Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-13
BAKER WATCHES
AMERICAN DRIVE
II. S. Forces Dominate
Allied Offensive Opera.
tons for First Time
CHARGE IN WHITE LIGHT
Star Shells Used to Reveal
Attackers-Ammunition
Dumps Explode
By the Associated Press
With the American Army in Lor.

With the American Army in Lor.
raine. Sept. 49,,
The Allied offensive on the western
front for the first time Is dominatingly
American, the French cooperating, and
In military sense it Is regarded as
continuing phase of the battle which
began early last summer.
Newton D. Baker, the American
Z Secretary of War, with several other
notables, witnessed the beginning of
the battle from the vantage point of
French fort close behind the middle Of
the line.
1t was precisely o'clock Of rainy.
moonless night when a single dash of
flame shot across the sky. It was fol-
lowed by other flashes. which gradu
. ally merged into a sheet of white light
on the horizon.
z Mighty Thunder From Guns
4, Gradually there began to roll from
I this flame-lt area "A mighty thunder.
amidst which could be distinguished
now and then the crack and boom of
x German return shells bursting.
The front over which the attack
+ was made was so extended that the
I. brilliant bands Of vivid light soon
+ stretched from far eastward to west
J ward. lighting up the clouds. Soon
: there began to arise star shells. signal
rockets and flares thrown up by the
enemy to betray the Amer "'ns Should
they leave their trenches suddenly to
begin an infantry attack. TO this gem
eral color scheme there was soon ..dded
a reddish glow as ammunition dumps
exploded and buildings set on fire be-
hind the enemy lines began to blaze.
8 and an ammunition dump giving off
this color exploded about 4 O'Clock.
Stream Over Top
The character of the artillery fire
changed slightly lessened a little in
intensity and German star shells burst
with more frequency as ) o'clock ap-
preached as though the enemy sus-
( pected that was the hour set for the
infantry attack. More and more am
munition dumps exploded just before
;, the artillery bombardment suddenly
resumed its original intensity and as
the sky was beginning to be tinged
with dawn it again took on white
look along the horizon. Precisely at
: o'clock the thunder of the guns
accompanying the glare of light
stopped and in the sudden silence the
Americans went over the top. All
I along the lines could be heard the
4 chatterinG of German machine guns
\ and then suddenly the thunder COM
. menced again, when a barrage was
laid down to protect the soldiers as
1 they approached the German trenches
Biggest American "show"
4 Into the battle has been brought all
4 the clements of modern warfare. While
4 the artillery was playing its role, the
: airmen and the tank crews worked over
their machines preparatory to taking
their part in the biggest "show" the
Americans have given.
There was no question Of aerial
superiority. or should not be. French
planes and French airmen supplemented
the. American forces and daylight yes
1t rained the night before and the early
hours of yesterday did not afford the
hest opportunity for the aviators. but
notwthstandng the st t9e resdS ro obs
servation of the defense and for Of
fensive combat.
There was high wind, but the
balloons were able TO remain up for
observation. one American balloon
broke away and drifted eastward. One
of the German balloons was aloft nSar
st. Mihlel. Dut II remained UP oh'! apou'
! five minutes.
The smoke screen the American gun
ners placed about Montsec appears to
have been successful in preventing the
, enemy observation from that command
. ing point.
Seven German Divisions
while the heavy attacks We're being
made on the north and south lines or
st. Mhiel sector. a force around the
point Of the angle was in1gurating a
series Of raids. rushing II into the
J sides of the German body. The strength
! OF the Germans is not known, but It is
certain there are at least seven divi-
sions in the salient. 1t has been learned
that the enemy had collected quantity
of stores in the sector and VIII douptiess
attempt to remove them.
! The front under attack was about
forty-five miles in length. The French
were in the lien at allotted points, but
the distribution of the forces was such
=. that wherever the Germans turned they
faced American troops.
Just how muc hthe Germans were
surprised by the offensive in a sector so
long inactive is uncertain: 1t seems not
Improbable however, that they had
noticed the indications given for many
days past that some new plan was being
adopted The mobilization of the big
, force was accomplished, however, al
most wholly in night marches, the men
, slipping from other sectors into positions
in front of the enemy here, oftentimes
without even the population of the dis
tricts through which they passed being
aware of the movement.
Guns Hammer Germans
The guns that opened the artillery
preparations at l o'clock yesterday
morning continued for four hours to
hammer the Germans, not alone their
nearby positions but almost every cross
roads village and town within range.
The roads over which the enemy might
bring up re-enforcements or retreat
were broken up with high explosives
The artillery attack was carefully
planned, every battery commander hav-
ing painstakingly registered long in ad-
vance the objectives of his gun. The
full effect of the terrific bombardment
could not be observed. but there is little
doubt that il had an immense effect In
interfering with the defensive work OF
the big German force in the salient