Carl J Nielson

Private First Class, Co C, 108th Infantry, 27th Division.

Killed in action near Hindenburg Line near Bony, France, September 29, 1918. Age 22.

Town:  Elba

Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Section 18 Grave 1381, Washington, DC

 

Carl John Nielson (in some sources spelled Neilson or Nealson) was born in February, 1896. He was the only child of Danish immigrant Nels (sometimes given as Niels or Neil) J Nielson (in some censuses listed as John N) and wife Martha J nee Wallace Nielson (in some censuses listed as Jennie M).

Carl Nielson’s NYSS lists his place of birth as Hornell (Steuben County), New York, but an article in the January 31, 1919 Batavia Daily News says that he was born in Caledonia (Livingston County). The 1900 US Census shows Carl at age four living with his parents in Conesus (Livingston County). But by 1905 the family had moved to Genesee County and remained there through the rest of Carl’s life. The 1905 NY Census shows the Nielsons in Pembroke; the 1910 US Census lists them in Batavia; and the 1915 NY Census shows them living on Hofmann Road in Elba. Newspaper accounts and the NY Roll of Honor also give Carl Nielson’s home as Elba in Genesee County. Both he and his father are listed in Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Genesee County (1917) at the same address (Rt. 21) and phone number in Elba. Curiously, the town of residence on Nielson’s 74th Infantry enlistment card is given as “Borron, N.Y.” This is likely an aberrant spelling of Byron, New York, which lies just east of Elba.

On April 14, 1917, just eight days after the nation declared war on Germany, Carl Nielson enlisted in the New York National Guard’s 74th Regiment in Buffalo. On July 15, 1917, all state National Guard units were called into federal service. Nine days later, on July 24, Nielson and Miss Helen E Leven of Dansville were married in Mount Morris, New York, where, according to the wedding announcement in the July 25, 1917 Batavia Daily News, Nielson was stationed at the time. “The groom expects to be called to the front in a few days,” reads the article. “His bride will make her home with the groom’s parents . . . at East Elba.”

At the end of September, 1917, the 74th Regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, where it became part of the newly formed 27th Division’s 108th Infantry. The division shipped out for overseas duty in May, 1918, after nearly eight months of training. On May 10, 1918, Nielson’s Company C and the rest of the 108th Infantry’s 1st Battalion left the United States for France from Newport News, Virginia, aboard HMS Kurtz.

Private First Class Nielson and six others from Genesee County were among at least 192 men of the 108th Infantry killed on September 29, 1918, in fierce combat that helped break the strongest point of the infamous Hindenburg Line, a complex of defenses including 30-foot-deep concrete bunkers, the St. Quentin canal and tunnel, miles of hidden passageways, and fortified trench systems fronted by fields of heavy twisted barbed wire.

Assigned the task of mopping up concealed machine-gun nests and enemy troops, and fighting 50 to 100 yards behind the lead assault wave through thick smoke and fog, the 108th’s 1st Battalion, including Company C, faced devastating machine-gun and rifle fire from all directions and a deadly enemy artillery counterbarrage of gas and high-explosive shells.

Nielson is listed among casualties in Story of the 27th Division (see Volume 2, page 1082) as Charles A. Neilson of Company D—though the name is different, the army serial number given (1213935) matches the number listed on Carl Nielson’s NYSS and Burial Case File documents, as do the date and place of his death. All other sources say Nielson was with Company C, and a letter about Nielson’s death, published in the January 31, 1919 Batavia Daily News, was written by Lieutenant Edmund W McCabe of the 108th Infantry, listed (as Edward W McCabe) in Story of the 27th Division as a member of Company C. McCabe was wounded in the Hindenburg Line attack.

In the letter, Lieutenant McCabe wrote, “Your son, Private Carl J. Nielson, was killed in action Sunday, September 29, 1918 when his company took part and successfully attacked the Hindenburg line between Cambrai and St. Quentin. The sector that this company covered was near Bony. Private Carl J. Nielson was advancing with his company and was instantly killed near the Hindenburg line.”

A searcher’s report in his Burial Case File reads, “Pvt Neilson was struck by a German 18 lb shell in the battle of the Hindenburg Line, near the village of Bony, September 29th 1918. This is all the information we have concerning his death.”

Private First Class Carl J Nielson was initially buried in the American Cemetery at Bony, France. In 1921, his remains were returned to the United States under military escort and on April 21 were permanently interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

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November 11, 1918 Batavia Daily News p7 c1

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January 31, 1919 Batavia Daily News p9 c3

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Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri

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Carl J Nielson headstone, Arlington National Cemetery, Section 18 Grave 1381, Washington, DC

GPS Coordinates: Lat 38° 52’ 18.339” N, Long 77° 04’ 31.5” W (DD: 38.871761, -77.075417)

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Carl J Nielson Sources:

– County Lists 1, 2, 3

– July 25, 1917 BD p6 c5

– Nov 11, 1918 BD p7 c1*

– Jan 31, 1919 BD p9 c3

– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Neil J Neilson (head) and Carl J Neilson (son, age 4), citing Census Records, Conesus, Livingston, New York; sheet number 7B, line numbers 74 and 76, microfilm series T623, Roll 1070, page 61.

– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Carl Nielson, age 8, citing Census Records, Pembroke, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 13, line 17.

– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for John Nealson [indexed Wealson] (head) and Carl Nealson (son, age 13), citing Census Records, Batavia, Genesee, New York; sheet number 2B, line numbers 52 and 54, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 65.

– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Carl Neilson, age 18, citing Census Records, Elba, A.D. 01, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 24, line 46.

– “New York, County Marriages, 1908-1935.” Online index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZ9V-FY3); Carl John Nielson and Helen E Leven, 24 July 1917; Livingston County record entry No. 2402; New York State Department of Health, Vital Records Section, Albany, New York.

Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Genesee County (1917), p 243

New York, 74th Infantry National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1889-1917 (Ancestry.com)

– NYSS

Roll of Honor (NY State), p 65

27th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 13-26

Short History and Illustrated Roster of the 108th Infantry, p 57

The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 1, pp 300-13, 316

The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 2, p 1082 (Neilson listing, see text); also pp 947, 1149 (McCabe listings)

– BCF

– “Nielson, Carl J,” database listing and tombstone photos, Arlington National Cemetery website, access from database search engine (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/GravesiteLocator/GravesiteLocator.aspx)

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Click for Key to Source Abbreviations. See the Bibliography for complete title, author, and publisher information, with links to online access when available.