The Pigeon That Saved the Lost Battalion
In October nineteen eighteen, a composite force of the seventy-seventh Division was surrounded in the Argonne Forest and subjected to accidental shelling by their own artillery. This is the story of Cher Ami, the U.S. Army Signal Corps pigeon who flew through gunfire with a message that stopped the barrage, and how a wounded bird became a decorated symbol of the Great War.
Listen in the Fylom app.
Major Charles Whittlesey led five hundred men into a ravine where they were trapped by German forces.
American artillery accidentally bombarded their own troops after the battalion became isolated in the Argonne Forest.
Cher Ami flew twenty-five miles in sixty minutes despite losing a leg and sustaining chest wounds.
The final pigeon message successfully provided coordinates that stopped the deadly friendly fire barrage.
Only one hundred and ninety men survived to walk out of the ravine after the siege ended.
A twenty twenty-one DNA study revealed that the legendary war bird Cher Ami was actually male.
- 01Intro1 min
- 02The Pocket in the Argonne2 min
- 03Death from Above2 min
- 04The Twenty-Five Mile Flight2 min
- 05The Aftermath and the Legend3 min
- 06Outro1 min
- Cher Ami | National Museum of American History
- Pigeon Message from Capt. Whittlesey to the Commanding ...
- The Official Report On the Lost Battalion Incident
- Cher Ami Fact Sheet: A Century of Myth and Public Memory
- He? She? Or just plain Cher Ami? Solving a century-old ...
- WWI Pigeon Braved Enemy Fire to Deliver Message — But Did It Help?
- New York City draftee Soldiers made history as the Lost Battalion in ...
- Geography is War, A Case Study of the Argonne Forest ...
Fylom generates episodes like this on any topic you're curious about.
Fylom episodes are researched, written, and voiced by AI. Automated checks help catch inaccuracies, but episodes aren't reviewed by a human and AI can still get things wrong. Treat them as a starting point, not a source of record — more in our accuracy disclaimer.