Russell Stewart at Camp Lee, Virginia
Russell Thomas Stewart was my maternal granduncle. He served in the 80th Infantry Division during World War I and was killed in action November 2, 1918. I wanted to know exactly what happened to him, but I doubt anyone ever knew, or could know, precisely what happened that fateful day. In the confusion of battle, most details are never reported or recorded.1 (Refer also to my earlier posts: Russell Stewart: Only Moves Forward and Corporal Pollock’s Account.)
I used Divisional, Regimental and Company histories to piece together his story. I can only estimate where Russell was based on the unit to which he was assigned. It is possible he was separated from his unit and temporarily attached to another unit. It is also possible he died the day before and he was not found until the next day.
Russell served in Company M, one of four companies in the 3rd Battalion of the 319th Infantry.2 The 319th was part of the 160th Brigade in the 80th Infantry Division.
Footnotes- Photo from Dennis Stewart, MyHeritage.com, Robert M. Stewart Family (https://www.myheritage.com/site-148784861/robert-m-stewart-family : Downloaded 23 June 2016), Thomas Russell Stewart.
- “Pennsylvania, WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948,” database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com: Downloaded 6 July 2016), Stewart, Russell T; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948. RG 19, Series 19.91. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg Pennsylvania.