Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-11-19
THE TAKING OF SEDAN
More Than a Million Americans
We're Engaged.
HARB FOUGHT AND BLOODY BATTLE

First Army Goes Up Against the Larg-
est Force of Germans On the West.
ern Front, In Positions That Seem
impresnab!e and Win One Of the
Greatest Victories of the War On
Ground That Had Become Historic
as the Spot On Which France Had
Lost the Franco Prussian War. ...
The following story Of the battle Of
Sedan. vas written by a correspond
American French army, under date Of
| N0tcnhef =:
Now that after one of the hardest
| fought and bloodieSt battles OF the
whole war the american First Army
HAS reached Sedan. II is perhaps fit
| ting briefly 10 review The final phase
Of the struggle which has led to one
OF tho most irnpor,ah6 victories the Al
lics have achieved. o.. ,...'
The first phase. starting September
| as, took Pershings men seven miles
ahead through the HindonburE and
volker stellunG, but failed to break
tho German hold in the Areonne for
est. rh" second phase began on Oct
ober 1, and after sruelinG fight took
the First Army through the kriemhild
strlhng. breaking the four year hold
OF the Huns on the Argonne and gave
Us Grandprc This phase lasted until
October 81. ,..,.,.....
One week ago yesterday the third
phase began. On November l Gener-
al Liggetts army started against the
Freya stcllung, forty kilomcters south
Of Sedan, sweeping the west bank of the
Neusc clear, .liberating hundreds of
villages and thousands of French civ
hians and capturing a vast and valu-
| ablc amount of war materials.
OF course the most important effect
Of our victory was cutting the Ger
man railway system from Mezieres
through Sedan and Longuyon. which
vas not only an important vote dc.
rocade, but the more important Of the
Germans two lines Of communication
between their battlefront and the faith
erland.
In our sweep, which freed more than
10 square kilomctcrs, ,we took some
10000 prisoners and guns, ..n
When We perped ahead In the wet
dawn of November we had occupied
the heights north and east Of Grand
src. the Bois dc Banthevillc and Hill!
ISIS, rs well as the hills south and on
the river. We had a difficult barrier
| n the remaining sector Of the Kriem-
Mild in front, of the villages. OF st.
George and Eandres-etiSt. George. By
4 series of fortunate local operations
90 had. prepared an excellent, jump
1900 line. ~ =. - - - ~ ~ 4
Iy'Tte enemy had expected our attack,
but had planned for a date two days
later than we had. which. by the way.
vas the same thing he dia in the st.
SIihici battle. 1t was $50 o'clock in
thc morning that our attack started
On the whole front Of more than
twenty five ,kilometcrs. preceded for
Two hours In an intense artillery pre-
rartltion. in which we fired some 2O0,-
900 gas shells. The center Of our army
vas held by n division which has made
itself famous wherever ii has appeared
| N battle. II was this division which
'i,adr the furthcst advance of the. day
and alone took 5000 prisoners. While
dur center shot ahead. our left was
held up at the Bois des Loges. On
the right we encountered heavy rosis-
ranco along the Meuse, despite which
We occupied Clcry-lc- Grand.
Prisoners .wprc taken 1.-The first day
from ten German divisions. who said
they had been ordered to hold at all
dosts. Despite this. We broke through
80 far that the German communique
admitted for the first day retirement
Of six kilomcters. thus 1iberating st.
Georges. Imcconrt. I.andrcvillc. La
Chinb-iy, Baymville,, Romonville. An
dtSannc and Clcry-le-Grand.
cNNShu AeS'
On the morning Of Nov. we re-
| sumcd our attack at dawn. The re-
markable thing about the second day
vas that gains were made greater
than on the first day. a thing never
before occurring on the western front,
In the center We only smashed ahead
for eleven kiiometers. capturing the
important German rail head at Buzz
ancy, but on the right We broke the re-
sistance, reached Fosse, and on the
left, where we had been held up. we
broke the eriemy's resistance so. thor
oughly in the mornings attack and put
the Boche in such hurried flight that
the infantrymen were loaded into
trucks and sent ahead as FAR as Bri-
quenay in an effort to catch up With
the enemy.
Soon after the attack was. resumed
on the morning Of November 1t. be-
came apparent that the enemy's or
ganlzation had been Knocked to pieces.
In three days we had defeated seven
teen German, divisions and broken
them up so that their liaison was brok-
en- and no organized resistance on No
venber 3 enabled us to bring the Ger
man railway through Longuyon and
Sl0ntmedy under fire Of our field guns.
In uaison with the, French Fourth