918
Sergeant Alvin C. York
FES Title: Sgt. Alvin C. York 327th Inf. 82nd Div Attack made from Hill 223- N. of Chatel Cheke Argonne Forest near Corney. Ardennes. France Oct 8th 1918
Alternate Titles: Sergeant York
Date: 07/01/1919
Size: 30″H x 50″W
Medium: oil-on-Smooth-canvas
Type: subject painting
Published: “Souvenir Pictures of the Great War.” The Ladies Home Journal, October 1919: 28.
caption: All American Second Elder

Harrington, Peter. “Images of the Great War.” American History, December 1996: 33.
caption: Figure 2-An All-American Second Elder, F. E. Schoonover

Beattie, Lt. Col. Taylor V. “In Search of Sergeant York: The Man, the Myth, and the Legend.” Military Heritage, June 2001: 30-31.
caption: Corporal Alvin York fires at German defenders in a thicket on October 8, 1918 in this rendition of his heroic action by painter Frank Schoonover.
Inscription: ll: Frank E. Schoonover / 6-19
Annotations:
Exhibitions: 2002 Sgt. York
Comments: index; edit
Commentary: Here Schoonover portrays one of the most heroic individual actions of World War I. On October 8, 1918, Sgt. Alvin Cullum York, a member of the 328th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Division, went out with a patrol near Hill 223 on the Meuse-Argonne battlefield. They met strong resistance from German forces. York assumed command of the patrol, and they silenced two of the dominating machine gun positions that had pinned down American forces in the valley. He and the patrol evacuated all of the wounded, German and American, and returned leading a column of 132 German prisoners. His heroism is legend in the annals of military history. He received the Medal of Honor.
Marshall Ferdinand Foch, Commander-in-Chief, Allied Armies said about Sgt. York’s feat, “The Greatest Thing Accomplished by any Private Soldier of All the Armies of Europe.” (Beattie, 30, 38) For further commentary, see #886.
Provenance: Sold by the artist to H.M. Pierce (December 24, 1926); Schoonover Studios, Ltd., Wilmington, Delaware (1998); Blakeslee Gallery, Wellington, Florida; 82nd Airborne Division Museum, Fort Bragg, North Carolina (on long-term loan beginning May 20, 2006); Collection of Gary Blakeslee, Wellington, Florida; Collection of Allan Jones (2011)
Current Owner: