| Show 6 all coun trita by the be Nor north american rl newspaper New paper alliance the A Es IF world cd c d it including rights re the e iffy 0 j scandinavian I 1 la va whole RI reproduction orin or in J by gess gen john assa 1 pero perishing shing service M plan of attack of first Army Sept ff jump off line front alne reached sept 7 11 n cor 3 7 dare e I 1 f il 1 Ar arroka rowan indicate U I 1 ap vhf of attack toman n r e r 1 an fn e v 3 1 I 10 ac nel indicate aps J N romagne A 74 I 1 M 0 t f a u c 0 n 10 C 0 renn s t fjor 1 verdun vre CHAPTER LIX continued the fourth division alnes ulnes Ui Ul nes on the left of the eightieth took sept and firmly established itself in the woods to the north it was abreast of and its left was more than a mile beyond montfaucon Mont faucon but through some misinterpretation of the orders by the third corps the opportunity to capture Mont montfaucon faucon that day was lost three counter attacks against the division during the afternoon were broken up fifth corps falls sho short rt in the center the fifth corps cameron with the exception of the ninety first division johnston on its left tell fell short of its objectives the seventy ninth d division I 1 v I 1 s I 1 0 n kulm kuhn on the right of the corps took malancourt Ma lancourt but lu in the open ground beyond encountered considerable opposition and the advanced elements were not in position before montfaucon Mont faucon until late afternoon the attack of the division launched against this strong point early in the evening was met by the fire of artillery and machine guns from the southern slopes of the hill which held up further progress the thirty seventh division farnsworth in the center of the fifth corps after overcoming heavy machine gun fire pushed through the bois de montfaucon Mont faucon and its attacks in the afternoon carried the line up to and west of mont faucon the left of its line facing stiff opposition cleaned up the woods in its front and established itself just south of ivoury ivoiry the ninety first division johnston overcame strong initial resistance si and advanced rapidly to Epi which it entered but did not hold crossing into the sect sector or of the thirty fifth division during the day it occupied very first corps makes progress on the left of the army the first corps liggett made excellent progress the thirty fifth division traub cleverly captured the strong position of and took look cheppy chappy against ii ainest stubborn opposition elements of the division reached the corps object objective le east of charpentry Char pentry but were soon Nith withdrawn drawn to a line west of very on the left the division captured that part of varennes east of the alre aire river but was held up between varennes and chap chappy cheppy py at this time a fresh regiment took the lead giving a new impetus to the attack and pushed the line forward to the high ground south of charpentry Cliar Char pentry in the twenty eighth division melr the right brigade captured the western halt half of varennes Va and continued about a mile farther the left brigade facing the eastern spurs of the argonne Ar which constituted the chief defense of that forest was unable to overcome the intense machine gun fire from the vicinity of champ mahaut Mali aut the alie seven seventy ty seven seventh th dl di iston alexander in the diffin difficult alt terrain of 0 the argonne made some progress by the evening of september 27 the fifth corps was abreast of the I 1 first und and the third on its flanks the seventy ninth division captured Mout faucon the morning of 0 september 27 and on the next day Kanti Hois and the cols bois de beuge were passed desi despite lite determined resistance si in the third corps the eightieth dai dhillon ion had taken the bols de la Is cote cole lamont lament after hard fighting but attack after attack made with dogged determination across the open space toward sur meuse aleuse was rolled back by the galling fire of the enemy from tile the town and its vicinity and by the artillery firing from east of the meuse the thirty third division main tallied its position september 27 and 28 and on september 29 relieved the eightieth division by extending its left along the northeastern edge of cols bois de la Is cote cole lamont I anions where it occupied difficult ground under the dominating heights east of the mouse meuse the fourth lour lb di ision captured nantillois Nanti llois september 2 27 but was faced by enemy counter attacks to retire the town was retaken and held on the following day by troops of the fourth and seventy ninth divisions after three days of almost continuous fighting the fourth bad taken the bols bois de and entered the bols des bogons but could not hold the latter against counter attacks and the deadly machine gun and artillery fire of the enemy the fortitude and courage of the fourth division in these operations were inspiring meet strong resistance the thirty seventh division on september 27 attempted to advance beyond the ivoury montfaucon road but each time it reached there was driven back by heavy shell shelling log on september 28 however it pushed forward to a position north of the clerger cierges nantillois ro road a d clergen was entered but not held the following day the division again attacked clergen Cl erges but the advance was abruptly halted by concentrated artillery fire the ninety first division on september 27 encountered d strong opposition at Epin onville oriville was reached but could not be retained was taken but was evacuated as an artillery barrage was to be laid on the road through the town the fol following loNNIng day Epin onville was finally captured september 28 23 and the bois de clerger cierges aas as occupied after hard fighting two attacks of the division from the rois bois de clerger cierges on september 29 crumbled under fierce artillery and enfilading machine gun fire but on the third attack despite seere losses gesnes besnes was taken the full advantage of this important gain was lost however through tile the inability of the thir ty seventh division to advance its left this placed the right lank flank on the ninety first in a dangerous danged us position and it had bad to be withdrawn during the afternoon the thirty fifth division was subjected to a heavy counterattack counter attack which also involved the left of the nine ty first but made no progress against it battle grows more intensive three new german divisions had appeared by september 30 on the front of the first corps and the battle continued with increased intensity the thirty fifth division was stopped by heavy fire soon after its attack opened Sept september embr 27 but later in the day it captured char pentry and advanced to the ridge northeast though suffering sulT ering severe casualties wood was taken september 28 and early next nest morning a detachment reached Ex ermont valley but being nearly surrounded withdrew to the starting point encountering very heavy artillery fire and an advance of the german fifty second and fifth guard divisions the thirty fifth withdrew from Mont wood which it had taken the day before the thirty fifth suffered healer casualties than any other division during these four days of continuous fl fighting li tIng the twenty eighth division though subjected to strong artillery and anchine gun fire from the bluffs of the argonne captured september 27 it coald make slight headway against firm opposition from positions in tile the vicinity of champ SIa Mali haut aut but carried them on september 28 and RISO also captured apremont dapremont on september 29 after repulsing a german counterattack counter attack a slight advance was made against the defenses of le chene tondu the seventy seventh encountered stiff rV resistance istance in the argonne Ar gronne september 27 and was hold held to a small gain but moved forward about a mile on september 28 next nest day its right was advanced with little opposition during the first tour four days of lighting fighting the first army west of the meuse had made a maximum advance of about eight miles reaching the bols bois de la fit cote lemont nantillois dapremont apremont the enemy had been struck a jiow blow so powerful that the extreme gravity of his situation in france was obvious to him CHAPTER LX the second phase of 0 tile the meuse argonne operation the period from october I 1 to 11 involved the heaviest strain on me and the army there was little time to make readjustments among the troops heavily engaged without giving the enemy a respite in which to strengthen ills his defenses and bring up reserves the general attack was resumed at 5 a m on october 1 4 meeting desperate resistance by the enemy in this attack the fourth division of the third corps in three days bitter fighting cup tuned and held the bols bois de fays making a gain of over a mile advances into the bols bois le ie pent de faux were forced back by vicious counter at tacks attacks in similar hard fighting the eighteenth division gained a foothold in the bois des bogons against very heavy machine gun fire in the attack of the fifth corps the third division pushed forward in the face of strong resistance during the next nest two days tills this division extended its gains but c could make no headway against the bols bois de cunel bunel the thirty second division which had taken cierges cierkes october 1 advanced to just south of gesnes besnes on the fourth despite very severe hostile fire and next nest day captured that town on the left of the army the first corps was very very successful the first division in a fine display of power on october 4 drove a deep edge into the line this was of great value in affording space for the attack toward the argonne to be launched later the fighting here was characterized by the stubborn nature of the german resistance and the offensive spirit of the div division islon case of the lost battalion the right of the twenty el eighth lith division fought its way down the aire river in liaison with the first and captured chechery Che hery the left of the division encountered much opposition and made hut but slight gain edid notwithstanding its repeated attacks the division was now facing west tor for nearly three miles along the alre aire river the seventy se seventh division between september 29 and october 4 continued its attacks in the argonne advancing about a mile over difficult terrain in the assault of october 2 a in mixed axed battalion of the division moved forward more rapidly than the troops on its right and left and became completely surrounded by the enemy it became popularly known as the lost battalion for four days every effort of the dil division sion to relieve this beleaguered beleaguer ed force was unsuccessful end every effort of the germans to force its surrender was without avail french call for help in the meantime the french fourth army on our left had been held up at blanc mont ilont As a con sequence marshal foch appealed to me for assistance although I 1 was loath to spare any troops from our front so serious was our own situation I 1 sent in accordance with my promise the second division lejeune Lc jeune which was followed later by the thirty sixth W R smith october 3 the second division accompanied by french tanks in a brilliant maneuver against heavy machine gun resistance stormed and captured the dominating german cerman positions on the farm blanc mont blidge and continued on toward st etienne which alch was taken on october 8 with the aid of one brigade of the thirty sixth division tills this success carried for ward the french divisions on its right and left and as reported by general gouraud couraud enabled tile the whole fourth army to advance the broadening of the front of attack to the east of the meuse and the probability that w we should soon become engaged along our whole line made it advisable to establish estable all another army accordingly the second army was formed with its front extending from the moselle to fresnes fresnel en and placed under the command of major general bullard on the twelfth the remainder of our front from fresnes fresnel en to the argonne forest was left under the first army to which major gen eral cral liggett laggett was assigned roth both commanders were recommended by me tor for promotion to lieutenant general my status now became that of commander com mandet 0 of a group 0 of armies major general summerall was placed in command cor amand of tho the fifth corps to relieve major general cameron who was given command of the fourth division major general alnes was promoted to the command of the third corps in place ot of general bullard major general dickman commanding the fourth corps was given the first corps and major general muir the fourth these changes generally took effect october 12 but I 1 retained direct command of the first army until the sixteenth CHAPTER the meuse argonne operations carried out between october 7 and 11 consisted of four specific attacks as follows 1 october 7 the first corps employing the eighty second division between the first and twenty eighth divisions attacked the eastern edge of the argonne forest 2 october 8 the french seventeenth entee nth corps re enforced by the american thirty third and awen ty ninth divisions attacked east of the meuse on the front beaumont brabant sur meuse with the object of seizing the heights helg lits there 3 october 9 the fifth corps re enforced by including within its front the first division divi gion to which vas nas attached a brigade from the ninety first division attacked the be heights ats of the bols bois de romagne romae 4 october 1011 10 11 A gene general al ait attack on the 20 mile front from beaumont west to the aire river the french fourth amay had not been able to keep abreast of the american first army and it was evident that clearing the argonne forest would materially aid its advance the opportunity pre pie spited itself just at this time although on october 6 the enemy continued to hold tile heights of cunel bunel and romagne Koni agne nevertheless sufficient space had been secured along the aire river to warrant an all attack to the west with the object of striking the rear of the positions in the argonne forest there was as another important factor that entered into the decision to force the withdrawal of the enemy from the argonne this was the predicament of the lost battalion which under maj C NV whittlesey had been holding out near Bi narvIlle since october 2 efforts to relieve the ba battalion had so tar far been unsuccessful and the men had consumed their rations and expended most of their am ammunition although our aviators abla tors had tried to drop small amounts amount to them the battalion nas as resisting in heroically against great ads odds without any thought of surrender pursuant to the plan tin an attack was made by the twenty eighth and eighty second divisions against the left and rear of the positions in the region of chatel chesery and cornay after a night march of eight miles the eighty second division duncan entered the line between the twenty eighth melr Nl and the first summerall in a series of kianof attack of first arany east of NL ax oct a 1 off aft pa 1 me ched oct 8 fu lv r by nov r ow cor ind cate orv isom co r ar s dw savry N 9 es ar ft de braf kauffm daring movements to the west by the twenty eighth and eighty sec ond divisions cornay chatel che hery and the dominating bills northwest of apremont dapremont were cap aured although the continued operation of these two divisions wa was at tended by severe lighting fighting th the re suits were immediate the enemy was forced to withdraw from that region the argonne forest was cleared and the seventy se seventh division was enabled to advance addan ce to the relief of its lost battalion it then pushed on to tile the north dorth in pursuit of the retreating enemy east of the mouse general |
