Peter J Schlick

Corporal, Co H, 18th Infantry, 1st Division.

Killed in action near Exermont, France, October 4, 1918. Age 21.

Town:  Batavia

Burial: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Plot D Row 31 Grave 29, Romagne, France

 

Peter James Schlick was born in LeRoy (Genesee County), New York, in March, 1897. He was the youngest son of A J and Louise Schlick (his father’s given name is variously spelled in censuses as Aloyesus, Alloyseus, and Aloy). The 1900 US Census shows the family, including Peter at age 3, two brothers (Leroy and William), and a sister (Hattie), living in LeRoy. The 1905 NY Census shows the family, minus Leroy and William, still in LeRoy. Sometime around 1906 the Schlicks moved to Batavia, where Peter’s father worked as a knife grinder for the Massey Harris Harvester Company. A June 17, 1910 Batavia Daily News article lists Peter, who would’ve been 13 years old at the time, as a student at Batavia’s West Main Street School.

In an October 2, 1912 Batavia Daily News article in which Peter is reported to have taken a position with the Western Union Telegraph Company, his residence is listed as 10 Fisher Park. The 1915 NY Census places him and his parents at 5-1/2 State Street in Batavia, and lists Peter’s occupation as “printer.” According to the November 23, 1918 Batavia Times, Schlick was working as a linotype operator for The Batavia Times Publishing Company when he enlisted in the Army in Rochester, New York, on April 28, 1917. He was one of three Batavians (including Clifford Barber, who also died in service) who enlisted together on that date, barely more than two weeks after the United States declared war.

Schlick and the others were sworn in on May 1, 1917, at Columbus Barracks, Columbus, Ohio, and assigned to the 4th Infantry regiment, which was garrisoned at Brownsville, Texas. In June 1917, the regiment moved to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where it was reorganized. The other Batavians stayed with the 4th Infantry, but Schlick was transferred to the 59th Infantry, and ultimately was assigned to the 1st Division’s 18th Infantry, which was already overseas. On October 31, 1917, he left for France, where he joined his regiment as a replacement.

As a member of the 1st Division, the first American army unit to shed blood in the war, Corporal Schlick had survived nearly a year of combat, including fierce battles at Cantigny, the Marne, and Chateau-Thierry, before he was killed on October 4, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On the day he was killed, the 18th Infantry attacked at dawn to drive German forces from the hilly, shell-torn terrain of Montrebeau Wood, Exermont Ravine, and Montrefagne. The assaulting troops were met with heavy fire from machine guns, rifles, and 77-mm artillery. Documents in his Burial Case File give Corporal Schlick’s cause of death as “high explosive,” suggesting that he was killed by shell fire.

Note that although the November 19, 1918 Batavia Daily News and County List 1 (August 5, 1919 Batavia Daily News) list Corporal Schlick’s death date as October 14, 1918, all official sources, including his NYSS, the NY Roll of Honor, the ABMC website, and all documents in his Burial Case File give the death date as October 4, 1918.

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September 29, 1917 Batavia Times p1 c3

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October 23, 1918 Batavia Daily News p8 c3

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October 26, 1918 Batavia Times p4 c3

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November 19, 1918 Batavia Daily News p1 c6

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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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Peter J Schlick headstone, Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Plot D Row 31 Grave 29, Romagne, France

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Peter J Schlick Sources:

– All County Lists; also BHR

– Jun 17, 1910 BD p4 c4

– Oct 2, 1912 BD p6 c2

– May 5, 1917 BT p2 c2

– May 19, 1917 BT p4 c4

– Jun 16, 1917 BT p1 c3, p5 c4

– Sep 29, 1917 BT p1 c3

– Jul 20, 1918 BT p4 c3

– Aug 10, 1918 BT p1 c6-7

– Sep 7, 1918 BT p1 c3

– Oct 23, 1918 BD p8 c3

– Oct 26, 1918 BT p4 c3

– Nov 19, 1918 BD p1 c6*

– Nov 23, 1918 BT p1 c7

– Apr 5, 1919 BT p2 c3

– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for A [given name illegible; indexed as Alon???] Schlick (head) and Peter Schlick (son, age 3), citing Census Records, LeRoy, Genesee, New York; sheet number 6B, line numbers 95 and 100, microfilm series T623, Roll 1038, page 256.

– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Peter Schlick, age 8, citing Census Records, LeRoy, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 8, line number 37.

– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Alloyseus J Schlick (head) and Peter J Schlick (son, age 13), citing Census Records, Batavia, Genesee, New York; sheet number 4, line numbers 35 and 37, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 120.

– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Peter J Schlick, age 18, citing Census Records, Batavia, A.D. 01, E.D. 02, Genesee, New York; page number 7, line 42.

– NYSS

Roll of Honor (NY State), p 65

– WWI database, American Battle Monuments Commission website (www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php)

1st Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 66-68

History of the First Division During the World War 1917-1919, p 11, pp 176-95, p 293

United States Army in the World War 1917-1919 (Vol. 9), pp 210-15

– BCF

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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.