Show mg story of the A E F 9 aall 1 l ua 01 1 id richt d V M auf pershing was still young WK its spirit was asplen did and it was tremendously increasing every day in efficiency and in numbers U then asked marshal halg whether in view of what general petain and I 1 had said he cared to mod ity his bews on the terms of an armistice mi stice to which halg replied athe negative the conference ended here with marshal foch s request that each of us submit in writing what we had proposed CHAPTER leill returning to paris from the con of allied commanders in chief at october 25 1918 I 1 cabled a report of the proceedings to wash ington including my proposals in detail as enumerated in the previous chapter marshal foch did not definitely ex press his views at the conference as may be recalled but the following day he submitted his report to prime minister clemenceau marshal fochs recommendations the main points proposed by the commander in chief and were accepted by the eu preme war council with practically no change in the light of later events we know germany was more nearly beaten than the allied leaders realized at that time and was in fact in no position to resume the fighting even had her government remained intact her last dl vision was in line her supply system was demoralized and the congestion behind her lines made it practically impossible for her to move her armies in the tace of the aggressive allies instead of requiring the german forces to retire at once leaving material arms and equipment behind the armistice terms permitted them to march back to their homeland with colors flying and bands playing posing as the victims of political condl alons if unconditional surrender had been demanded the germans would without doubt have been compelled to yield and their troops would have returned to germany without arms virtually as paroled prisoners of war the render of the german armies would have been an advantage to the allies in the discussion of peace terms and would ive greatly facilitated their execution in conversation with M some time after the war he told me that president of the republic he was in favor of demanding the sur render of the german armies but that M clemenceau his prime minister in alsted elsted upon granting them an armi atice the last phase of the meuse argonne operations was to begin november 1 the american army was now able tor the first time to prepare for an of with some deliberation under reasonably normal conditions and more nearly on an equal footing with the other armies we had learned from reports and from photographs taken by our avi acors that the enemy bad greatly strengthened the most prominent points back of bis lines while captured documents indicated his anten alon of organizing a position along the west slopes of the ridge the eastern spurs of this ridge corn banded all the crossings of the meuse and formed a connecting link with the high ground east of the river about cote saint germain the infantry advanced to the as bault at 30 the morning of novem ber 1 following an accurate barrage of artillery and machine gun fire which beat down german resistance over a lone of 1200 yards in depth squad rons of swift flying combat planes drove the enemy planes aroca the air and alred on the hostile infantry while the bombing squadrons harassed am points behind the enemy lines the attack went forward with precision gaining momentum with every mile enemy badly beaten everywhere for the first time the enemy s lines were completely broken through al though he had been badly beaten on all parts of the aront be had hitherto been able to avoid thia disaster by the magnificent dash of our first army however the enemy now found himself in the same situation that had confronted the allies earlier in the war the fifth corps in the center drove a wedge into the german defenses swept through the zone of their arall lery and by night had reached the heights of five miles from the front of departure the lines bad been decisively crushed thanks to the splendid performances of the eighty ninth and second dial alons the third corps bad strongly supported the fifth corps the ninetieth division all its objectives without a reverse and the fifth dial aloa on its right reaching the meuse north of Brie ulles and capturing clery legrand le grand on the left of the army in the first corps the eightieth division cooper co oper abed with the second division in the capture of Ime court and reached the corps objective north of divry sivry the remainder of the corps was unable in spite of great efforts to make much headway against the bols des I 1 oges although the seventy eighth did gain a foothold in that wood by the evening of november I 1 the situation of the enemy was so serious that he had either to deliver a strong counterattack or to withdraw from all territory south of buzancy boult aux bols the blow struck by the first army had however given him such a shock that he was unable to take strong offensive action although he still offered serious resistance germans hurled beyond meuse the attack continued with vigor no vember t and 3 the third corps hurl ing the enemy beyond the beuse near dun sur meuse and stenay the fifth division on the and 2nd captured doulton doulcon and the ninetieth took devant dun the following day the ninetieth pushed through the woods on its front and established its line along the heights overlooking the aher in the neighborhood of in the fifth corps the eighty ninth division november 2 captured sallly in the face of heavy machine gun IX fire and the following day seized barri court and drove the enemy backward to beauclair the second division made a slight advance on this date resuming the attack the ard 3rd that night the third brigade col james C rhea by a perilous night march through the extensive foret de dieulot passed completely beyond the enemy e lines and captured german troops in their billets by midnight the head of the column was in firm possession of la Tul lerie farm just south of beaumont the success of the attack in the center november 1 compelled the retirement ti of the enemy on the entire front of the first corps the eightieth division on the and 2nd reached the new german defensive position broke through it and took buzancy the tol lowing day against heavy alre the eightieth established its line along the road running southeast from st pierremont remont the seventy seventh division now succeeded in passing and by the night of the and 2nd bad reached the following morning it drove the enemy to the hill north of st pierremont remont where it was held op by heavy machine gun fire pershing spends day at front the seventy eighth division captured the bols dea logos the and 2nd and es its line along the eastern edge of the bols de bourgogne north to briquenay Brique nay and continuing on the ard 3rd captured germont and Verr lerea my diary notes Sou llly thursday november 7 1918 had long talk with stet uelus about ordnance on monday visited second army headquarters and found indications of with drapal on that front spent the day at front went through grandpre overtaking dickhans Dick mans first corps head at he was pushing troops toward sedan Ile turned through st juvin and found trat alc in difficulties many trucks having run off the road in the dark ness gave directions to use lights on all motor transport received letter from marshal foch today asking for six ameri can divisions tor new offensive south of metz our advance has been continuous recommended and mcandrews for promotion to grade of lieutenant gen eral by november 4 the enemy greatly disorganized was retiring before the vigorous pursuit of our troops on the entire front of the first army his withdrawal was strongly protected by cleverly placed machine guns and well organized delaying operations the following telegram came to me on the afternoon of the ath the operations begun novem her 1 by the first american army due to the valor of the command and to the energy and bravery of the troops have already assured results of great importance I 1 am happy to send you my congratulations CHAPTER our success had been so striking since the beginning of the november I 1 attack that I 1 felt full advantage should be taken of the possibility of destroying the armies on our front and seizing the region upon which germany largely depended for her supply of iron and coil in accord ante with these views the following order w as issued to the first and second armies the energetic action 0 the 14 first array should completely expel the enemy from the region between the mouse and the bar within the next few day the results obtained by this army have been felt on the entire front from the moselle to holland it la desired that in carrying out the directions that are outlined herein corps and division commanders push troops forward wherever resistance la broken without regard for fixed objectives and without fear tor their flanks special attention will be given to impress upon all officers and soldiers that energy boldness and open warfare methods are demanded by the present situation the first and second armies will at once prepare to undertake operations with the ultimate purpose of destroying the enemy organization and driving him beyond the existing frontier in the region of ariey briey and longay longwy between the meuse and calera rivers north and northeast of stenay there was a very strong position which commanded the crossings in that vicinity I 1 believed that if we should cross the river south of stenay and move in the direction of Mont medy we could turn this position and have an excellent opportunity to capture large numbers of german troops driven back on the line sedan Mont medy by this maneuver we would also be in an advantageous position to ad vance on the important supply areas of longay longwy and ariey briey an attack by the third corps to the east across the meuse south of dun sur meuse in conjunction with the northward movement by the french seventeenth corps was prepared as a preliminary to a new line of advance to the east november 3 4 and 5 the fifth dl vision of the third corps in a brilliant maneuver on a wide front effected crossings of the mouse and established bridgeheads south of dun the heights of the meuse were grad bally cleared by the third corps and the french second colonial corps which had relieved the french seventeenth entee nth corps now or the first time since 1914 the french positions around verdun were completely tree from the menace of these heights in these operations the fifth diat slon assisted by a regiment of the thirty second on november had captured mally and established its line from there south to the bols de chat allon by night of the ath it had ad danced to and north of our front was also extended to the south and by november 10 an excel lent line of departure was secured tor an offensive in the direction ot mont medy the seventy ninth division kuhn in the french second colonial corps met decided opposition in its attacks of the ath ath and ath against the borne de and this strong point was finally tak en on the ath on the following day the seventy ninth with units of the twenty sixth division bastord Bam tord at cached advanced on its entire front and on the ath took between november 8 and 7 the twenty sixth division on the right of the seventy ninth made no attack on the ath it took up the pursuit of the retiring enemy and by night of the ath occupied a line which allie devant chaumont the eighty first division bailey entered the line as the right division of the french second colonial corps november 7 relieving the thirty fifth division traub attacking on the ath against stiff defense it captured and moranville reaching the beuc the eighty ninth division fifth corps overcoming stubborn opposition captured beaufort on the ath and reached the meuse the foret de saulny jaulny was cleaned up the following day and cesse was occupied the second division in its attack of the ath suffered heavy losses and made slight headway but during the next two days it continued rapidly and by night of the ath reached the cleme south of TO a a |