Charles A. Schuyler

Private Charles A. Schuyler died of his wounds one week before the end of World War I

Quick Facts

Significance:

Adams County, PA native who died in World War I

Place of Birth:

Ortanna, Adams County, PA

Date of Birth:

December 26, 1895

Place of Death:

East Flanders, Belgium

Date of Death:

November 5, 1918

Place of Burial:

Gettysburg, PA

Cemetery Name:

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Section 8, Row 2, Grave 44

In November 1918, millions of families were filled with hope of loved ones coming home when the news of an armistice in the Great War finally arrived. For the Schuyler family, that hope was short lived. 

Charles Shuyler was born in Orrtanna, Adams County, Pennsylvania, on December 26th, 1895. Shuyler had a medium build and height, a full head of black hair, and brown eyes. The youngest of ten children, Charles was a well-behaved and loved boy. He made multiple newspaper appearances in his childhood and was well-known in the local community. Covering both the positive and negative things from his youth, the newspaper articles discussed a range of topics. Some of them include his perfect school attendance record, the broken arm he received after playing on the railroad tracks, and a list of names present at his fifteenth birthday party. 

Before his military service, Shuyler worked as a store clerk for Kready Store in Orrtanna. Charles married his wife, Viola Shuyler, in 1915, and claimed draft exemption later that year after his father's death. Early in 1917, Viola and Charles were expecting. Viola was pregnant with two twin girls named Lydia and Pauline. Unfortunately, the couple would never meet their children as they lost them prematurely. In June of 1917, Charles would go on to register for the draft.

On April 30th, 1918, Charles was drafted into the army in Gettysburg. Sent to train at Camp Lee, Virginia, he was assigned the 39th Company, 10th Training Battalion, 155th Depot Brigade. After a transfer to Company M, 145th Infantry Regiment, 37th Division, Shuyler was sent to France on June 15th, 1918, on the ship Leviathan. Upon his arrival, he fought in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. With over 120,000 American casualties in September and October 1918, the Meuse-Argonne is the bloodiest battle in American history. It was during this time that Charles sent his last letters home to his wife and mother.

Shortly after he participated in the Meuse-Argonne, he was sent to the front lines near Ypres in Belgium. Though he had survived the Meuse-Argonne, Charles's luck had finally run out. He was mortally wounded in East Flanders, Belgium, on November 4th, 1918, just one week before the armistice brought fighting to a close. 

Charles died of his wounds the following day. He was the only soldiers from Ortanna, PA, to die in World War I. 

Schuyler was originally buried in East Flanders in the Flanders Field American Cemetery. After the war, Charles's wife, Viola Shuyler, decided to have his body brought home for final burial in United States soil. Charles's final journey home came in April 1921, aboard the United States Army Transport “Somme." His body, along with thousands of other fallen Americans, arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 6th, 1921. Charles was buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery eight days later on May 14. Charles’ funeral service took place at the Grand Army of the Republic’s post room, with services administered by the Albert Lentz American Legion post.

From his youth in Adams County to his death just days before the end of the First World War, Charles Schuyler's story reminds us of the tragedy of war.