2RHPZ
09-28-2004, 11:20 AM
Sept. 29 a deadly day for Cumberland
By Roy Parker
A reader points out that while I have written about Sept. 29, 1918, several times, nowhere is there a list of the Cumberland County men killed or mortally wounded that day.
This fills that void.
Sept. 29, 1918, was the day the 30th Division attacked across open farm fields toward the little French town of Bellicourt on a mission to "break the Hindenburg Line," a German defensive position on the battlefields of France in the Great War of 1914-1918, known now as World War I.
Dozens of men from Cumberland County and surrounding counties were in the waves of doughboys who crossed those deadly killing fields.
So far, we have identified seven from Cumberland who made the ultimate sacrifice that day.
With the approach of what I still call "Armistice Day," Nov. 11, the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the county is getting ready to honor all 40 men from Cumberland County who were killed, mortally wounded in action, or died in the epidemics that killed twice as many as the bullets and shells.
Here are the seven from Sept. 29:
Archie Faircloth of Fayetteville, 19, was among the youngest to die Sept. 29. Killed by an artillery shellburst, his body was not identified for several weeks.
Sgt. George Ward told of his death:
"In the thickest of the fight, about eight o'clock when we were mixed up by the smoke, I met Archie Faircloth of Company H, a soldier from Fayetteville. He was killed later in the day (blown all to pieces by a shell) on the edge of Bellicourt."
Faircloth was in Company H, "the Clinton company," of the 119th Infantry Regiment. His father, J.D. Faircloth, received word Nov. 11, 1918, that his son had been killed in action.
Gilbert White, listed first as a sergeant and then as a second lieutenant, was "killed on the field" before Bellicourt, according to Capt. Robert Lamb, commander of Company F, the "Fayetteville company."
White was said to have "led the attack of the 2nd Platoon" of the company.
In 1918, Lamb wrote that Gilbert died of wounds, but in 1919 the former captain concluded that he died on the day of the attack.
Unlike the others, White was not a local man. He had been the clerk at the Rosemont Hotel on Hay Street in Fayetteville when he joined the 30th Division and listed Cumberland, his last address.
Cpl. John D. McPhail of Hope Mills originally was in the Fayetteville National Guard company that became Company F. He was transferred to Company L of the 119th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Lumber Bridge company."
He was among the 86 men of the Guard company who went to the Mexican border in 1916.
He was 19 years old when his company was raked by machine-gun fire from German positions before Bellicourt.
McPhail saw some of the earliest action of the 30th, training in a "quiet" sector of the trench lines with British troops.
In May 1918, he was among 14 from the division chosen to "march before King George" when the British monarch visited the Flanders sector, where the 30th trained.
McPhail had written to his mother, Mrs. M.L. McPhail of Hope Mills, "I have returned from the firing lines still safe, without a scratch."
McPhail's body was brought home from France in 1921.
Walter West of Hope Mills was a soldier-specialist, holding rank as a "mechanician" when he went with Company F toward Bellicourt on the morning of Sept. 29.
Like McPhail, he had been with the Fayetteville Guard company to the Mexican border in 1916.
When he died in the fighting before Bellicourt, he was counted as "the only boy" killed that day who had been in Company F from the 1916 deployment through the fatal day in 1918.
West's death was announced nearly two months after the Sept. 29 attack.
When his body was returned in 1921, The Fayetteville Observer was unable to find his parents or other relatives.
Cpl. Archie Rasberry of Company F survived the battle though "severely wounded."
He was sent to a hospital in the English countryside near Southampton, but his wounds would not heal, infection set in, and on Jan. 24, 1919, he died of "emphysema."
In May, soon after the 30th Division arrived in France, Rasberry wrote to his sister, Mrs. W.L. Starling of 229 C St., Fayetteville, saying he was well, "enjoying life and having a good time. I have seen some fine country since reaching France, but don't expect many letters because soldiers are often sent to places where they cannot reach post offices."
Even as late as Jan. 8, 1919, a Red Cross worker wrote hopefully to his sister from U.S. Base Hospital 40, saying that his wounds were "healing nicely and his general health is much improved. He hopes to be home in a few weeks."
After his death, an Army officer wrote to Mrs. Starling:
"Archie made a brave fight for recovery, and he met death with that calm fortitude which characterizes the true American soldier."
Rasberry was buried with "full military honors" in Brookwood American Cemetery near the old English cathedral city of Winchester.
There is much less information about another Company F soldier who died of wounds from Sept. 29, Pvt. William W. Granthan of Fayetteville.
He was first reported "severely wounded" in casualty lists in December but had "died of wounds" by Jan. 1, 1919.
Little has been uncovered about Grantham except the bare-bones casualty announcement.
Cpl. Weymouth Thaggard of Cedar Creek was "one of the first to be hit" as the 30th Division moved out toward Bellicourt.
Thaggard had been in the Fayetteville National Guard company since 1914 but had transferred to Company H.
When his body was brought home, it was reported that he was "mourned throughout Cedar Creek neighborhood."
His mother, Mrs. W.A. Thaggard, displayed a letter he had written just as the 30th Division landed in France. He wrote: "My Dear Mother, I will write you just a line to let you hear from me.
"I am well and getting on all right. I hope you are all well. Mamma, there is a lot of pretty country over here. The climate is warmer than it is back home.
"I hope you are not worrying about me. I am getting along all right. I know it is harder for you than it is for me. You ask the Lord to give you strength to bear it, and all will be well. I close with love to you all. Your son, Wayman Thaggard."
After Thaggard's body was returned to Cumberland County in 1921, another letter, written to his mother by a comrade, Ernest Capps, was published.
Headed "A Soldier and Christian at Rest," it read in part: "He and I have been together ever since we got in the army. We drilled together and slept together almost ever since we entered service.
"He was a man who served his God. I have never seen a man who was more sincere in his religion than Weymon. Oftentimes he would call a crowd of men together and have a prayer meeting, and it seemed to do good. So do not worry about him, for he has gone to rest."
Much less is known about another Cedar Creek soldier who apparently died Sept. 29.
Pvt. Novitz (or Novitsky) Smith is remembered by a headstone in Cedar Creek cemetery erected by his sister, Mrs. Addie Beard, after his body was returned in 1921 with those of Thaggard and McPhail.
The poignantly misspelled stone reads:
"Noviskey Smith, Co G 120th Inf AEF. Fell in Battle in France in an affencive (offensive) that broke the Hindenburg Line. Erected by his sister, Addie."
Smith was in a different 30th Division company and regiment than most other Cumberland soldiers. The 120th Infantry Regiment took heavy casualties Sept. 29.
By Roy Parker
A reader points out that while I have written about Sept. 29, 1918, several times, nowhere is there a list of the Cumberland County men killed or mortally wounded that day.
This fills that void.
Sept. 29, 1918, was the day the 30th Division attacked across open farm fields toward the little French town of Bellicourt on a mission to "break the Hindenburg Line," a German defensive position on the battlefields of France in the Great War of 1914-1918, known now as World War I.
Dozens of men from Cumberland County and surrounding counties were in the waves of doughboys who crossed those deadly killing fields.
So far, we have identified seven from Cumberland who made the ultimate sacrifice that day.
With the approach of what I still call "Armistice Day," Nov. 11, the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the county is getting ready to honor all 40 men from Cumberland County who were killed, mortally wounded in action, or died in the epidemics that killed twice as many as the bullets and shells.
Here are the seven from Sept. 29:
Archie Faircloth of Fayetteville, 19, was among the youngest to die Sept. 29. Killed by an artillery shellburst, his body was not identified for several weeks.
Sgt. George Ward told of his death:
"In the thickest of the fight, about eight o'clock when we were mixed up by the smoke, I met Archie Faircloth of Company H, a soldier from Fayetteville. He was killed later in the day (blown all to pieces by a shell) on the edge of Bellicourt."
Faircloth was in Company H, "the Clinton company," of the 119th Infantry Regiment. His father, J.D. Faircloth, received word Nov. 11, 1918, that his son had been killed in action.
Gilbert White, listed first as a sergeant and then as a second lieutenant, was "killed on the field" before Bellicourt, according to Capt. Robert Lamb, commander of Company F, the "Fayetteville company."
White was said to have "led the attack of the 2nd Platoon" of the company.
In 1918, Lamb wrote that Gilbert died of wounds, but in 1919 the former captain concluded that he died on the day of the attack.
Unlike the others, White was not a local man. He had been the clerk at the Rosemont Hotel on Hay Street in Fayetteville when he joined the 30th Division and listed Cumberland, his last address.
Cpl. John D. McPhail of Hope Mills originally was in the Fayetteville National Guard company that became Company F. He was transferred to Company L of the 119th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Lumber Bridge company."
He was among the 86 men of the Guard company who went to the Mexican border in 1916.
He was 19 years old when his company was raked by machine-gun fire from German positions before Bellicourt.
McPhail saw some of the earliest action of the 30th, training in a "quiet" sector of the trench lines with British troops.
In May 1918, he was among 14 from the division chosen to "march before King George" when the British monarch visited the Flanders sector, where the 30th trained.
McPhail had written to his mother, Mrs. M.L. McPhail of Hope Mills, "I have returned from the firing lines still safe, without a scratch."
McPhail's body was brought home from France in 1921.
Walter West of Hope Mills was a soldier-specialist, holding rank as a "mechanician" when he went with Company F toward Bellicourt on the morning of Sept. 29.
Like McPhail, he had been with the Fayetteville Guard company to the Mexican border in 1916.
When he died in the fighting before Bellicourt, he was counted as "the only boy" killed that day who had been in Company F from the 1916 deployment through the fatal day in 1918.
West's death was announced nearly two months after the Sept. 29 attack.
When his body was returned in 1921, The Fayetteville Observer was unable to find his parents or other relatives.
Cpl. Archie Rasberry of Company F survived the battle though "severely wounded."
He was sent to a hospital in the English countryside near Southampton, but his wounds would not heal, infection set in, and on Jan. 24, 1919, he died of "emphysema."
In May, soon after the 30th Division arrived in France, Rasberry wrote to his sister, Mrs. W.L. Starling of 229 C St., Fayetteville, saying he was well, "enjoying life and having a good time. I have seen some fine country since reaching France, but don't expect many letters because soldiers are often sent to places where they cannot reach post offices."
Even as late as Jan. 8, 1919, a Red Cross worker wrote hopefully to his sister from U.S. Base Hospital 40, saying that his wounds were "healing nicely and his general health is much improved. He hopes to be home in a few weeks."
After his death, an Army officer wrote to Mrs. Starling:
"Archie made a brave fight for recovery, and he met death with that calm fortitude which characterizes the true American soldier."
Rasberry was buried with "full military honors" in Brookwood American Cemetery near the old English cathedral city of Winchester.
There is much less information about another Company F soldier who died of wounds from Sept. 29, Pvt. William W. Granthan of Fayetteville.
He was first reported "severely wounded" in casualty lists in December but had "died of wounds" by Jan. 1, 1919.
Little has been uncovered about Grantham except the bare-bones casualty announcement.
Cpl. Weymouth Thaggard of Cedar Creek was "one of the first to be hit" as the 30th Division moved out toward Bellicourt.
Thaggard had been in the Fayetteville National Guard company since 1914 but had transferred to Company H.
When his body was brought home, it was reported that he was "mourned throughout Cedar Creek neighborhood."
His mother, Mrs. W.A. Thaggard, displayed a letter he had written just as the 30th Division landed in France. He wrote: "My Dear Mother, I will write you just a line to let you hear from me.
"I am well and getting on all right. I hope you are all well. Mamma, there is a lot of pretty country over here. The climate is warmer than it is back home.
"I hope you are not worrying about me. I am getting along all right. I know it is harder for you than it is for me. You ask the Lord to give you strength to bear it, and all will be well. I close with love to you all. Your son, Wayman Thaggard."
After Thaggard's body was returned to Cumberland County in 1921, another letter, written to his mother by a comrade, Ernest Capps, was published.
Headed "A Soldier and Christian at Rest," it read in part: "He and I have been together ever since we got in the army. We drilled together and slept together almost ever since we entered service.
"He was a man who served his God. I have never seen a man who was more sincere in his religion than Weymon. Oftentimes he would call a crowd of men together and have a prayer meeting, and it seemed to do good. So do not worry about him, for he has gone to rest."
Much less is known about another Cedar Creek soldier who apparently died Sept. 29.
Pvt. Novitz (or Novitsky) Smith is remembered by a headstone in Cedar Creek cemetery erected by his sister, Mrs. Addie Beard, after his body was returned in 1921 with those of Thaggard and McPhail.
The poignantly misspelled stone reads:
"Noviskey Smith, Co G 120th Inf AEF. Fell in Battle in France in an affencive (offensive) that broke the Hindenburg Line. Erected by his sister, Addie."
Smith was in a different 30th Division company and regiment than most other Cumberland soldiers. The 120th Infantry Regiment took heavy casualties Sept. 29.