Show beneral stora of ali A E F 1911 in 11 ll bath north amerlan world mil generall th i a reproduction ID aholt or in art prohibited i i n 1 john J pershing inq CHAPTER L the germans had a preponderance ot rifles march 21 1018 and although alila number had decreased they still had a superiority of about may 27 july 15 this was changed and the allies then had the superiority by the same number in other words the germans ft ere rela lively worse off by rines in july than in march this was accounted for almost en by the great increase in the nuro bera of americans the french and british had not been able to add to thear strength but on the contrary they were being reduced faster than the germans the german offensive south of july 1510 having been checked the moment was favorable fao rable for an allied the se lection by the germans of the chain sector and the eastern and faces of the marne pocket on which to make their offensive was fortunate for the allies as tt favored the counterattack already planned we shall now see the reason for the concentration of several american divisions of soissons Sols sons some of them were available for we in the main counterstroke to be delivered by the french tenth army under mangan the american first and second alons were hastily assembled to form the american third corps under gen eral dullard hut his corps staff hart not yet been fully and these divisions by his direction under als authority given by me be came a part of the french twentieth corps commanded by general berdou lat form spearhead of attack this corps then BBS composed of these two divisions and alie french ilist moroccan division which had a reputation and was assigned to the roost important position in the at luck on the left center of the tenth army the three divisions mentioned had the honor of being the spearhead of the thrust against the vulnerable lank of the salient the line of ad vance ran eastward over the corn roandl ng plateau just south of sols sons and across the main road lead ing from that place to chateau thierry Th lerry the arst had recently been relieved from the sector and was en route to a rest area it was scattered throughout the area just north of meaux when it receded or dors july 13 to move by truck to the front after a hurried departure the advance troops arrived at dawn alie at the forest of aletz or forest of Cott erets and during the night the division moed to the front of the fores the night of july 17 it went forward over muddy and congest ed roads the columns of infantry working their way to the front where they arrived in the nick of lime the second division was at mont acx lions in reserve of the first corps recuperating when the order came on the to move by truck toward the front dawn july 17 found the infantry and machine gun ele ments arriving at the forest of Cott erets alie night of the lath the movement toward the front the forest was made extreme dlf faculty the narrow toads became jammed troops jost heir direction andr thore was serious doubt whether they would be at their line of depar ture at the appointed hour of 4 35 a m the proceed against odds with most commendable energy and initiative the led their corn fiands forward during the wind ing in and out through alie almost in extricable snarls of wheeled vehicles one of the batt affons assigned to lead in the attack though on the most of the night was forced to move on the run for the last few hundred yards and just reached its place as the barrage started the second division headquarters found itself july 10 with no knowledge of the terrain and little obtainable from any source harbord and his chief of staff col preston brown started for the front and accidentally ran into the headquarters of the twentieth corps they there found the directive for the attack from which they issued the divisions orders the country over which the awen aleth corps attacked consisted of n succession of wooded ravines that lay across the line of advance with scarcely any roads leading toward the front the main defenses along the ridges of the soissons Sols sons pla acau were naturally strong and with the added entrenchments ments the enemy evidently felt himself reasonably be cure it was harvest time and th ripening wheat that covered the roll ing landscape give excellent cover for the enemy s infantry and machine guns but it also helped to hide our advance enemy caught by surprise without the usual preliminary ar preparation the assaulting bat accompanied by light tanks plunged forward the barrage the enemy was caught bv surprise and the first and second division gallantly supported by the division in the center soon overran his forward positions anil broke alie zone of bis light artillery though constantly confronted by frea enemy troops this corps took the dejl in the advance and its progress was most satisfactory by noon it had captured half of the great plateau in its front with many prisoners and a little later forward elements reached the day a objective the second division encountered strong opposition at merza in a d effort launched after G p m the town was captured and a line over looking the valley of the crisc was oc coupled the first division had car aled everything before it capturing defended farm houses and other points where it met stiff resistance finally taking missy aux rols and holding a front line slightly beyond that town the line ran diagonally across the paris road the attack of the corps was re fumed the morning of july 10 but dur ing the night the german lines in front of soissons Sols sons had apen heively reinforced with machine guns and ar in their advance the french one hundred fifty third division and the first division met with much resistance si the second brigade of the first encountering fire of the enemy both from the front and the left lank tanks were sent to its assistance and with close artillery support the slon was enabled slowly to gaan ground but at considerable cost the second division with the re serves of the first day in the lead forged ahead to the soissons Sols sons chateau thierry road but was compelled to withdraw to the vicinity of I 1 a ila perle it finally established a line busl west of with the roid under its guns the division was relieved bv the french eighth division th night of the having advanced six and one halt miles captured prisoners and seventy five runs and sustained about casualties first division makes advance july 20 the I 1 arst division continued its advance doggedly against a des stand by the germans on the anoll in front of berzy ie sec the french had been ordered to take berzy ie sec but failed in the after noon directed that it le as faulted by his second brigade hut the attempt did not succeed that day As alsted by the use of artillery and with consummate dash under brig gen B B buck in the face 0 intense artillery and machine gun fire the second brigade captured the town on the meanwhile the first bri gade and the french flighty seventh division which had relieved the mo had crossed the soissons Sols sons i thierry highway and the plateau of buzancy the line now ran parallel to the calse with colsson Sols son commanded by our artillery the first division throughout four days of constant fighting hid ad danced nearly seven miles taken prisoners and sixty guns from seven different german divisions em on the isali even the most among us understood that all was lost the lil story of the world was played out in three days chapton LI american participation in the sec ond e which begin july 18 1918 and turned the title of wain divor of the allies was not limited to alie operations of the I 1 arst and sec ond divisions while this bitter con test was being waited for lie posies slon of lie crucial point near alie troops around the rim of the sal icat had been steadily driving the fourth division Carn cron less its artl lleo fought at first with the trench the seventh brigade was at cached to alie second corps french sixth army the forta seventh anfin try in reserve and the thirty ninth assigned to the french thirty third division in the attack of july 18 tills ment cleaned up the wood in its front captured boroy and extended he line to the south on the the ment went forward about two and one half miles on a front 1000 yards north of the it was relieved alie morning of the and went to the the r eighth brigade was assigned to the french one hundred sixty fourth division the fifty ninth regiment in reserve in the attack of the the fifty eighth regiment assisted in the capture of and cour champs took chevillon and made fur ther substantial gains alie ninth regiment was put in the front line during the night of july 1819 relieving the F efty eighth and on the advancing with he division two miles on the with two battalions of the fifty ninth lu line the advance was carried well to the east of sommelans Som the brigade was relieved from the front line july 21 twenty sixth division participates coincident with these advances on the the first corps dig ged serving with the french sixth army dl vision and composed of our twenty sixth division and the french one linn decd sixty seventh division also he came a part of the movement the sixth division occupied the line it had taken over from the beconi dl vision july 10 the plan for the july 18 offensive contemplated a deep genetra alon south of soissons Sols sons by the french bentli army supported on the right by the french alth arm extending the attack as far south as the I 1 efty second brigade twenty division captured the villages of dorcy torcy and belleau nel leau and one bat tallon reached the base of the daml elements of the abrl gade reached the railroad but severe alanl cre drove them to the starting point on the the advance of the twenty sixth was contingent upon the success f the trench one hundred S aty seventh division on its left but that division failed to take its object lives and the twenty sixth did not at tack on the the one hundred sixta t was held up again ex posing the left of the division to heaby flank alre and preventing more than a ht gain barther to the right the twenty sixth succeeded in taking farm and got a foothold on hill reach new german line when the attack began on the it was found that the germans had withdrawn the night before and the twenty sixth moved forward with little or no opposition until it reichert the now german lines at 1 with the esth the twenty sixth slon bad progressed nearly eleven mites and had captured prisoners and four pieces of artillery since its occupation of the sector july 10 it had suffered about casualties the division was relieved together with the fifty sixth brigade evv enty division by alie I 1 fourth brigide tort second division which took over the sector on the the eighty fourth brigade forty second division replaced two french divisions were pinched out bv the shortening of the line oa the the forty sec ond division occupied the entire front of alie first corps about two miles in extent enemy fights desperately the enemy s defeat in front of alie twentieth corps Ameil can first and second divisions and I 1 arst moroccan division was alie cause of alie withdrawal of his armies but he fought desperately from position to position and his retirement was belli skillfully conducted to save men and material from capture in the of july 13 no operations were ordered tor french or american troops east of chateau Uh lerry leaving them an opportunity to readjust their lines on the patrols from the third division als covered that the germans had voltti drawn across the biarne the night be tore and the division at once advanced its line to the river the of july the germans further withdrew to the line Char teves ridge north of mont st pere connecting with their line of resistance in front of our first corps july 21 the fifth brigade crossed the marne in pursuit capturing mont st bere iere and driving machine guns out of Char teves the sixth brigade waited for he bridge to he completed at heyy and the morning of the one ment crossed the river and captured the hermins were con testing every step and while the first battalion of tills regiment reached I 1 e channel it was compelled to retire by successive positions to jaulgonne Jaul gonne on the operations planned in operation cooperation co the french thirty ninth and the american forty second on its left were only partly successful the forty second captured the strong ly held croix rouge farm but the french ninth division could not advance the leading battalions of the I 1 fifth brigade entered I 1 e channel but not being able to debouch from the town they were withdrawn dark during the night the hard pressed germans retired to the leaving machtay guns behind to delay our advance july 27 the french thirty dl vision took up the pursuit followed by the fifty fifth brigade twenty eighth division which relieved alie french thirty ninth that at fourmont courmont Cour mont the I 1 fifth hrip ade third division advanced on the right to pro hect this movement and occupied a line running from fourmont courmont Cour mont through during the morn ing of the the I 1 fifth brigade cip turid Ron cheres and the twenty englith division reached the oune but was to hold its gains north of the river on the the third dl vision occupied an irregular line be yond Ron cheres but neither that unit nor the twenty eighth division on its left was able to make material progress against the bols des Grim pettes that day thard division relieved the third division was relieved by the thirty second on the and retired south of the maene it had takeo bray H aloyed against it and had about casualties the thrust of the twentieth corps was conducted with such magnificent dash and power that the po within the salient was rendered untenable the dangerous character tei of the threat caused the crown to begin a general withdrawal from the marne this operation snatched the initiative from the enemy almost in an instant and from that moment lie was on the defensive our arst and second divisions watt the moroccan division between bliem had the decisive blow turned the tide of the war retail said it could not tuve been done with out our divisions on the other side the german chan bellor von said later e expected grave events in paris for alip end of july that was on the fileds mont st bere iere east of the sola sons chateau thierry highway on the nd it captured and got a foothold in but was forced by a strong german counterattack to retire to bredull wood the fifty second brigade was also driven back to its starting point the attack renewed on the was successful one regiment reaching the mont st bere iere road but in the afternoon it was forced to retire that night the fifty second brigade was replaced by alie fifty sixth brigade awen eighth division hen the lat ter launched its attack the morning of the it was found that the enemy had withdrawn and he was not again encountered until the pursuers ing part of the fifty first sixth reached croix bouge farm during its offensive action beginning a decisive part in stopping the last german offensive and had advanced ten miles through country stubbornly defended by the enemy it had suffered casualties to the number of nebout and men the forty second division as wo hs seen had come from the trench army to the marne salient and had relieved the twenty sixth division in the ural corps in the advance thai followed it had gallantly captured croix bouge farm on the octh and on the following day had cleared the for et de fere V sur fere and had reached ahe oune july as the ta orty second 11 line he ond the and on the the fourth division in support of jbf forty second division captured a aia while the latter took besles nesles TO BB |