by Captain William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
On March 7, Private Robert Addleton stepped through the door
of his home at 6 Holt Avenue in Macon for the first time in more than six
months. He was the first member of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion to return
from the war. After enlisting April 17, 1917, Addleton had traveled to France
with the battalion and ultimately to within 10 miles of the Western Front. Mere
days before the 151st entered the front-line trenches, it was discovered that
Addleton had been underage at the time of his enlistment. He was sent home with
an honorable discharge. While his comrades were overseas receiving their
baptism of fire, Addleton went back to work at the Willingham Cotton Mills in
Macon.
Somewhere in France (The trenches near Ancervillier)
March 14, 1918
My dearest daddy,
Your letter received today. I was
surely glad to hear from you. I am getting along well and fine. Tom Hensler is
getting along just as nicely as can be. So is (Private Weymon Guthrie, Company
B; Pvt. Leonard Chandler, Company B) and old Moore (Emory Moore, Company C.)
You couldn’t kill him. Tom is just as full of life as ever, keeps you laughing all
the time. (Sergeant Ed Williamson, Company A) is with us now. He rejoined us about
a month ago I suppose. I was as glad to see him as if he had been my own
brother.
Corporal Robert G. Burton’s March 14th
letter offers a reassuring version of the war in which he and his fellow soldiers are happy and in high spirits. Perhaps knowing that any correspondence
sent home would be widely distributed among family members and shared with the
local paper, Burton provides no hint of his location or the fact that Soldiers
of his unit had been in the trenches for nearly a week. in the Luneville and
Baccarat sectors.
Sectors in the Vosges Front, 1918. Map by Capt. William Carraway from American Battle Monuments Commission data. |
Company C, 151st MGB entered the
trenches near Badonvillier with the 168th Infantry Regiment on March 8, 1918. That
same day, Pvt. Frank Adkins of Company B succumbed to sepsis at the age of 31.
A resident of Vienna, Ga., Adkins was buried in St. Mihiel Cemetery.
Private Frank Adkins grave, St. Mihiel Cemetery, France. Photo courtesy of Jack Solomon |
Company A moved into fire support positions for the 167th Infantry Regiment near Ancervillier a few days after Company C. Accompanying the American units to the front were veteran Soldiers of the French 128th Division who would serve alongside the American Soldiers until they were ready to assume full responsibility for their sectors.
Corporal Burton provides a description
of the countryside from his vantage point in Ancervillier in his March 14, 1918
letter:
This is a very pretty country suited
to raising wheat and vegetables and most all kinds of foodstuffs that is raised
over here now. The lay of the country reminds me some of north Georgia on
account of the low rolling hills and rich valleys. Everything is old and settled
down. There are no farm towns like those we see in the States. The people
follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. All of the houses are made of
stone and the barn and living apartments of the people are all in one building.
Some of the finest stock that I have
ever seen are over here. The horses are big Belgian draught horses and the
cattle are all kinds. Lots of port is raised than this country.
I would like to have a car over here
during peace times. You would never have to worry about being stuck in the mud
or about it being too muddy to go. There are some of the finest roads in the
world over here. It is not local because it extends over the whole of France.
The part that I have seen is that way and I expect that it is that way all over
France.
Well, have about run out of something
to say so will close. Write again soon.
With love from your devoted son,
Gober
On March 17, 1918 Company D began rotating into the positions
held by Company C. Aside from ever constant German artillery fire, Company C’s
rotation had been relatively uneventful. A notable exception occurred when the
company provided overhead barrage fire in support of raid conducted by Soldiers
of the 168th Infantry Regiment.
Private Sullivan Sylvester's Grave, Meuse Argonne Cemetery, France. Photo courtesy of Jack Solomon |
While Company C completed their time in the trenches without
suffering any casualties, Company D would not be as fortunate. Private 1st
Class Sylvester Sullivan of Harrisburg, Penn. was killed in an accident on his
first day at the front. He was 22.
The 1919 history of the 151st MGB compiled by Pvt. Arthur
Peavy and Sgt. Miller white of Company B notes that Company B relieved Company
A in the Ancervillier sector on March 18, 1918. The relief was not conducted
all at once as casualties were suffered by both companies from March 19 to
March 21.
Corporal Jack Peavy of Company B was wounded in the leg on
March 19. The 20-year-old Macon resident was only slightly wounded and would
soon return to duty.
On March 21, Pvt. Robert Foster of Company A was seriously wounded. Foster, a 24-year-old from Rochelle Ga. would recover and return to the ranks only to suffer a second wound four months later.
Also, on March 21, 18-year-old Pvt. Clifford Evans was
mortally wounded. His body was returned to his hometown of Ooskaloosa, Iowa for
burial.
Newspaper accounts in the Walton Tribune and Macon Telegraph
recount the work of the Macon Volunteers in the trenches before Luneville and
Baccarat:
March 1918 edition of the Walton Tribune, courtesy of courtesy of Bonnie Jacobs Mastro |
“Furthermore – after seeing some stiff enough fighting, being
under fire for nineteen days and going first over in an attack that took German
soil and kept it, the Macon battalion came back to its relief billets without a
man being killed or wounded in the whole encounter, except Jack Peavy who was
injured in the leg while the ‘show’ was on.”
On March 23, all units of the 42nd Division were relieved and
the 151st MGB marched to Rambervillers. In their first 15 days in the front
lines, the battalion had suffered one killed, two wounded and lost two to
disease and accidents.
Corporal Burton took advantage of the time in Rambervillers
to write home.
France (Rambervillers) March 25, 1918
My dearest mama,
I have intended writing to you for the
last day or so, but have just put it off until tonight…
Well now comes the news. I have
been to the trenches and stayed up there a good many days. As you see by
this letter, the Boche haven’t got me yet!!
I am afraid that I will be kinder hard
to get…
Ed (Sgt. Augustus Williamson) is down
here reading while I write this letter. He says tell you that we are getting
along fine and that he was still looking after me.
Well, will sign off for this time.
As ever, your devoted son,
Gober
Next
Chapter: Back to Baccarat
Other works cited:
Author Unknown. Walton Boys Are Seeing Service In The Trenches. Walton Tribune, March, date unknown, 1918.
Carraway, William M. "Luneville and Baccarat Sectors, February 18 to March 23, 1918."
Robert G. Burton to Phillip F. Burton. March 14, 1918. Trenches near Ancervillier, France.
Sparks, George McIntosh, ed. Macon's War Work; A History of Macon's Part in the Great World War. Macon, GA: J. W. Burke Company, Unk.
White, Miller G., Jr., and Arthur H. Peavy. The 151st Machine Gun Battalion Rainbow (42d) Division Battalion History and Citations of the Rainbow August 13, 1917, to April 26, 1919. Macon, GA: J. W. Burke Company, 1919.
Other works cited:
Author Unknown. Walton Boys Are Seeing Service In The Trenches. Walton Tribune, March, date unknown, 1918.
Carraway, William M. "Luneville and Baccarat Sectors, February 18 to March 23, 1918."
Robert G. Burton to Phillip F. Burton. March 14, 1918. Trenches near Ancervillier, France.
Sparks, George McIntosh, ed. Macon's War Work; A History of Macon's Part in the Great World War. Macon, GA: J. W. Burke Company, Unk.
White, Miller G., Jr., and Arthur H. Peavy. The 151st Machine Gun Battalion Rainbow (42d) Division Battalion History and Citations of the Rainbow August 13, 1917, to April 26, 1919. Macon, GA: J. W. Burke Company, 1919.
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