Middletown transcript., 1918-12-14

~ that he had one to reckon with"
The report shows for the fret time
officially that with this brilliantly exc
cuted coup, General Pershing's men
had cleared the way for the great ef-
fort of the allies and American forces
to win a conclusive victory. The
American army moved at once toward
Its browning achievement, the battle
of the Meuse.
The general tells dramatic story
of this mighty battle in three distinct
phases, beginning on the night of
September u, when Americans quick
ly took the places of the French On
the thinly held line of this long, quiet
sector. The attack opened on Septcnl-
Der 26. and the Americans drove
through entanglements. across No
Mans Land, to take all the entmy's
first-line positions.
Battle Of the Meuse.
Closing the chapter, General Per
shing says:
ION November 6 division of the
First corps reached a point on the
Meuse opposite Sedan, Is miles from
our lines of departure. The strategy
cal goal which was our highest hope
was gained. We had cut the enemys
main line of communications, and
nothing could save his army from
complete disaster.
"In all forty enemy divisions had
h.0v INST IN Mn11Cn.
Argonne battle. Between September
&c and November 6 we took 26,O59
prisoners and 1853 guns on this front.
''Our divisions engaged were the
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty
ninth. Thirty-second, Thirty-third,
Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Seventy
eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth,
Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth
and Ninety-first.
MANY of our divisions remained in
line for length of time that re-
quired nerves Of steel, while others
were sent in again after only few
days of rest. The First, Fifth. Twen-
ty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-sev-
enth, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth and
Ninetieth were in the line twice.
Although some of the divisions
were fighting their first battle. they
soon became equal to the best.
Other Corps Active.
The commander in chief does not
lose sight of the divisions operating
with French or British armies during
this time.
He tells of the work of the Second
corps, comprising the Twenty-seventh
and Thirtieth divisions, in the British
assault on the Hindenburg line where
the st. Quentin canal passes through
a tunnel of how the Second and Thir-
ty-sixth divisions got their chance in
October by being assigned to aid the
French in the drive from Reims, and
of the splendid fighting of the Thirty
seventh and Ninety-fir divisions, sent
to join the French army in Belgium.
OF the total strength of the expedi-
tionary force. General Pershing re-
ports:
'"There are in Europe altogether, in
Guiding regiment and some sanitary
units with the Italian army and the
organizations at Murmansk, also in
Guiding these en- route from the States
approximately 2,O53,347 men, less our
LOSSES"
"Of this total there are in France
1,338, 100 combatant troops"
Problem Of Equipment.
OF their equipment he says:
"Our entry into the war found us
with few Of the anxiliaries necessary
for it's conduct in the modern sense.
Among our most important deficiencies
in material were artillery, aviation
and tanks.
I'm order to meet our requirements
offer of the French government to pro-
vide us with the necessary artillery
equipment of 75s, one 55-millimeter
howitzer and one IS G. p. f. gun from
their own factories for 30 divisions.
1.-THE wisdom of this course is fully
demonstrated by the fact that, al
though we soon began the manufac-
ture of these classes of guns at home,
there were no guns of the calibers
mentioned manufactured in America
on our front at the date the armistice
was signed. The only guns of these
ceived in France are 100 75-millimeter
guns.
First U. S. Planes in May.
'In aviation we were in the same
situation, and here again the French
government came to our aid until our
own aviation program should be under
way. We obtained from the French
the necessary planes for training our
personnel, and they have provided us
with a total Of 2,676 pursuit, observa-
ton, and bombing planes.
'The first airplanes received from
home arrived in May, and together
we have received 1879. The first
American squadron completely
equipped by American production, in
airplanes, crossed the German
lines on August Z, 1913
"As to tanks, we were compelled
to rely upon the French. Here,
however, we were less fortunate, for
the reason that the French produc-
ton could barely meet the require
ments of their own armies.
1T should be fully realized that the
French government has always taken
q most libetal attitude and has been
most anxious to give us every posi-
BILE assistance in meeting our deficien-
cies in these as we'll as in other
Our dependencies upon
France for artillery, aviation and
tanks WAS. of course due to the fact