The bloodiest day in North Carolina history was July 2, 1863, when Tar Heel infantrymen joined Pickett’s Charge in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The second bloodiest was Sept. 29, 1918, when Tar Heel National Guardsmen won World War I.
That’s a tall claim, but there are facts to back it up.
On that day, infantrymen of the “Tar Heel Brigade” of the 30th (“Old Hickory”) Division broke through the so-called Hindenburg Line at the St. Quentin Canal in northern France.
Advancing through fog, with newfangled jalopies called “tanks” beside them, the Tar Heel doughboys from the N.C. National Guard took the village of Bellicourt, securing the entrance to the strategic Bellicourt Tunnel and, at least briefly, entering the village of Nauroy. Losses were heavy as other Allied units trailed behind, and the Tar Heels were exposed to withering German fire on their flanks. But they held on.
And that was enough — Australian soldiers pushed through the hole the Tar Heels broke to administer the coup de grace.
Others claimed to have “broken” the Hindenburg Line before, but this was the fatal blow. Captured German officers told Col. Sidney Minor from Durham, commander of the 120th Infantry, that, after the breach, there was nothing between the Yanks and the Rhine.
The 120th’s partner, the 119th Infantry Regiment, was commanded by Col. John Van Bokkelen Metts of Wilmington. (Metts would go on to spend 31 years as North Carolina’s adjutant general.)
A century later, that important World War I battle is little remembered, but a few good history buffs are working to change that. A centennial exhibit earlier this year at the N.C. Museum of History memorialized the Tar Heel Brigade’s role in the war.
Members of the N.C. National Guard Museum Foundation want to make the memory a little more concrete. Currently, they’re raising money, online and elsewhere, for two monuments to these National Guard heroes: one in Nauroy, France, and a new one on the State Capitol Grounds in Raleigh, replacing a much smaller one that stands there today.
The monument in France was dedicated this week.
Through their website — ncww1monument.org — foundation members are also trying to contact descendants of men who served in the 119th and 120th regiments. They hope to collect photos and other memorabilia that could go toward a permanent exhibit honoring the National Guardsmen’s sacrifice and service.
Both are worthy goals. Today’s North Carolinians ought to grab their checkbooks or debit cards to help make them a reality.
— Commentary by StarNews of Wilmington
A word from us
Consultant John Merritt inquired in a recent letter to the editor if anyone in this community was related to several local individuals from Sampson County. Each served in WWI from this county and would have been born prior to 1900.
On Sept. 29, 1918, these individuals gave their lives to break the Hindenburg Line in France, thus hastening the end of WWI. North Carolina lost someone that day from 85 of its 100 counties, Merritt stated. Those with information, or who are related, to the following individuals from Sampson are urged to visit ncww1monument.org and register.
• Pvt. Buck Anderson Carter, Sampson, Company H, 119th Infantry, 30th Division
• Pvt. Leon Lee Daughtry, Sampson, Company H, 119th Infantry, 30th Division
• Pvt. William C. Honeycutt, Sampson, Company H, 120th Infantry, 30th Division
• Pvt. John W. Moore, Sampson, Company L, 120th Infantry, 30th Division
If you are not related, but had family who served in WWI, you can visit the website and register. A list of family members of those who served is being compiled.