Gilpin observer., 1918-11-14
AMERICANS SAVE THE DAY
FOR THE ALLIED CAUSE

/ been written.
AT midnight on July IA the Germans
oegan what was to be, according to their
expectation. the greatest drive of all.
They called 1t the Friedensturm-storm
OF peace-the great peace offensive. The
plans for this drive were more carefully
laid and upon a greater scale than for
any former offensive. They confidently
expected to go thru to Paris. and many
In France held the same view. Our
congressional party was at the time
near Paris. and we were assured that
we would not be permitted to enter, as
was claimed that preparations were
being made to have all the civilian pop
ulation leave the city, to be ready for
siege or possible evacuation. This
may not have been in actual contem-
plation. but 1t reflected the feverish con-
dition Of the public mind. Te people
back Of the lines were very apprehen-
| sive. They believed II the Germans were
to go as far they had upon the two
FORMER drives, that II they would not
reach Paris they would get near enough
to 1t to shoot 1t to pieces with their
big guns.
THE German drive of March 21 was
a surprise. The drive of May 81 was
almost surprise. the notice of It be-
ing very short. The last big drive was
no surprise at all. The allies had been
expecting 1t for several days and had
troops massed to meet 1t. 1t was ex-
pected that the enemy would attempt
to breka thru toward Paris at Chateau
Thierry and points northwest and also
east OF there. and that is where the
fighting occurred for the most part. AS
the Germans were In great force and as
Foch had massed forces Of almost equal
numbers. the shock Of battle was ter
rificss The Germans confidently expect
ed to override all opposition, and the
charge was made all along the front
with great dash in massed formation.
At places the allied lines broke. The
Marne was crossed at 10 places. but at
none OF these points did they get very
far excepting south of Jaulgonne. where
they penetrated several miles. They
were soon driven back there and else
where.
Americans figured largely In these
operations. The troops which had been
rushed over to the area about Chateau
Thierry in May to help stem the Hun
advance were stiil there and had been
literally reinforced. The government
has not given out any figures as to the
number OF Americans employed in the
fighting just referred to. but from what
l know Of the units employed there
must have been more than 100000. This
was strong force to add to the al
ready strong forces Of French and Brit
ish and was sufficient to turn the gage
of battle. The enemy was obliged to
fall back and was kept on the move
pretty fast for the next couple OF weeks.
think 1t may be truthfuly said that
the most critical time in the war after
the first Battle OF the Marne was dur
ing May 81 and June 1 and 2, and the
turning point Of the war was definitely
settled on July 15. l6, and II. We Am
ericans should be every proud that our
troops were present at both these per-
iods In sufficient numbers to save the
day. The belief was general with those
our men had not been available the Ger
mans would have gotten at least close
enough to Paris to have shelled 1t to
| the limit. There seems to be a notion
that our troops did not figure In these
operations in a big way; that they were
only participating In battalion units
wedged In between the British or
French. That is not true. We had sew
eral divisions along that line. and they
were handled in division units. The
reason the newspaper dispatches OF that
period did not reveal this was doubtless
to keep from the Germans as long as
possible the extent to which Americans
were being used. And will say this,
the American newspapers contain very
much more complete and thorough ac-
counts Of the war than the Paris or
I