It gave him untold pleasure to serve as the nation's host during the visit of President Wilson--with whom, as representative of the great republic of the United States, he should further help to establish freedom throughout the world.
On December 24, 1918, Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was presented in the presence of 20,000 people on Boston Common by Major General Edwards with the congressional Medal of Honor, the highest tribute of valor the United States awards.
General Edwards presented the medal with these words: "Your heroic act thrilled the entire American Expeditionary Force. It was a piece of stout-hearted work that reflected credit upon the part of yourself and of the men who were serving under you. It sustained the best traditions of American arms and valor. It is a great pleasure to have the presentation assigned to me; I regard it as a sacred duty."
Lieutenant Colonel Whittlesey smiled, and straightening up to his full stature of six feet and four inches, simply said, "I thank you, General."
The medal was given to reward his courage and determination when with his "lost battalion" he was surrounded by the Germans in the Argonne forest.
On the fourth day of suffering in the cold and rain without food or blankets, when their ammunition was almost gone, an American who had been taken prisoner by the Germans was sent to Major Whittlesey--his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel came later--with a written message saying, "Americans, you are surrounded on all sides. Surrender in the name of humanity. You will be well treated."
[Illustration: Major General Clarence R. Edwards, former commander of the Twenty-sixth Division, pinning the congressional Medal of Honor on the breast of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey.]
Major Whittlesey's exclamation when he had read the message was very brief and very forceful. It made the Germans understand without further parley that the Americans would never surrender. Major Whittlesey's men cheered his reply. Not one of them, cold, hungry, and almost exhausted, thought for a moment of surrendering.
Several days before on the morning of September 26, they had entered the Argonne forest, as a part of the line of American attack. At five-thirty in the morning, they had gone "over the top" in a very heavy fog and behind their creeping barrage toward the German trenches. They had to force their passage through trees, shrubs, vines, and undergrowth grown all together so that it was almost impossible to advance and yet keep in touch with one another as they were ordered to do.