Texans were engaged in action against the enemy in 1918, most in the 36th and 90th Infantry Divisions. Thousands of soldiers were training at bases around Texas. The home-front was fully mobilized. The Armistice would end the fighting on November 11, 1918, but Texans would also serve in the occupation of Germany and in the expeditionary forces sent to Russia. Here’s our Texas 1918 timeline. Have an addition to the timeline that is significant to Texas and Texans in the Great War? Let us know at WWICC.TX@gmail.com.
TEXAS WWI CENTENNIAL TIMELINE — 1918
January 8. Wilson’s “14 Points” speech to Congress (Wooster)
March 3. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany (Wooster)
March 4. Texas Legislature ratifies 18th Amendment regarding Prohibition (Wooster)
March 7. Legislature prohibits alcohol within ten-mile zone off military camps (Wooster)
March 11. Reports off influenza outbreak, Fort Riley, Kansas (Wooster)
March 15. Legislature passes bill permitting women to vote in state primary elections (Wooster)
April 6. Ferguson opens campaign for re-election as governor (Wooster)
April 11. 36th Division review parade, Fort Worth (Tarrant County Archives)
April 11. 36th Division review parade, Fort Worth (Tarrant County Archives)
May 16. U.S. Army III Corps constituted in France
May 26. Opening of Ludendorff offensive against Allied left flank (Wooster)
May 28. U.S. 1st Infantry Division in battle at Cantigny (Wooster)
June 6. U.S. troops in action at Belleau Wood (Wooster)
June 22. First units of 90th Infantry Division arrive in France (Wooster)
July 13. MajGen William R. Smith assumes command of the 36th Infantry Division in New York as the Division prepares to embark for France. Smith will oversee rigorous combat training in France and lead the Division in combat through key campaigns of the fall (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsm74).
July 15. Opening of last phase of Ludendorff offensive, Second Battle of the Marne (Wooster)
July 17. Capt Edgar G. Tobin of San Antonio shoots down two German aircraft
July 18. Allied counterattack at Soissons (Wooster)
July 18. Private First Class Daniel R. Edwards of Mooreville, Texas, serving in Company C, 3d Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Division kills four enemy soldiers and captures four more while suffering serious wounds near Soissons, France. He is one of four native Texans to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in WWI (http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1918_wwi/edwards.html).
July 26. Hobby defeats Ferguson in Democratic primary (Wooster)
July 28. San Antonian Edmund G. Chamberlain (Captain, USMCR) claims that while on furlough, he visited a British sector, borrowed a British airplane and in a flight over the front lines took part in a battle with 12 German machines. He asserted he destroyed five German planes, damaged two, and. sweeping earthward in his damaged machine. Chamberlain is later court martialed and his claimed exploits become the subject of a U.S. Senate investigation after the war.
July 30. First units of 36th Infantry Division arrive in France (Wooster)
August 1. American expedition ordered to Murmansk, Russia (Wooster)
August 8. German army suffers defeats; “black day of the German army”
August 10. U.S. 1st Army activated (Wooster)
August 23. 90th Division relieves 1st Division in the line (Wooster)
September 2. Houstonian Lt. Frank M. Moore, aerial artillery observer, 88th Aero Squadron, is killed in action during an engagement with 8 enemy aircraft. He is awarded the Croix de Guerre and Silver Star for his actions.
September 3. Texan, Gen. William Graves, set up headquarters at Vladivostok, Siberia (Wooster)
September 10. St. Michiel offensive begins (Wooster)
September 15. Hospital Apprentice First Class David E. Hayden, a Navy corpsman from Florence, Texas, serving with the 2d Battalion, 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines carries a wound Marine to safety near Thiaucourt, France. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions (http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1918_wwi/hayden.html).
September 26. Opening of Meuse-Argonne offensive (Wooster)
September-November. Major influenza outbreak in United States and Europe (Wooster)
October 8. First combat action of 36th Division at St. Etienne (Wooster)
October 8. Corporal Samuel M. Sampler of Decatur, Texas single-handedly attacks an enemy position killing two Germans and capturing 28 more while serving with the 142nd Infantry, 36th Division near St. Etienne. His is one of four native Texans awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in WWI (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsahq)
October 25. Wilson asks voters to elect Democratic Congress (Wooster)
October 26. Col. House arrives in Paris (Wooster)
November 5. U.S. elections; Republicans gain control of Congress (Wooster)
November 9. Private David B. Barkeley a Texan in the 89th Division. Sacrifices his life near Pouilly, France. He is later awarded the Medal of Honor (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbabz).
November 9. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates (Wooster)
November 11. Armistice (Wooster)
November 17. 90th Division moves to Germany for occupation duty (Wooster)
December 4. Wilson sails for France (Wooster)
December 13. Wilson arrives in Paris (Wooster)
