge what they did or did not do. Watch the entire Program Sunday at 2 p. M. Eastern. American history tv, only on cspan 3. Recently, American History tv was at the american historical Associations Annual meeting in denver, colorado. We spoke with professors, authors, and graduate students about the research. This interview is about an hour and 20 minutes. We are with susan lederer. A medical history professor at the university of wisconsin. You focus on bioethics. How did attitudes about death change in the United States after world war ii . Professor lederer there was a growing interest in the increasing costs of the funeral industry. Great concern about Funeral Directors who unscrupulously