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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The men of the 91st Infantry “Wild West” Division, under command of Major

General (MG) William H. Johnston, arrived in France in August of 1918. Organized the

previous year at Camp Lewis, Washington, the division was assigned to General John J.

Pershing’s American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Europe to fight the Germans and put

an end to World War I. These men were young and inexperienced, but they were eager to

get into the fight. In early September, the AEF curtailed the division’s training

requirements and ordered it to the battle of St. Mihiel to act as a reserve force. Sensing

disappointment in the reserve assignment, MG Johnston told his leaders that General

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Pershing assured him that “the 91st would not have a backseat at the next show.”
That “next show” turned out to be the Meuse-Argonne–the battle that ultimately

helped change the course of the war and contributed to the surrender of the German

forces. By far, the Meuse-Argonne was the single most deadly battle for United States

forces. This 47 day slaughter claimed the lives of 26,277 Americans and wounded an

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additional 95,786 out of the 1.2 million who fought. The 91st division fought on the

front lines during the initial attack and it advanced further and faster than the divisions on

their flanks. Relieved after eight days of fighting, the AEF ordered the 181st Brigade, one

of two brigades in the division, quickly back to the front lines where it fought another six

1 Arthur R. Whitner, “Operations of the 364th Infantry, 91st Division, in the First
phase of the Meuse-Argonne” (Student Paper, The Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA,
1925-1926), 2.

2 Edward G. Lengel, To Conquer Hell, The Meuse-Argonne, 1918: The Epic Battle
That Ended the First World War (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009), 4.

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