Category Archives: World War One

ROCK OF THE MARNE – ULYSSES GRANT MCALEXANDER

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The Centenary of World War One has come and gone. A few books published, but mostly, no special remembrances occurred that garnered much attention here in the U.S. compared to Europe. Of course, the First World War affected Europe much harsher and for a much longer period than the United States. The war dragged on for a little over four long years Over There with America only involved for a little more than the last year and a half. One American who did stand out was Ulysses G. McAlexander, nicknamed “Rock of the Marne” for his leadership in one of the earliest battles American forces did fight.

Ulysses Grant McAlexander late in WWI as a brigadier general.
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VANCOUVER BARRACKS NATIONAL CEMETERY REVEALING HISTORY OF THE FORT AND MORE

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Graves laid out - view from the south or the top of the "heart". Vancover Barracks National Cemetery.
Graves laid out – view from the south or the top of the “heart”. Vancover Barracks National Cemetery.

The post cemetery for Vancouver Barracks became established in 1857. The Army maintained the cemetery until recently. In 2020, the cemetery became part of the National Cemetery Administration – Department of Veterans Affairs – renamed the Vancouver Barracks National Cemetery.

Fort Vancouver was built in 1824 to serve as a central hub of business for the Hudson Bay Company in the Oregon Country. The company had its way in the region until the late 1830’s when American settlers began to arrive. Attempts by the company to meet this influx with colonists of their own came to naught and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the border far to the north at the 49th parallel. The fort, left deep in American territory though the company continued its operations. However, those operations became more unprofitable and difficult as more and more settlers came into the picture.

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THE BAR IS CLOSED – FORT CANBY ON THE COLUMBIA

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The Columbia triad.
Triad of forts on the mouth of the Columbia River.

Having written last of Fort Stevens on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River, the lynchpin of the triad of forts arranged to guard the entrance from the sea from 1865 until 1947, it is time to turn our attention to the north side of the river. First, Fort Canby set up on the headland on the north side of the entrance to the mouth. Even today, a visit by car to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center – literally erected upon the aprons of one of Fort Canby’s former battery aprons – takes you winding along a narrow densely forested lane giving you just a taste of the primeval nature of the site.

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FORT STEVENS – FRONT DOOR CLOSED ON THE COLUMBIA

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Replica of a 6-inch disappearing gun at Battery Pratt.

A visit to semi-restored Fort Stevens on the Point Adams along the southern mouth of the Columbia River transports one part way back in time. Here you see three or four distinct flavors of the month in terms of ideas on how to properly defend the nation.

Fort Stevens became the lynchpin of three forts developed in the latter half of the 19th century to defend the mouth of the Columbia River from would-be invaders, whether they be British, Confederate, German or Japanese. The other two forts forming the Columbiad triad forming on the north side of the river in Washington – Forts Canby and Columbia.

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LIVES LOST BEYOND THE MEDALS at MEUSE-ARGONNE ABMC CEMETERY

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View from the Visitor Center across the Large Pool and at the Chapel on the hill at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery.

The mass of the graves at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery belong to men who did not win medals but still did their duty. They made up the main throng of the two million strong American Expeditionary Force in France during World War One. In two previous posts, I talked about the stories of the men honored with the Medal of Honor or some honored with the second highest Distinguished Service Cross. In this post, some of the other stories found among the graves at Meuse-Argonne come to light. The stories are mostly of officers for their lives were generally a little longer and better recorded than the greater numbers of young enlisted men just starting out in life.

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FORT WALLA WALLA CEMETERY – END OF THE FRONTIER

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Fort Walla Walla Cemetery holds the dead of some of the last Indian Wars, the close of the Frontier.

FORT WALLA WALLA CEMETERY

The cemetery was established soon after Lieutenant Edward Steptoe organized the first Fort Walla Walla, a few miles east of downtown, in 1856. The fort moved two times in the immediate years following and the cemetery ended up presently just to the west of the last fort, the present-day Veterans Administration Medical Center. The cemetery holds graves from the different eras of the fort’s existence, 1856-1910. Civilian graves are separated from the soldiers by about thirty yards. Three monuments reflect some of the major battles during the 1877-1878 Nez Perce War in which soldiers who spent some time in Fort Walla Walla lost their lives.

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MEUSE-ARGONNE CEMETERY – VALOR BUT NOT QUITE ENOUGH

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Distinguished Service Cross – established in 1918 as a second rank for valor to the Medal of Honor.

Others beyond the golden dead (Medal of Honor winners have their names inscribed in gold at cemeteries administered by the American Battlefields and Monuments Commission (ABMC)) earned medals for valor. Their headstones are inscribed with their awards, as well, here at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery, just not in gold. You have to look a little harder.

This is the second of a series looking at some of the men and women lying buried at America’s largest cemetery in Europe, Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery in Romagne, France. Here, we look at the award given out on the second rung of heroism in the pantheon of awards for heroism in the American military system – the Distinguished Service Cross.

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MEUSE-ARGONNE ABMC CEMETERY – AMERICA’S GREATEST TEST – THE MEDALS OF HONOR

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Flags of the Allied Powers in the Chapel at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery

THE CEMETERY

Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery is by far the largest of the cemeteries administered by the American Battlefields and Monuments Commission from the First World War. In fact, the cemetery is the largest ABMC cemetery in Europe, second in size in the World only behind the giant cemetery on the south side of Manila.

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SOMME ABMC CEMETERY – AMERICANS FIGHT WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR

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somme abmc chapel
The chapel at Somme ABMC cemetery.

General John J. Pershing resisted calls from the British and French to insert incoming American units as replacements for existing units. Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson both wanted American units to fight as an amalgamated unit on the Western Front. They wanted a true American army to provide a backbone for the future.

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AISNE-MARNE ABMC CEMETERY – AMERICA ENCOUNTERS THE GREAT WAR HEAD ON

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Aisne-Marne ABMC Cemetery
1919 panorama of what would become the Aisne-Marne ABMC Cemetery from the US 2nd Division website.

The Spring Offensives of 1918 rocked the Allies to the core. For a moment, it appeared the Great War could actually be lost. Enter America and the American Expeditionary Force – AEF. General John J. Pershing had been pushing against the desires of his fellow Allies to insert American troops as they became available into the ranks of the French or British armies. In the emergency of spring 1918, Pershing finally relented, agreeing to allow American divisions already present into the front lines as needed. The Aisne-Marne ABMC – American Battlefield and Monuments Commission – Cemetery is a result of that decision. 

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