The Washington herald., 1918-08-11


TN the meantime, because Of the
extreme difiiculty Of liaison and with
q dark night closing in. orders went
out to consolidate. This came Just
before we had word from sibley. II
was Just 9:45 when word came IN that
Bouresches had been taken by Rob-
ertson's platoon OF the Ninsty-sixth.
or rather the 20 odd men OF HIS pla-
toon who had managed to break
through a heavy machine-gun barrage
and enter the town. One of Sibley's
company had been assigned the town.
with Holcomb's battalion to establish
the line from there to where the
Twenty-third's flank lay. II had been
unable to advance and at the same
time keep in touch on its left as or
dered. Duncan. hearing, however.
| that this company was 100 yards in
advance Gan error raced ahead with
his Ninety-sixth Company and was
met by q terrific nachine-gun barrage
from two sides Of and from Boure-
sches
"As Robertson told me. he had man.
aged TO get part Of his platoon
through the barrsge. and, looking
bask, saw Duncan and the rest of the
company charging through the bar
Ni16o 81 oO"h lAkS AAlCt- 1hOOtI lHOu
had half Of the line and Duncan half.
Robertson blew his whistle just be-
fore this to bring up all Of his half
Of the line, and missed Lieut.. Bowl
ing. He passed the word, Where IL
johnny and saw Bowling get up.
face white with pain, and go STUN
bling ahead with q bullet in his shoul-
der. Duncan, the last he saw Of him
| before he was moved down, had his
pipe in his mouth and was carrying q
stick Dental Surgeon Osborne picked
Duncan UP. and with a Hospital Corps
man, had had just gained some shell
ter when a shell wiped all three out.
Just after Robertson gained the
town and cleaned out the Boche after
street fighting in which his orderly.
Private Dunlavy. killed later in the
defense Of the town, captured and
turned on them one OF their machine
guns. others filtered through. and the
Seventy-ninth Company, under Zane.
Holcomb was very enthusiastic about
Zane's handling OF the town.
In the meantime. although the cap
ture OF Bouresches was the most spec
tacular Of the first fighting, Sibley
was having heavier work in the Bois
de Belleau. He reported early that
there were many machine guns In the
woods. At first prisoners came in
early, and the men who brought them
back reported that the companies
were cleaning up fast. with few cas-
ualties. Young Zimmerman charged
one machine-gun nest at the point OF
the bayonet and sent in II prisoners
at 9 clip.
Woods Full of Machine Guns.
after the first patches Of prisoners
came into the courtyard OF our post
command and stood with hands up in
the orthodox ''kamerad' style, end
the runners were full Of the easy
manner in which sibley was going
through the woods, came a message
that the woods were full Of machine
guns and that one, on a rock plateu
in the northeastern edge, was espe.
cially troublesome, a nest estimated
to hold between 10 and l. guns. Their
came word that he had reached tho
limit Of his objective at the edge oi
the woods, that he had surrounded
the machine-gun nest. and was await.
ing orders. Then came word from tn,
brigade to dig in and consolidate IN,
positions won. Two companies Of tn,
Engineers were placed in Lucy. on,
for each battalion. We sent out 3
truck loaded with ammunition ant
tools to Bouresches. got up oul
Stokes and one-pounders for Sibley
and Holcomb was ordered TO straigh
ten out his line from Bouresche.
straight down to the Triangle Farm
where the Twenty-third rested its lefr
flank.
The truck went out with Lieut.. W
B. Moore, the captain Of the tracl
team, half-back on the football team
and president OF the senior class a
Princeton last year. The whole rcat
was lighted up by flares. exploding
shells. and swept by both artillery
and heavy machine-sun fire. II wa
a great trip and we had fifty volun'
teers from Headquarters Company. oi
whom We only sent the necessary
crew. When it got back We knew W,
could hold Bouresches, and the coun
ter attack at 2;SO in the morning. al
though they got within % feet Of tht
town. was smothered by our fire.
"All that day and the next Sibley'i
men rushed machine-gun nests il
hand-to-hand fighting. The guns wert
emploced on crests In the thick woods
on rocky ridges, with fire TO al
points. Their light guns could easily
. Oc HiON6o dEOuIlQ 70 our llduht OF rear
and the Boches certainly know the ar
Of working through, infiltrating, and
opening fire from unexpected quar-.
ters. Many times the groups got q
footing on these crests. only to have
to fall back in the face of a deadly
machine-gun and stick-grenade fire
It was work for the most desperate
courage against heavy ODDS, and they
took their toll OF US for every gun
captured or disabled All through this
time Sibley had Boches and guns or
his flank and in his rear, for the
woods were held by both forces anc
the naison on our left had been Grip.
pied by the initial advance in which
the battalion on his left, Berry's, anc
his own had to fight their way in the
dark. and Berry wounded early In thu
fight.
Artillery Minces Woods.
'on the sth sibiey was withdrawn tc
a point from which the artillery coulc
hammer away at the machines CUR
nests, which had been thoroughly 10
Gated. For an hour 50 American anc
French batteries of 75s and LES threw
everything they had into those wood
on the right. Hughes went in on tn
10th and his FIRST message was thai
the artillery had hammered the Boii
de Balleau into mincemeat. Overton
who had taken over the Seventy-sixti
Company that day, charged the olc
rock plateau position in brilliant fash
ion, killing or capturing every gunner
and capturing all the guns, and with
few casualties. He got his later
when the Boches shelled him In hii
hastily dug-in position for Is hours
Hughes captured six minenwerferi
and about 30 guns, light and heavy.