A significant number of Civil War veterans lived to see their sons, grandsons and others in their extended families grow to maturity.
In 1917 and 1918, many of these former Blue and Gray soldiers watched their young men march off to participate in a global conflict involving large European militaries locked in a dreadful war of attrition. These American soldiers, 4.7 million strong, were dubbed doughboys, a reference to their status as new recruits with no practical military experience. Many encountered their first sting of battle against the Imperial German Army in the trenches of France. The Great War battles at Cantigny, Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood and St. Mihiel on the Western Front became, for many, their Shiloh, Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Petersburg. When the final casualty list of World War I was tallied, more than 116,000 doughboys had perished—a staggering number, though a fraction of the three-quarters of a million soldiers who died in the Civil War.
Black and white photographs and grainy film footage of the conflict illustrate the horror and brutality of armed conflict. The portraits featured here, far away from the lines of battle, reflect a fraternal and patriotic bond that doughboys shared with their Civil War counterparts, Billy Yank and Johnny Reb.
Loyalty to a Commander
There can be no doubt that the astute Gen. John J. Pershing observed the Medal of Honor worn by the veteran with whom he exchanged a handshake in this candid press photograph. But it is not known if the general ever learned how the old soldier, Le Roy Williams, received it. Williams, a sergeant in the 8th New York Heavy Artillery, survived a murderous charge that decimated his regiment at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. Among those killed was his colonel, Peter A. Porter, who reportedly fell beneath the enemy’s guns. When volunteers were called to retrieve the body of their commander, Williams stepped forward. He led a detail of four men and brought back Porter’s remains under heavy fire. Williams was awarded the Medal in 1898, and died at age 85 in 1930.
