Wayne County NcArchives History .....William Alexaneder Cross
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WILLIAM ALEXANDER CROSS
March 12, 1874 - June 11, 1925
Life and Military Career
William Alexander Cross was born on March 12, 1874, in Randolph County, North
Carolina. He was 23 years old when he enlisted in the United States Army on April 21, 1897,
in Randolph County. His occupation was listed as a painter at the time of his enlistment. He
was described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair.
His motivations for enlisting are unknown, though perhaps he wanted a better paying profession
or was inspired by the service of his father, William Diffee Cross, who fought in the Civil war. 1
It is also unknown whether he intended to make the Army a life-long career or that developed
after his initial three year enlistment period. He was first assigned to the 2nd Artillery Regiment,
and was stationed at Fort Monroe, Virginia, from April 21, 1897, to March 24, 1898, when he
was promoted to Corporal and reassigned to Fort Adams, Rhode Island. He was promoted to
Sergeant on July 15, 1898.
The Spanish-American War
One year to the day after Cross enlisted, on April 21, 1898, the United States declared
war on Spain after an explosion sank the USS Maine in Havana, Cuba harbor on February 15,
1898. The 2nd U.S. Artillery was one of the few artillery units to see action during the war,
serving in Cuba and being involved in the San Juan Heights events. The unit was also known as
"Grimes' Battery," being commanded by Captain G. S. Grimes.
The unit arrived at Port Tampa, Florida on May 1,1898. On June 6th, the unit and its four
guns were loaded aboard the transport “Berkshire” for the trip to Cuba. The unit had 3 officers,
80 men and 75 horses. Putting to sea on June 13, the transport arrived off Siboney, Cuba on June
20. The unit marched from Siboney to Daiquari and was then ordered to a small hill called "El
Poso," arriving there on June 30, at about 4:00 P.M.
The Battle of San Juan Hill
The Battle of San Juan Hill was made famous by the actions of Theodore “Teddy”
Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders.” Sgt Cross’s 2nd Artillery Battery participated in the battle.
___________________________
1 It is not entirely certain that William Cross was the natural son of William Diffee Cross.
On William A. Cross's marriage certificate in 1903 he lists his parents as deceased, although
William Diffee Cross did not die until 1923. There is a story in the family that he may have
been the illegitimate son of the daughter of the Governor of Virginia in the 1870s. Virginia
Ford relates the story that some years after William A.'s death in 1925, she was contacted by
an attorney in Asheboro (she thinks his name was Nance) who told her that story. There is a
possible corroboration of this story also told by a Mrs. Moore, the childhood friend of Dora Jones
Cross, William's wife, who was overheard by William Cross, Jr.'s wife, Beatrice, telling the story
of a well-to-do young woman coming on the train "from the north" to visit the infant William A.
Cross and bringing him many nice clothes. Was this the natural mother and daughter of the Virginia
Governor? More research is being conducted. The young woman stopped coming after a few years and
William A. continued to live in the home and be raised by William Diffee Cross. The story of his
death in the Asheboro Courier in 1925 refers to him as the adopted brother of Hattie Pendel Cross
Poole, Miles Henderson Cross's wife. Hattie and Miles were children of William Diffee Cross.
At dawn, gun pits were dug. At about 8:00 A.M., orders were received to open fire on the
Spanish blockhouse on San Juan Hill at a range of about 2,600 yards. The Spanish returned fire
using shrapnel. The duel continued on and off until about 2:00 P.M when the American infantry
and cavalry, led by Roosevelt, began the San Juan Heights assault. In the action, the
Americans were at a disadvantage. Their guns, which did not use smokeless powder left a large
cloud of smoke which enabled the Spanish to more easily locate the American guns. The Spanish
used smokeless powder, making their guns more difficult to locate. In the engagement, the
Battery lost two men killed and four non-commissioned officers and one private wounded.
During the fight, the battery fired about 160 projectiles.
In the evening, at about 7:00 P.M., the battery was ordered to advance, and arrived near
San Juan Hill by about 10:00 P.M. On July 2, the battery was placed in position on the San Juan
Hill ridge line, near the Spanish blockhouse. Spanish small arms fire began about dawn, and the
battery was ordered to return fire, which it did, even though nothing could be seen through the
darkness and mist. After about thirty rounds were fired, orders were issued to withdraw, which
was done under heavy fire. The battery returned to El Poso, where it would remain until July 5.
On July 5, the battery again returned to the front line, and was actively engaged on July
10 and 11. A truce was placed in effect, with the surrender of Santiago occurring on July 17. An
armistice was agreed to, effectively ending the fighting on August 12, though the war would
officially continue until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. The Battery
remained in Cuba until 1899, and was stationed in Havana. William Cross’s personal actions
during the battle are unknown (he left no account), but as a member of the 2nd Artillery
Regiment, he would have been involved in the fighting.
On April 21, 1900, William re-upped for another three years. At the time, he was still in
Havana, Cuba, as part of the Army of Occupation, and remained there for the three years of this
enlistment. On April 21, 1903, he re-enlisted at Castle Morro, Santiago, Cuba, for another three
years. In 1902 he contracted typhoid fever but recovered. At some point thereafter, he was
reassigned to the 102nd Company, Coast Artillery at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, which
apparently gave him the opportunity to visit his home in Randolph County, North Carolina, more
often and meet and court his future wife.
On July 26, 1903, he married my grandmother, Dora Belle Jones, in Greensboro, North
Carolina. Little is known of their relationship and courtship prior to their marriage.
On October 17, 1905, William was promoted to Post Quartermaster Sergeant at Fort
Moultrie. The rank of quartermaster sergeant was not a command position, although he was
required to know the drills and the duties and responsibilities of the line NCOs. He was the
second most senior NCO in the company after the first sergeant.
The Quartermaster's Department provided the means of transportation by land and water
for troops and materials of war for the army. It also provided the means of transportation for
ordnance and ordnance stores issued by the United States and is charged with the duty of
purchasing and transporting the quartermaster's stores and equipage for the military. Upon proper
requisition it also transported the property of other executive departments. It provided wagons,
ambulances, carts, saddles and horse equipments (except for the cavalry), and harness (except for
the artillery).
It also constructed and repaired roads for military purposes and built bridges. Provided
and distributed clothing, tents and equipage, and clothing and equipage to the military. Supplied
tableware and mess furniture, fuel, forage, stationery, blank books, lumber, straw for bedding for
men and animals, and all materials for camps and for shelter of troops and stores, furniture for
barracks, such as bunks, chairs, tables and lockers, heating and cooking stoves, heating and
cooking apparatus for use in public barracks and quarters, equipments of bake houses for post
bakeries, tools for mechanics and laborers in the Quartermaster's Department, lights, water
supply and sewer systems for all military posts and buildings. It hired, purchased and built
barracks, quarters, storehouses and hospitals, provided by hire or purchase grounds for military
encampments and buildings, supplied periodicals and newspapers to post libraries. It made
contracts for horses for cavalry and artillery among various other duties. It was a busy position
for William Cross.
Without Quartermasters, the Army could not exist; for otherwise soldiers would be but a
predatory mob, organized but not supplied; dependent upon chance for its existence, and for its
supplies upon forays, like the forces of the feudal barons of mediaeval times. The supply
departments are the mainstay of any army.
In early 1906, William was reassigned to Fort Logan Roots, Arkansas, as Post
Quartermaster in Company B, 16th Infantry, where he reenlisted for another three years.
While in that position, on June 6, 1906, he welcomed the birth of his first child, daughter Beulah
Colleen Cross. In 1909, while still at Fort Roots, he reenlisted again for another three years.
At some point after July 1910, he was reassigned to the Henry Barracks, Cayey, Puerto Rico, as
Post Quartermaster Sergeant. He brought his wife Dora and his young daughter Colleen with
him to this assignment. His assignment there lasted approximately two years after which he
and his family returned to Fort Logan Roots in Little Rock, Arkansas, where his second
daughter, Virginia Lorraine Cross (my mother), was born on January 6, 1914.
In 1915, he took the position of Regimental Supply Sergeant for the 19th Infantry
Division in Del Rio, Texas, where he reenlisted for a seven year period. While at Del Rio, he
was privileged to witness the passing of the Liberty Bell which was on a cross county railroad
tour.
His family again accompanied him and on March 23, 1916, Dora gave him his first and
only son, William A. Cross, Jr. Shortly thereafter, on May 1, 1916, he was appointed as
Corporal in Company K, 19th Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
On August 1, 1916, he was appointed Sergeant of the Supply Company for the 19th Infantry
Regiment.
World War I
28th Infantry Regiment, First Division, US Army
14 June 1917 - 15 Sep 1918
By the time that the First World War broke out and America declared war on Germany in April
1917, William A. Cross had been a career Army soldier for 20 years, having enlisted in 1897 and
served first in the Spanish American War in 1898, followed by service at Fort Logan Roots,
Little Rock, Arkansas, Puerto Rico and Del Rio, Texas.
The First Expeditionary Division
On 2 May 1917, a month after the American declaration of war, Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing
received word that he was to go to France with four infantry regiments and an artillery regiment.
He "construed this message to mean that these troops were to form a division," and on 16 June
1917 the "First Expeditionary Division," made up of the 16th, 18th, 26th, and 28th Infantry
Regiments, which had recently seen field service under Pershing's command on the Mexican
border, sailed for France.
At the time of this mobilization, William A. Cross was a First Sergeant serving in the 19th
Infantry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. On May 21, 2017, Cross was promoted by Act
of Congress to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to the 28th Infantry Brigade, First
Army Division, under General John J. Pershing. On June 14, 1917, the First Division set sail
for France, arriving at St. Nazaire, France on June 18, 1917.
After arriving at St. Nazaire they were scattered for instruction from French officers and
gradually moved into reserve behind quiet sectors. They went through the initial experience of
American troops abroad at a time when conditions were literally at their worst. With new
equipment and not much of that, they mastered new methods of warfare widely at variance with
their own way of fighting. It was against the grain all the way and at times incomprehensible, but
they mastered it.
On 14 July 1917, while Pershing began organizing American Expeditionary Forces
(AEF) headquarters, 1st Division headquarters was set up at Gondrecourt, northwest of
Neufchateau, with Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert in command. By early September the
engineer, signal, and medical components of the division had arrived, the artillery under Brig.
Gen. Charles P. Summerall had left for the training area at La Valdahon, and the formal training
of the division began.
The 1st Division was the only one in the AEF to have sufficient time to undergo the
entire course of training in France prescribed by the war plans. This plan allowed one month
for acclimatization and instruction under French tutelage in the battalions and lower units. The
second month was spent learning trench warfare tactics, with French battalions in a quiet sectors.
During the last month, back of the line, the combined division trained in the tactics of open
warfare. The division was then considered ready to take over a sector on the fighting front.
As it began training in the practice trenches at Gondreourt, the division was issued both
the French M-2 gas mask and the British small box respirator (SBR). With them the troops
received their first training in gas warfare as "gas alarms with imitation gas clouds were used to
give skill in putting on and wearing the gas mask." Special attention was given to perfecting
the men in adjusting the mask within six seconds of the alarm and to impressing on them the
necessity of strict gas disciplines And they were told repeatedly that when the gas alarm sounded
there remained only "the quick and the dead.”
Adequate as the gas training may have appeared at the time, it could not be foreseen in
the closing months of 1917 how important gas would be in the operations to come. It seems
probable that it may have been like the training with the machine gun, which was also considered
essential but "had not assumed the importance that it developed in the last year of the war."
Ready for experience under actual trench conditions, on 14 October the division was
consolidated and ordered to the quiet Sommervillier sector, between Luneville and Nancy, in
Lorraine. Lt. Cross had charge of feeding the men in his company and made it a point to
feed them well. He was promoted to 1st Lt on September 17, 1917.
On the night of 21 October, a battalion from each regiment and designated batteries of the
division moved in beside corresponding units of the 18th French Division and began training in
caring for themselves in the trenches, in patrolling, observation, and artillery procedures. The
battalions and batteries were rotated at ten-day intervals until all had been at the front.
Under a continuous downpour of the rain that France is famous for, the unit went into the
trenches as winter began to grip the ground. Still under French command, they took over part
of a sector southeast of Nancy, and all the personal and general agonies of the war in its most
loathsome forms descended on them en masse. It was here on October 23, 1917, that the first
shot from an American division was fired. Battery C of the Sixth Field Artillery let go the
shell.
The 1st Division was relieved on the night of 20 November and returned to Gondrecourt,
having lost 36 men killed, 36 wounded, and 11 captured. Back at Gondrecourt, the division
was stripped of large numbers of its officers, NCOs, and men to fill out General Headquarters’
staffs and furnish training cadres, and refilled from replacement units coming from the states.
After hasty training of the replacements, the division began its large-scale maneuvers, during
which frequent "gas alarms and clouds of low-lying smoke to imitate gas would compel
everyone to put on the gas mask as though his life depended upon it." The 1st Division was
ready to go into the line on its own.
Between January 15 and April 3, 1918, the First took over part of an independent sector
near St. Mihiel, relieving Morrocan troops and co-operating with the French Sixty-ninth division.
This position was likened by Major Frederick Palmer as sitting at the foot of a staircase while an
enemy hurled rocks down from behind a curtain. The First was sent across the plains of
Picardy beginning April 4, turning over its sector to the Yankee division. On April 18, the
First was in Beauvais, after a 300-mile march over ground and through conditions that were
considered hopeless.
The Battle of Cantigny
The American Expeditionary Force fought its first World War I offensive at the tiny
hamlet of Cantigny, France, a canton of Montdidier, located six kilometers to its east. In the
spring of 1918, the population of Cantigny sat at approximately 100 people. Between them
they ran a small number of businesses like a café and a grocery store and bakery. But it was
mostly an agricultural village as were so many of the small villages in France at that time. For
those who lived there, its geographical location was excellent. By road, it was 72 miles
almost due north of Paris. It was just 20 miles northwest to Amiens, 84 miles east by southeast to
Reims, and about 65 miles from the English Channel.
When the Germans invaded through Belgium into France in August, 1914, Cantigny fell
on the last day of the month, August 31st, left behind by the French Sixth Army as it and the rest
of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force retreated in the face of overwhelming
German military might. The Germans were too busy chasing their adversaries to bother with any
real occupation. They pushed forward leaving Cantigny behind and raced south toward the
Marne and toward Paris. But then there was the Battle of the Marne which started on
September 6, 1914, and as quickly as they had come through the Germans left. And so within the
space of a few weeks, Cantigny found itself rid of Germans and back in friendly hands.
Over the next few months there was the race to the sea to the north and east of Cantigny.
And then when that ended, both sides gradually clawed deep trenches into the once fertile soil of
Belgium and northern France from one end to the other of the Western Front more or less locking it
in place for the next three and a half to four years. There would be some movement at various
points across the Western Front, but generally speaking Cantigny would remain nervously safe about
20 kilometers from the front lines from mid-September 1914 to February 1917 when the Germans did
the unthinkable and unilaterally withdrew as much as 35 miles in places, most notably away from the
area right in front of Cantigny. This movement was logical as the part of the front facing Cantigny
had been a “salient” (a piece of land that juted out to form an angle) into the Allied lines.
By withdrawing, the Germans were able to get rid of the bulge and shorten their own lines and make
better use of their thinning manpower. But they utilized nasty scorched earth tactics destroying
villages, poisoning wells, tearing up roads, and cutting down forests leaving behind a brutalized land.
But then on March 21, 1918, while Lt. Cross was stationed in the tiny hamlet of
Seicheprey, France, to the south just to the east of St. Miheil, the Germans unleashed Operation
Michael and punched forward again. They did so brilliantly shattering much of the opposition
in their path. It wasn't just the normal penetration that could be measured in hundreds of yards
or even one or two miles, but a thoroughly deep strike using four armies and new storm trooper
tactics across a broad front approximately 40 miles long from Arras south to near Laon.
On the receiving end was the British Fifth Army. Over the next 15 days through April
5th, the German Seventeenth, Second, Eighteenth and Seventh Armies created another salient 25
miles deep that echoed the one they had created in 1914. And at the tip of the new salient was
the little once sleepy village of Cantigny.
The Germans liked being there. Cantigny sat on a plateau a few hundred meters above
much of the land around it giving the Germans a commanding view of the Allied lines. Other
than that, the terrain around Cantigny was like much of the rest of France: expansive gently
rolling and sometimes flat farmers' fields punctuated by the occasional small but thick forest.
The Americans had slowly been gathering strength as ship after ship transported army
and air service units from American ports to British and French ones. Both the British and the
French had made no pretense about wanting the fresh Americans be used as penny packet
replacements for their own units. It didn't matter what they said: John J. Pershing resisted,
promising that he would only use the American Expeditionary Force as a unified one under his
command. Now with the Germans threatening Paris once again, he relented. The new US 1st
Infantry Division, whose nickname was the "Big Red 1" in honor of the unit's shoulder patches,
was inserted by itself into the lines of the French First Army right in front of Cantigny.
On May 23, 1918, Lt Cross, who was the 3rd Battalion Supply Officer, 28th Infantry,
and in charge of feeding the troops in his company, was ordered to move his supply train
from Quiry Le Sec, just west of Cantigny, to Maisoncelle, several miles north of Cantigny,
which apparently was a staging area for an assault on Cantigny. He was to make
arrangements to have a hot meal for the troops upon their arrival in Maisoncelle on the
early morning of May 24, 1918. (Field Order No. 1, 22 May 1918).
By World War I, the Army had made noticeable progress in the practice of feeding
troops. Three specific types of rations were introduced at this time: the reserve ration, trench
ration, and emergency ration. The specialization of different ration types proved to be an
important innovation in the process of developing an effective ration system. (National
Museum of the United States Army, https://armyhistory.org/feeding-a-hungry-army/). Lt
Cross was known for making it a point to feed his troops well.
The objective of the attack at Cantigny was both to reduce a small salient made by the
German Army in the front lines but also to instill confidence among the French and British allies
in the ability of the inexperienced American Expeditionary Force (AEF).
The Battle of Cantigny would be led by the six-foot-two, 220-pound former West Point
football player Colonel Hanson Ely, a man as physically imposing as he was militarily efficient.
He would have the 28th Infantry Regiment at his command.
Though he trained his men well and prepared to make up for a lack of numerical
superiority with surprise, speed, and massive firepower (including tanks), the Battle of Cantigny
started badly. On the night of 24–25 May 1918, one of his lieutenants of engineers, carrying
maps of the American positions, lost his way in no-man’s-land and was captured (and, unknown
to Ely, killed) by the Germans. On 27 May, the day before Ely’s planned assault, German
General Ludendorff’s third great offensive, Operation Blücher-Yorck, came crashing toward
the Marne with an apparent objective of Paris, though the actual plan was to draw French armies
to the frightened defense of their own capital, and away from the British. As a diversion from
that giant feint, the Germans raided the Americans in front of Cantigny.
The Americans repelled the raids against them and went ahead with their own assault.
American-manned artillery pieces under the command of General Charles P. Summerall opened
up before dawn, and at 6:40 a.m. on 28 May, Ely’s units rolled forward led by French tanks.
Flame-throwing Americans burnt the Germans out of their defensive positions, and the Battle of
Cantigny ended quickly and with relative ease. Then the doughboys braced themselves for the
inevitable counterattack.
At 06:45 a.m. [H Hour], 28 May 1918, American soldiers of the 28th Infantry Regiment
left their jump-off trenches following an hour-long artillery preparation. Part of the preparation
was counter-battery fire directed at German artillery positions. A rolling barrage, advancing 100
meters every two minutes, was calculated to give the attacking troops time to keep up with it.
Because the Americans did not have them in sufficient quantity, the French provided air
cover, 368 heavy artillery pieces, trench mortars, tanks, and flamethrowers. The French
Schneider tanks were from the French 5th Tank Battalion. Their primary purpose was to
eliminate German machine gun positions. With this massive support, and advancing on schedule
behind the creeping artillery barrage, the 28th Infantry took the village in 30 minutes. It then
continued on to its final objective roughly a half kilometer beyond the village.
The 28th Infantry Regiment, plus two companies of the 18th Infantry, three machine-gun
companies and a company of engineers (3,564 men), captured Cantigny from units of the
German Eighteenth Army. The village was situated on high ground surrounded by woods,
making it an ideal observation post for German artillery.
The first German counterattack, a small attack at 08:30 against the extreme right of the
new American position, was easily repulsed, but German artillery bombarded the 28th Infantry
for most of the day.
At 5:10 p.m. the first large-scale counterattack took place, and a company of the 1st
Battalion of the 26th Infantry commanded by Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was used to
reinforce a weak spot in the American line. The main German counterattack started with a
heavy German bombardment, against which the Americans had little defense because they had
scant artillery of their own. The French artillery that was to support them had to be rushed away
to meet the new threat on the Marne. By evening, the combination of German shells and machine
gun fire had made Ely’s position tenuous. But the Americans held nevertheless. They might
have been battered to pieces, but they refused to give ground to the German infantry. For three
days Ely and his men held on against earth- (not to mention nerve-) shattering bombardment and
counterattacks, before it was deemed safe to send in a relief column and pull the 28th Regiment
out.
The Americans reduced the salient and expanded their front by approximately a mile. A
minor success, the significance of Cantigny was overshadowed by the battle underway along the
Aisne. The U.S. forces held their position with the loss of 1,603 casualties including 199 killed
in action; they captured 250 German prisoners, but in doing so had demonstrated to the
Germans—and to the French—that the Americans were no callow soldiers, but aggressive in
attack and stubborn in defense. (https://www.historyonthenet.com/battle-of-cantigny)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Battle_of_Cantigny). Cantigny was the victory that thrilled
the world - the first battle planned, conducted, and completed by American troops abroad.
Lt. Cross described the Battle of Cantigny as follows:
"We went into "scrap" on the 28th day of May at Cantigny, where my regiment
was detailed to take that town. We began shelling the town at three a.m. and by
daylight there was an awful sight of smoke, shell and splinters. Before this
attack we rehearsed day after day the part each soldier was to take in the attack
and with the result that we got sweet revenge for some of the mean things the
Germans had been doing to us. Our regiment then began operations around
Chateau-Thierry where we captured a colonel and 700 men and got all the
machine guns and field artillery in the vicinity. After being over there for some
time and under fire, a soldier knows whether a shell is going over or is apt to
fall in his vicinity, and soon learns whether to run for shelter or ignore the
sound. By lying flat it is not so dangerous even though a shell falls near."
[SOURCE: Asheboro Courier, 9/19/1918]
Lt. Cross was wounded at Cantigny, knocked down by a shell, but only slightly wounded
under the chin, and was all right in a short while. Nonetheless, he was taken to the American
Red Cross Hospital at Beauvais, France for treatment.
On May 31, 1918, he was ordered “to proceed to the town of Creil on June 1st by train
and on arrival report to Major Kilpatrick,” Regulating Officer. (Order, May 31, 1918). Upon
arrival in Creil, he was ordered to “proceed by first available transportation to La Rue St. Pierre,
reporting upon arrival to the Rail-Head Officer for transmission to his proper unit.” (Special
Order No. 110, 6/1/1918).
Battle of Soissons
The largest American offensive action to this date in the First World War took place on
July 18, 1918. For the first time, two U.S. divisions attacked side by side: the 1st and 2nd
Divisions at the Battle of Soissons. The Americans hit the Germans hard. French and American
divisions beat back German attacks along the Marne River on July 15. Generalissimo Ferdinand
Foch’s counterstroke followed three days later. The French 10th Army spearheaded the assault
with four infantry corps, including XX Corps under General Pierre Berdoulat led by two
American divisions, plus the crack 1st Moroccan Division. Their mission: to attack eastward
against the German Marne salient and capture high ground south of Soissons. The attackers
would have support from 156 tanks and hundreds of French aircraft, along with heavy artillery.
The night of July 17-18 was one to remember. Violent thunderstorms pelted the Allies as
they hurried into formation. The attack went in at 4:35 AM behind an artillery barrage, with the
1st Division, 1st Moroccan, and 2nd Division in line from left to right.
The First Division Commander General Charles Summerall’s men jumped off right on schedule
with all four of its regiments, including Lt. Cross in the 28th. His job was to keep the men
supplied with rations. The men were poorly coordinated and units quickly became mixed.
Nevertheless, pounding ahead despite severe casualties, the 1st Division Doughboys shattered
the German 11th Bavarian Division, capturing a ravine where they trapped several hundred
enemy soldiers in a cave.
General James Harbord, Second Division Commander, unsubtle as he had been at Belleau Wood,
simply ordered his 2nd Division to assault frontally and advance as quickly as possible.
Although tanks supported them, he made little effort to provide machine gun or other combined
arms support. Soldiers of the 9th Regiment, U.S. Army, and 5th Marines assaulted side by side.
The Battle of Soissons continued for several days. Exhausted by Belleau Wood, the 2nd
Division tired quickly and had to be pulled out of the line. Lt Cross’ unit , the Big Red One
(1st Division), however, continued despite heavy casualties. Among the 1st Division
officers who distinguished themselves was Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., (President Teddy
Roosevelt’s son) of the 26th Regiment, who was wounded in action. Ultimately, the
Americans and French colonial troops captured their objectives, dealing a severe blow to
German hopes on the Western Front.
On Ju1y 20, 1918, after days of incessant advancing, six German divisions faced the
First, which had outrun its neighboring units. Then and there were the first American shock
troops
created - for the First withstood and hurled back the united and separate attacks of the half dozen
enemy divisions. The First Division took Berzy-le-Sec, and overran the Soissons
Chateau-Thierry highway, capturing 4,000 men and vast stores of munitions.
During the Soissons offensive from July 18 - 22, 1918, Lt. Cross was cited for
Distinguished Conduct “as Battalion Supply Officer, [he] displayed entire disregard of danger
in the delivery of rations through a heavy barrage to the front line troops.” (General Order
No. 57, 9/18/1918).
Battle of St. Mihiel
In August the First Division rested to assimilate about 8,000 replacements. Then came
the Battle of St. Mihiel. The Saint-Mihiel offensive began on 12 September with a threefold
assault on the salient. The main attack was made against the south face by two American
corps. On the right was the I Corps (from right to left the 82nd, 90th, 5th, and 2nd Divisions
in line with the 78th in reserve) covering a front from Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle west
toward Limey; on the left, the IV Corps (from right to left the 89th, 42d, and 1st Divisions in line
with the 3rd in reserve) extending along a front from Limey west toward Marvoisin. A secondary
thrust was carried out against the west face along the heights of the Meuse, from Mouilly north
to Haudimont, by the V Corps (from right to left the 26th Division, the French 15th Colonial
Division, and the 8th Brigade, 4th Division in line with the rest of the 4th in reserve). A
holding attack against the apex, to keep the enemy in the salient, was made by the French II
Colonial Corps (from right to left the French 39th Colonial Division, the French 26th Division,
and the French 2d Cavalry Division in line). In First Army reserve were the American 35th, 80th,
and 91st Divisions.
The American V Corps location was at the northwestern vertices, the II French Colonial
Corps at the southern apex, and the American IV and I Corps at the southeastern vertices of the
salient. Furthermore, General Pershing's intent was obvious; to envelope the salient by using the
main enveloping thrusts of the attack against the weak vertices. The remaining forces would
then advance on a broad front toward Metz. This pincer action, by the IV and V Corps, was to
drive the attack into the salient and to link the friendly forces at the French village of Vigneulles,
while the II French Colonial Corps kept the remaining Germans tied down.
The Allies mobilized 1,481 aircraft to provide air superiority and close air support over
the front. About 40% were American-flown in American units, the remainder were British,
French, and Italian. Nine bomber squadrons of the British RAF, although provided for the
battle, were not under Pershing's operational control.
Defending the salient was German "Army Detachment C", consisting of eight divisions
and a brigade in the line and about two divisions in reserve. Now desperately short of
manpower, they had begun a step-by-step withdrawal from the salient only the day before the
offensive began.
Pershing's plan had tanks supporting the advancing infantry, with two tank companies
interspersed into a depth of at least three lines, and a third tank company in reserve. The result of
the detailed planning was an almost unopposed assault into the salient. The American I Corps
reached its first day's objective before noon, and the second day's objective by late afternoon of
the second. The attack went so well on 12 September that Pershing ordered a speedup in the
offensive. By the morning of 13 September, the 1st Division (with Lt. Cross), advancing
from the east, joined up with the 26th Division, moving in from the west, and before evening all
objectives in the salient had been captured. At this point, Pershing halted further advances so
that American units could be withdrawn for the coming Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Almost
9,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the battle.
Lt Cross was at St. Michiel fighting when he received orders to return home to the
United States. He returned to the US on September 15, 1918. On October 1, 1918, he
was promoted to Captain (effective July 30, 1918) and assigned to the Army Salvage
Division in Washington, D.C. [SOURCE: Asheboro Courier, 9/19/1918]. Although there
is no mention in the records, his promotion to Captain may have come as a result of his
distinguished conduct during the Soissons action in July 2018. In his 15 months of
service in WWI William Cross participated in several of the most important battles and
victories of the American troops in Europe. A service he and his descendants can justly
be proud of.
Upon his return to the States in late 1918, Captain Cross was assigned for several months
to the Army Salvage Division in Washington, DC. He and the family lived at 1648 Irving
Street, NW (2 May 1919 Drivers License). In late 1919, Cross was assigned to the Army
Recruiting Station in Los Angeles. In 1920, he was stationed as a Recruiting Sergeant in
Tucson, Arizona and living in Marlo Park with wife Dora and his three children, Beulah,
Virginia and William, Jr. [SOURCE: 1920 Census].
William was an active member of The Masons, first joining the Big Rock Lodge No. 633
in Argenta, Arkansas, on July 25, 1910, when he was stationed at Fort Roots in Little Rock. He
maintained his membership in Lodge 633 through 1925. While he was stationed in Puerto Rico
in 1912, he joined the Borinquen Chapter No. 1 in San Juan and maintained his membership until
at least 1923 according to his membership cards and Lodge Directories left in his personal
documents upon his death and passed down to the author through his wife, Dora. He had the
rank of Worthy Master Mason. He was also a member of the the Morgan McDermott American
Legion Post in Arizona in 1920.
On July 1, 1920, upon expiration of his service, in order to stay in the Army, he gave up
his Captaincy to accept appointment as a Warrant Officer in the regular Army and assigned to
the 82nd Field Artillery at Fort Bliss, Texas, in February, 1921 where he served until reassigned
to the 17th Field Artillery at Camp Knox, Kentucky, for a few weeks until reassigned finally to
the 17th Field Artillery, Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, NC on September 9, 1921. According to a
letter he sent to Dora on October 2, 1921, he had arrived and was arranging quarters for them and
instructing her how to arrange transportation from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Fort Bragg.
Sadly, on June 11, 1925, William was tragically killed in a violent auto accident while
traveling on the Raeford-Fayetteville Road. The 17th Field Artillery baseball team, which
Cross managed, had started driving to Hamlet, NC, at 10 o’clock in the morning to play the
Seaboard Railroad team in the afternoon. The group was led by Cross driving a Nash Touring
car of the same type pictured here, followed by a machine gun truck carrying the majority of the
team. About 10 miles from Fayetteville on the Raeford Road at the county line with Hoke
County, a wrecked car, which had run into the bridge the night before, was still standing and
Cross stopped to investigate the wreck. Sitting on the front seat with Cross was Sgt. Harry
Weiderman, and in the back were Sgt. Aiza Davidson, Sgt. Herbert Williams and Sgt. Harry E.
Heff.
The machine gun truck which was following closely with 12 other ball team members could not
stop quickly enough to avoid striking the Nash car. The force of the huge truck turned the Nash
over the embankment, where it turned over three times and caught fire as soon as it landed at the
bottom of the embankment. Cross and Sergeant Weiderman were instantly killed and their
bodies were rescued from the burning car by their comrades before the flames completely
engulfed the car. The force of the encountersent the machine gun truck over the bank with the
smaller car and several of the team were hurt, but not fatally. [SOURCE: Fayetteville Observer,
6/11/1925].
Cross was popular among the soldiers at Fort Bragg. He had retired from a captaincy in
the army and in order to stay in the service had accepted appointment as a Warrant Officer.
He was well known in the State of North Carolina and had many friends. He had visited
Asheboro many times since he joined the army and was well known and popular in the town.
William A. Cross was an avid sportsman, hunter, and fisherman and spent many hours with his
hunting dogs, which he raised from pups. [SOURCE: Asheboro Courier, 6/18/1925]. His
funeral was held at the Hay Street Methodist Church in Fayetteville. “Led by the 5th Field
Artillery band which rendered Chopin’s Funeral March, the funeral cortege passed through Hay
Street where all traffic was stilled by the sorrowful procession and lines of bowed uncovered
heads paid last respect to the beloved man.” [SOURCE: Fayetteville Observer, 6/14/1925].
Following the service, Cross’ body, accompanied by a military escort was transferred to Raleigh
for internment in the National Cemetery there.
WWI Service Record of the 28th Infantry:
Sommerviller sector, France, October 21 to November 20, 1917.
Ansauville sector, France, January 15 to April 3, 1918.
Cantigny sector, France, April 25 to June 8, 1918.
Montdidier-Noyon defensive, France, June 9 to 13, 1918.
Cantigny sector, France, June 14 to July 7, 1918.
Aisne-Marne offensive, France, July 18 to 23, 1918.
Saizerais sector, France, August 7 to 24, 1918.
St. Mihiel offensive, France, September 12 to 13, 1918.
Meuse-Argonne offensive, France, October 1 to 12, 1918.
Meuse-Argonne offensive, France, November 5 to 8, 1918.
Other Sources:
1. "The American Army in the World War: A Divisional Record of the American Expeditionary
Forces in Europe", pp. 235-236.
2. "America in France", p. 223.
3. https://history.army.mil/documents/wwi/ansau/ansa1.htm
4. William A. Cross Military Records File, original in possession of F.W. Ford
5. A Brief History of the 2nd U.S. Artillery, Battery A, by Patrick McSherry
Compiled by Frederick W. Rick Ford,
grandson of William A. Cross, 3 June 2022