Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-08-06

The German retreat was as orderly
as that of the French and English had
been. The invaders took up an ad-
mirable defensive position. 1t ran
just north Of the Aisne river, on
series OF bluffs, then just north OF
Chalons and through the wooded,
rough regions of the Argonne and the
Woevre, joining hands here with the
troops besieging Verdun. The allies
have tried this line in vain ever since.
Both combatants now tried to turn
the west flank. Enormous bodies of
cavalry. On the part of the French
Flanders. On the part of the French
there was largely the desire to link up
with the Belgians. now being attacked
in Antwerp. The mighty siege guns
of the Germans made short work of
the Belgian seaport, however, and it
fell on October 8. The remnants of
sea coast and the Germans in a final
rush reached Ostend October 15).
Line Extended to the Sea.
The battle line of the Aisne was now
extended to the sea, the Germans hold
ing the important French city of Lille,
while the allies kept Ypres in Belgium
and, partly by flooding the lowlands,
held the position of the User river and
canal
From October 16 to November 10
was fought the desperate first battle
of Ypres, when the Germans suffered
enormous losses in attempts to break
| through the line in Flanders and reach
! Calais. They succeeded in pushing
back the allies only little and the
invasion of Silesia by the Cossacks
finally induced them to desist and
send re-enforcements to Russia
The Germans in September had per
formed the feat of pushing salient
into the French line south of Verdun
which terminated on the west bank OF
the Meuse river at st. Mihiel; while
the French had taken the offensive
with some success in Champagne al
about the same time.
For the most part throughout tbs
winter the fighting consisted of regu
lar siege warfare. with heavy artillery
combats and mine and counter-mine
The flooding of the River Aisnt
from winter SHOWS gave the Germans
a chance to entrap the French troops
on the north side of that river in th'
vicinity of Scissors for considerable
distance and kill or capture most o
them (January 14).
Take Offensive in Spring.
With the spring, the French ant
English attempted to take the offensiv,
at several points.
In the Vosges the domin' ? heigh
of Hartmannsweilerkopf 5 takel
and retaken several times in sanguin
airy charges and finally remained in tn
hands of the French.
The salient of st. Mihiel was ais
subjected to tremendous French pres
sure on both legs" The French sue
ceeded in gaining little ground, bu
the Germans, despite the apparen
weakness of the sharp wedge they ha
driven into the French line, could nc
be dislodged and later succeeded in RI
gaining some of the territory they ha
lost
The British also reported victories
at Neuve Chapelle and Hill No. so, /
Flanders. Whether these should
accounted successes for the allies
doubtful. The British suffered emo,
nous losses and at Neuve Chapel
bungled affairs to the extent of shell
ing their own men who had taken Gei
man trenches.
The next development was the III
expected use of poisonous gas fume
by the Germans in attacks just mort
of Ypres. With this novel weapo
they succeeded in taking several sma
villages and more than compensatin
for the British gains south of Ypre,
The losses of the French, Canadian
and British were severe, but they SUI
ceeded in stemming the German OF
slaught effectively a few miles bac
: from their former position
: Begin Series of Attacks.
] The German line makes a salient 8
} Scissors, though not such a DIT,
nounced one as at ST. Mihiel Th
, French now began a series of a
! tacks on the upper side Of this salien
to the north of Arras. Expending hui
} dreds of thousands of shells. they tim
and again blasted away the barbe
, wire entanglements and concret
trenches, held by Grown Prince Ru
, precht of Bavaria's men, and the
charged across the desolate ground fc
slight gains.
The fighting centered about the s.
/. gar refinery of Souchez and the gre,
German work called the Labyrint
Fighting went on in cellars and tu
, nels below the earth and the casua
, ties were heavy. The French bent I'll
I German line and captured the Lab
. rinth, but whether the gains justifie
. their sacrifice in human life is que
tionable.
l In July, Crown Prince Frederic
Williams army attacked in the A
gonne forest, west of Verdun, ar
succeeded in gaining several hundre
yards of shattered woodland and ca
/ turing several thousand Frenchme
There were rumors that the &c
n mans were reinforcing for anoth
q great drive toward Calais or Pari
l. but the Teutonic campaign in Il
t West continued to wait upon Il
e crushing of the much weaker enen
= in Poland.