The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-12-13

II
| Twenty-eighth division faced "ad-
vancing waves of German infantry"
| and the Third division held the Marine
| line, opposite Chateau Thierry, against
| powerful artillery and infantry attack.
Single Regiment Checks Enemy.
"a single regiment of the Third
wrote one. of the most brilliant pages
in our military annals on this occa-
SON. General Pesshing says. sit pre-
| vented the crossing at certain points
on its front while, on either flank,
the Germans who had gained a foot
| ing pressed forward. Our men, firing
! in three directions, met the German
| attacks with counter-attacks at criti-
| cal points and succeeded in throwing
| two German divisions into complete
confusion, capturing 600 prisoners"
Thus was the stage set for the
COMPREHENSIVE which, beginning
| with the smashing of the enemy's
| Marine salient, brought overwhelming
victory to the allies and the United
! States in the eventful months that
| have followed The intimation is
strong that General Pershing's advice
helped Marshal Foch to reach his de-
cision to strike.
counter!offensive Opens.
General Pershing continues:
| 'The great force of the German
| Chateau Thierry offensive established
| the deep Marine salient, but the enemy
was taking chances, and the vulnera-
| bility of this pocket to attack might
| be turned to his disadvantage.
"Seizing this opportunity to support
| my conviction, every division with any
sort of training was made available
| for use in a counter-offensive. The
place of honor in the thrust toward
scissors on July Is was given to our
First and Second divisions in COM
pany with chosen French divisions.
without the usual brief warning of
a preliminary bombardment, the
massed French and American artillery,
firing by the map, laid down its rolling
| barrage at dawn while the infantry be-
gan its charge. The tactical handling
| of our troops under these trying condi-
| tons was excellent throughout the ac-
| ton.
"The enemy brought up large num-
| bers of reserves and made a stubborn
| defense both with machine guns and
artillery, but through five days fight
| ing the First division continued to- adj
| vance until it had gained the heights
| above Scissors and captured the viii
| lage of Berzy-le-Sec.
s'The Second division took Beau Re-
| paire farm and Very in very rapid
vance and reached position in
| front of Tigny at the end of its second
| day. These two divisions captured T.,
| 600 prisoners and over 100 pieces Of
artillery"
First American Army Formed.
| TIE report describes in some detail
the work of completing the reduction
| of the salient, mentioning the opera
tons of the Twenty-sixth, Third
Fourth, Forty-second, Thirty-second
and Twenty-eighth divisions. With
the situation on the Marine front thus
4 relieved, General Pershing writes, he
could turn to the organization of the
First American army and the reduction
! of the ST. Mihiel salient, long planned
as the initial purely American enter
prise.
| A troop concentration, aided by gem
| erous contributions of artillery and air
| units by the French, began, involving
the movement, mostly at night, Of
100000 men.
A sector reaching from Port sur
Seille, east of the Moselle, eastward
through st. Mihiel to Verdun and later
| enlarged to carry it to the edge of the
| forest of Argonne was taken over, the
| Second Colonial French, holding the
| tip of the salient opposite st. Mihiel.
and the French Seventeenth corps, on
| the heights above Verdun, being trans
ferred to General Pershing's command
The combined French, British, and
American air forces modified for the
battle, the report says, was the largest
aviation assembly ever engaged on the
western front up to that time in a sim
| gle operation.
Battle of st. MihieI.
OF the reduction of the st. Mihiel
| salient General Pershing says:
| After four hours artillery prepa-
ration the seven American divisions
| in the front line advanced at 5 a. m.
| on September IL, assisted by limit
| ed number of tanks manned partly by
Americans and partly by the French+
''These divisions, accompanied by
groups of wire-cutters and others
armed with bangaloIe torpedoes, went
| through the successive bands of
barbed wire that protected the enc
my's front line and support trenches
| in irresistible waves on schedule time,
breaking down all defense of an en-
| envy demoralized by the great volume
| of our artillery fire and our sudden
approach out of the fog
"Our First corps advanced to Thiau-
| court, while our Fourth corps curved
| back to the southwest through Non
sard. The Second Colonial French
corps made the slight advance re-
| ouired of it on very difficult ground,
and the Fifth corps took its three
| ridges and repulsed counter-attack.
"a rapid march brought reserve reg
iments of division of the Fifth corps
intUVigneulles in the early morning,
where it linked up with patrols of our
Fourth corps, closing the salient and
forming new line west of Thiaucourt
to Vigneulles and beyond Fresnes-en-
Woevre.
10000 Prisoners Taken.
eat a cost of Sonly 1000 casualties,
mostly light, we had taken 10000 pris-
oners and 443 guns, great quantity
| of material, released the inhabitants