During the fall of 1870, Paris found itself under siege by Prussian troops. France’s provisional government was some 130 miles away in Tours. Communication between the two cities had been officially severed. The Franco-Prussian War would continue until May the following year.
Although the 19th century became the century of industrial revolution and progressive advancements in technology, especially for communication, Parisians found themselves needing to rely on a less technological and more natural method of communication: homing pigeons.
Signal Corps
A decade prior in America, another form of communication was introduced. Wigwag, the use of signals by flag during the day and torch by night, was developed by Albert James Myer, a U.S. Army doctor. As a major, Myer first used his system in 1860 during the Navajo expedition, which made him the Army’s first signal officer. Myer would continue his work as a signal officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, during which time he continued to propose to Washington the need for establishing a U.S. Army Signal Corps. On March 3, 1863, the Corps was established and it remains a vital aspect of the U.S. military.
The U.S. military, specifically the U.S. Navy, had considered the use of homing pigeons toward the end of the 19th century. But it was not until after America declared war on Germany and entered World War I in France that the pigeons were used during combat. With approximately 600 pigeons, the Pigeon Service was formed in March 1918 and served within the wing of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. When Gen. John J. Pershing launched the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on Sept. 26, 1918, hundreds of homing pigeons joined the ranks of doughboys.
Pigeons in Combat
Part of the offensive was the 77th Division. Within this division were the 306th, 307th, and the 308th regiments under the command of Maj. Charles Whittlesey. In their haste, the regiments, composed of more than 500 men, had driven far into enemy territory, far from the Allied lines, and too far to be reached by radio. By Oct. 2, the soldiers, trapped on the side of a hill, were surrounded by a large German force that launched a bombardment. Heavily outnumbered, the Americans fought back as best they could. In an attempt to relay their coordinates, Whittlesey tried his pigeons. The Germans, already well acquainted with the usage of homing pigeons, continued to shoot them out of the sky.
On Oct. 4, the regiments, already under constant fire from the Germans, began to fall under heavy fire from the Americans. The Allies, unaware of their location, launched a barrage of mortars, which killed more than 30 U.S. soldiers. Whittlesey in desperation attempted to send a message by pigeon. There was one last pigeon available: Cher Ami.
Whittlesey attached a message to the pigeon: “We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.”
The Last Hope
Cher Ami, a Black Check cock carrier pigeon, had already conducted 11 successful missions. The lives of the Americans relied on its 12th.When released, the bird immediately took flight, but almost no sooner had it soared above, it was shot through the breast, and fluttered to the ground. Without a radio signal and unable to send a soldier, the shot pigeon had been the last hope of what would become known as “The Lost Battalion.”
Suddenly and miraculously, Cher Ami took flight again. German rifle cracks rang out again, but this time they were unsuccessful. Cher Ami―with a bullet wound to the chest, a right leg nearly torn away, and a blinded eye―flew 25 miles in approximately 30 minutes. The Americans received the message and altered their artillery coordinates. The adjustment forced the Germans to clear away from the “Lost Battalion,” and on Oct. 8, 194 soldiers were able to escape and return to the Allied lines.
Honoring Cher Ami
Homing pigeons typically live between 10 and 12 years, but Cher Ami would not be so lucky. Born in 1918, his wounds eventually cut his life short, and he would die on June 13, 1919. This brave bird, however, had saved the lives of nearly 200 American soldiers.For this act of bravery, Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with palm and was given a gold medal from the Organized Bodies of American Pigeon Fanciers. In 1931, he was inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame. Two years after his death, Cher Ami was presented to the Smithsonian Museum where he remains on display in the Price of Freedom exhibit of the National Museum of American History.
Lastly, after a century of speculation, the Smithsonian Museum conducted a DNA test to ascertain Cher Ami’s biology as it had long been believed that the pigeon was a female. The DNA results confirmed Cher Ami was a male.
