File No.:
Battle Study # 19 Title: Location where
Sgt. Alvin C. York earned the
Medal of Honor Investigation made at:
Châtel-Chéhéry, France Period Covered: October
8th, 1918 Date: July -
November 2010 Case Classification: Open
Case REASON FOR INVESTIGATION:
It came to our
attention that
efforts to locate the spot where
US Army Corporal (later promoted
to Sergeant) Alvin Cullum York
of “G” Company, 328th Infantry
Regiment earned the Medal of
Honor for his actions on 8
OCT 1918 in France, have
become the topic of discussion.
Generally, two schools can be
distinguished; a group named the
Sergeant York Discovery
Expedition (“SYDE”) with a
military background and a
multi-disciplinary group of
experts named “The
Sergeant York Project”.
The SYDE-group, led by US Army
Colonel Mastriano, claims to
have found “the only possible
location where York could have
earned the Medal of Honor.”
The Sergeant York Project is
based on a dissertation,
submitted in 2007, which earned
geographer Thomas Nolan his
doctor-title. Two subsequent
field searches have led to the
theory that the general area of
the engagement can be
pinpointed.
Battledetective.com read the
reports, studied subsequent
publications and visited the
battlefield.
SYNOPSIS:
The actions of Sergeant York which
earned him the Medal of Honor, is
described in the citation for his
decoration:
“Rank and organization:
Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G,
328th Infantry, 82nd Division. Place
and date: Near Châtel-Chéhéry,
France, 8 October 1918. Entered
service at: Pall Mall, Tenn. Born:
13 December 1887, Fentress County,
Tenn. G.O. No.: 59, W.D., 1919.
Citation: After his platoon had
suffered heavy casualties and 3
other noncommissioned officers had
become casualties, Corporal York
assumed command. Fearlessly leading
7 men, he charged with great daring
a machinegun nest which was pouring
deadly and incessant fire upon his
platoon. In this heroic feat the
machinegun nest was taken, together
with 4 officers and 128 men and
several guns.”
- Source: (http://www.army.mil/cmh/)
-
His actions earned him the highest
US Military medal, the Medal of
Honor. In 1941, York's heroics were
reenacted in a feature film,
starring Academy Award winner
Gary Cooper as Sergeant York.
This is a clip from the movie
showing the battle on the "York
Spot":
Dr. Nolan’s dissertation
In his
dissertation, on page 4, Tom
Nolan describes the general problem
of locating the exact "York Spot" as
follows:
"The exact events and locations
regarding York's exploits at
Châtel-Chéhéry have long been the
subject of controversy.
Recollections of the German and
American participants in the fight
conflict on several key points and
change over time. York's account of
his movements is difficult to
reconcile with major terrain
features. The descriptions of York's
actions in various biographies are
conflicting and the maps included in
two of the books have gross spatial
errors. Maps compiled for the
official history of the 82nd
Division do not agree in some
respects with modern topographic
maps."
The actions of Corporal York and his
men are described in more detail on
pages 18-20
After studying numerous accounts and
documents and conducting field
researches on location, using
sophisticated equipment, Nolan
concludes on page 103:
“In summary, the area with the
highest concentration of artifacts
is consistent with the documentary
evidence describing the location of
the York fight and confirms the site
of the engagement.”
and (on pages 112 and 113):
"It seems reasonable to conclude
that the western side of the hill
south west of Hill 223 is the site
of the engagement that resulted in
Alvin York being awarded the Medal
of Honor. The high degree of
correlation between the documentary
and physical evidence confirms the
location beyond a reasonable doubt.
The concentration of German
artifacts in the area identified on
the map by Buxton and Danforth as
the site of the engagement, the
collar insignia from a member of G
Company, 328th Infantry at the
bottom of the hill, and the pattern
of .45 cartridge cases in relation
to the German machine gun that could
only have fired to the rear of the
German position combine to confirm
this conclusion. The location of the
original burials of the American
dead as recorded by the Graves
Registration Service in relation to
the hill provides further proof
[…]"
The SYDE-report
In his
report, Col. Mastriano
describes the problem of location
the "York Spot" as follows:
“Sgt York's legendary fire fight
took place on the morning of 8
October 1918 at the height of the Meuse Argonne Offensive. Combat
operations associated with that
offensive would continue until the
armistice at 1100hrs 11 November
1918. Roughly three months later in
February 1919 an investigative team
led by the Brigade Commander BG
Julian R. Lindsey including Alvin
York returned to the site of the
fire fight to determine if York's
actions merited award of the Medal
of Honor. Years passed, memories
faded and witnesses passed away
leaving no definitive location as to
where the events associated with Sgt
York's feat occurred in the ravine
behind the small village of Chatel
Chehery, France."
After researching, mostly German,
documents, and doing field research
with the use of metal detectors on
the battlefield of 2nd Battalion,
328th Infantry Regiment, Mastriano
found "[…] twenty-one Colt .45
Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) shell
casings fired by York […]. The 1919
History of the 82nd Division A.E.F.
states that York fired three
complete clips from his sidearm –
for a total of twenty-one shell
casings. This is the "York Spot.""
The report concludes:
"Within this 100-meter area, York
was the only American to use a Colt
.45 ACP making their discovery a
centerpiece of the search. Although
this find was decisive, the other
artifacts verify the complete story
that York earned the Medal of Honor
here. The location agrees with
written German and American
testimony in every detail and is
located along the flanks of the
120th and 125th Württemberg
regiments (only one possible
location in the entire Argonne
Forest). The location is in
conformity with the battle
progression / sequence of events as
recorded in the German and American
battle logs. The location where SYDE
uncovered the York spot is accurate
and agrees with the above."
Subsequent publications
American archeologist James B. Legg
wrote "Finding
Sergeant York" in Legacy
Magazine of February 2010.
Legg is convinced the SYDE-team pinpointed a "non-site".
In 2009 he assisted Dr. Nolan in a
new field research on the location
generally described in the 2007
dissertation.
Of the report and the results of the
new search he says:
"[…] the very detailed and
well-supported participant
narratives of the York action fit
astonishingly well with the current
landscape and the archaeological
data."
In Legg's opinion, the SYDE-project
"was well intentioned, but
amounted to an unsystematic,
unprovenienced, and unauthorized
relic hunt on the battlefield of the
main 328th attack on October 8,
1918, (where, of course, there were
thousands of American and German
artifacts)."
Dutch historian Stephan van
Meulebrouck wrote an article titled
"Hot
on the York Trail?" in The
Western Front Association Bulletin
of June/July 2009. In it, he
critically studies both reports and
claims made by Nolan and Mastriano.
Van Meulebrouck remarks that Dr.
Nolan's team "could have avoided
a lot of problems if it had looked
through the German archive material
itself."
In an interview, retired US Army
sergeant Brad Posey, says of
Mastriano's findings: "The count
of .45 casings is now over the
twenty-one he states in his report.
[…] In his report he only
mentions and illustrates those
artefacts that support his claim."
Van Meulebrouck's article contains two
interesting statements.
Yves Desfossés, the regional
archaeological curator:
"Using current archaeological
methods […] the York Spot
cannot be pinpointed."
Dr. Jeffrey Clarke, director of the
US Army’s Center of Military
History:
"There's no real way to find the
exact spot."
Battlefield visit
We have no intention at all to redo
the efforts made by the various
historians.
On Saturday 30 OCT 2010
battledetective.com visited the
battlefield.
We have examined both the York
Monument and York Trail on the
location marked by the Sgt. York
Discovery Expedition, and also the
location indicated by the Sgt. York
Project.
Before traveling to the Argonne
Forest, we were extensively briefed
by Brad Posey.
Brad is an American historian who
lives in Germany.
He had been invited to help the SYDE-team
in excavating artifacts. While doing
that, he became convinced that the
location where Sgt. York earned the
Medal of Honor must have been
somewhere else then where he was
digging.
He then joined in on the work of Dr.
Nolan's team. To him it is certain
that the "York Spot" as indicated by
Nolan is the correct one.
Brad advised us and sent diagrams
with maps, the discovery locations
of artifacts and evidence, and their
positions in relation to relevant
historic and strategic sites in the
battle area.
(click for the
full-scale image)
After we had entered the village of
Châtel-Chéhéry, we left our car and
headed into the
.
The streets were practically empty
of people, but there were puppets of
witches on every street corner.
Halloween and a posted patron saint
celebration must have triggered this
creativity.
(click to enlarge)
The first impression of the
battlefield was that all the
relevant spots are in very close
proximity to one another.
Following Posey’s advice, we
followed the "York Trail" for two
stops and then headed into the woods
which, according to The Sergeant
York Project’s theorizing, was the
field of fire of German machine
guns. These positions had been on a
hill top South of the route of
approach of 2nd Battalion of the
328th Regiment.
"York Spot" according to The
Sergeant York Project
Posey's directions led us straight
to the location where The Sergeant
York Project thinks the engagement
between York’s squad and German
soldiers took place. Therefore we
had not followed the route of York's
patrol as it was sent rearward with
orders to outflank the machineguns
that stopped 2nd Battalion's
advance. Dr. Nolan based his theory
of a wide south-western (clockwise)
advance on the annotated maps of
York's Company and Battalion
commanders.
(click for the
full-scale image)
Makeshift tree monument
Following a meandering creek, we
came to the top of a small slope,
where a white laminated sheet of
paper was nailed to one of the
trees. It was a makeshift monument,
honoring "The Other Sixteen"
American soldiers in York's patrol;
and especially their casualties.
We found several national flags,
almost consumed by the forest and
tried to reconstruct what must have
been the open air shrine once:
(click to enlarge)
Location where York's squad and
their prisoners were fired upon
With the help of the photographs
Brad Posey had provided us with, we
found the location where Dr. Nolan
thinks that German machine gunners
fired on York’s patrol killing
Corporal Savage and Privates
Dymowski, Wareing, Weiler and Wine.
Period accounts have it that their
bodies were eventually buried in
field graves where thy had fallen.
(click to enlarge)
Hypothesized route of York's
uphill attack
According to the diagram of Posey’s
diagram of the York Engagement, the
exact location and course of York's
uphill charge is still open for
further investigation.
This is an impression of the general
area:
(click to enlarge)
The (alleged) former field grave
of CPL Savage
We also found the location of which
Dr. Nolan claims it had been CPL
Savage's field grave. This was based
on the study of the US Army Grave
Registration Service record, a
period photograph of the field grave
and on the discovery of artifacts
supporting the theory. The
re-excavated gravesite was marked by
French and American flags. We took
the time to create a Now&Then image
of the field grave site.
(click for the
full-scale image)
The (alleged) location of the
1919 photograph of SGT York
Part of the
investigation to determine if
Alvin York earned America's highest
medal, was a visit to the
battlefield in early 1919, several
months after the actions. The US
Army Signal Corps had taken
photographs of York on the spot of
his battle. Brad Posey had made his
theory of where York's photograph
was taken available to us. We were
happy to stand in for Alvin York in
these Now&Then images:
(click for the
full-scale images)
Traces of Combat Scene
Investigations
The forest revealed other traces of
The Sergeant York Project's
battlefield investigations:
(click to enlarge)
"York Spot" according to the
Sergeant York Discovery Expedition
We then went back to the original
"York Trail", following the various
explanatory markers.
These markers tell the story as it
generally appears in most historical
publications and military reports.
(click to enlarge)
Remarkably, this route also
describes a clockwise maneuver made
by York's patrol, but with a much
less curved arch, and within the
route of advance of the main
American force. In other words;
given the military objective of the
328th - the German "Argonnenbahn",
a narrow gauge
railroad to the West - the "York
Trail" does not by-pass much ground
to launch a flanking attack.
The York Trail led us to a clearing
in the forest where we found a
beautifully styled monument in SGT
York's honor, sponsored by COL
Mastriano and others. The monument
depicted a large open book,
explaining York's actions. Next to
it was a marker claiming that this
clearing was now named Weider Family
Park.
Trench
Another marker in the York Trail
design we were now familiar with,
explained that a trench, visible
just behind the Weider Family Park
marker, had been the objective of
York's attack. The presence of this
trench does explain the SYDE's
theory for the attack route of
York's patrol.
Battle Detective
Wilbert
spots the trench
Anti York Heroism Protest
Meanwhile we had become aware of
several white laminated sheets of
paper, with a text in English and
French.
At the start of the Trail we had
taken no notice of it as its design
resembled the laminated text posted
on
"The Other Sixteen Tree Monument".
But this was something else. We collected one of the English
texts for further analysis.
A closer study of the message on the
posters, learned that it held a
protest against the admiration of
SGT York.
(click to enlarge)
The full text in
English reads as follows:
"This is the actual
course of events concerning
the doubtful story about
Sergeant York One made
intensive enquiries about
the proceeding of this
high-sounding event. In the
end one has been able to
find out the aged son as
well as the diary of the
other German Second
Lieutenant Paul Hipp, who
was the last commander among
the survivors of his company
which was consisting of only
38 men when they had been
handed over their own free
will.
On October 8, 1918 the
fragments of the 125th
Wurtemberg territorial
regiment were in action near
to the Valerine-Ravine
situated between Châtel and
Cornay. They had to hold a
sector of 800 meters. The
mostly untrained territorial
had no chance at all to man
the light machine guns. The
average effectives amounted
to 30 until 40 riflemen as
it usual for every company.
Among them were many fillers
of some other disbanded
units who were
extraordinarily suffered
from purposelessness and
thus constituted a threat of
subversion. For this reason
this territorial regiment
had no more military
strength at all.
The men of Hipp's company
were totally exhausted. They
were short of ammunition,
rations and they lacked of
relies. For the most part
they were aged family men
and grandpas who tried to
save their bacons in order
to return to their families.
They did not intend to fight
a loosing battle.
These 38 exhausted dads were
just fed up with the war.
And these old men were the
result of the Sergeant's
"heroic deed".
We are observing a nice
fairytale or a doubtful
legend or even a fabulous
bragging.
Form your own mind!
In a war there are no living
heroes but only dead ones!"
The simple counter argument that we
will bring to bear against this
protest, are the images of the grave
markers of York's buddies in the
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.
Stone cold proof that the so-called
"exhausted old dads
[…] just fed up with the war" of the
125th Würtemburg Regiment had been
well capable of taking American
lives:
(click to enlarge) From left to
right: Pvt's Dymowski, Weiler, Wine,
Wareing, and Cpl. Savage
This is an impression of the Meuse-Argonne
American Cemetery:
(click to enlarge)
Informal 1914-1918 Argonne Museum
During the preparation of our
battlefield visit we were advised to
visit the
Informal 1914-1918 Argonne Museum,
operated by Dutch national Jean-Paul
de Vries.
We did so and asked De Vries his
opinion about the theories of the
Sergeant York Discovery Expedition
and of The Sergeant York Project.
De Vries was concise about it:
"I am not going to
come in between these groups
and their theories. I run a
museum with artifacts from
Romagne and I observe a
strict circle with a five
kilometer diameter around
the village for their
origins.
The York spot is well
outside this range. I
understand that the
relatives of SGT York are
content with the location
where the monument is now. I
have even heard of a new, a
third, investigation
initiated by the ancestors
of the other members of
York’s patrol. They seem to
seek recognition for the
heroism of their forefathers
and are even trying to
request posthumous military
decorations for them."
DeVries continued to tell us of
numerous other stories of The Great
War.
We were even provided with a number
of Battle Relics which may be
featured in future publications.
(click to enlarge)
CONCLUSIONS:
Which one is "The Right York
Spot"?
As stated before, we never had the
intention to conduct an independent
investigation to locate the spot
where Alvin York earned his Medal of
Honor.
But after reading the relevant
publications and visiting the
Argonne Forest, we feel safe to say
that we consider the area designated
by the Sergeant York Project as the
most likely "York combat scene".
Most convincing is the fact that the
spot targeted by the Sergeant York
Discovery Expedition is in the
middle of the route of advance of
2nd Battalion of the 328th Infantry.
This unit was stopped in its
progress by enemy machine gun
positions which York's patrol was
then tasked to eliminate. The patrol
circled around these positions to do
so.
Therefore, the "York Spot" can only
be away from the route of advance of
the main force, to be reached by a
flanking maneuver.
We conducted only a minor
investigation, combining modern
techniques and old fashioned
detective work.
We pinpointed the exact (GPS-)
locations of the discovery of the
G/328th collar disk and of Dr.
Nolan’s research area on Google
Earth™ and made a print of the
screen. We then enlarged the map,
annotated by Buxton and Danforth in
1929, to the size where
still-existing terrain features
(such as the forked main street of
Chatel-Chéhéry and the course of the
Argonnenbahn railway track) matched.
We then copied it on a transparent
sheet and put in on the Google
Earth™ print as an overlay.
The area of the York engagement as
indicated by his commanding officers
is consistent with the locations
marked with yellow drawing pins on
Google Earth™.
(Click to enlarge)
If nothing else, this was convincing
enough to us for the likelihood of
the right location.
EXHIBITS: In closing this Battle Study we
humbly display digital images of the
man who has been its subject.
Our favorite photographs are the
ones that show the Medal of Honor on
him.
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