Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-12-08

ally Lnd1 Ile udu one to rGCKOn WlCn. The report shows for the first time officially, that with this brilliantly executed coup, General Pershine' s men had cleared the way for the great effort of the allies and American for ces to win a conclusive victory. The American army moved at once toward it's crowning achievement. the battle of the Mouse.
 The General tells a dramatic story of this mighty battle in three dis tlnct phrases, beginning on the night of Sept. 27, when Americans quickly took the places of the French on the thinly held line of this long quiet sec tor. The attack opened on Sept. 26 and the Americans drove through en- tanglements, across No-Man' 's-Land to take all the enemy's first line posi- tions. Closing the chapter, General Pershing's says:
 On November 6 a division of the First Corps reached point on the Mouse opposite Sedan, 25 miles from our line of departure The strategical gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of communications, and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster.
 "In all 40 enemy divisions had been used against in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September 26 and No- vember we took 26,O59 prisoners and 46S guns on this front. Our Divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-Sixth, Twenty Eighth, Twenty-Ninth, sThirty-Second Thirty-Third, Thirtyfifth, Thirty-sev enth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seyenty-eighth, Seventy-ninth Eigh- ties, Eghty-second, Eighty-ninth, and Ninety-frst. Many of divisions remained ill line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while other were sent in again after only few days of rest. The First, Fifth, Twenty Forty-sec- ond, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eigh- ty-Ninth, and Ninetieth were in the line twice, Although some of the divis- ions were fighting their first battle, they soon become equal to the best.'
 The Commander-in-Ch does not lose sight of the divisions operating with French and British armies dur ing this time. He tells of the work of the Second Corps, comprising the l W cHty -ScSCllCIl dllu HI llelu lJlN lS- ions in the British assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. uQen tin canal passes through tunel; of how the Second and Thirty-Sixth Div isions got their chance in October by being assigned to aid the French in the drive from Rheims and of the splendid fighting of the 37th and 91st divisions sent to join the French army in Belgium.
 Of the total strength of the Expedi- tionary Force, General Pershing re- ports:
 F There are in Europe altogether in- cluding a regiment and some sanitary units with the Italian Army and the organizations at Murmansk, also in- cluding these en route from the States approximately 2,053,347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in France 1888, ,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived of which the Infantry personnel of 10 have used as replacements, leaving go div isions now in France organized into three armies of three corps each"
 Of their equipment he says:
 Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary for it's conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important deficien- cies in material were artillery, avia- ton and tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, We accepted the offer of the French government to provide us with the necessary artillery equipment of sev- enty-fives, one fifty-five millimeter howitzers, and one fifty-five G. P. F.. guns from their own factories for thir ty divisions. The wisdom of this course is fully demonstrated by the fact that, although we soon began the manu- fracture of these classes of guns at home, there were no guns of the cali- bers mentioned manufactured in Am erica on our front at the date the arm istice was signed. The only guns of these types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy five millimeter guns.
 "In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be un- der way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit observa- tion and bombing planes. The first airplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have re- ceived 1879. The first American squadron completely equipped by Am erican production, including airplanes crossed the German lines on August | 7, 1918. As to tanks, we were also com pelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less fortunate, for the reason that the French production could barly meet the requirements of their own armies.
 t'It could be fully realized that the French government has always taken most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to gvie us every possi- ble assistance in meeting our deficien. cies in these as we'll as in other res poets. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation and tanks was of course, due to the fact that our in.
 dustries had not been exclusively de voted to military production. All cred IeA Ca ~ks,., &r~