About this item
The riveting true story of America's first modern military battle, its first military victory during World War One, and its first steps onto the world stageAt first light on Tuesday, May 28th, 1918, waves of American riflemen from the U.S. Army's 1st Division climbed from their trenches, charged across the shell-scarred French dirt of no-man's-land, and captured the hilltop village of Cantigny from the grip of the German Army. Those who survived the enemy machine-gun fire and hand-to-hand fighting held on for the next two days and nights in shallow foxholes under the sting of mustard gas and crushing steel of artillery fire.Thirteen months after the United States entered World War I, these 3,500 soldiers became the first "doughboys" to enter the fight.
About the Author
In an effort to tell of the American experience in the First World War, Matthew Davenport has dug through archives and family collections coast to coast to consult the letters, diaries, reports, and memoirs of the doughboys who served at the front. His book, "First Over There," which tells the story of the first American victory in the trenches of the Western Front, was a finalist for the 2015 Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History and has been heralded by Pulitzer-Prize winning historian James McPherson as "military history at its best."
Matthew Davenport served in the US Army Reserve, is a member of the American Legion, and was the recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution 2017 Medal of Honor. A native of St. Louis and a former prosecutor, he practices law in eastern North Carolina where he teaches at East Carolina University and lives with his wife and two sons.
