Muleskinner with the Marine Brigade, 1917-1919

Cpl. Alpheus Appenheimer, U.S.M.C.

Sixth Machine Gun Battalion, 4th Brigade of Marines, 2nd Division, AEF

(Volume 1: April 1917—May 1918)

by BJ Omanson, 2024

Reviewed by Carolyn Cole Kingston

Marine Machine Gun Platoon Training in France

This large-format volume of nearly 400-pages is an amazingly detailed view of Marine Corps training at Paris Island and Quantico in the United States, and the subsequent training in France in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains and the trenches southeast of Verdun, during the months leading up to the Battle of Belleau Wood. My grandfather, Major Edward B. Cole, and BJ Omanson’s grandfather Cpl. Alpheus Appenheimer fought together in that conflict as part of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion of the Marine Brigade, Second Division, AEF.

The personal story of Alpheus (Al) Appenheimer, through his letters home and those written to him from his wife and mother, is the thread that lends unity to the huge scope of the material covered.

For historians, those whose ancestor served with the Marine Brigade, or anyone interested in America’s participation in WWI, this book is an invaluable resource. The life and times of those who fought as part of that brigade is vividly shown through letters home, and accounts of everyday life for the average Marine— told for the most part through their own words, from descriptions of the makeshift plumbing at Paris Island, to the primitive barn accommodations in the French villages, to descriptions of individual villagers, to irregular measures taken by certain resourceful Marines to augment supplies of food and firewood. Detailed descriptions and diagrams of escort wagons, ammunition caissons and ration carts, harnesses and other equipment used by the muleskinners, anecdotes of individual mules are also provided, as well as extensive accounts of machine gun training and trench warfare training under the French.

Another aspect of Muleskinner with the Marine Brigade is its generous use of period maps showing the routes followed by 6th MGB and 2d Division across France, both by rail and by road, supplemented by precise schedules, timetables, and multi-page orders detailing how wagons and mules are to be loaded aboard train-cars, how much feed, hay and water is to be provided per animal, how much straw should be spread on the car floors, how many men should be assigned to each car, and so forth. These sections— which show many individual camps and make use of photographs and personal accounts— will enable readers to trace their ancestor’s path across France, and to visualize the conditions under which they travelled.

Another important feature of this comprehensive book is the layout of each page, making use of photographs, diagrams and background information in discreet boxes alongside the main text, which make the material accessible, interesting, and easy on the eyes.

Order HERE

I highly recommend Muleskinner with the Marine Brigade to anyone seeking a broader and more intimate look into the war as it was experienced by those who were there.

Carolyn Cole Kingston is the granddaughter of Major Edward B. Cole, U.S.M.C., Commander of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion during the war.