A telegram arrived April 22 from Headquarters Advance Section, ordering the regiment to move to Le Mans.
And suddenly the telegrams changed the destination of the regiment to Brest.
Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry

A telegram arrived April 22 from Headquarters Advance Section, ordering the regiment to move to Le Mans.
And suddenly the telegrams changed the destination of the regiment to Brest.
Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry
Continue readingWe shall never forget the night that Varennes was flooded with light, and a celebration broke loose on the strength of the reported signing of the armistice.
Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry
The 805th Pioneer Infantry was in France, arriving in Rolampont on September 20, 1918.
The United States entered World War I in April 1917. The goal was to organize a million man army. In May 1918, President Wilson authorized the creation of eight colored regiments.
In March 1916, Tom Gallagher moved from Lamar, Missouri to Junction City, Kansas. He was the shoe department manager at Cole Brothers’ Dry Goods Store, replacing his brother Henry. Henry moved back to Lamar, becoming manager at Coles’ store there.
Continue readingWith orders for home, the 137th Regiment boarded trains at Sampigny on March 7. They arrived in the Le Mans area three days later. The companies were dispersed to surrounding towns and villages, Company M to Monfort-les-Gesnois. Far from the desolate battlefields, the men enjoyed a couple weeks of “the best accommodations since [their] arrival in France,” whether in billets or private homes.
Easter Aboard the Manchuria
On May 9, 1918, soldiers of the 137th Infantry disembarked their ships and set foot on French soil at Le Havre.
The 137th served a few weeks with the British in Northern France and then by three days of forced marches and three days train travel moved to the eastern end of the Western Front, near Gerardmer, from where it went into the line with French troops on German soil near Switzerland on June 18, 1918.
A History of the 137th Infantry, An All-Kansas Regiment
In 1916, Ralph Jarvis had met Chleo Webb and started a relationship. At 16, Chleo was still in high school. Ralph, 22, was working as a lineman.
Their lives would be interrupted by The Great War.
My mother had many eclectic interests, like books, cooking, gardening, sports, English language, and Italy. She also liked history and antiques. She had an eye for interesting and unique objects.
Continue readingSouth Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860. It demanded that the U.S. Army leave Charleston.
When that didn’t happen, the South Carolina militia bombarded U.S. troops in Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861.
The American Civil War had begun.
Continue reading