Within three months, he found himself on the Western Front, in what was then known as “the Great War.”


T in the 308th


WAR SERVICE IN THE “LOST BATTALION”


he Commander in Chief of the AEF, General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, had made his mark chasing Pancho Villa and mak- ing an incursion in Mexico in 1916. In the 1880s, he had been


a trooper with General Nelson Miles during the Geronimo campaign. A total of 1,256,478 Americans were to eventually serve under his overall command. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began on


Sept. 26, 1918. In the course of 47 days of fighting in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, American casualties totaled 127,005 – 26,227 dead and 95,778 wounded. Another 5,000 were captured or missing in action. This casu- alty rate ranks as one the costliest campaigns in American history. The 308th


Battalion's role in the first part


of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive is legendary. It was the famous “Lost Battalion” of World War I. Under the command of Major Charles Whittlesey, an attorney from New York City, the 308th


rapidly advanced into the Argonne


Forest and became cut off from Pershing’s other forces. These American troops found themselves behind German lines with little ammunition and without food and water. Eventually, the 308th


only 232 out of the 679 men survived. Powless was not the only American Indian . Four others are named in a re-


port found at Indiana University’s Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Private Roland Little Elk, a 26-year-old Sioux from South Dakota and a graduate of Haskell Institute, is described as “a splendid rifleman, intel- ligent” and “able to orient himself without difficulty,” having “a good sense of direction both day and night.” In the same report, Private Moses Smith, another Sioux, who was assigned to supply duty, was deemed hardworking and dependable. Private Frank La Barre, a Comanche from Oklahoma, was portrayed as a “very good soldier, fair leader, intelligent, quick.” Corporal Ernest Swallow, a Cherokee from Oklahoma, was cited as “an excellent soldier and well liked by men in his organization.” Three other American Indians also served in the 308th


– Robert Dodd, a


Paiute from Nevada, and two Oklahomans, James Corntassel, a Cherokee, and Sam Mor- ris, a Choctaw.


30 AMERICAN INDIAN SPRING 2015


What was left of the 308th


emerged from


the Argonne Forest and headed northeast. On October 14, the Americans once again encountered heavy fire as they advanced to- wards the Aire River. It was there after acts of courage, that Dr. Powless was seriously wounded, dying 23 days later, only five days before the war’s end.


T were rescued; however,


POWLESS’ HEROISM: THE FULL STORY


he Oneida physician was one of 97 soldiers in the 308th


Infantry


Regiment to receive the Distin- guished Service Cross. The au- thors feel he should also join the five of his comrades who received


the Medal of Honor. Certain vital details of Powless’ death were missing from the War De- partment’s General Order No. 46 and General Pershing’s award of the Distinguished Service Cross to Powless’ widow. In 1927, Sergeant L. Wardlaw Miles de-


the battlefield promotion because of the incredible number of casualties taken in the Argonne Forest.) Dr. McKibben rushed to their side and was also hit by German fire. Dr. Powless was told not to advance because of the incredible losses of men attempting to rescue the wounded, but he went in anyway, carrying out his Hippocratic Oath to care for his fallen comrades. Taking heavy fire from the enemy, Powless


did not just attend to Dr. McKibben, but to Sergeant Lenahan, Captain McDougal and several others. Lieutenant Clarke’s report de- scribed what happened next. The Oneida phy- sician “got the wounded back, and just about completed his dangerous mission. A shell exploded and wounded him in the side.” Pow- less, McKibben and Lenahan subsequently died of their wounds.


scribed Powless as a “full-blooded Indian and most picturesque though an unpretentious figure,” who bravely “hurried at once to the side of his colleague [Dr. James McKibben] resulting in his being seriously wounded.” Miles’ account adds crucial details to this his- tory, as do military and tribal records and the extensive questionnaires and reports filled out by American Indian veterans and deposited at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. In a report dated April 18, 1919, Lieutenant


W.C.O. Clarke, indicated that the regiment was “all extremely fond” of Powless. Clarke described him as “a bang up doctor. A delight- ful chap as well as an efficient physician and surgeon. He was hard to keep up under and to keep within bounds.” That quality was Pow- less’ undoing. On October 14, Captain Allan J. McDou- gall, who headed M Company of the 308th


P ,


had moved northeast just out of the Argonne Forest. Already a winner of the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery, McDougall was ordered by Division headquarters to send his men, along with a small contingent from the 307th


Regiment, to reconnoiter and find


a safe place for the American troops to take a defensive position in preparing to ford the Aire River. Powless and McKibben were to ac- company the troops. Emerging out of the thickets of the Ar-


gonne Forest onto a road adjacent to the river, M Company found itself exposed to German machine gun and artillery fire. McDougall and his Acting Sergeant, John C. Lenahan, were wounded. (Lenahan, a private, received


POSTHUMOUS HONORS


owless’s remains were kept at a French cemetery for the next three and a half months, a long delay caused by a global influ- enza pandemic that hindered transport back to Wisconsin. The


pandemic killed a half a million Americans and 50 million people worldwide, much more than all the casualties of World War I. On Feb. 23, 1919, Powless was honored


in the Masonic Hall in De Pere, given full military honors by his Oneida people and the American Legion. After a eulogy by the Epis- copal priest, the physician was then buried in the Oneida Reservation’s Episcopal Cemetery. Although he was educated at Carlisle, encour- aged to assimilate and even became a local Wisconsin town official, in death he remained an Oneida, a hero to his people, based on his medical service on the reservation and his ultimate sacrifice in the “war to end all wars.” On Nov. 6 and 7, 2002, the 84th


anniversary


of his death, Powless’ memory was honored at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio; Army officials dedicated the post’s guest house in his name, in a ceremony attended by his grand- children. In addition to this belated honor in Texas and the earlier posthumous award of the Distinguished Service Cross, the authors believe that the courage he displayed in the Ardennes in World War I justify his being awarded the Medal of Honor. His actions dis- played on Oct. 14, 1918, were extraordinary and do separate him from the numerous fel- low soldiers who received battlefield honors in France for their service to the nation. X


Laurence M. Hauptman is SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History. L. Gordon McLester, III is Director of the Oneida Indian Historical Society, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.


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