he should further help to establish
freedom throughout the world.

THE LOST BATTALION

On December 24, 1918, Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey of
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was presented in the presence of 20,000
people on Boston Common by Major General Edwards with the congressional
Medal of Honor, the highest tribute of valor the United States awards.

General Edwards presented the medal with these words: "Your heroic act
thrilled the entire American Expeditionary Force. It was a piece of
stout-hearted work that reflected credit upon the part of yourself and
of the men who were serving under you. It sustained the best
traditions of American arms and valor. It is a great pleasure to have
the presentation assigned to me; I regard it as a sacred duty."

Lieutenant Colonel Whittlesey smiled, and straightening up to his full
stature of six feet and four inches, simply said, "I thank you,
General."

The medal was given to reward his courage and determination when with
his "lost battalion" he was surrounded by the Germans in the Argonne
forest.

On the fourth day of suffering in the cold and rain without food or
blankets, when their ammunition was almost gone, an American who had
been taken prisoner by the Germans was sent to Major Whittlesey--his
promotion to Lieutenant Colonel came later--with a written message
saying, "Americans, you are surrounded on all sides. Surrender in the
name of humanity. You will be well treated."

[Illustration: Major General Clarence R. Edwards, former commander of
the Twenty-sixth Division, pinning the congressional Medal of Honor on
the breast of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey.]

Major Whittlesey's exclamation when he had read the message was very
brief and very forceful. It made the Germans understand without
further parley that the Americans would never surrender. Major
Whittlesey's men cheered his reply. Not one of them, cold, hungry, and
almost exhausted, thought for a moment of surrendering.

Several days before on the morning of September 26, they had entered
the Argonne forest, as a part of the line of American attack. At
five-thirty in the morning, they had gone "over the top" in a very
heavy fog and behind their creeping barrage toward the German trenches.
They had to force their passage through trees, shrubs, vines, and
undergrowth grown all together so that it was almost impossible to
advance and yet keep in touch with one another as they