Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I
reviewed by Courtland Jindra


First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I
by Matthew J. Davenport
Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2015


I am a relative latecomer to World War One. I probably knew more than the average American, but that's only because most Americans have no clue about the Great War other than it happened before WWII. I am a history fan, so as the centennial period began to be brought up in the news I began to do some research. I start with this to say: I have read just a couple of dozen books on the war and do not claim to have the breadth of knowledge of some of the readers of this blog who have been reading scores of books for years.

18th Infantry Opening the Attack

Getting those preliminaries out of the way, I still feel as though Matthew Davenport's monumental First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I has to be one of the best accounts of what going through battle in the war's final year must have been like. It covers much the same ground as James Carl Nelson's widely acclaimed Remains of Company D. However, I feel that this book is superior. Focusing on the organization, training, and first combat episodes (climaxing with the three days at Cantigny) of the 1st Division till early June 1918, the book has an extraordinary level of detail. Obviously much of this will be familiar to people who have read numerous volumes on the AEF, but some of these actions and the Doughboys who performed them were new to me as they will likely be to many.

On a personal note, the "Three Musketeers" of the book (Privates Emory Charles Smith, 1900–1963, Levy R. Wilson, 1901–?, and  Orville Lee Klepper, 1899–1955, all with the 28th Infantry), from my home town of Denton, Texas, were fascinating to read about. I wondered why they were not remembered locally. I had never heard their story before despite spending my formative years in Denton. This is probably the most comprehensive account of a battle I have ever read. Obviously it helps that it's restricted to one division, as this level of detail could not be duplicated for larger units and engagements. It's told like it was on the ground, in a journalistic fashion, through many letters and accounts by the survivors. Davenport has no "points" he's trying to prove. Things go awry in war since the best battle plans never completely survive contact with the enemy


Order Now
The general officers are refreshingly not portrayed as idiots (one of my ongoing criticisms with some scholars), though once things get hairy it is largely out of their control and up to the Doughboys on the ground to dig in and hold on on their own. The chaos and confusion of the clash shines through. If I have one complaint, it's that Davenport might be too thorough. There are a lot of names to keep track of and I needed a bookmark in the index to help re-look up participants continually. However, this also leads to the book being a great memorial, as nearly every American KIA gets a mention. Davenport even gives background on where many were buried after the war.

It is hard to recommend this book enough. It is Davenport's first book, and I have seen in interviews that he's not sure he's up for another. I fervently hope he reconsiders. Should he completely focus on his day job of being a lawyer from now on, he still has given us one of the best tributes to the American fighting man that there is.

Courtland Jindra

9 comments:

  1. A really nice and uncomplicated review that gives us an authentic reaction to the book. This is certainly on my reading list!

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  2. Agreed - this is a must read for anyone interested in the battles of the AEF. Cantigny in some respects was a set piece battle arranged to show the French and other Allies (and the Americans themselves) that the doughboys would and could take on the Germans. I would hope that Davenport would follow the Big Red One thorough June and July 1918, especially the fighting south of Soissons. That was a very different type of battle, done literally on the run in some cases, And again the 1st ID succeeded, but at terrible cost.

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    1. I wish I could have followed the 1st Division through the war. Soissons was such an enormous engagement for them, at such a high cost (which I thought James Carl Nelson covered very well in Remains of a Company D). And the division's part in the Meuse-Argonne is fascinating. My focus was limited to just the first small battle, as tempting as the rest were to cover. They need to be covered singularly, though. Hopefully someone will take up the torch.

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  3. Courtland,

    I like your blog. If my publisher, McFarland, gets in touch with you would you consider reviewing the below book:

    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-rainbow-division-lieutenant-in-france-john-h-taber/1122059863?ean=9780786499908

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    1. I guess talk to the folks here Stephen. The staff have several people who review books, so it's as much their decision as my own.

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  4. Great review -- it's posts like this that make me believe your blog is one of the best on the First World War, insightful, wide-ranging, and highly accessible. Thanks!

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  5. Thank you, Courtland. Your gracious words mean a great deal. This book was a labor of love for me, just as all your good work with the World War I Centennial Commission is. Keep up your great work.

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