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Farwell, Richard S. Faulkner, and Timothy K. Nenninger, was used to gain an

understanding of the conditions throughout WWI and the Meuse-Argonne. Their

description of the many challenges AEF divisions faced in 1917-1918 provided a sound

structure to base the evaluation of the 91st Division’s training and operations. Many of

these books on WWI, and more specifically the Meuse-Argonne, make mention of the

91st Infantry and allude to its accomplishments, but there is no substantial research or

detailed analysis specifically on this division or any of its subordinate units.

Edward G. Lengel writes perhaps the most detail on the 91st Division’s

contributions to the Meuse-Argonne in his book To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne,

1918, The Epic Battle That Ended the First World War. In this book, Lengel gives a

narrative of the action of several Soldiers and leaders of the division. He generally

portrays the 91st division in a positive light when compared to the divisions on its flanks,

but acknowledges that the division was unable to capitalize on many of its gains because

it had to withdraw from seized objectives–only to retake them again the next day. When

describing the attack on the town of Gesnes, Lengel writes that “although the Wild West

Division had shown more grit than its neighbors to the east and west–whose inability to

keep pace exposed its flanks to enfilading enemy fire–it had not made any significant

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progress.” Lengel acknowledges that the division had made gains on the battlefield that

other divisions could not, but shows that the tremendous cost of their gains did not

surpass the benefits.

3 Lengel, 154.

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