Five Days in October

The Lost Battalion of World War I

By: Robert H. Ferrell

Narrated by: Doug Greene

During American participation in World War I, many events caught the public’s attention, but none so much as the plight of the Lost Battalion. Comprising some 500 men of the 77th Division, the so-called battalion was entrapped on the side of a ravine in the Argonne Forest by German forces from October 2 to 7, 1918. The men’s courage under siege in the midst of rifle, machine-gun, mortar, and artillery fire (coming both day and night), with nothing to eat after the morning of the first day save grass and roots, and with water dangerous to obtain, has gone down in American history as comparable in heroism to the defense of the Alamo and the stand at the Little Big Horn of the troops of General George A. Custer.

Now, in Five Days in October, historian Robert H. Ferrell presents new material - previously unavailable - about what really happened during those days in the forest. Despite the description of them as a lost battalion, the men were neither lost nor a battalion. The name was coined by a New York newspaper editor who, upon learning that a sizable body of troops had been surrounded, thought up the notion of a Lost Battalion - it possessed a ring sure to catch the attention of readers.

The book is published by University of Missouri Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2005 The Curators of the University of Missouri (P)2021 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“Distinguished historian Robert H. Ferrell successfully penetrates the romantic mist to reconsider the events of those five tumultuous days.” (The Journal of Military History)

“Ferrell’s account and reexamination is concise and well-written.” (Military History)

“Dissects this episode in a thorough and balanced manner.” (Military Heritage)