My maternal great uncle, Edward Francis Daly Jr., was born 20 October 1899 in Portland, Connecticut. Edward enlisted in the American Expeditionary Forces on August 8, 1917 and joined Company C, 3rd Battalion of the 20th Engineers (Forestry). According to the transit document for his passage home, Edward served in the Medical Detachment for the 3rd Battalion.

Drawing from a unit history of the 20th Engineers, I provide select highlights of the journey Edward took from enlistment to his discharge from the Army. The hint that allowed me to develop this post – Pv Co C 3 BN 20 Eng – was on an index card from the U.S. Veterans Bureau that listed his service record. My appreciation to Michael Daly for the amazing photograph of his grandfather in uniform and his research on the Daly family.

15 August 1917 – General Order Number 108 authorized the formation of the 20th Engineer Regiment (Forestry) at Camp American on the campus of American University in Washington, D.C. Due to overcrowding, the 3rd Battalion moved first to Fort Belvoir, Virginia and then to Fort Myer, Virginia for basic training.

15 December 1917 – Washington, D.C.  – The Third and Fourth Battalions paraded Pennsylvania Avenue, led by the Fourth Band, they were reviewed from the portico of the War Department Building by the Secretary Baker. (below – photograph)

2-3 January 1918 – the 3rd Battalion moved to Jersey City, New Jersey to sail for France. They joined the 4th Battalion on the U. S. S. America and sailed, with 44 officers and 1956 enlisted men on board, for France, arriving in Brest, France on January 17th. 

17 January 1918 – (Three hours from France) Lookouts sighted a torpedo wake heading for the America, it narrowly missed the stern of the ship by twenty feet. The submarine was never sighted.

23 January 1918 – Company C was sent to a hardwood operation at Sauvigney les Gray, in the upper valley of the Saone, and under the Dijon administration. The timber harvest required long hauls to the mill by narrow-gauge logging railways.

The forestry troops of the 20th Engineers produced roughly 200 million feet of lumber in France. The current monthly needs of the Army (1918) were 50,000,000 feet of lumber and timbers, 250,000 railroad ties, 6,500 pieces of piling and cribbing, 1,500,000 poles and entanglement stakes, and over 100,000 cords of fuel wood. The the great bulk of the material was produced by the forestry troops. (Forest History Society)

11 Nov 1918 – Following Armistice, Company C, 3rd Battalion remained in France for six months providing fuel, rebuilding roads and dismantling the mills and camps. 

14 May 1919 – Edward boarded the Santa Paula and arrived in Brooklyn, New York on 28 May and was disbanded at Camp Merritt, NJ.

Sources:

3rd Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment (Forestry) – Unit History

Forest History Society – World War I: 10th and 20th Forestry Engineers

Comments, corrections and and suggestions appreciated.

Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved by David R. French.

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