The Washington herald., 1917-02-18
By JOHN l.. BALDER sroN.
tCopynsht, Igr, By The Mcclure Newspaper
avud!<ufsl


tCopynsht, vr, By ths Meclun Newspaper
synd,atel
London, Jan N.-"President Wilson
would not have spoken so confidently Of
peace without victory II he had been
able to study the battle Of Louvenont, -
said distinguished soldier to me In dis
cussing the lessons Of the sensational
French success before verdun on Z =
cember Is
Americans, wearfed by the. stagnation
Of trench warfare on the western front,
accustomed. as have been, to believe
ground can be gained against the modern
defensive only at the cost of enormous
losses to the attacking side, will naturally
ask why a minor French success should
Be regarded as OF such importance.
The new tactics of Gen. Nivelle, first
tried with results that brought him as
reward the supreme command of the
French armies. when his soldiers cap
tured Douaumont on October "a, were &C r.
ned out at Louvemont with astonishing
success sweeping into. the dustbin all
the theories hitherto held about trench
warfare Louvemont Is the principal rea-
son for the optimism about the approach
ing campaign that exists in both French
and British armies. for 1t seems to prove
that the attack has now gained the mas
terry over the defense IN modern warfare
TO disastrous defeat Recognizing the his
torio importance OF the battle, the French
high command has permitted the pubhca-
ton Of full details of the action, and this
Is the first time in the present war that
nothing has been held back
Smash German Divisions.
The bare recital Of the results of this
battle is enough to make the thousands
of victims OF German machine guns at
Loos, So'Ichez and the Somme turn in
their graves. Four French divisions,
carrying out a plan concerted by Gems.
Nievelle and Mangln three months before,
smashed five hrst-line German divisions
entrenched on commanding heights, de-
feated four other German divisions
brought up the night Of the attack. cap
tured four fortified villages, a dozen re-
doubts as formidable as those fought for
on the Somme, several woods and scores
Of trenches. The French is this attack
lost 1.5O0 men, captured 11,3S7 prisoners.
n5 cannon, a mine-throwers, 1O7 machine
guns and mountains of war material
Incredible. but true. knowing some-
thing OF trench warfare on the western
front. did not believe the first bulletins
myself. Now 1 am able to give the de-
tails Of what, all things considered. must
be regarded as the most astonishing bat
tie of the war.
The action was a sequel to the push
that took Douaumont, and was planned
early in October. The two fights are
called in Paris the immortal sisters"
a name that will stick in history IL
Nivelle's tactics at Verdun can be dupli
Gated on larger scale in the spring and
bring victory to France and England.
The object of the attack was to- expei
the Germans from all the heights on the
right bank of the Meuse whence they
could overlook the communications OF
the Verdun armies, the forts of Douau-
mont and Vaux, and the citadel itself
1t took place on a front of little more
than five miles. On the left the French
assaulted the fortified village Of Vach-
Granville on the Meuse. and from left to
right the other detectives were Pepper
Hill. the Village Of Louvemont, Hill 37s.
the Caurettes, Haudromont, Chauffeur
woods. the ruins of Chambrettes Farm,
Yauche, Caurrieres. Hassoule and Hard
aumont woods, and the Village of Bezon-
vaux. All these detectives were carried.
1t was only five months ago that to take
only one wood, in the Somme country.
was a matter OF days or weeks. and the
Verdun country is not less. but more,
difficult fighting ground than the Soome.
Tragi-Comedy of Battle.
On the German side. in the first line,
were the Fourteenth Reserve division.
the Thirty ninth. Tenth and Four
teenth active divisions. and the Thir-
ty-ninth Bavarian Reserve division.
Three OF these divisions were fresh;
alone of the first-class German units
in the west they had not been through
the Somme ordeal. The Thirty ninth
division had just arrived from the
somme. with the promise of a quiet
time" at Verdun. The misadVentIre
OF the Bavarian division is a tragedy
comedy 1t had been holding for
months a quiet sector in Alsace, wi ere
It suffered little and did nothing. and
its general. Won Kruger. chafed under
this inaction. He wanted to dIstin-
guish himself. he begged that his men
might have a taste of hard fighting.
He was sent to Verdun. and two days
after he arrived his division virtually
did not exist. 1t had fallen before
the immortal Gauloise division of Gen.