| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division |
| Title: | United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division Records |
| Dates: | 1917-1924 |
| Extent: | 2.50 linear feet (5 containers) |
| Abstract: | The 37th Division, American Expeditionary Force, was a World War I army unit composed primarily of National Guard troops from Ohio. It saw action in the Baccarat, Pannes and Marbache sectors of France, and participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, France, and the Ypres-Lys offensive, Belgium. The collection consists of intelligence reports, maps, journals of operations, movement orders, tables of organization, training memoranda, aeronautical reports, plans of offense and defense, bulletins, field orders, and other papers pertaining to the command of the 37th Division under Maj. Gen. Charles S. Farnsworth, 1917-1918, and to its military actions in France and Belgium. Includes correspondence and affidavits (1923) of Maj. Edward P. Lawler, regarding the efforts of the division in capturing the village of Montfaucon, France; and histories of other Army divisions which saw action in Europe. |
| MS Number | MS 1870 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English, German and French |
The Thirty-Seventh Division, American Expeditionary Force was organized at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama, of National Guard troops from the State of Ohio in August of 1917 under the command of Major General Charles G. Treat. Major General Charles S. Farnsworth took command of the Division on May 8, 1918. On May 22, 1918, the Division moved to Camp Lee, Virginia. Here it completed its quota of officers and men. It then embarked for Europe, leaving New Jersey on June 15 and arriving in France on June 22. Six weeks were spent in Bourmont, France, where the Division received its final training. It moved into the Vosges Mountains, where it relieved the 77th American Division in the Baccarat Sector on August 4, remaining in the sector until September 16.
During the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, the Division was deployed in the woods between Ricicourt and Avocourt. On September 26, it pushed its way through the thick underbrush of the Bois de Montfaucon, capturing the town of Ivoiry and the west half of Montfaucon. On October 1 the Division was relieved and sent to the Pannes Sector, where it occupied the trenches until October 16.
The Division then moved into Belgium. On October 31 it broke the German position along the Courtrai-Ghent railroad and forced the enemy back to the Cruyshautem ridge. On November 1, it took this position and drove the Germans to the east bank of the Escaut River. On November 2, small parties of infantry swam the river under fire and improvised a foot bridge which allowed troops to move to the opposite bank. The infantry then rolled the enemy's line back for a considerable distance, and the Division's engineers constructed two bridges across the river.
On November 5, the Division was relieved by French troops. After three days rest, it moved 14 kilometers south of Ghent, on the west bank of the Escaut River at Syngem. Immediately across the river the Germans were entrenched on the Dickelvenne-Laethem-Saint Marie Heights. On the morning of the 10th, a battalion of infantry crossed the river and attacked the Heights. Sharp fighting delayed the construction of bridges east of Syngem, until three o'clock in the afternoon, when American troops pushed forward and broke the German resistance on the Heights. At the time of the Armistice, November 11, the 37th Division had advanced as far east as the villages of Dickels, Zwartenbroek, Keerkem, and Hundlegem.
The 37th Division captured a total of 1502 German prisoners, 29 field pieces, and hundreds of machine guns and special weapons while serving in two defensive zones and three offensive sectors extending from the Vosges Mountains to the North Sea. It lost 704 killed and 4021 wounded. The Division left France in March 1919, and was demobilized between April 5th and May 16th.
The United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division Records, 1917-1924 and undated, consist primarily of reports, field orders, memoranda, plans, maps, lists, correspondence, bulletins, newspaper clippings, documents, telegrams, notes, war diaries, journals of operations, and narratives.
This collection relates primarily to the division's training in Camp Sheridan, Alabama, and Camp Lee, Virginia, and to its service in World War I, particularly to its training in Bourmont, France, and its participation in the Baccarat Sector, on the North and East offensives, the Meuse-Argone Battle, the Pannes Sector, and the Escaut River. During this period the division was under the command of Major General Charles S. Farnsworth. A portion of the collection relates to the post-war controversy between the 37th Division and the 79th Division over credit for the capture of the town of Montfaucon. This segment includes correspondence with Congressmen John Speaks, William Morgan, James Begg, and John McSweeny as well as lstters by General Farnsworth.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 4484 United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division Records, Series II; and MS 5260 United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division Records, Series III.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 1870 United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, 37th Division Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Otto Miller between 1920-1924.
Processed by Peter Didenko in 1978.
Series I: Historical Sketches 1918-1921 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Historical sketches of the 37th and other American divisions and personal narratives (arranged by division) 1919-1921 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Historical data, including reports and other documents used in compiling histories of the 37th Division 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Historical data, including French and German documents, notes, and other miscellaneous documents used in compiling histories of the 37th Division 1918 undated | |||||||||
Series II: Journals of Operation 1918 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Journal of Operations July 19-September 15, 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Journal of Operations September 15-29, 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Journal of Operations September 30-October 3, 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Journal of Operations October 4-31, 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Journal of Operations November 6-13, 1918 | |||||||||
Series III: War Diaries 1918-1919 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 9 | War Diaries in three volumes May-August 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | War Diaries in four volumes August 1918-January 1919 | |||||||||
Series IV: Battles and Actions 1917-1924 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Camp Sheridan, Alabama, files consisting of reports, orders, memoranda, a map of Camp Sheridan, lists, and miscellaneous material 1917-1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Camp Lee, Virginia files, including orders, memoranda, umpire sheets, problem sheets, training schedules, and telegrams 1917-1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Bourmont, France training files, including memoranda and lists 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Baccarat Sector files, including reports, orders, memoranda, plans, a map, and bulletins 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | North and East Offensive files, including reports, orders, plans, and miscellaneous 1918 1924 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Meuse-Argonne Offensive files, including reports 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Meuse-Argonne Offensive files, including orders 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Meuse-Argonne Offensive files, including memoranda, plans, lists, telegrams, and miscellaneous 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Pannes Sector files, including reports, orders, memoranda, plans, and lists 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Escaut River files, including reports 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Escaut River files, including orders 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Escaut River files, including orders 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Escaut River files, including memoranda 1918 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Escaut River files, including memoranda 1918 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Escaut River files, including plans, seven maps, lists, telegrams, and miscellaneous materials 1918 undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Montfaucon controversy files, including two maps, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous material 1919-1923 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | General Files, including reports, orders, German orders, memoranda, lists, and correspondence 1918-1923 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | General Files, including bulletins 1918 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | General Files, including bulletins and miscellaneous material 1918-1920 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | General Files, including French battlefield documents and German battlefield documents 1918 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | General Files, tables of organization for the 37th Division undated | |||||||||
Series V: Maps undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Map index undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Maps relating the Journals of Operation undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Maps related to training in Bourmont, France undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Maps related to the Baccarat Campaign undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Maps related to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Maps related to the Montfaucon Campaign undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Maps related to the Escaut River Campaign undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Maps related to the Thielt Campaign undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Miscellaneous Maps of France undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Miscellaneous maps of Belgium undated | |||||||||