Marcellus Holmes Chiles

Captain Marcellus Holmes Chiles (February 5, 1895 – November 5, 1918) was a United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War I, he suffered wounds that ultimately caused his death during those actions.

Biography

Chiles was born in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to John Horne Chiles. He later moved to Denver, Colorado, where his father worked as a lawyer. He was a student at Colorado College when World War I began. After attending an officers' training camp, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in August 1917. For these actions, he received the Distinguished Service Cross; the award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor the next year.

Chiles, aged 23 at his death, is buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery near Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France.

Medal of Honor citation Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 356th Infantry, 89th Division. Place and date: Near Le Champy Bas, France, 3 November 1918. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Birth: Eureka Springs, Ark. G.O. No.: 20, W.D., 1919.

Citation: When his battalion, of which he had just taken command, was halted by machinegun fire from the front and left flank, he picked up the rifle of a dead soldier and, calling on his men to follow led the advance across a stream, waist deep, in the face of the machinegun fire. Upon reaching the opposite bank this gallant officer was seriously wounded in the abdomen by a sniper, but before permitting himself to be evacuated he made complete arrangements for turning over his command to the next senior officer, and under the inspiration of his fearless leadership his battalion reached its objective. Capt. Chiles died shortly after reaching the hospital.