(WORLD WAR ONE) Scrapbook of photographs and field orders fr

Sale 2546 - Lot 254

Price Realized: $ 2,125

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Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(WORLD WAR ONE.) Scrapbook of photographs and field orders from a battalion commander in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. 151 items laid down on 43 scrapbook leaves, including 80 photographs, 28 U.S. Army Field Message slips, 11 pages of maps, and 7 pages of diary typescripts. Large 4to, 14 x 10 inches, original string-bound boards, minor wear; leaves chipped and worn, several detached, a few cello tape repairs, one photograph removed. Vp, June-December 1918

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The compiler Major John Nash (1887-1965) of Portsmouth, VA was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia law school. He was the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion of the 313th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 80th Division which was recruited largely in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. They arrived overseas in June 1918 and soon participated in some of the major battles and campaigns toward the close of the war, including the Somme, Meuse-Argonne, and Saint-Mihiel. According to the 313th's regimental history, "in the Meuse-Argonne it fought . . . without relief or rest for forty-seven days--a record for consecutive fighting that was excelled by no organization in the American Army."
Most of the photographs are neatly captioned on the mount, though largely uncredited. A few bear a U.S. Signal Corps stamp in the negative. Ruined buildings, battle-scarred landscapes, and corpses are recurring subjects. One poignant farmhouse image is captioned "Regimental headquarters, Villers, taken after the 'old folks' had returned after four years absence." Another ruined farm is captioned "Boulain Farm where I spent the first night of peace. This had been a German division headquarters a few days previous." Two aerial views are included (Bantheville and Fléville), as well as two folding panoramas. A few battlefield scenes are marked "French official" and date as early as 1916, but many seem to have been taken by someone attached to Nash's regiment--if not by Nash himself.
The scrapbook also contains 28 manuscript "Army Field Message Slips" reflecting the concerns of a front-line battalion commander, including some orders received in battle. On 14 October Nash was ordered by the regiment's Major Dunigan over the course of 3 slips: "Your battalion will commence moving forward immediately by battery, scattered out. You will take position in north edge of woods . . . . Mr. Niles is now out reconnoitering and can probably give you good information if you see him. . . . The position must allow us to put down a barrage on heights at least one kilometer north of Andevanne. Be careful of gas in Bois de Pultiere." A more hastily scrawled message on 4 November reads "Fire 6 rapid bursts on battery and then resume desultory fire. You are firing a little over."
The map sheets are generally cut from larger folding maps, with many marked with the regiment's progress. One of Verdun shows the regiment's route in red pencil clear across the map. The diary typescript is a terse official regimental document with a daily summary of activities from 16 October to 13 November. The daily count of available men drops gradually from 580 to 533 over those 4 weeks. The 31 October entry closes "Pvt. Owens of 2nd Bn, detail HQ Co., gassed while on duty as a runner." This entry bears a manuscript note, "What a hell of a Halloween!" The 3 November diary entry notes that "while on the Villers Montigny road a direct hit on the 4th piece caisson limber of Btry E destroyed the limber and a box of fuses and wounded Pvts Mansel and Jenkins." A photograph of the wrecked caisson appears on another page.
A recurring thread is Major Nash's brother-in-law Captain Theodorick A.W. Gilliam, who served in the same regiment and was severely wounded by a shell. A photograph of a desolate farmhouse is captioned "Barton's and Gilliam's headquarters in Cunel . . . they were in it when tree was hit." An incomplete note on a little slip of paper reads "To Capt. Gilliam, Move forward to position at Grand Carre . . . and keep in touch with." In the margin, Nash notes that another officer "insisted upon immediate move. I complied, the battery moved, and got the hell knocked out of it." The 1 November diary notes "Capt. Geo. Wayne Anderson, Jr., Bn. adjutant was killed and Capt. T.A.W. Gilliam seriously wounded while conducting fire from O.P. on hill 271 near Grande Carre Firme." A field message from Lieutenant Colonel Brunzell closes "Too bad about Anderson & Gilliam. I surely am sorry & grieved to hear it." Nash notes in the margin that the message was written to "raise my morale." A photograph of Anderson's grave is included. A December clipping from the Norfolk newspaper back home tells Gilliam's story in full.
Nash is prominently featured in the 1920 regimental history, "A History of the 313th Field Artillery U.S.A.," including 26 pages of his humorous personal reflections on the war. A career officer, he served as a colonel in the Army through World War Two.