of the 26th Division of the U.S. Army
during World War I
| The History of the 103rd Regiment of the 26th Division of the U.S. Army during World War I |
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His Battalion was assembled and he begun his march to his line of departure in
the nortlwastem edge of the Bois de ln Brigade ltlmincs. On entering the
ravine north of l.uey»le»B0cage his Battalion becarnc blocked by the 2d Bat-
talion, 104th Infantry, which had not gotten into its position for the advance.
Therefore, he could not get into his position of dep:n·ttu·· until 7.30 0’el0ck and
did not. go over to the assault until 7.45. Artillery tire was put clown and the
2d Battalion began the assault. C0. D Ist Battalion, this rvgziirnent did not
receive its orders in time to connect with the 2d Battalion mul did not go over
with them. At 11.50 :1 message was received from Capt. Il0sfm·l that C0. E
on his left. had suffered heavily wu ztceounl. cf machine gun Src and that thc
104th Infantry were not comtcototl up with thcm, although they were tryinglto
do so.
The unmiy were putting down quite lwnvy artillery and machine gun Fire on
our two zlss:mlt.i11g Battalicns and uur nrtillr-ry was heavily engaged in counter-
battery work and on the enemy front lines. Great move1u011ts of enemy troops
and transport were secu from 10130 0`clrmk until dark, going from Bonnes to
Monthiers.
At 22:15 0’cl0cl, Capt. Hosforcl reported by phone that he had been obliged
to fztll back to his original liuv 0[ (lcparture. He had been unalmlc to bring up
his left flank and had sttfferetl very limvily from machine gun fire, Two pla-
(00115 from the 104th Infantry had been scm up at 12:10 for liaison and (`0, K
of the 1()4th Infantry had been sont in on thc right 1:0 establish liaison with the
102d Infantry. At 23:10 C0, A. 103rd Infantry was ordered to rcénforce thc
2nd lizittztlion in its lime uf original departure. ‘
By 1*.0. 93, 52nd Brigade, the Commanding Oiiicer, 2nd Battalion 104th In-
fantry was ordered to report to the (lommanding; Officer, 211cl Battalion, 103rd
Infantry for compliance with FD. 92, 52nl Brigade, 18 July 1918.
At 23:45 deloclc, 18 July 1918, a iuessage from Major Soutliard stated that
the Srd Battalion, 10-lth Infantry and the French on thc left would attack at
22:00 0’cl0cl, take Hill north of 'l`o1·cy and Belleau and make Givry the center
in a turning movement and that he would put a tletaelnucnt into Belleau to
protect thc right fluulc of tht- 104111 Infantry.
At 3:00 0’cloc·k, 19 July 191S, nnotl1m· message from Smxtlmrtl stated that the
lattnclc by thc 1G4th lnfamry und the l`1·c·ncl1 did hut come nfl` und that the
position then held by the Freixtelx, 3111 Battalion 103rd Infantry and 3rd Bat-
talion, 104tth Infantry was p1·metir·:tlly u continuous line 011 the railroad from
Licy st ation to Givry.
A1; 11:80 19 July 1918, a. miosszxge from thc French Regiment on our left
stated tliztt they had advancml ns fur us the Moutlxiers Belleau road but were
held up on their right by mtwhinc gun Erin
Our artillery was engaged in heavy counter-b:-1ttc·ry work and our planes were
very active, during thc day. During the night the enemy scm. up many Haves
and seemed to be very much xxorricd.
By F.O. 95, 52nd Brigade, li) July 1918, the 2nd Battalion (Hosford) were
relieved in their position on the 110i·t.lnvestern side of Bois dt: In Brigade Marines
by the lst Battalion (Hanson) plus C0. K 10-1th Infantry, and at 13:00 0'el0ck,
20 July, 1918, the relief was completed. The 2nd Battalion (llos1"urd) passed
into Corps Reserve.
By 1*.0. 99, 52nd Brigade, "J" day, and "H" hour in F.O. 92, was set as
20th July 1918, and 15 o’cl0cl respectively. At 15:25 a 1m·ssng0 from 52nd
Brigatlc sttaltccl that the lst Battalion (l lansrm) got away to the assault promptly
in ncoortlzmcc with F.O. 92.
At 16:30 o’cl0ck 2. message from Lt. Shumway, Adjutant 3rcl Battalion stated
that Mu,joi· Southard had been wounded. Capt. Audxcws of Co. K this rcgi—
ment was placed in command of the 3rd Battalion by Col. Hume. At 20:10
o’cl0ck several messages were received from the lst. Battalion by way of Lt.
McCauley, Aljutant of thc 2nd Battalion 104th Infantry to the elfect that
Companies A and B had taken hill 190 at 7:45 0`clcmk but were very severely
shot up by machine guns mul ni··¤lel help or tho position would have to be
ah:inlonetl. Great effort was made to get in touch with thc Commanding
Officer of the 2nd Battalion 104th Infantry to send thcm to the aid of the lst
Battalion but he could not be located. Lt. Col. Nowlen and Capt. Newcomb
were sent by Col. Hume to find him and finally succeeded in locating him in a
shell hole in front of Bois dc la Brigade Marine. This at about 22 :00 o’el0ek.
At 20:45 Major Hanson reported to Col. Hume that Cos. A and B and Co. K
of the 10ith Infantry were holding Hill 190, that they had established Liaison
with the 102nd on the right but that they were unable to connect with the
104ih infantry on the left. He reported that the 3 above companies had a
strength of less than 200 men on the hill. Cos. A and B had been badly shot up
in s1 arting and had never reacliccl thc railroad embanluncnt. The casualties
had been very heavy in the ist Bal talion.
During the night of the 20th and 21st the 1st Battalion with (Yo, K 104th In-
fantry and some machine guns from Machine Gun Co. 103rd Infantry held hill
190 and the 3r:l Battalion was in support of the 10-ith Infantry. Supplies and
ammunition were rushed forward and reached them safely. Cos. A and D
were brought forward during the night to hill 190.
At 7:03 dclock, 21st July 1918, General Cole reported that the French had
taken hill 193, that the enemy were in retreat and for the regiment to gain con-
tact. At 8:00 dclock Maj. Hanson reported everything was on the move and
that liaison was established with the 102nd Infantry on the right.
Itopginiental Headquarters were at once moved to Bouresehes, and the 2nd
Battalion (Hosford) as Corps Reserve was moved by order of the Commanding
General, 52nd Brigade to the same town.
The Boundaries for the advance for the 103rd Infantry as specified in FD. 92,
52nd Brigade were: 4 On the north parallel 62.8; on the south coordinates 77.0-
61.8 —Bois du Bouresches exclusive — La Gonetrie Fme. exclusive Bois du Grand
Rue exclusive — Bois des Hetrcs exclusive — Valecret exclusive. The objective
was modified by F.O. 100, 52nd Brigade so that the 103rd InImntry’s lst objective
was hill 190 —— La Gonetric Fmc. exclusive and the 2nd objective Sonillard Fme.
inclusive—·Hill 266. The orders wcrc that after tho first objective had been
reached to push on in conjunction with the 167th French on our left, and the 51st,
Brigade on our right: and attain our second objective. Then to rest in place for
2 hours, organize the line for defense, puh out strong combat patrols to the front
and to keep in contact with the enemy.
The lst Battalion (Hanson) therefore pushed on, keeping in touch with the
elements on its right and left and at; about 1:50 0'cl0ck reached the Chateau-
Thiorry road, where it organized for defense and sent out patrols to the front.
The 3rd Battalion (Andrews) followed the 104th as support and halted when the
104th reached its second objective. The 2nd Battalion (Horsford) was Corps
Reserve and stationed in Bois des Hetres. ‘
F.O. 106, 52nd Brigade, 21 July 1918 gave the zone of action as follows: —
Northern limit; Bezu-en-'[`:u·den0is — Jaulconne Roar], 1000 meters north of
La Croix Rouge Farm. Southern limit, Point 500 meters north of La Sacrerie
l•`arm, '1`rugny inclusive. La Fourbetteric Rue inclusive Northeastern edge of
Etang de la Logette, La Croix Rouge Farm inclusive.
The right regiment in conjunction with the left regiment at once moved and
took :1 position for the night in the woods northwest of the Bois de Bretcuil.
Liaison was established with thc regiment on the left and the 102nd Infantry on
the right.
At duyliglit on the 22nd July 1918. the right regiment moved to the attack and
advanced down thc hill through woods X0. 29, 30, 31, and 32. \\`hen it had
clenred the woods and was well out into thc wheat field, it was met. with a heavy
inzichine-gun and artillery fire and mis compelled to halt. During thc day they
rcpr·:itcdly tried to advance but each time were obliged to halt. Artillery fire
was cnllccl for and all eilorts made to break up the inacliine-gun nests which were
lo1·ut·ml on the high ground and woods east of the line between Epieds and Trugny.
Ciisualtivs were very heavy but il. was useless to send incn into the terrific fire of
the enemy machine guns.
At 13:50 o’clock secret message X0. 1, Hdqtrs. 52nd Brigade, 22nd July 1918
was delivered to Major Hanson. At this time 52nd Brigade was occupying and
operating the same sector with the 51st Brigade. At Hnns0n‘s P.C. were two
coinpzmies of his Battalion and 2 companies of the 102nd while in front of this
line were detsichments 0I thc 102nd, 103rd, and 104th Infantry intermingled.
As thc troops with Major Hanson and Col. Parker of the 102nd Infantry were
tho only troops at hand at this portion of the sector, they decided to divide the
sector with Major Hanson on thu lcit, and Col. Parker on thc right and to continue
the advance which was taken up at 14:15 o’clock. At 14:45 0’cl0ck Capt,. Hors-
ford (21111 Battalion) 103rd with 2 companies, 3rd Battalion 103rd moved forward
and vonnvctctl up with Major lIanson’s left. This advance was stopped as be-
fore by macliinwgun and zirtillerv firm Each time that the mon were called upon
to go forward they started. Ofiicers and men did everything that human being
could do. The French on the left would not attempt to advance saying that it
was usclcss to face such :1. heavy fire.
During thc night of the 22nd July the lines were reorganized, and many at-
tempts were made to ·mitinuc thc advance during the 23rd. At 10:30 0’cIock,
23rd July 1918 Brigade Commander ordered Col. Hume to organize the right
regiment For the advance in the following order, One Battalion, 101st Engineers,
lst Battalion 104th Infn.nh·y, 2nd Battalion 104t:h Tnfaintry, lst Battalion 103rd
Infantry. At, 16:50 0’cl0ck Col, Ilumc was ordered to advance if he was ready.
At 17:25 o’c:lock Hume replied that he would not be ready for 2 hours. At; 17:25
Hume was ordered by thc Brigade Commander not to advance, but to hold him-
sclf in readiness. I
At. 18:00 0’cl0ck, 23rd July 1918, Col. Hume was ordered by the Bri ade Com-
niandcr to move his regiment to Bois de Chante Merle, the lst and 2ndgBattalions
to move at once and the 3rd Battalion as soon as it was rclieved by units of the
Hlth Infantry. 3rd Battalion was latcr directed by the Brigade Commander to
remain wh·re it was for the night. Some time after this the Brigade Commander
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