Laclede in Linn County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Somme American Cemetery and Memorial
| | First World War Commemorative Garden | |
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2025
1. Somme American Cemetery Marker
General Pershing sent American troops into the trenches alongside French and British allies to halt the German advance on Paris in April 1918. For months, the allied forces had dealt with thick mud, crushing heat, and foul odors. Farmers in the Somme valley used natural manure as fertilizer. The combination of manure and unburied corpses produced a horrific stench. It was the smell that many survivors never forgot.
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Thick mud bogged down supply lines.
Trenches in the Somme valley flooded regularly. Wet uniforms and scorching sun created miserable conditions.
Artillery barrages left deep, mud-filled shell holes. Many wounded soldiers literally drowned in mud.
Like many Americans, poet Alan Seeger rushed to join the war effort. He joined the French Foreign Legion in 1914. German machine gun fire killed Seeger at the First Battle of the Somme.
I Have a Rendezvous with Death
Alan Seeger, 1888-1916
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may
this page online
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where Love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear ...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.
Somme American Cemetery and Memorial
Dedicated: 1937
Location: France
Burials: 1,844
Missing in Action: 333
Acres: 14.3
Missourians:
Francis Frazier,Women in the Great War:
First Lieutenant, US Army
21st Base Hospital
March 24, 1918 (MIA)
Missouri
Constance Sinclair,
Nurse, Volunteer
Harvard University
22nd General Hospital,
Harvard University
February 22, 1918
Plot A, Row 16, Grave#2
Erected 2018 by Missouri State Parks.
Topics. This historical marker and memorial is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites
2. Marker detail: Somme American Cemetery location
Location. 39° 47.369′ N, 93° 10.271′ W. Marker is in Laclede, Missouri, in Linn County. It is on Prairie Street just west of Olive Street, on the right when traveling west. The marker is in the First World War Commemorative Garden at the General John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 905 Pershing Drive, Laclede MO 64651, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker and memorial is in North Missouri. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial (here, next to this marker); Saint-Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial (a few steps
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2025
3. Somme American Cemetery Marker
The marker is near the southwest corner of the First World War Commemorative Garden.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. First World War Commemorative Garden
Also see . . .
1. German Spring Offensive (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: A series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following the American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources. The German Army made the deepest advances either side had made on the Western Front since 1914. They re-took much ground that they had lost in 191617 and took some ground that they had not yet controlled. The offensive failed to deliver a blow that could save Germany from defeat. In July 1918, the Allies regained their numerical advantage with the arrival of American troops. In August, they used this and improved tactics to launch a counteroffensive. The ensuing Hundred Days Offensive resulted in the Germans losing all the ground that they had taken in the Spring Offensive, the collapse of the Hindenburg Line, and the capitulation of Germany that November.(Submitted on February 25, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
2. Somme American Cemetery and Memorial (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: The Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Picardie, France, is situated ½ mile southwest of the commune of Bony, Aisne in northern France. It is located on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardy countryside. The cemetery was established in October 1918 on ground which saw heavy fighting just before and during the Battle of St Quentin Canal. It contains the graves of 1,844 of the United States' military dead from World War I. Most lost their lives in the assault on the Hindenburg Line while serving in American II Corps attached to the British Fourth Army. Others were killed in operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. The longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.(Submitted on February 25, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
A massive bronze door surmounted by an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculptured pieces of military equipment. Once inside, light from a cross-shaped crystal window above the marble altar bathes the subdued interior with light. The walls bear the names of 333 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 21, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 52 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 25, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
