New-York tribune., 1918-10-03
the Hun! She'll Him With Your Dollars!
New York and Illinois Join
Hands to Win Great Victory
Empire State Boys Raked Enemy Posts With Shell, While
Westerners Paved the Way for Advance
by Doughboys

second wave, which was forming.
Five minutes later it jumped another
hundred yards to make room for the
third wave, then began to crawl up
the hill with all waves following. T.
reached the hill crest, then performed
graceful curves into the Forges Wood,
where the enemy had been waiting for
the frontal attack. But it was a flank
attack. and the enemy soon found the
doughboys in waves behind them.
Enemy Gives Up
The only avenue Of escape lay to the
southeast, toward the Meuse River, and
here they found the American machine
gun bsrragc playing over the ground
where the enemy had expected the
American waves to advance. Cut off
and completely surrounded, they sur
rendered in patches. One dugout alone
! yielded three officers and seventy men.
Isolated machine gun nests in the
woods sputtered gayly in the direction
where no American troops existed. Ono
lieutenant and his platoon clcaned out
five of these nests without single
casualty The lieutenant unfortu-
natcly, fell rs they attacked tho sixth.
! The first wave did not stop when tho
machine guns were encountered. 1t
swept on, leaving squads Of men to deal
with tho guns. When Forges Wood was
cleaned up the New York gunncrs,
answering the signal glarrs, again
changed their fuses.
This time another barragc preceded
the doughboys toward the given OBJ
Jectivcs in the northcastcrly direction
many kilometres from Forgcs Swamp.
The entire operation was swinging
fovement, which began on a straight
line cast OF the Mcuse, then swung,
/ fanllke, against this river All the OBJ
Jccilvcs were reached at noon, about
sevcn hours after the waves left FORCES
Swamp.
The enemy artillery was placed to
fire on the advancing Americans, and
Tired valnly for while, then pulled
from the position and began to retreat.
The New York artillery and the Hi
nois man power, however, were too
last, for about thirty Of these gun.
were captured, including four 6-inch
weapons, which Immediately were
turned on the reireating enemy.
East and West Arc Virtors
Thousands Of prisoners were bagged
IN this two states combination. 1t also
captured ground which the German Off
ccrs declared the staff believed in no
danger from any attack on account of
the strong organizations Of Forges
" ood and the barrier formed by tho
Forges Creek and the morass
Taking prominent par. IN the bat
lie plan were a Chicago and New York
colonel who, with the commanding gem
cral, were told by high German Off
Ger who was captured: "Your plans
were too bright We did not think the
inexperienced Yankees could do it,.
New York gunners did other things
aside from furnishing perfect bar
rages,' tee colonel told me to-day.
They turned their heavy pieces on
specified enemy artillery areas and
dropped shells SO fast that the Ger
mans had nothing to do but get into
their dugputs and wait there to be capt
uTed Some OF these shelters were
forty feet deep The fog aided our op-
Grafton but if we had to do it again
wlthou. fog we would not change our
plans They worked to perfection.~
Some Of the prisoners were Aus
trianE- The morning after the main
a1rack the Americans discovered the
Bcche audaciously bringing reinforce,
mcnts into the town of Brieullcs in
railroad trains The New York artil-
lcry again got busy, and shcllcd the
trains and railway station SO heavily
that the attack has not yet deyeloped.
American Spirit Shown
What appeared to be almost unsur-
mountable difficulties were faced by
Americans with the spirit that is be-
hind all Americans in this war. 1t
was SO audacious and so clcvcrly exc
cuted that the enemy was swept off his
feet Without the engineering feat
victory in this part of the front would
have been impossible. The villages of
Drillancourt and Gcrcourt, on the
Meuse, fell like ripe plums, and the en-
tire ground captured represents some
Of the bloodiest battlefields of the en-
emy's gigantic, effort against Verdun in
1916.
The battle plan has been sent to all
American military schools in France
and America