A. L. Sheicheprey Post 2

Bristol Connecticut's American Legion Seicheprey Post 2 takes its name from a World War I battle which took place near the French Village of Seicheprey, France, April 20 and 21, 1918.

During the early morning hours, a massive assault by crack German Army Storm troopers was launched against elements of the 26th "Yankee" Division. Most of the division was composed of green New England National Guardsmen who had little combat experience and had been on the front lines for only a short period of time.

American losses at Seicheprey were very heavy. Eighty-one Doughboys were killed, four hundred and one were wounded, and one hundred and eighty-seven were captured or missing. One of the companies which took the blunt of the German attack was Bristol's own Company "D" of the 102d Infantry. In this one brief battle, eight Bristol Soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. This was the greatest loss of life in any single military action in the history of the town.

We forever honor the memory of these gallant sons of Bristol.

            Thimothy J. Driscoll          Eric G. Hedquist          Theon B. Davis
            Damase J. LaFlamme         William   Lagasse          William J. Schaefer
            Elmer G. Linden                 Joseph V. Pratt
060902

Battle of Seicheprey
These lines of poetry about the battle at Seicheprey were written by an anonymous soldier of the Yankee Division, to which the Connecticut men of the 102d Infantry who fought at Seicheprey belonged. The poem was mailed to The Hartford Courant by two Connecticut soldiers, and was printed by the newspaper just before the division returned to the United States after the war. On the 20th day of April, so the German general said, ''We must teach these Yankees a lesson, or else be beaten instead.'' So for years henceforth in Connecticut, you only need mention that day, And all hearts will thrill to hear it, for that is the date of Seicheprey. For the 102d Doughboys held the line in front of that town, When the German shock troops, 2,000 strong of the Prussian Guard, came down. We were only a pitiful handful, so the German general thought, Untrained militia, national guards, but he knew not how we fought. For all day long the Germans fell, their dead could not be reckoned, Ten to one is the best of odds, when that one is the Hundred and Second. Time and again they took the town, but found it a hard nut to crack, For Major Rau with a handful of men would promptly take it back. Chaplains, doctors, wounded and sick; not one of them lagged behind; Fought with grenades, clubs and fists, or anything they could find. It was then that ''Machine Gun'' Parker added new luster to his name; Working a machine gun for hours, 'til he had it as hot as a flame.

April 21, 1985 New York and Region Text

More on the Battle of Seicheprey:

At the Battle of Seicheprey, the 102nd Infantry met the crack German Guards in overwhelming strength and stopped the German attack cold. At the start of this attack, the Germans sent a raiding party to kill or capture the Regimental Staff as they sat down for supper in the town, two cooks from Company A who were cooking for the staff, spotted the Germans sneaking up to the building, one cook threw boiling water at the raiders thus giving the alarm, and another cook named Edward Shaffer charged the Germans with his meat cleaver killing two of them. The 102nd Infantry Band who was providing security guard, killed or captured the remaining German raiders saving the staff who could coordinate the counter attack, (A painting of this action hangs in the102nd Infantry Museum in the New Haven Armory.) During the counter attack Company A and Headquarters Company 1st Battalion 102nd Infantry were decorated by the French Government for this action.

1918: 3,200 German troops, supported by a heavy concentration of artillery, attack Seicheprey in France, seeking a quick and humiliating defeat on the American troops stationed there. 470 sons of Connecticut, commanded by Major George Rau, stand and defend the town. In two days of hard fighting, the Americans, initially forced to concede the town, win it back and drive the Germans from the surrounding woods. It is America's first engagement, and first victory, in World War I. Liberty Bond sales soar as news of the fight reaches the home front.
Courtesy of Dave Connelly 060917

Letter from a bloody battlefield in France
The following is part of a letter sent home by another Bristol soldier who fought and survived that battle as part of Bristol's Co. D. This soldier was Cpl. Charles Blanchard.
" I know by this time that you have heard of the big fight that we were engaged in with the "Boches" on the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington. I can imagine how you felt when you heard of it but this letter will show you that I am safe and sound and came out without a scratch, although the chances seemed mighty slim at several stages of the game. A piece of shrapnel hit me in the side of my leg and tore a small hole in my pants. But, as it didn't hurt me at all, I saved the piece as a souvenir." "For about two hours and a half the "Boches" bombarded us with high explosives and gas shells. The concussion from the high explosives was so strong in our dugout that it was impossible to keep a candle lighted. We would no sooner touch the wick than concussion would snap it out. Well, after a continuing barrage of shell fire lasting until 5:30 in the morning they raised the barrage and started over on us in mass formation coming in on us from two or three different directions. They had us cornered and we saw at once that it was to be a fight for our lives". "I think there were to of us in the same dugout at the same time. We loaded, cocked and made everything ready to stand them off. It was not long to wait for they saw us and at least 20 proceeded to make corpses of us. We rushed them and fired a volley into their midts, dropping quite a number of them. They then let loose with a machine gun on us and so we took a more sheltered position". "Under the protection of their machine gun two of them made their way into the room next to us and spurted liquid fire. We at once took cover and so only one of us received a burn from it. That was the mess sergeant and his was a slight burn. Although the fire failed to get us, it set fire to the building and all over our supplies and we saw that we must get out or get burned and smothered to death". "We chose to take the chance of rushing them instead of being burned, and so, with our bayonets preceding we made a dash for the outside. They backed off and we got to the outside of the burning building. The bayonet is a great weapon against them as they will drop on their knees and beg, "Kamerad," a good share of the time. I know of one of our lads that had that experience but there is no "Kamerad" with us and so he simply ran the steel through the Hun's neck and finished him."
" Well by this time the town was pretty cleaned out and they had retreated over their own lines carrying a great number of their wounded with them. The rest of the day was hardly more than artillery dueling and so we just "stood to" and waited for them to show again."
An estimated 80 Americans lost their lives in the battle, 10 percent of them from Bristol, while an estimated 400 were wounded. The enemy had larger numbers lost".
/// Bob Montgomery is Bristol's official municipal historian. /// The Bristol Press, Tuesday, April 15, 2008.///

READ ON ......

October 31, 2007
From: Jil Knight Weinberger
Farmington, CT

My name is Jil Knight Weinberger. I'm a Farmington resident who traveled to France in September and stopped in the village of Seicheprey. My husband and I took some photos of the monument, erected in 1923 to commemorate the 102nd Infantry, Yankee Division, of the American Expeditionary Force, who fought in Seicheprey in April, 1918. It is a lovely monument that carries a moving message of commemoration and friendship between America and France. I thought the American Legion Post 2 in Bristol, which carries the name of Seicheprey, might like to see these recent photos. Please let me know if and to whom I should forward the photos. I'd also be very happy to talk with Commander Jay Meisinger and/or any other Post officers. I should perhaps mention that my visit to Seicheprey was no accident. I was in the region attempting to trace the movements of my grandfather during WWI. A Hartford native, he served in the Yankee Division's 101st Machine Gun Battalion. During the battle of Seicheprey, the battalion was mostly held in reserve nearby, although one company suffered some casualties during the worst of it.

Dear Gill and Jay:
Thanks so much for getting back to me. Gill, it's nice of you to interrupt your Florida vacation to do so! I've attached a small selection of Seicheprey pictures that you are more than welcome to post onto the Legion website. All were taken by my husband, Bill Weinberger, on September 16, 2007. I wish we had taken more, but we made only a brief stop in Seicheprey that morning. It's a tiny rural village, a farming community, very pretty and very quiet on a Sunday morning. We might have just driven right through but the monument in the village churchyard caught our particular attention -- it was not the typical design we had so often seen. When we stopped and realized it was a gift from the state of Connecticut, well, you can just imagine how excited and moved we were to discover this connection to home.

(left)   Entering the town of Seicheprey, province of Lorraine, France.
(right)   Seicheprey's rural setting. In the background is a view of the Butte de Monsec and
the American Memorial commemorating the decisive victory there in September, 1918.

Monument erected in Seicheprey by the State of Connecticut in 1923

Mrs. Jil Knight Weinberger

To the Commune of Seicheprey

To commemorate the service of
the 102nd Infantry 26th Division.

A regiment of the American Army

recruited from citizens of Connecticut

defenders of Seicheprey April 20 1918.

In the firm belief that the friendship

of Frenchmen and Americans sealed

in this place in battle shall serve

the cause of peace among all nations.

This memorial is presented by the

men and women of Connecticut 1923.

Our week in Northern France on the trail of the 101st Machine Gun Battalion in which my grandfather, Nelson Kingsbury, served, took Bill and me to some of the most significant fields of battle and commemoration of the Yankee Division and the AEF, including Chemin des Dames, Belleau Wood, Meuse Argonne, Montfaucon, St. Michele, and others. It was all a wonderful experience. We learned so much and yet realized how much we did not know about this chapter of history.

Best regards, Jil
071102