Lost Battalion’s pigeon legend outpaces the historical record

The story of Cher Ami, the pigeon that supposedly saved the Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest, is one of World War I's best-known legends, but the record behind it is murkier than the myth.

Snapshot

In October 1918, Maj. Charles Whittlesey's composite force from the 77th Division was trapped and under friendly artillery fire in France's Argonne Forest. A pigeon message asking commanders to stop the barrage became legendary, though according to the Smithsonian, records cannot confirm Cher Ami was the bird that carried it, or that the shelling was still underway when it was sent.

Key points

• The trap: Whittlesey's men advanced faster than neighboring units during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, letting German troops cut them off in a position known as the Pocket.
• Friendly fire crisis: American artillery, meant to support the surrounded troops, struck them instead due to a map coordinate error, prompting Whittlesey to send a pigeon demanding the shelling stop.
• Uncertain hero: The Smithsonian's historical review says military records cannot conclusively identify Cher Ami as the messenger, and indicates the barrage had already ended before the pigeon departed.
• Costly rescue effort: 1st Lt. Harold Goettler and 2nd Lt. Erwin Bleckley died flying a supply and reconnaissance mission on Oct. 6 and later received the Medal of Honor.
• The toll: Relief arrived Oct. 7 after German forces withdrew; according to a 2008 Army account, only 194 soldiers walked out, with the rest wounded, sick, missing, captured or dead.

Quick take

The pigeon message endures as a symbol of the Lost Battalion's ordeal, but Military.com's reporting shows the popular version has outrun what the historical record can actually confirm. The siege, the friendly fire, and the losses in the Pocket were real regardless of which bird got the message through.

Read the full story: military.com