Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-17

out of their lines and swept north In q
| great wave. They took and passed the
first German line, which had been prac-
tically destroyed. captured over hun
| dred guns of various sizes and some
| think like 10000 prisoners. On front
of ten miles they moved forward on an
| average a mile and half. But they
| were now stopped by the German sec
ond line. which was still mistaken. In
| the following days the captured pos l.
| lions were consolidated, and at the
| and forts on the submits of several
| hills were captured. Counter-attacks
seem then to have ensued and the
| French contented themselves with
their artillery to lombard the second
| line.
Outline Of Second Attack.
| 1t is now necessary to examine the
German second line. This began on the
Souain -Sommepy road half way between
these two towns. Here the Germans had
dug themselves in on the top of a hill
about the Navarin farm. To the east
| they occupied the very strong Butte de
Souain, the famous hill 1873 of the Ger
| man reports. which was the stronses.
single work of the Germans. EASTWARD
| the German line ran south OF the nam
| let of Tahure, with a strong fort on the
Butte de Tahure. just to the north OF
the village: thence 1t came south 70
| ward the Butte de Mesnils. where the
Germans still held a salient; finally II
curved back north toward Cernay. leaV-
| ing the Maison de Champagne TO the
French.
october the French again took the
offensive, making the main attacks
along the Souain-Sommepy road and
against Tahure. They were lmme-
diately successful on the Soua1n ROAD
and occupied the Navarin farm. Work
ing east, they also succeeded in the
next two days in taking. first NIL lyS-
| that is, the Butte de Souain-and then
the Butte de Tahure and the village OF
the same name. But still furtner 70 the
east they were less successful. and the
Germans a week later were still hold.
ing a salient well to the south and east
of the village of Tahure.
Again the French advance came 10 a
halt, but it had now covered nearly
| three-fourths of the distance that 1t had
to go to reach the railroad. From the
advance position in front OF the ma
varin farm the distance to Sommepy ID
Butte de Tahure to the railroad. due
north, the distance is not more than
mile. From the Maison de Champagne
the village of Cernay is barely two
miles If the French artillery could be
brought forward behind hill 1879 and
the Butte de Tahure. and II 1t could es-
tablish a supremacy over the German
guns in the German third line, then
the railroad would be cut and the chief
local purpose of the great battle
achieved.
The German Third Line.
But until the artillery got up and the
German third line had been silenced,
the battle remained unwon. This Ger
man third line is less clearly indicated
than the others in the reports, because
! it is still untaken. Roughly speaking.
however. 1t follows a ridge mile and
a quarter south of Sommepy, curving
north, that is, In upon the railway,
north of the Butte de Tahure. and tnen
coming southeast of the village OF Ia
hure. across the Cernay-Souain road,
which is the diagonal of our parallelo-
gram.
For purposes of defense of the rail-
Presumably it is the strongest' al
though the map would indicate that the
French have obtained possession OF the
dominating ridges along the whole
front: The chief point OF -. at .as1so, ~
/ Just north of the Butte de Tahure.
| where the French are within mile OF
| the line at a point where II enters a
| short tunnel. On this front the French
| have already gained over three miles
Probably they will be able to cut the
| railroad by their artillery fire, even II
| they cannot advance further But re-
| newed efforts to advance are certain
To judge from recent events. they nave
| a good chance of success. for the
| French artillery seems to have main
tanned its advantage here from the
start and the German guns captured
| are very numerous.
Numbers and Losses.
1t is now of interest to consider the
number of men actually engaged In
this great battle, for, measured by al
| the standards of the past. this has
been a great battle. Unhappily this
must be wholly a matter Of conjecture
In March the Germans asserted that
| the French used 100000 men on this
| same front and lost about $4,000. The
| French estimated the German force al
the same amount, but made no guess as
to German losses.
| Presumably the French have had
mans fewer, because the extent OF
| French gain indicates a heavy supe-
riority ia numbers. The Germans re-
port that the chief loss was in sin
the French claim to have taken about
10000 unwounded prisoners, which
! would account for at least division
and would point to the destruction by
! casualties OF at ledSt corps VI
10000. The capture of more than sixty
field guns, which have since been ex.
| hibited in Paris, is also an evidence o,
the extent Of German disaster
Measured by cannon and prisoners
icaptured, the German loss was greater
than at the Marine. 1t is Enthusiastically
the most considerable local French sue
cess of the war and the most serious
reverse the Germans have suffered, il
only because of the artillery loss. I'm
Iquestionably the Germans concentrated
reserves and sent achievements to the
danger point. but 1t is doubtful II they
ever faced the French in greater thar