Lost Battalion Tours: “We put you right where the Doughboys were.”

Have you ever felt drawn to a certain place in this world? A place that seems to call for you, even from thousands of miles away, and you can feel that call in your bones?

For me that place is the Meuse region of France, a part of that country that was severely ravaged by years of combat and carnage in the First World War. The Meuse is home to the infamous city of Verdun, the hills north of which were the site of the war’s perhaps best-known apocalyptic bloodbath. The Meuse was also the site of the United States of America’s largest military operation to date, the 47-day long Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Have you ever wanted to see the green fields of France? To walk where the Doughboys, the Tommies, the Poilus, and the Frontschwein of the Great War walked? Then please keep reading.

Lost Battalion Tours (LBT) is one of the very few tour companies out there that focus exclusively on the American battlefields of the First World War, taking guests to the places where the American Doughboys marched, fought, bled, and died. LBT is run by two WWI enthusiasts: Robert J. Laplander, the well-known author of Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic, which is THE book on the subject, and myself, Mike Cunha, host and producer of the long-running Battles of the First World War Podcast.

Entrance to the Froidmont Quarry, an underground quarry used by French, German, and American troops as shelter during the Great War.

The company name is Rob’s idea, and the idea for the company itself was also his. He called me in 2019 and asked if I wanted to run WWI battlefield tours with him in France, and I readily agreed. The ensuing worldwide pandemic of 2020 immediately halted us in our tracks for the next two summers, but we used that time to prepare all of the itineraries and logistics frameworks we needed to make sure the tours went off as smoothly as possible.

The Lost BattalionTours party enters the Froidmont Quarry, some 30 feet underground.

Our common goal has been to create unique and affordable World War I battlefield tours, and 2022 saw us put boots on the grounds over in the fields and hills of the Meuse. We do not offer a large-group “point-and-shoot” bus tour where guests have limited time to take photos of particular sites. What we offer are small group tours where we traverse the old battlefields in SUVs, making frequent stops to see sites of interest. We drive to most places, but we also walk a fair amount. Walking an old battlefield is an experience like no other when it comes to remembrance and learning: we put you right where the Doughboys, the Germans, or the French were, and you will soon understand why they made the decisions they did at the time.

Mike telling the story of the German raid on Seicheprey at the northern edge of the village.

With Lost Battalion Tours you will stand on the slope of Hill 250 where in October 1918 US Army Private John Lewis Barkley manned a listening post before deciding to fight off a German infantry battalion from an abandoned tank–from the next hill over, on which you will also stand. You will also walk up the Ravin d’Argonne (Argonne Ravine), through which then-Major Charles Whittlesey and his combined force pushed and entered the famous hillside where they would be surrounded for five days in early October 1918. You will crouch in Whittlesey’s shell hole command post and the fox holes of the Lost Battalion Doughboys, still discernible on the steep hillside of Charlevaux Ravine.

Our basic tour is as follows. On our first day we visit the three main heights of the Meuse front that needed to be seized on the first day. We start near where the Doughboys of the 79th “Cross of Lorraine” Division jumped off and head into the village of Malancourt, which was obliterated during the Battle of Verdun in 1916. From there we head up the road to Montfaucon Hill, the most important height west of the River Meuse. We explore the American Montfaucon Memorial and its grounds, before heading off to Hill 285 and then the Butte de Vauquois. Vauquois was the scene of intense and unrelenting mine warfare: the hilltop village was literally blown off the face of the earth. An underground tour of the remaining German and French tunnels deep in the hill provide an unforgettable experience.

Mike telling the story of WWI urban combat in Fismes, France. (Robert Laplander is at far right.)

From there we visit the highlights of the 47-day battle: we stop at the sites where several Americans earned the Medal of Honor. These men include John Lewis Barkley, Alvin York, Charles Whittlesey, George McMurtry, Nelson Holderman, Michael Ellis, Edward Allworth, and others. We walk the path of the Lost Battalion from the Small Pocket at l’Homme Mort hill to the Charlevaux Ravine. We stop at the KronPrinz Bunker near Apremont, making a visit to the German military cemetery nearby as well. Further visits include Exermont, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, the destroyed village of Haumont-pres-Samogneux, Molleville Farm, and the Bois d’Ormont.

No tour is ever complete without a visit to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Romgane-sous-Montfaucon. We walk amongst the fields of white crosses, telling the stories of the men and women resting there. We close out our time there by folding the American flag during the retreat ceremony.

In the Lost Battalion Tours pocket in Charlevaux Ravine, where Rob tells the story of his boys.

Right from the start Rob and I noticed that an incredible thing happened on our tours. We would pick up strangers at Charles deGaulle Airport in Paris on the first day of the tour. Six days later, we would drop off friends.

This is the magic. Spending the days riding, walking, dining, and sharing together, turned us into a group of friends who had the incredible fortune to share their passion for WWI history with other enthusiasts. Rob and I create the itinerary, schedule the tour stops, and tell most of the stories. However, as much as we are the storytellers we also become listeners. Many of our guests are just as knowledgeable as we are, and the tour becomes moments where we can share and learn from each other.

Dinner in the evening. This is where we unwind and talk about all we’ve seen and done during the day.

These tours have become more like pilgrimages as the years have gone on. In the evening, after a hearty French dinner at a local restaurant, the guests share bread and memories of the day. The conversation continues into the night when we get back to the hotel.

That call of the Meuse has resonated not just with me, but with many of the guests as well. Every year we have had more and more guests return for another visit to the Meuse-Argonne battlefields of 1918.

Our summer 2026 Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour is scheduled to run 02 through 08 July. Email us at [email protected], and join us for an unforgettable experience walking in the footsteps of the American Doughboys.

(Top Left) At Lost Battalion Tours, it’s all about sharing. Here USMC COL (Ret.) William Anderson shares his knowledge about the Fismes battle. (Top Right) Standing right where history happened. Samogneux village on the Meuse. (Bottom Left) Lost Battalion Tours 2025 at the Saint Mihiel American Cemetery. (Bottom Right) What an overload of history can sometimes do to folks. 🤣

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