Evansville's Cpl. James Gresham was first American to die on French soil in World War I

Editor's Note: This is the fourth part of an exclusive Herald Times series from PBS documentarian Jo Throckmorton. 

We left Nancy, in the Southeast of France, and drove toward the border of Germany. We were on our way to where it all started: the small town of Bathelemont. On Nov. 3, 1917, about six months after the United States had joined in the war effort, a German attack on a place called “Le Haut de Ruelles” on the high hill overlooking Arracourt, Bathelemont and Bures, killed three American soldiers.

These three U.S. soldiers would be the first of the American Expeditionary Force to die on French soil. The first to die that day was a young man from Evansville, Indiana: Cpl. James Bethel Gresham. Just behind him were found Pvts. Merle David Hay from Iowa and Thomas Francis Enright of Pittsburgh.

The Germans had sent a patrol into the trench and Gresham, thinking they were allies, reportedly said, “Don’t shoot, I’m an American.” The three have been immortalized there on the hilltop of the Le Haut de Ruelles. The monument on the ridge is a new one — to complement the one placed at the outskirts of Bathelemont — and was dedicated in 2017 on the centennial of his death.

This story, along with six other soldiers and one nurse, will be told in the upcoming documentary film, “Over There: Hoosier Heroes of the Great War.” The film will be on the Indiana PBS stations beginning this fall. 

Our trip to France has been focused on retracing the paths each of these Hoosiers took during the war. 

Part 1:Bloomington documentarian traces WWI soldiers in France

Part 2:Ernest Duncan Finley, Bloomington soldier, was first local man to die in World War I

Part 3:Laurens Bennett Strain, Bloomington private, example of 'regular soldier' in World War I

Gresham entered the U.S. Army and went to train at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He served on the Mexican border before being reassigned to go to France. He left Hoboken, New Jersey, and arrived at the port in St. Nazaire, France. He was a member of what is known as “The Big Red One” — the 1st Division — named for the big, vibrant red 1 sewn on the shoulder of their uniforms. He was in the 16th Infantry, Company F. 

A young soldier named Homer Nikirk, of Bloomington, Indiana, was also in the 16th Infantry and from the accounts we have found in the archives of Indiana University, he may very well have known Gresham. The film will include a moving statement from Nikirk himself, recorded in the 1970s, which recounts the day he moved into combat for the first time and watched his sergeant die just steps in front of him within moments of engaging the Germans.

To arrive at the location of what was once the trench — where now stands a monument — we had to drive through a farmer’s field and along a precarious ridge and a very narrow and bumpy dirt wagon trail. 

Once we arrived, the beauty of the place was striking. We were on a ridge high enough to see in all directions for many miles around. It was clear to us why the allies had a trench position here. 

Just 25 yards from the location of where Gresham died were three outposts where members of the unit would listen for enemy movement. The Germans came from a direction on the flank, bypassing the outpost and entered the trench.

It is hard to believe, now, this place could have been a location of so much death and destruction, but that notion is immediately erased as we walked across the field and kicked up remnants of shells, helmets and wine bottles. All of which keep being turned up, year after year, by the farmers' equipment. They serve as a testament to the destruction and amount of ordnance rained down on this ridge.

If you would like to learn more about the film or support our efforts, please go to www.hoosierheroesofwwi.com. My next dispatch will talk about the distances traveled and the breadth of our involvement in the war.