Alvin York

More to Explore

People and Groups

Themes

Events

Related Topics

Recommended Articles

  • Nathan Bedford Forrest

    Nathan Bedford Forrest

    Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general during the Civil War whose reputation has been tarnished by his controversial treatment of blacks.

  • Battle of Shiloh

    Battle of Shiloh

    Fought in April 1862, the Battle of Shiloh was the second great engagement of the American Civil War.

  • George C. Marshall

    George Marshall remains, after George Washington, the most respected soldier in American history.

  • James H. Doolittle

    (born Dec. 14, 1896, Alameda, Calif., U.S.—died Sept. 27, 1993, Pebble Beach, Calif.) American aviator and army general who led an air raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

(Born Dec. 13, 1887, Pall Mall, Tenn., U.S.—died Sept. 2, 1964, Nashville, Tenn.) celebrated American hero of World War I, immortalized by the film version of his life story, Sergeant York (1941).

A blacksmith from Cumberland Hill, Tenn., York was denied status as a conscientious objector and was drafted into the army during World War I. While serving in the 82nd Infantry Division at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (October 1918), he was among a patrol of 17 men ordered to take out a German machine-gun emplacement that was checking his regiment's advance. Behind enemy lines the patrol lost half its men but managed to take a handful of prisoners before it was pinned down by extremely heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. Corporal York assumed command and, while the rest of the survivors took up defensive positions and stood guard over the prisoners, York attacked alone and, firing rapidly and with deadly accuracy at the enemy gunners, killed more than two dozen of them, which prompted the others to surrender. En route back to the American lines, he captured still more Germans, to a total of 132. York was promoted to the rank of sergeant and later received the Congressional Medal of Honor and similar honours from France and other countries. After the war he returned to Tennessee, where he lived on a farm given him by that state and helped establish an industrial institute and a Bible school for the education of rural youth. His autobiography, Sergeant York, His Own Life Story and War Diary (ed. by T. Skeyhill), appeared in 1928.

Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com.

Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

Advertisement

This Day in History

May 26

Lead Story

Dracula goes on sale in London, 1897

The first copies of the classic vampire novel Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker, appear in London bookshops on this day in 1897. A childhood invalid,…

Shop HISTORY

See More

Classroom Study Guides