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Army of Occupation – Doughboys First
FES Title: Army of Occupation – Doughboys First
Alternate Titles: Doughboys First – Crossing the Moselle into Germany
[1927]; Doughboys First! (1931, 2002)
Date: 04/03/1919
Size: 30″H x 50″W
Medium: oil_single-prime-canvas
Type: illustration
Published: “Souvenir Pictures of the Great War.” The Ladies Home Journal, July 1919: 24.
caption: Doughboys First

Ianni, Francis A. World War One Remembered. Wilmington: Delaware Heritage Commission, 1993: 74.
caption: Doughboys First

Fleming, Thomas. “Goal With Price to be Paid.” Military History, October 1993: 48.
caption: A painting by Frank E. Schoonover shows spirited American troops marching to “smite the Hun.” After the St. Mihel offensive of mid-September, such confidence seemed well-founded, but the Germans had been evacuating that salient when the Americans attacked.

Harrington, Peter. “Images of the Great War.” American History, December 1996: 36.
caption: Figure 11-Doughboys First, F.E. Schoonover.

Harrington, Peter. “The Great War Paintings of Frank E. Schoonover.” Military Heritage, August 1999: 68.
caption: Doughboys First

Hervey, Allen. Toward the Flame: A Memoir of World War I. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003: cover.
no caption

Blum, Raymond K. U.S. Army: A Complete History. Arlington, VA: The Army Historical Foundation, 2004: 584.
caption: “Doughboys First,” Frank E. Schoonover, John Schoonover Photograph
Inscription: lr: Frank E. Schoonover / ’19
Annotations:
Exhibitions: 1927 Oshkosh; 1931 FES; 2002 HSD
Comments: index; edit
Commentary: Here Schoonover depicts the determined ‘Doughboys’ at the moment when the United States 1st Infantry Division crossed the Moselle River to enter Germany, “and where the Division Commander General Frank Parker stepped aside to let the Infantrymen of the 16th Infantry be the first to enter Germany. (They had been the first to land in France and march through Paris on July, 4, 1917.)”
The 1st Infantry Division soldiers, called ‘Doughboys,’ are remembered as “First in France, First in Paris, First in line, First to open fire, First to suffer casualties, First to capture prisoners, First to raid, First to be raided, First in length of time spent in the front line, First in Germany, but – last to leave.” “After the war, General MacArthur wrote a tribute to the American Doughboy, especially the Infantryman, who had borne the brunt of the war.” (Ianni, 75)
For further commentary, see #886.

Honoring Delawareans who served overseas during World War I, a granite memorial was dedicated on November 8, 2017 in Dover, Delaware. On one side of the 4′ x 5′ block, etched into the stone, is a scene based on this Schoonover painting.
Provenance: Sold by the artist to the Delaware National Guard (March 9, 1959)