Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I): Records of the 35th Division, United States Army: (Record Group 120)

This collection consists mostly of reports from, and correspondence between, officers of the 35th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.

Size: 5 linear inches (about 800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: C. Warren Ohrvall (1973).
Updated by: Kirk A. Schlueter (2013) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were established under the War Department in 1917 by General Order 1, pursuant to a letter sent from Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to General John J. Pershing. The AEF conducted military operations against Germany during World War I. The 35th Division was organized in August, 1917, and was comprised of National Guard troops from Kansas and Missouri. The 35th Division participated in combat during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

This collection contains reports from officers in the 35th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces from September, 1918 to March, 1919, detailing the experiences of the Division before, during, and after the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives. In addition to the reports, the materials also include correspondence sent between officers during the battles, as well as post-combat reports concerning the 35th Division's deployment. Most of the correspondence is in the form of field orders. Also included is a report on the conduct of Major Robert G. Peck during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, with related testimony, as well as a map used during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and a roster of the Division's officers.

The Truman Library also has the records of the 35th Division Association and the records of Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery (Record Group 391). The 129th Field Artillery was part of the 35th Division during World War I. Battery D was commanded by Captain Harry S. Truman.