author
Lewis E. Jahns
Best known as one of the credited editors of a firsthand history of the American campaign in North Russia, this early 20th-century writer helped document a little-known chapter of U.S. military history. His work preserves the experiences of soldiers who fought in the harsh Arctic campaign against Bolshevik forces after World War I.
1 Audiobook
The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919
by Joel R. (Joel Roscoe) Moore, Lewis E. Jahns, Harry H. Mead
About the author
Reliable biographical information about Lewis E. Jahns is scarce, but the historical record does clearly connect him to The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919, published in 1920. Library of Congress and Project Gutenberg records list him alongside Joel R. Moore and Harry H. Mead as one of the book's credited compilers or editors.
The book draws on the experiences of the American Expeditionary Force in North Russia, often remembered as the Polar Bear Expedition. Jahns is identified in surviving records as Lieut. Lewis E. Jahns, 339th U.S. Infantry, which places him close to the events the book describes and helps explain the work's direct, eyewitness-driven character.
Because so little independently confirmed personal information is readily available, Jahns is best understood through this contribution: helping shape an important account of a forgotten intervention in the Russian Civil War. For readers interested in military memoir, overlooked corners of World War I history, or the human side of difficult campaigns, his work remains a valuable window into the period.