The Washington herald., 1918-08-04
BAKER DENIES
10000 LOSS
REPORT
Ayers No Official Estimate
Has Been Made for Pres
ent Offensive.
PERSHING WILL HURRY
4 CASUALTY LIST CABLE
Has More Than 100000
Yanks in His Own Zone,
Ready for Huns.
TOTAL AFLOAT AND In FRANCE
MORE TAN 100000 TROOPS
300.000 Sent in July. Breaking ALI
Records-Eiun Dead Piled
High on Fields.
PERSHING WILL HURRY
i CASUALTY LIST CABLE
TOTAL AFL0AT AND In FRANCE
MORE TAN 100000 TROOPS

Secretary Baker late yesterday af-
ternoon issued an official denial of
a printed statement, accredited TO
Gen. Peyton c. March. and publish
ed in a Washington afternoon news
paper. that the American casualties
in the present drive total 1900.
Secretary Baker explains in his
statement that the total casualties
Of the American Expeditionary
Forces, excluding the present drive,
total slightly over 1000.
No official estimate Of losses sus-
tanned by our troops in the present
offensive have been made public, he
stated.
Explaining the incompleteness of
the casualty lists published from day
to day, Gen. March. at his regular
weekly conference with newspaper
men yesterday said:
General Pershing replied to our
order to send all casualties that the
delay in sending. them In was due
to the fact that our men were serving
under the British and the French,
as well as under our own comnan-
ders, but that casualties would be
cabied as soon as they had been COM
pletely verified.
You may well imagine how dis
astreus 1t would be IL the casualties
we're cabled and then corrections had
to be made. The distress would be
beyond all question. and SO these
lists are going to come in ana as soon
as they do come In they will be given
out, whatever they are"
Pershing Has Million.
chief of the American Expeditionary
Forces in France, has in his own
area, as his own troops. not brigaded
with the British, over loo. 900 men, II
was officially announced by Gen.
March.
Three hundred thousand men have
been sent overseas during the month
of July, Gen. March stated. This
breaks the previous high water mark
of 276,OO0.
The number of men now in France
or en- route is well over 100000.
So closely do German dead cover
the ground in the region under allied
fire in the present offensive that IL is
impossible to advance troops without
walking over Hun corpses, a conf
dental cablegram to the War De-
partment from an officer Of the Twen-
ty-sixth Division, made public yester-
day. stateo.
Gen. March's Statement.
august 1. heavy attacks by the
British and French on the Chadun
Plateau, south of Scissors and fur
ther southeast around Deuxneux,
bent back the enemy's line at this
point for distance something like
two miles" said Gen. March. The
result of these blows on the TANKS
forced a retirement along the entire
German front on August ..
"On the west flank the enemy
had to retire across the Crise River.
and the French walked into Soils
sons. In the center during the day
of August 2 the retirement covered
an average distance of from three to
four miles on a front Of 80 miles.
"On the east flank. on the heights
west of Rheims. our advance was
finally on a four mile front for a
distance of about one mile.
"Our line last evening. ran nearly
parallel to the valley of the COM
bined Vesle and Ardre Rivers, and
the distance from where we are to
their position, which is a more or
less natural defensive position, is
only a little more than six miles.
Enemy Retires 1e Miles.
'The perimiter of this gradually
diminishing salient has now come
down to 4s miles on August 2, from
"A miles at the start. The depth of
the enemy's retirement is now 16
miles.
During this advance, beginning
with the counter offensive, we have
had eight United States Divisions
now engaged, First. Second, Third,
Fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty
eighth, Thirty-second and Forty
second. We have located definitely
the troops which were engaged
against the Fourth Prusisan
Guards. They were the Forty-sec-
ond Division--the Rainbow Division.
in connection with the Ameri-
can forces abroad there has beeen
some discussion about the propor-
tion of the forces which Is brigaded
with the British, and will say that
Gen. Pershing has in his own area
as his own force, not brigaded with
the British. over 100000"
Gen. March replied to written
questions:
rs the seventy-ninth the 'divi-
sion from. which troops have been
shipped to Italy?''
Answer: NO"
what are the names and assign
ments of brigadier generals return
ing from Franceg' q
Answer: The general officers re-
q > /. ~
coSnNuED ON PAGE rIvn.