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Details:

In the Ossuary burial area.

Isolated Burial


A marble block ossuary grave with large inscribed brass plaque on the front of the memorial.

 

The Ossuary includes he remains of 130 French Foreign legion soldiers of the 1st and 2nd regiments.   Henry Weston Farnsworth, an American, is buried along side his comrades. 

 

The Ossuary is part of a larger memorial remembering Farnsworth and his Foreign Legion comrades.  

 

The memorial is officially known as the French National Cemetery of the Legion (Cimetière National de la Légion) but it is also know as the American Monument or Farnsworth Monument (Monument  Américain"or Monument Henri Farnsworth). 

 

The monument was constructed and dedicated in 1920 by William Farnsworth, father of Harvard alumnus Henry Farnsworth, a young American university student who had enlisted in the French Foreign Legion on 5 January 1915 and was killed 28 September 1915. 

 

Rue Henry Farnsworth in the town of Souain was also named for the fallen soldier.


 From the Mémoire des homes (French Ministry of Defense) Website:

 

Henry Weston FARNSWORTH

 

Mort pour la France le 28-09-1915 (Souain, 51 - Marne)

 

Né(e) le/en 07-08-1890 à Dedham - Massachussets (U.S.A.)

25 ans, 1 mois et 21 jours

 

Career

Rank: soldat de 2e classe

Unit: 1 R.M.L.E.

Corps roll number:11280

Class: 1915 EV

Recruitment office: Seine Bureau Central (75 - Paris (ex Seine))

Recruitment roll number: 34200

Reference: Mort pour la France

 

Sépulture:

Place of burial: Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus

Name of burial site: Ossuaire national 'LA LEGION ETRANGERE'

Type of burial: ossuaire

 



Monument Text:

The text on the inscribed brass plaque includes the names of the 130 French Foreign Legion soldiers to in Include Farnsworth:

 

Farnsworth, H.

 

On the side of the Ossuary, the following text is written in French:

 

la Mémoire de Henry Weston FARNSWORTH

Né le 7 Aout 1890 à DEDHAM Massachussets Etats-Unis

Tué à l'Ennemi Non Loin De Ce Lieu Le 28 Septembre 1915

Dix Huit Mois Avant l'Entrée En Guerre Des Etats-Unis

Contre La Folie Allemande

Il Souffrit Combattit et Mourut

Non Pour Ses Foyers Menacés Pour Ses Amis

Et Sa Terre Natale

Mais Pour La Cause Universelle De La Liberté

Du Droit Et De La Bienveillance Parmi Les Hommes.

 

The translation in English is:

 

In Memory of Henry Weston FARNSWORTH

Born August 7, 1890 in DEDHAM Massachusetts United States

Killed by Enemy Not Far From This Place on September 28, 1915,

Eighteen Months Before The United States Entered The War

Against German Madness

He Suffered Fought and Died

Not For His Home, Friends or his native land

But For The Universal Cause of Liberty

Of Law And Benevolence Among Men.



Commemorates:

People:

Henry Weston Farnsworth

Units:

American Volunteer Group

French Foreign Legion

Wars:

WWI

Other images :