First American Casualties of the War

[paul guthrie]

The Kentucky Memorial is Memorial Hall a beautiful building on the UK campus quite close to my home and office, the signature building of the university. It has 120 panels inside alphabetical by county alphabetical by name from the county, a little over 1000. About 1/2 are combat related. There is a separate plaque inside with names of University dead, 27 or so, about 1/2 law students or professors. The 1st name is Lt Frank Coffee killed at Gallipoli AIF, I wrote a Stand To! article on him.

[Arnie]

Paul

Very intresting. I read the Article about Lt Coffee in 'Stand To'

Best wishes

Arnie

[seankman]

My Grandfather, Doctor Cornelius T. McCarthy, the first American medical officer to receive

the British Military Cross, and subsequently the Bar, was with American Engineers

at Cambrai in the fall of 1917. Dr. McCarthy was wounded twice, gas & shrapnel. He documented much of his experience in a series of letters to the Philadelphia Bulletin during the war years. Dr. McCarthy went over before the Americans officially joined, as a Dr. for the BEF.

[Pete1052]

According to American Military History, Volume II by the U.S. Army Center for Military History:

Wanting to ensure that the Americans would not stumble in taking their first step, Pershing waited until late October 1917 to allow the 1st Division to have its first trial experience in the line. One battalion at a time from each regiment spent ten days with a French division. In early November one of these deployments resulted in the first U.S. Army casualties of the war when the Germans staged a trench raid against the same battalion that had paraded in Paris. With a loss of 3 men, the Germans captured 11 Americans and killed 3: Cpl. James B. Gresham, Pvt. Thomas F. Enright, and Pvt. Merle D. Hay.

In an earlier message in this thread Paul Guthrie pointed out that a few weeks earlier three men had died in German bombing attack, which apparently did not meet the accounting criteria for Killed in Action.

[Raster Scanning]

Going back to the original question, it states they were wounded not killed.

[4thGordons]

Couple more candiates perhaps?

Osborn, Paul Gannett (SSU28) Volunteer Ambulance Driver. Died of Wounds at Mourmelon le Grand June 26th 1917 aged 22

Norton, George Frederick (SSU1) Volunteer Ambulance Driver. Killed in Air Raid near Ludes, Champagne Sector July 12th 1917 aged 41

Craig, Harmon Bushnell (SSU2) Volunteer Ambulance Driver Killed in Service. Dombasle. Verdun Sector July 15th 1917 aged 21

Gailey, James Wilson (SSU 66) Volunteer Ambulance Driver. Killed in Service. Chemin des Dames. July 29 1917 aged 22

Hamilton, Perley Raymond (SSU 66) Volunteer Ambulance Driver. Killed in Service. Chemin des Dames. July 29 1917 aged 24

(The precise legal status will have to be wrangled over here - but these Americans died after the US entered the war, serving with an officially allied power (France)... and the AFS was absorbed more or less wholseale into the AEF) There were of course numerous other Americans serving as volunteers with the AFS or in French, British and Canadian military forces killed earlier in the war, but those listed above are American Nationals killed "at the front" after the US was officially involved in the war.

Also, although none of the men here are involved, I think the drivers with TMU (Transport-Materiel - truck) units have a strong claim to being the first US "combatants", they were treated as combatants by the French (issued with rifles etc) and went into action almost immediately after declaration of war, certainly before the AEF was operational. In response to a request from the French Govt (Doumenc) immediately after the US declared war, in April and May the "Reserve Mallet" was formed (many members coming in a detachment from Cornell University and others) It began training on the 8th of May 1917 near Soissons and went into action within a month an a half. There were eventually about 800 men who had originally volunteered as ambulance drivers who instead were driving heavy supply trucks for the French Army....

Chris

[4thGordons]

Just an update (I couldn't search the AMBC.gov site yesterday it kept giving errors)

Gailey and Hamilton are buried next to each other in US war graves and give their unit as US Army seving with the French 66th.

James W. Gailey

Ambulance Driver, U.S. Army

66th French Army

Entered the Service from: France

Died: July 29, 1918

Buried at: Plot A Row 11 Grave 25

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery

Fere-en-Tardenois, France

Perley R. Hamilton

Ambulance Driver, U.S. Army

66th French Army

Entered the Service from: France

Died: July 29, 1918

Buried at: Plot A Row 11 Grave 26

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery

Fere-en-Tardenois, France

Awards:

[Irish-American]

For what it's worth:

(From Arlen J. Hansen's work Gentleman Volunteers, really an excellent book.)

"A. Piatt Andrew described another [American recruiter sent to speak with members of the American Ambulance Field Service]:

"'Then a Captain was sent up to Soissons and Jouaiges to enlist our men, but on the day of his arrival he displayed another American proclivity and became dead drunk.... [Officially], he died of "heart failure," and ... being the first American officer to die in service in France [received] special military honors.'

"This was the same man who, [Andrew] Norton said, literally 'died of drink.'"