308th Infantry, 154th Infantry Brigade, 77th Division, WWI

308th Infantry,
154th Infantry Brigade,
77th Division 1917-1919


Pvt. Charles Geisenhof, Service No 1710472, KIA October 5, 1918, Company M

White marble military grave stone of Pvt. Geisenhof

Pvt. Geisenhof was wounded and died on October 4 or 5, 1918 of his injuries. The general facts of what happened are not known but a story can be pieced together from facts surrounding his service history.

On June 5, 1917 in Wellsville, New York Charles Geisenhof registers for the First Call-up of the Draft. He listed his address as 135 Early Street in Wellsville, NY. He was born in Harrison Valley, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1890. On June 5 he was working for the Wellsville Upholstery Company. He was single and 27-years old at the time. Charles was a medium built man with blue eyes and brown hair.

On February 27, 1918 Geisenhof was inducted into the Army at Belmont, New York. His service Number was 1710472 and he was assigned to Company M of the 308th Infantry, 154th Infantry Brigade, 77th Division.

On April 7, 1918 the 308th Infantry was aboard the SS Justica then loading at New York Harbor. Pvt. Geisenhof is listed on the passenger manifest as “Geisenhof, Charles 1710472 Pvt. Co. M, 308th Inf.” His person to contact in case of an emergency was “Mother: Elizabeth Geisenhof of 135 Early Street, Wellsville, NY”

At the beginning of October 2, 1918, the 308th Infantry was in Action with the 77th Division in the Argonne Forrest as part of the American 1st Army. The 77th Division was one of the three Divisions that made up the I Corps, 77th Division on the left, 28th Division in the middle and the 35th Division on the right of the line. About October 2, the 77th Division was in the area of Bois de la Buironne and Moulin de Charlevaux within the Argonne Forrest, between the Asine River on the left and the Aire River on the right.

This is the same general area that the famous Lost Battalion was surrounded in and in fact the Lost Battalion was partly made up of units of the 308th Infantry. The units considered part of the Lost Battalion in October 2-8, 1918 were:

Companies A, B, C of the 1st Battalion of the 308th Infantry
Companies E, G, H of the 2nd Battalion, 308th Infantry
Company K of the 3rd Battalion 307th Infantry
Companies C & D of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion

All of these companies were part of the 154th Infantry Brigade of the 77th Division and numbered about 545 men in size. Major Whittlesey was senior officer of this ad hock group and assumed command of the Lost Battalion. Company M of the 308th Infantry was not part of the group of the “Lost Battalion” that were surrounded for six days.

It is fair to say that Pvt. Geisenhof would have been in this same general area in the days before his death on October 4, 1918. Exactly what Company M would have been doing during the time frame of October 1-5, is not known, but it seems that they were not part of the assault troops then engaged on the line between October 2-8. They may have been held at Battalion Headquarters in reserve or had just come off the line and were regrouping.

Pvt. Geisenhof is listed in at least two newspapers on December 4, 1918 in the Casualties section of the papers, listed under the section “Died of Wounds” The two newspapers were the The Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY) and the Washington Post (Washington, DC). And his name appears in the book “Soldiers of the Great War – New York”. His name appears in the lists of the men who died of wounds.

So, it seems fair that Pvt. Geisenhof was on the line in the time frame of October 1-4 and was wounded severely in action and died as a result of his wounds either hours later or as much as a day or so.

Also, the exact date of death seems to have two dates, October 4 and October 5. Possibly he was wounded on October 4 and died on October 5. But that is a guess. On the Official Application for Headstones which was a War Department document, it lists his day of Death as October 5. So, being his grave stone was ordered from the information on this form I’m sure the day on his stone is October 5. A second source confirms October 5, 1918 as his date of death and this comes from the New York Abstracts of World War One Military Service cards, which would be a State official document. On the Application for Headstone record there is also a handwritten note “KIA Card 10-4-18” So I’m sure this is where the confusion over the exact day comes from. This is written just above the typed date of “Oct. 5, 1918”

Pvt. Geisenhof when wounded would have been taken to an aid station and likely pronounced dead there. At the time burial details would have taken his body and his personal effects would have been cataloged and collected and placed into a small bag marked with the soldier’s name and service number.

His body would have been buried in a temporary grave near where the aid station was and then after the war they would have consolidated these graves to a more controlled location. When the American Cemeteries were created in France after the war many of the temporary graves were relocated to the new American Cemeteries and many more bodies were removed for transportation home.

Pvt. Geisenhof’s body was removed for transportation home in June of 1921 and on June 19, 1921 in the city of Antwerp, Belgium his flag covered casket was loaded aboard the USAT Wheaton. The Wheaton arrived in Hoboken New Jersey on July 2, 1921 and many flag-covered caskets were off loaded. Pvt. Geisenhof’s casket was taken to the Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellsville, NY and his body rest there in peace, likely still in the uniform he died in.

On October 25, 1933 a white marble military stone was delivered from Proctor, Vermont to the Morrison Hayes American Legion Post #702 in Wellsville, NY and was then place upon his grave thereby marking permanently the spot where an American Hero rests.


This Page is owned by Joe Hartwell, ©2018-2019. Page created on December 5, 2018 and last Updated December 5, 2018

If you have research comments or additional information on this page e-mail them to: Joe Hartwell

[ Return to the Site Map ] [ Return to the Ships Histories Page ] [ Return to the Coast Artillery Corps History Page ]