Tigers in the Trenches: a Study of Clemson in the Great War Brock M
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 5-2015 Tigers in the Trenches: A Study of Clemson in the Great War Brock M. Lusk Clemson University Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Recommended Citation Lusk, Brock M., "Tigers in the Trenches: A Study of Clemson in the Great War" (2015). All Theses. 2109. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2109 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TIGERS IN THE TRENCHES: A STUDY OF CLEMSON IN THE GREAT WAR A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History by Brock M. Lusk May 2015 Accepted by: Dr. Alan Grubb, Committee Chair Dr. Rod Andrew Dr. Jerome Reel ABSTRACT In April 1917, Clemson Agricultural College was a small, relatively-unknown land-grant college. The college had only been open for 23 years, 8 months with an average annual enrollment of 616 students when the United States declared war and entered World War I. By the end of the war, over 821 Clemson graduates and former students would serve in the U.S and Allied military services. James C. Littlejohn, the registrar from 1910 – 1925, attempted to catalog the service of these alumni during and after the war. In order to conduct this study, a cross reference of Clemson students from 1896 – 1920 with soldier rosters from World War I was necessary. Once this list had been assembled, tracking Clemson alumni through the war is possible by cross referencing their records with their assigned unit. This analysis has permitted locating Clemson Alumni on the battlefield and following them through the course of the war. Clemson alumni earned 2 Medals of Honor, 10 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1 Navy Cross, and 1 Distinguished Service Medal in addition to multiple Silver Star Citations and foreign decorations. Thirty-one alumni gave their lives for their country. This record, combined with the scope of Clemson alumni’s military record, demonstrates a distinct contribution which went beyond what could be expected of such a small, young institution. ii DEDICATION / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Jillian, for her unending support through deployments, this Master’s program, and life in general. During the course of this research, she has been a research assistant, editor, and sounding board for every step of the project. Jill, I love you so much more today than yesterday. I want to thank my parents, Kathy and Randy, who have always encouraged education, and I wouldn’t be the first in the family with a Master’s Degree without their continued support and inspiration. To my Thesis Committee, Dr. Alan Grubb, Dr. Rod Andrew, and Dr. Jerome Reel, I want to thank you for all your assistance and advice over the past 18 months. I thank you for tolerating my eccentricities, my questions, and the length of my thesis. Thank you, Lieutenant Carlos Golightly Harris, for inspiring me to conduct this research and creating a legacy I work to live up to. Finally, as always I want to express my gratitude to my Brothers and Sisters in Arms. Thank you for standing watch while I finished my degree. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Dedication / Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... iii Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: The Road to War ............................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2: The First to Fight ........................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3: Cantigny, Ile-de-Yeu and Bellaeu Wood ...................................................... 50 Chapter 4: The Clemson Men Who Went Over There ................................................... 75 Chapter 5: Putting the Orange in the Rainbow .............................................................. 100 Chapter 6: Saint Mihiel .................................................................................................. 124 Chapter 7: “Old Hickory” Enters the Fight .................................................................... 144 Chapter 8: The “Wildcats” Break Through ................................................................... 168 Chapter 9: Legacies........................................................................................................ 187 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 195 Appendix 1: Clemson Alumni in U.S. Military Service in World War I ...................... 196 Appendix 2: Clemson Alumni in Allied Military Service in World War I ................... 225 Appendix 3: Awards and Citations of Clemson Alumni ............................................... 227 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 242 iv INTRODUCTION Clemson Agricultural College was a small, relatively unknown land grant college at the end of 1916. Enrollment was 977 students in the 1916 – 1917 school year and only 1,347 men had graduated from the college to that date.1 But, despite the young age of Clemson, over 800 Clemson young men joined the U.S. military during World War I, serving in every branch of service and every theater of the conflict. Additionally, before the U.S. entry into the war, several Clemson men went into Commonwealth and other allied military services to “get in the fight.” The role of Clemson men in military service during World War I demonstrates three key characteristics. First, Clemson men entering the military represented a significant contribution beyond what would be expected of such a relatively small and only recently founded school. Second, uncommon valor was a common virtue among those who volunteered. Third, the legacy of these Clemson men has left a lasting impact on both Clemson and the U.S. military to this day. James C. Littlejohn served as the college registrar from 1910 to 1925, when he became the college’s business manager. As registrar he realized the significance in documenting these men’s contributions to the nation, the war effort, and Clemson’s heritage. His first attempt was in the April 1917 publication, Clemson’s Answer to Her Country’s Call. In that booklet, he noted that “Six hundred and thirty-six Clemson men are now known to be in the service. This is about ten per cent of the total number of 1 Clemson Catalog, 1916. Clemson Agricultural College. Clemson, SC. p. 25. 1 students who have ever attended Clemson to date.”2 Clemson’s Answer to Her Country’s Call is largely incomplete due to Littlejohn’s rush to publish the information. After the war, Mr. Littlejohn once again attempted to document Clemson’s contributions to the war effort by compiling several lists of “veterans” and distributing a “Service Record of Clemson Men in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps” survey among returning students and alumni. Littlejohn compiled a post-war list of 1,612 names of men who were Clemson students and enlisted in the U.S. military or returned from military service to attend Clemson.3 The bronze plaque placed in the Clemson Chapel (now Tillman Hall Auditorium) lists 1,549 “patriots whose names are known and other unknown Sons of Clemson College who answered their country’s call to arms in the World War 1917 – 1918.”4 Appendix 1 lists 815 Clemson men who attended the college then entered military service. Appendix 2 lists an additional 7 Clemson men who served in foreign military service. Despite these efforts, the full scope and scale of Clemson’s contributions to the Allied victory in World War I may never be known. The postwar roster compiled by Littlejohn consisted of the last name, first and middle initials, and graduation year (or “Ex’ year” of men who did not graduate.) This list is likely accurate due to Mr. Littlejohn’s knowledge of the student body from the early years of the school. But it may 2 Clemson’s Answer to Her Country’s Call. Clemson Agricultural College. Clemson, SC. April, 1917. p. 2. 3 First World War Veterans / Clemson Men. Littlejohn Papers. MSS. 0068, Special Collections, Clemson University Libraries. 4 Bronze Memorial Plaque. Tillman Hall. Clemson University, Clemson, SC. 2 prove difficult to reconstruct a military record for all alumni on the roster since they may have served in a foreign military, or their records may have been destroyed by the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in Saint Louis, MO. What is known are the stories which follow of how a small college on the banks of the Seneca River had a part in the changing of the world. 3 CHAPTER 1 THE ROAD TO WAR “In every case it is not the officer that begins the war, but the civilian and the politician” – Dr. Breck, a speaker from the Naval Academy quoted in The Tiger5 On the afternoon of May 3, 1917, the Clemson Agricultural College conducted its weekly “Pass-in-Review” on Bowman Field. Local papers report the weather was ideal for the military formation, with late afternoon showers topping off the warm