The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-07-15
segyAln On f0@
!, WIN [AUFEAuxt MIL.
Aided by Tanks, French
Horsemen Get Back Into
Battle Again.
CAPTURE MANY MEN
'Teuton Opposition, Though
Brave, Is Futile Against
Charge.


THE Associated Press -Cavalry on foot
!. took brilliant part in the recent at
tack and capture from the Germans OF
the Laffaux mill. the key position Of
the famous Chemin des Danes. and
: IN the vain. effort to reeonquer the
Z stronghold the German commanders
Shave since seen their crack regiments
ssswithcr away. These French cavalry:
.smcn who had. during the entente re-
I, treat to the Marine In August, 1914
] covered themselves with, glory while
acting as a shield between the pur-
s.had been chatting with, impatience to
Gross weapons once more with the en-
[.emy. te
=; Trench warfare. however. did not
I.lcnd Itself to-, cavalry fighting. Most
of the soldiers OF the cavalry regiments
,nrc men belonging to the active army
kswho were in full permanent training
E,,when hostilitics began in 1914. and the
(3various units still are under the COM
Emand OF their regular commissioned
and non commissioned officers. They
khad suffered some losses during the
earlier engagements of the war, but,
Ito all intents and purposes. the regi-
ments remained intact.
Separated From Mounts.
The military authorities considered
for long time the question as to how
best to employ the splendid fighting
material composing these regiments.
Eventually 1t was decided to separate
the men of some Of the regiments
from their mounts and to form them
into infantry battalions. regiments and
ed the order with enthusiasm. The
ciurassier regiments were the first
thus transformed.
A Thrilling Charge.
When the order to go 'over the top
was given at daybreak the impro-
vised infantrymen leaped from the
trenches with the dash of youth--for
the majority OF them We're Of the best
military age. from % to 26--and fol-
lowed across the rising ground the bar
rage OF fire from the French artillery.
whose curtain of projectiles raised an
(inlpassabe screen before them and
drove the German defenders to shelter
when It did not crush them together
with ttheix, field works. BY far the
greater number of the men were ma
rtives Of the districts invaded by the
!. Germans and their anxiety to get to
grips with their enemies was great.
They reached the plateau in their
first dash and then after taking breath
they started forward again. their OBJ
jectivc this time being two strong
lines Of trenches fortified by cement
shelters here and there and with nests
OF machine guns which enfiladed the
advance.
Tanks Join in Fight.
The first line Of trenches was car
ricd without much trouble. but in the
center Of the attack. Laffaux mill re-
sisted. as did also several blockhouses
bristling with machine guns. The dis
mounted cavelrymen saw the futility
of attacking from the front. SO non
commissioned officers with parties of
men filtered through between them
until they were surrounded. Then a
section of tanks was ordered up to deal
with the points Of resistance. which
they did. while the first wave Of
cuirassiers passed on to attack the next
line.
The second line was defeated with
the courage Of despair by the German
troops. and progress could be made by
the cuirassie only very slowly. every
foot of ground having to be earned in
Individual combats with hand gren-
nflcS and bayOnctS
Germans in Brave Reply.
At one point a party of 40 Germans
stood fast, bravely throwing grenades
at the French attackers. Then one Of
the bravest deeds Of a day in which
many were done was performed by
Trooper Beranger. who advanced in
front Of his comrades in the open with
his portable machine gun, and after
deliberately taking sight moved all
the Germans down despite a continual
shower of grenades which, by some
lucky chance. missed him.
After a fight lasting nearly six
hours the cuirassiers occupied all their
detectives. and the plateau surround
ing l.affaux mill has since remained
in French hands despite dozens Of
strong counter attacks in all of which
cuirassiers captured over 500 prisoners
and a large number of machine guns.
They are now quite cOnsoled for what
they thought at first was the degra-
datiOn of being turned into infantry,