On a recent visit to a cemetery, I visited several family ancestors buried in the very small community of Bellfountain, Oregon. Bellfountain lies in the southern part of the Willamette Valley. Amongst the graves, I found one particular headstone near the family ancestors mentioning the man’s service in World War 1 as part of the 361st Infantry Regiment.

The American Army mushroomed almost overnight with the country’s entrance into World War 1 in April 1917. Selective Service – conscription – was brought back for the first time since the American Civil War. One of the units raised, mostly from draftees from Washington and Oregon was the 361st Infantry Regiment, 181st Infantry Brigade, 91st Division.

AMERICAN DILEMA

In April 1917, the United States started with an army of about 200,000 men.  Of those, 80,000 served in the National Guard. Those men were on active federal service serving mostly on the Mexican border.  The National Guard units only recently changed from earlier State militia days.   They had changed from service as a state military force into a reserve component of the Regular Army if needed.  There was another 100,000 Guardsmen on duty back in their home states.  The rest of the Guard was federalized in July by President Wilson.

confusion in the ranks

A little over 2 million men volunteered with another 2.7 million drafted by war’s end. At the end of November 1918, the strength of the American army in France would mushroom to a little over 1.9 million – 80,000 officers and 1.85 million enlisted.  Another almost 13,000 men were off in either Siberia or northern Russia.  In contrast, in 1917 the British army was already at 4 million, the French 8.3 million, Russia 12 million, Austria-Hungary 7.8 million and Germany 11 million.

American infantry divisions were the largest found in World War 1 combatants with 27,000 men led by 980 officers, a size which proved unwieldly in operation.  Regular Army divisions were numbered 1 to 8, National Guard divisions 26 to 42 and the new National Army made of conscripts saw numbers 76 to 93.  The 93^rd Division never fully organized and 13 of the other 42 divisions would be “depot” divisions used as replacements for others seeing active service.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON NATIONAL GUARD REGIMENT

Oregon National Guard units – formerly known as the Third Oregon Regiment – organized into the 162^nd Infantry Regiment as a part of the 41^st Infantry Division, known as the Sunset Division.  As fate would have it, the 41^st served as a “depot” division for the entire American Expeditionary Force, AEF.  The men never fought together as a unit in this war – the division had a long history in the jungles of the southwest Pacific to come in another war. But that would be with a new generation. In the First World War, men of the Sunset Division served with the 1^st, 2^nd, 32^nd and 42^nd Divisions as replacements throughout the war.

THE WILD WEST DIVISION – 91^ST INFANTRY

With the Selective Service up and running, early in September 1917, men from eight western states reported to Camp Lewis in Washington.  Under the command of Major General Henry A. Greene, the work of organizing and training the new National Army 91^st Division got underway.  Four infantry regiments were formed into two brigades – the 181^st and 182^nd.

Men from Washington and Oregon found themselves making up the large part of the 361^st Regiment along with men from Idaho.  The regiment comprised of about 4,700 men with 25,000 in the entire division.  Men for the 362^nd hailed from mostly Montana and Wyoming.  The 363^rd and 364^th regiments made up the other division brigade – the 182^nd – with men mostly coming from California.

HENRY GREENE

Division commander Greene built up the training facilities at Camp Lewis.  He was yet another West Pointer – 1879.  Serving on the frontier, in 1891, as a captain, he commanded a Regular Army company recruited from Sioux Indians.  His was one of the few successful companies in and experiment ended in 1897 – his company disbanded in 1894.  Teaching and administrative assignments followed with field commands in Cuba and the Philippines.  By 1906 he was a colonel in command of the 10^th Infantry Regiment which he took to Alaska, Indiana, Texas and the Canal Zone.  Just before World War 1, Greene, as a brigadier general, was in command of two National Guard units working along the Mexican border.

A big initial problem Greene faced was troops getting into trouble off post through alcohol. Gambling and prostitution.  By 17 October 1917, after the camp had only been open a little over a month, 1,400 out of a camp population of 35,000 were infected with sexual diseases.  He made off post establishments out of bounce and banned soldiers from visiting Seattle which Greene claimed offered up the choice of 2,300 prostitutes.  Greene also developed an amusement area with pool halls, restaurants, theaters to try and keep the men occupied off hours.

European interlude and aftermath

In late November, Greene and his aide – his son Major James Greene, left for France to see the conditions their men would encounter firsthand.  General Pershing arranged for all 32 stateside training camp commanders to visit France giving him an opportunity to evaluate the generals firsthand.  Greene showed up as one of ten whom Pershing found incapable of commanding in France.

Greene returned to Camp Lewis 3 March 1918.  Just before the division was to head for France, Greene was found to have violated proper contract rules in favoring one supplier of vegetables and fruit over another.  He found himself, not only being reassigned to the Philippines but demoted to brigadier general, as well.  He commanded in Manila for only a few months before his request for retirement – having reached the age of 62 – was granted.  Greene retired to Berkeley, California with his wife, dying of a heart attack only three years later.

FREDERICK FOLZ INTERREGNUM

Brigadier General Frederick S. Foltz, commander of the 182^nd Brigade and post commander when Greene had been off in France, took the 91^st Division overseas in late June 1918.  Fotlz graduated from West Point in 1879 – Hunter Liggett, Henry Greene and several others from the class all general officers during World War 1.  He served on the frontier in the Northwest with a four-year stint back at West Point as an assistant professor.  Serving a quartermaster for the Second Calvary Brigade and intelligence officer for General Nelson Miles, Foltz was at San Juan Hill.  He performed several duties following the conclusion of the war in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

A stint in the Philippines was followed by a year as governor of the Province of Havana in 1908.  Promoted to colonel at the end of September 1914, he took command of the 1^st Cavalry Regiment.  Given a star in the National Army, Foltz gained command of the 182^nd Brigade and then the division.  In France, however, he returned to command the 182^nd making way for Major General William H. Johnston, one of the few non-West Pointers in high command in the AEF.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON TAKES HIS DIVISION TO WAR

Johnston gained a West Point appointment in 1883, after service in the Missouri Militia and Arizona territorial militia.  A subsequent panel declared him ineligible, however, as he had not been a state resident of New York long enough – one-year.  Instead of the Point, Johnston placed first in a competitive examination of 96 candidates for a direct commission as a second lieutenant to the 16^th Infantry Regiment, confirmed in October of the same year.

He graduated with honors from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1887.  While teaching at the Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois and Saint Louis University afforded Johnston the opportunity to gain a law degree from Washington University.  He was a major with the US 46^th Volunteers during the Spanish American War serving in the Philippines as a battalion commander.  A tint of one year as military governor of Isabela Province was succeeded by another two years as a battalion commander in the Philippine Scouts from 1904-1906 against the Pulajanes, an indigenous religious group involved in trying to extend the Philippine American War after the surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo in the Visaya Islands.  Returning to the US, he attended the War College from 1907-1908, becoming a member of the General Staff of the College from 1914-1917.

leading the men over there

Promoted to brigadier general with the onset of World War 1 for the US, Johnston took command of the 180^th Infantry Brigade of the 90^th Division – a division of draftees from Texas and Oklahoma.  Next, Pershing tabbed Johnston to take command, now as major general, of the 91^st Division just before the division took part in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives – his place at the 180^th by newly promoted Brigadier General Ulysses McAlexander.

Johnston was constantly pushing the division throughout its French and Belgian campaigns winning both the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership.

COST TO DOING BUSINESS WRONG

Johnston would relieve Foltz of his brigade command during the Meuse-Argonne battle.  In the initial stage, Johnston ordered his brigadiers to line regiments up along the battle front side-by-side.  Foltz lined his units up in a column of battalions which put only one battalion on the battleline to start with five others in the rear.

181^ST BRIGADE

In command of the 181^st Brigade was Brigadier General Henry D. Styer, a West Point graduate of 1884. His son, Wilhelm, also graduated from West Point in 1916 going on to be a Lieutenant General in WW2.  But it would be Brigadier General John B. McDonald, another West point graduate 1881, would take the brigade through the combat phase of the war. Styer went instead to the Philippines.  McDonald would earn a DSC for his leadership at Meuse-Argonne gaining a DSM for service throughout the war.

On a side note, brigades were simple tactical formations with administration and logistics performed at the division level.  Brigade headquarters were simple:  the commander, three aides, a brigade adjutant, and eighteen soldiers serving mess, transport and communications.  Divisions were organized as squares with four regiments.  For World War 2, the Army would downsize divisions into three regiments – triangle divisions – making supervision easier from the division level.  Brigades became superfluous with the new divisions being absorbed into the division command.

THE SKOOKUM REGIMENT

For a regiment of men hailing from the wet climates of the Pacific Northwest, the nickname for the unit became adopted from the Native American Chinook language, “Skookum” meaning manly, good or on-the-ball according to the regimental history.

On the coat of arms for the regiment both the Cross of Lorraine, the oak tree of the Argonne and the lion from the Belgian coat of arms are all found representing the three main theaters in which the men fought.  Of course, those symbols added at the end of the journey beginning at Camp Lewis in the fall of 1917.

camp lewis

The first draftees to arrive – 5 September 1917 – at the camp, 150 men from Seattle. They came accompanied by city officials and the city band.  Greeting them, their new commander Colonel William D. Davis.  He had already given the 361^s regiment a watchword which they saw coming past the entrance gate, “361^st Leads – Others Follow”.  The initial men underwent a 15-day program to enable this cadre to train the rest of the recruits – 3,000 strong – who arrived late in the month.

The process of training raw recruits repeated itself over the next two months. Men – over 8,000 – from the 91^st siphoned off to fill the ranks of the 4^th, 40^th and 41^st Divisions.  It took seven months of training before the regiment finally left Camp Lewis 22 June 1918. Entraining across the country to their embarkation port in New Jersey using eight separate trains.  Reunited, they boarded two British ships – the Karoa and Scotian – on the night of 4-5 July. The ships made an uneventful eleven-day crossing to Glasgow.  Trains took them on to Southampton where ferries crossed them to Le Havre in France 20 July.

FRANCE AT LAST

Intensive training in small unit combat tactics followed through August near Nogent-en-Bassigny, forty miles behind the front.  The regiment shifted to another training area near Gondrecourt on 6 September immediately behind the front finalizing their preparations.  Even during these final stages, it was decided to use the 91^st Division along with three other inexperienced divisions in a supporting role for the St. Mihiel Offensive.  Luckily, the division never had to come forward with the rapid collapse of the large salient after two days.

Shifted to the north, still partially unequipped, the division shifted to the north above Aubreville. This being six days before being used as one of twenty-one divisions launching the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on 26 September.  The 181^st Brigade formed the right of the division. The 361^st Regiment formed the left flank of the brigade.  As the furthest western part of the 5^th Corps, the division’s goal was to gain a deep penetration through three German lines. This would allow Montfaucon to be taken to the east.  The 361^st was given the objective of an eight-mile penetration to include the town of Epinonville, three separate forests and a ridge.  The opponents were the 1^st Guard Division of the 3^rd German army.

MEUSE-ARGONNE FIRST DAYS

Following a six-hour barrage, the regiment pushed off through dense fog through wire, shell craters and woods.  Most of the German division pulled back to ameliorate the worst of the barrage.  With the 3^rd Battalion leading the way for the regiment, later joined by the 1^st Battalion, the regiment advanced through forests to orchards just south of Epinonville.  One of the platoons from Company K was led by a young lieutenant, James Douglas McKay.  He later dropped his first name by the time he became Governor of Oregon in 1949 and later federal Secretary of the Interior in 1953.

early medals

Sergeant Julius D. O’Dell – known by his adoptive name of Yuill during the war – won the first Distinguished Service Cross for the 361^s Regiment.  With another soldier, O’Dell gained a German trench throwing a grenade killing an officer and two other men.  Holding the foothold on the trench until joined with four others, he led the men another 500 meters cutting off the escape route for the Germans in the trench capturing 27 prisoners.  He ended his day wiping out an attempted German machine gun nest being set up to ambush the Americans.

First Lieutenant Louis B. Jansen with another soldier, captured four prisoners and two machine guns earning the regiment a second DSC on the 26^th, as well.  He would be killed a few days later 3 October.

SECOND DAY

The first day had gone reasonably well.  The second day was different.  Through a day of rain on the 27^th, the attack on Epinonville continued.  Elements of the German 117^th Division and the 5^th Bavarian Reserve Division, not pushed back as far as the 1^st Guards – who still held strong positions to the 361^st front – were able to put flanking fire in on the regiment.  Company B of the 1^st Battalion had been ordered to withdraw to get out of the way of an artillery barrage sent in to hit the Germans threatening the regimental flank., but one platoon did not get the order finding itself isolated.  

more medals

Corporal Daniel J. O’Keefe was able to cover their withdrawal with his automatic Chauchat rifle earning a third DSC for the regiment.   When the barrage came in, some shells came up short further shaking the troops of the Skookum.   The 182^nd Brigade advanced with battalions in column instead of on line and a gap in the front needed to be filled by the reserve battalion – the 2^nd – of the 361^st.

Even with much stouter resistance, the regiment was able to occupy Epinonville advancing a mile during the wet day.  But the advance went for naught with the right flank of the division left unprotected by the division to the west, the 35^th. The National Guard division from Missouri was unable to keep up with the 91^st.  So, the 91^st was ordered to pull back and allow artillery to blast away.  As the men withdrew, Captain (Dr) Paul F. Brown found himself alone helping care for the wounded. They found themselves soon left behind in no man’s land.  Details sent out later eventually brought all the wounded back.  Captain Brown’s efforts safely brought back 14 wounded men and he would earn a DSC for his work.

THIRD DAY

On the third day, the regiment continued its attack, regaining Epinonville and pushing to the north edge of woods just north of the village.  The 3^rd Battalion attacked on the right through those woods as the men began to drop from exhaustion.  Their commander, Major Oscar F. Miller, inserted his Battalion Headquarters Company just as his line was wavering.  Leading the attack, Miller suffered hits in the arm and leg as the men assaulted the hill north of the forests, a hill known as “Miller Hill” in the aftermath.  Gaining the crest, another bullet hit Miller in the stomach.  This time he would not get back up though he tried to exhort his men on.

The battalion had lost its major and all the captains were dead or wounded.  With a first lieutenant in command of the 3^rd Battalion, the regiment was relieved early in the night of 28-29 September. The 362^nd Regiment came forward with the 361^st dropping back into a reserve role.

medal of honor

Miller earned a posthumous Medal of Honor for his duty.  He lies today at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery, the inscription on his headstone marked in gold. Several DSC’s also were awarded, as well.  Sergeant Ralph Ethier set up telephone lines through heavy shelling and machine gun fire to establish communication with regimental headquarters.  Private Wallace W. Smith wounded twice continued to be out in front of enemy fire bringing back fellow soldiers wounded in action.  Private Howard M. Wight also brought back 15 wounded men administering first aid the entire night.  Both Smith and Wight came from Corvallis, Oregon.  Sergeant John Rees earned a DSC for leading his platoon in capturing a machine gun nest.

HARDEST DAY

As tough as 28 September was, the 29^th was harder for the division.  The 362^nd Regiment got the assignment to continue the push, now with the village of Gesnes, two miles farther, as the objective.  The right flank of the division was still exposed by the problems of the 37^th Division not keeping up.  Three companies plus one platoon went from the 361^st Regiment to guard the exposed flank.

Two initial attacks by the 362^nd suffered from intense machine gun and artillery fire getting nowhere on the ground.  In addition, German gunners firing from a farm at La Grande aux Bois Ferme flanked the regiment.  Division commander Johnston ordered the 1^st Battalion of the 361^st to capture the farm.  They were able to do so though suffering many casualties in the process including their commander, Major George W. Farwell, mortally wounded in the attack.  Farwell would earn a posthumous DSC for his sacrifice.  A previous officer with the Washington National Guard in Seattle before the war, he lies buried at the ABMC cemetery at Romagne.

new commander

With the flank secured, a third attack went out at 1545.  With the help of the 2^nd Battalion of the 361^st, the 362^nd pushed through Gesnes and up to the crest of Hill 255, losing over 100 casualties in the first 200 yards.  Lieutenant Colonel Avery D. Cummings acting as brigade adjutant went forward with the attack.  He took over when all the senior officers of the regiment went down.  Cummings returned to brigade headquarters after seeing the attack’s success.  He would earn a DSC for his work.

Cummings was a West Point graduate of 1905 from Idaho.  Just before the war, he had been serving as a professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of Idaho.  He would finish the war as commander of the 361^st Regiment promoted to colonel 1 November.

PRICE FOR BEING GOOD

The 91^st Division reached their objectives by the end of the fourth day. They pushed through the first two German lines.  But they had succeeded too well.  Neither the 35^th Division to the west nor the 37^th Division to the east had kept up.  5^th Corps decided to cancel the attack by the 91^st Division of 29 September without proper flank protection.  Communication problems meant the order never got down the chain of command.  The ground gained was given up at the day’s end leaving many in the regiment wonder why over 500 casualties suffered by the 362^nd came about in the first place.

Between 30 September and 3 October, the 361^st Regiment came forward to man the brigade front again.  The division went over to the defensive never resuming the offensive stalled by its neighbors.  Colonel Davis was the only remaining field grade officer in the Regiment by this time and he had suffered a gunshot wound to the hand.

end of the initial offensive

On the morning of 3 October, the Brigade went to the rear, relieved by the 32^nd Division.  3 October saw Lieutenant McKay wounded severely by shell fire.  He would survive, but Lieutenant Jansen who already earned a DSC earlier would not.  The 361^st Regiment gained over eight miles in four furious days of attack.  The offensive cost the regiment 906 casualties with 214 men dying in action or soon after from wounds.

Another DSC for a soldier of the regiment went to cook Ragnavold Johnson.  From 29 September to 1 October, he kept to his duties cooking for an entire battalion on the front lines under heavy fire and while wounded himself.

MEUSE-ARGONNE PART TWO

A couple days later, 7 October, the 182^nd Brigade and 91^st Division Headquarters went to the deep rear for a rest.  The 181^st went in the other direction, back to the front. They took up positions under fire near Gesnes as part of the 32^nd Division.

During 9 and 10 October, the 361^st Regiment attacked over the same ground from where ordered earlier to withdraw from. They regained the ground, but at the cost of another 85 dead and 266 other casualties.  The total listed at 1,257 casualties for the six days of attacks by the 361^st Regiment – 299 killed in action.  One of the dead, Captain Campbell Burke who nine years’ service as an enlisted soldier in the Army before the war.  Burke led the 3^rd Battalion in the capture of Hill 255 before suffering mortal wounds.  A DSC given to him posthumously.  His remains lie at Arlington today.

For Colonel Davis’ leadership in the regiment’s 16 days of the Meuse-Argonne, despite twice wounded, he gained a DSC.

BELGIUM

The rest of the 91^st Division had already redeployed to Belgium.  On 12 October, the 181^st Brigade began moving to rejoin them.  After a 44-mile march, they entrained for St. Jean, Belgium where replacements brought the Regiment up to about half strength – 65 officers and 1,900 men.  The division now found themselves assigned to the French 7^th Corps, French 6^th Army. The Army was commanded by the King of Belgium.  On 20 October, another 300 men and a few officers from the 84^th Division – a National Army unit from Ohio – augmented the numbers of the 361^st as the Regiment underwent another ten days of training before entering the line as the French 7^th Corps attacked in the Ypres-Lys offensive in Belgium 31 October.

ypres-lys

The 362^nd Regiment led the181st Brigade attack, given the task of clearing out Spitaalsbossen.  The next day, the two regiments switched places as the 361^st continued the attack.  The regiment gained 12 miles forcing their way past Wortegem into Audenarde on the Scheldt River.  Sergeant Richard M. Kirk was one of the patrols reaching into Audenarde.  Discovering several machine gun posts in the town, Kirk took Corporal John W. Cramer with him, and they were able to capture two of the gunners.  Both gained a DSC for their efforts.

Colonel Davis came forward to observe the progress in his staff car.  The car noted by German artillery spotters, brought in three shells hit the area killing Davis and two others.

Colonel Cummings took over command of the 361^st Regiment with Davis’ death. With the Germans in full retreat by now, on 9 November, the 362^nd pushed forward across the Scheldt in pursuit with the 361^st protecting the bridges.  Then, two days later, the war ended.  The Regiment saw another 41 dead and 140 wounded from its actions in Belgium.

OVERALL, FOR THE 361ST

That brought the total losses suffered in nine days of offensive combat to 340 killed in action, 2 missing, 2 captured and 1,094 wounded.  The 361^st Regiment would spend some more time in Belgium before returning to France in the spring of 1919.  They eventually returned to Camp Lewis in Washington 26 April parading in Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma before officially deactivating 30 April ending 600 days of service.  The Regiment would reconstitute and serve again in World War 2.

In addition to Oscar Miller’s Medal of Honor and Colonel Davis’ DSM, 34 DSCs were issued to men of the 361^st Regiment.  The French handed out 45 Croix de Guerre while the Belgians gave 23.

In 1930, on the grounds of the renamed Fort Lewis, a monument went up. The forty-foot-high monument featured six statues commemorating the efforts of the 91st Division during World War 1. The monument stands fronting the main parade ground at the – once more – renamed Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

cost of ww1 in the northwest

Basic statistics dealing with the Great War.  Oregon saw 24,386 men volunteer for military service during the war.  Another 19,780 served after the draft called.  15,605 of those men served overseas with 1,768 seeing combat.  Of those, 1,1100 suffered wounds and 1,030 died – 367 in battle and 663 from other causes.  100 Oregonians faced dishonorably discharges, 191 deserted, with1,544 discharged as disabled.  355 men gained decorations.

Washington saw 60,617 men serving in the war with 1,642 deaths.  Each State saw one man awarded a Medal of Honor.  First Lieutenant Deming Bronson earned a medal for leading his men despite severe wounds against German positions on the first two days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  As an officer with Company H 364^th Regiment 91^st Division, Bronson, a forestry graduate from the university of Washington – he played on the football team, would survive the war working in the family lumber business in southern Oregon.

Another college graduate and football player, Edward Allworth from Oregon Agricultural College (Oregon State University, today), won a Medal of Honor early in November during the same offensive.

SOURCES

Beyond the internet, two interesting memorial books written about the 361st Division are online: 600 Days of Service: A history of the 361st Regiment of the US Army and The 361st Regiment, 1917-1955. The author of the first book was Harold H. Burton, an Ohio native who entered the war while serving as an attorney in Boise. He took an active role as a junior officer with the 361st Regiment, ending his service as a captain. Burton went on becoming mayor of Cleveland, Senator from Ohio and finally serving as an Associate Justice with the Supreme Court from 1945 until 1958. From 1953 until his retirement, he served with another veteran of the 91st Division, Earl Warren. Warren served with the 363rd Regiment, but his group never went overseas, staying behind to further train troops at Camp Lee in 1918.