Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-04
BAHDI;D-W1RE ENTANCLEMENTS
INVARIABLY WELL. CUI

In possession Of the French as far as
tho edge OF Assevilcrs. The village
Of Iicrbccourt. taken b. the French
lies between these two points Fur
thcr south the French made progress
towards Assevillcrs and Es,rces
North OF the Scmmc the Germans
made no attack on the positions pre-
viously taken By the French
The French captured heavy artil-
!ery and took more prisoners Tho
statement says thirty-nine German
battalions participated in The fighting
and that thirty-one of these bat,alions
sustained important losses.
During the artillery preparation
preceding the inauguration Of the Of
f"nsive thirteen German captive bal
looms we're burned.
The statement follows:
North OF the River Sommc the
enemy last night made 10 attack upon
the positions conquered by US, and
which We are now organizing
south of the River Sommc the fight
has been continued with complete sue
ccss for our arms. Yesterday evening
and last night we entirely occupied.
along a iron, Of more than five kilo-
meters threc miles,, the two lines Of
trenches Of The second German posi-
ton. from the Mcrcaucourt wood which
IS In our possession, As far as the edge
Of Asscviilers
Between these two points we took
possession. as result of a brilliant
engagement of the village OF Herbe-
court. which had been defensively or
gan!zed by the enemy
Further to the south we have made
progress in the direction Of Asse-
villers. the northern and western boun-
daries OF which are in our hands
TO the north OF the village OF
Estrces, and between E.strces and Asse-
viliers. our troops have made perccp-
tible progress
More prisoners and more pieces OF
hcov: artillery. tho counting Of which
has not Sc; been completed we're cap
tured Ay us during these recent ac-
tons. according 10 information at
hand, il has been established that more
than ih!r,y-nne German battalions
participated in the attack along tho
French front on July l. According to
the statements Of prisoners. thirty
one of the battalions suffered very
heavy losses. and are at present com
pletely disorganizcd. Most OF the
prisoners taken by us July l and JULY
are very young. AS result OF the
questioning of these men in our hands
it has been learned that the prcpara-
tory fire of our artillery was very ef1i-
cacious, not only in annihilatinC de-
fcnsivc organizations. but in render
ing impossible all lateral communica-
ton behind the lines and in preventing
the bringing up Of provisions Al the
same time our artillery fire made II
Impossible for the enemy TO transmit
orders 10 the troops engaged in the
operations.
During the preparatory offensive
fire of our artillery, French aviators
set fire to thirteen captive German
balloons. Two others were set on fire
the list of July. During tho attack our
aeroplane scouts were masters of tho
front During this time only nine
aeroplancs of the enemy showed them
selves, and not one crossed our lines.
OF these nine machines, one was de-
stroycd.
South Of the River Avrc. in tho ro-
gion OF pancourt. and In the vicinity
of tho wood Des Logcs. French recon
noitcring parties penetrated tho Ger
man trenches and cleaned them out
Lassigny n surprise attack against a
trench Of the enemy was successful at
Verlot wood, near Canny- sur-Matz.
Another French patrol made some pris-
oners In the region OF Moulin Sous
Toutvent. In the Champagne district
one of our patrols took some prisoners
not far from Prunay, and brought back
n rapid gun.
"On the left bank of the River Meusc
the night passed in relative quiet, with
the exception of the bombardment of
our positions to the west OF hill 3O4.
On the right bank Of tho river this
morning at about ] 80 o'clock, after a
violent bombardment, tho Germans de-
livered strong attack upon the Dam
loup work. They took possession Of
1t, but our counterattack delivered
shortly after resulted in driving them
completely out and recapturing tho
work, which is now in our possession"