Whittlesey, Charles White (1884-1921), was an officer in the United States Army during World War I (1914-1918). Whittlesey commanded the famous “Lost Battalion,” a unit trapped behind enemy lines for five days in October 1918. Whittlesey’s extraordinary bravery and leadership earned him the Medal of Honor. The medal is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government. He also earned France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor.
Whittlesey was born on Jan. 20, 1884, in Florence, Wisconsin. His family moved to Massachusetts, where Whittlesey graduated from Williams College in 1905 and Harvard Law School in 1908. He then worked for several years as a lawyer in New York City.
In 1916, Whittlesey trained at a preenlistment Army camp near Plattsburgh, New York. He was called to active duty in the Army soon after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. After further training, he was commissioned as a captain. He joined the 77th Infantry Division, which was training on Long Island. Whittlesey led the headquarters company of the division’s 308th Infantry Regiment. In early April 1918, he embarked for France with his division. In August, Whittlesey was promoted to major and given command of a combat battalion. His unit quickly entered combat.
On September 26, the U.S. Army launched the massive Meuse-Argonne Offensive against the center of the German lines on the Western Front. The Western Front was a battlefront that stretched across Belgium and northeastern France. As part of the offensive, the 77th Division engaged the enemy on October 2.
Whittlesey led his unit of infantry and machine gun companies into battle near the French village of Binarville. The units to each side, however, failed to keep up. As a result, Whittlesey and his troops became isolated in what became known as “the pocket.” The Germans quickly surrounded them.
Despite being short on supplies, Whittlesey’s troops withstood relentless German gunfire and assaults for five days. On October 7, Whittlesey refused to reply to an appeal from a German commanding officer who had urged Whittlesey to surrender. That night, an American relief force arrived, and the Germans withdrew. Historians estimate that more than 600 American soldiers fought in the pocket. More than 100 were killed, and a few were captured. Most estimates suggest that more than half of the remaining soldiers were wounded.
Whittlesey, promoted to lieutenant colonel, returned to the United States. He left the Army on Dec. 5, 1918. Later that month, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Whittlesey resumed practicing law in New York and also worked with wounded soldiers through the American Red Cross . As a national hero, he was often invited to speak of his war experiences. Whittlesey, however, spoke little of himself, instead praising the soldiers who had been under his command.
Whittlesey never recovered from the trauma of his war experiences. He also suffered from the effects of exposure to poison gas. In November 1921, Whittlesey was a pallbearer at the burial of an unknown American soldier at Arlington National Cemetery , outside Washington, D.C. The experience affected him deeply, worsening a depression he had felt since the war.
Later that November, Whittlesey left New York on a steamship bound for Cuba. On the night of November 26, Whittlesey disappeared. He was presumed to have jumped overboard and drowned. Letters and documents left behind for family and friends confirmed his suicide.
See also Lost Battalion ; Medals, decorations, and orders ; World War I .
