4 Bar Victory to the 91st

[Gator]

The following is of a scan of a nice framed Victory Medal with a four clasp combination of Ypres-Lys, St. Mihel, Meuse- Argonne and Defense Sector with the following decsription of what I know of the Division.

 

This Victory Medal shows the maximum clasp qualification of the ' 91st Division, American Expeditionary Force.' The ' 91st ' or "Evergreen" division was raised as a "National Army" infantry division. Meaning the majority of it's members were men drafted into the U.S. Army. The division did see a fair share of fighting in Belgium and France.

 

Between 1922 and 1937, the U.S. War Department published a series of 19 General Orders which listed the Great War Campaign and Service credits earned by the various formations of the U. S. Army. Several years ago the late Colonel Albert F. Gleim (U.S. Army Ret.), published a pamphlet that contained the extracts from the 19 Army General Orders and listed the credits for the Great War starting by divisions and ending with Transportation Corps regiments. For those collectors familiar with Colonel Gleim's Planchet Press, the pamphlet is publication # 21.

 

By checking the entire roster of units in the pamphlet it appeared at first that the medal belonged to a fellow who was moved around on special assignments and thus qualified for the four clasps. The closest match to the clasp combination on this medal was the ' 91st Division ' which was given credit for service in the "Ypres-Lys" offensive (29 October to 11 November 1918), after seeing action during the opening phase of the "Meuse-Argonne" offensive (26 September to 7 October 1918). The division also served in the "Aubreville Sector" (19 - 25 September 1918), thus qualifing for the DEFENSIVE SECTOR clasp.

 

Of course the problem here is no noted and/or credited service during the St. Mihiel Offensive (12 - 16 September 1918). A little more digging one can turned up an addendum to the pamphlet. In the addendum it shows that the ' 91st Division ' did qualify for the ST. MIHIEL clasp for their service in the "U.S. 1st Army Reserve" during the offensive. Therefore this four clasp medal is that uniquely awarded to members of the ' 91st Division, A.E.F.'

There are several other combination of clasps that were earned by only one or two divisions of the A.E.F. The ' 3rd ' qualified for the most "battle clasps" of any A.E.F. division, those being; AISNE, CHAMPAGNE - MARNE, AISNE - MARNE, ST. MIHIEL, MEUSE - ARGONNE and DEFENSIVE SECTOR.

 

As for indiviual soldiers, it is known that at least one soldier earned nine "battle clasps" on his Victory Medal. Another, a soldier from Wisconsin who earned nearly as many was General William "Billy" Mitchell, U.S. Army Air Service. I beleive his Victory Medal has either seven or eight clasps. His entire "medal group" is on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Ohio.