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Show ! President Wilson Pays Visit to Scenes of Famous Battles Once Gory Field in Northern France Viewed by Chief Magistrate; Declares Admiration for French Heroism. By HENRY WALES, (Chicago Tribune Cable, Copyright.) AR1S, March 23. President Wilson Pleft this morning in an automobile for a tour of the. battlefields, visiting visit-ing the Soissons area, where the allies seized tiie initiative from Ilirulenburj; on July IS by sending General Gen-eral Manyin-.s Tenth French army to attack at-tack the Chateau Thierry salient. Tho president visited scenes of the American arn.v participation, as the First and Second Sec-ond divisions were Incorporated in General Gen-eral .Mai, Kin's army as shock troops lor this offensive, while the Twenty-sixth division struck toward Chateau 'Thierry and the Third threw back the Germans across the Marno. The president motored out tho mam hi.-h road, which was the first day's objective ob-jective of the First ami Second divisions on July 18, which they reached with the French Moroccan division beiore noon. Sees American Cemetery. The president saw the vast. American cemetery near Missy-aux-Bois, where several thousand doughboys and ma.mes are buried. He saw the old First division headquarters at Qunry and the .Second division headquarters at , farmhouse Then bevond Soissons, on tho plateau commanding the Aisnc, he saw where the Thirty-second division attacked at the end of August wilh Mangin's army when Juvignv was stormed by the Americans, Wlth light tanks supporting the attack. The president inspected S'oissons where the British crossed the Aisnc alter defeating de-feating Von Kluck at the Marno in September, Sep-tember, Jftl I, and saw where Uio Amer ican ambula.nce units were headquartered during lniti and 1917. seeing far on! the ridge marking Chemin-des-Dames. Soissons is two-thirds ruined by shell fire and the magnificent cathedral is almost as badly shattered as that at Rheinis. The president crossed the English Eng-lish bridge and motored northward to Malmaison, which marks the western end of Chemin-des-Dames, and where the French under General Maistre threw the Germans back beyond Ailette, outflanking them from tho ridge positions in the autumn au-tumn of 1017. Proceeding northward toward Laon. the president visited the original Big Bertha emplacement in the forest where tiie Germans Ger-mans shelled Paris a year ago today. Views Effect of Fire. Mr. Wilson could see bow the rush of flame and gases from the gun muzzle withered the trees and branches and killed vegetation in1 front of tile gun positions, po-sitions, and the deep concrete steel pit and emplacement still remained, althoush tiie Germans had carried off the rifle. From here tho president motored through Noyon and Montdidier and visited Can-tigny, Can-tigny, which the first division stormed and captured last May after the German drive toward Amiens stopped and they wore thrown in to reinforce the French and British In the critical sector. Mr. Wilson saw the graves of many Americans of the old first division and the spot where Major Theodore Roosevelt was gassed while waiting lo go over tin-top tin-top with bis battalion. The president and Mrs. Wilson returned to Paris about S o'clock. , |
