Evening star., 1918-08-04
FIRST ARMY CORPS
DRIVES At Center
OF FLEEING ENEMY
Guns, Ammunition, Dead, in
Enormous Quantities,
Abandoned to victors.
PERsHING HAS FORCE
OF MILLION AMERICANS
Gen. March, Telling Of Splendid
Successes, Finds Difficulty to
Conceal His Elation.

Conceal His Elation.
The 1st Army Corps. commanded by
Maj. Gen. Hunter Liggett is still
driving at the center of the retreatine
German lines and has reached Fismes,
the enemy's main base for the Aisne-
Marne battle theater. according to the
French announcement last night.
There was every indication. officers
here believed. that the enemy could not
halt his retirement short of the Aisne
line. Within a few hours yesterday
unofficial advices showed that the
whole allied line had surged forward
to the Aisne-Vesle front and thrown
cavalry patrols beyond it.
Gen. March. chief of staff. had diff
Guilty yesterday in his conference with
the newspaper men in concealing his
elation over the decisive defeat admin.
i:'tered to the enemy. He announced
that Gen. Pershing now hal more
than a million men under his direct
command .'in his own area
Verdun to Switzerland.
Presumably he referred to the sec.
tion of the front from north of Yer
lean troops have been rapidly taking
over the line from the French. The
1st Army Corps. first of the major
tactical American units to be formed
probably represents the mobile re-
serve to be contributed by Gen. Perish
ing to the pooled reserves plan and is
counted as a part of the million men
There are eight divisions of Ameri.
cans, or in the neighborhood Of 300,.
900 men, now in the fighting zone
where the great battle is going for.
ward. Gen. March pointed out thai
Gen. Liggett had set his headquarters
in the center of the line where his siz
divisions are assembled. together with
two additional divisions.
Gen. Liggett is the first American
officer to command a wide section ot
the front. To his lot has fallen the
advance that has broken the back o1
the German effort to halt his line
within the salient
Objective "other Army"
Gen. March again described the OBJ
jective OF the American and allied
drive as 'the other army" 1t was
apparent that he expected 1t to be
pressed vigorously and efforts be
made TO destroy as much of the
crown princes fighting force as pos
sible.
He read a cabled report showing
that vast quantities of guns, am
munition and war materials had been
captured, and that the German dead
around Fere-en-Tardenois carpeted
the ground.
~
March's statement follows:
When l spoke to you last on
Wednesday the two opposing lines
had been nearly stationary, and en-
gagged in more or less desperate
fighting during July 80 and 81. Since
that time blows on both flanks were
resisted by the Germans until on Au-
gust l heavy attacks by the British
and French on the Chadun plateau
south Of scissors and farther south
east around Deuoneux bent back the
enemy's line at this point for a dis
tance something like two miles. The
result of these blows on the fanks
forced a retirement along the entire
German front on August 2,
French Take scissors.
"On the. west flank the enemy had
to retire across the Crise river and
the French walked into Scissors. In
the center during the day of Angus,
distance Of from three to four miles
on front of thirty miles.
"On the east flank, on the heights
west OF Rheims, our advance was
finally on a four-mila front for q
distance of about one mile.
"Our line last evening ran nearly
parallel to the valley Of the combined
vesle and Ardre rivers. The distance
from where we are to their position
which is a more or less natural de-
fensive position, is only a little more
than six miles.
"The perimeter of this gradually
diminishing salient has now come
. from seventy-four miles at the
start. The depth OF the enemy's re-
tirement is now sixteen miles.
During this advance, beginning
with the counter offensive, we have
had eight United States divisions now
engaged. LIST. I'd, Sd. 4th. 25th, 2Sth. 32t
and 42d. We have located definitely
Prussian Guards. They were the 42d
Division-the Rainbow Division.
"The objective of our forces Is still
the enemy's army. The success o.
the advance is indicated by the con.
fidential cab1egram. which I am go.
ing 10 reao TO you.
P1under Is Immense.
"An officer Of Gen. Muir's (2sth,
division just returned from Fere-en
Tardenois reports that it does no
seem possible for an army to hav,
gathered as many guns. as much am
doned in their retreat, which had beer
so hasty that they had not time t.
bury their dead. The ground was 81
covered with corpses that 1t was i'm
possible to advance without walking
over them, and, further. that the ad.
vance of the 2sth Division had beer
extremely rapid in spite Of the fac
from the nearest railroad.
''In connection with the American
forces abroad there has been som'
discussion about the proportion of tn,
forces which are brigaded with tn,
British, and I will say that Gen
Pershing has in his own area as hi!
own force, not brigaded with the Brit
ish. more than 100000.
The number Of men embarked dur
ing the month of July. just closed
was over 100000. That breaks tn,
record: the previous high record wa
in the preceding month. when VI
reached 276.000. The number of mel
embarked to France il now ovel
1,300, ,000."
1t was in reply to questions tina
Gen. March revealed that the 1st Amer
lean Army Corps, under Gen. Liggett
is operating as a unit on the sectol
southeast OF Fere-en-Tardenois. HI
also revealed that the 31st Division ha,
replaced the 32d Division on the Swis,
frontier.
Gen. March refused to reveal tn
identity of the combatant unit sen
to Italy. saying he did not think tn,
unit had been identified by the enemy
So far as has been reported. this uni
has not yet actually entered the fr
ing line, the general said.
The s9th Division. Gen. March said
has reached France. No further re