As the battle in the Argonne Forest raged into its fourth day, and after numerous casualties, Second Lieutenant Adelbert Durkee McCleverty was appointed to lead his battalion’s charge against the village of Gesnes. The battalion was successful but McCleverty was wounded in the process and died on the battlefield on September 29, 1918. He is buried at Meuse-Argonne Cemetery in France. (bit.ly/uw_mccleverty) After serving for four years in the 2nd Regiment of Washington’s National Guard, Adelbert attended officers training camp at the Presidio and received a commission. He was assigned to Company G, 362nd Infantry, part of the 91st Infantry “Wild West” Division. Highly regarded by his men, McCleverty was described as “modest and unassuming” and a “natural leader” by Colin Dyment in his series about the actions of the 91st. (Morning Oregonian, 8 May 1919, pg. 7.) Dyment goes on to quote Adelbert’s commander “he inspired confidence by his goodness rather than by his aggressiveness.”
The oldest of three children born to Judge Joseph D. McCleverty and his wife, Mary Richardson, Adelbert was born and raised in Fort Scott, Kansas. He graduated from Fort Scott High School and then attended the University of Kansas. Following the death of his father, Mary and her children moved to Seattle where Adelbert decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and attend law school. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Washington in 1911. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity at Kansas and the UW. Adelbert married Phebe Mae Pierce on May 18, 1915, in Seattle. Following Adelbert’s enlistment she took his place in her husband’s law office. She went on to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1920, when she took over her husband’s practice.