The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-12-12

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The report shows for The flrss time
oalcialiy that with this brilliantly exc
cutsd coup. General Pershtng,at men
had cleared the way for tile great ef-,
fort Of the allies and American forg9s
to win . conclusive victory. The
American army moved At once toward
Its crowninK achievement. the battle
Of the Meuse.
The general tells dramatic story
of this mighty battle In three distinct
| phases, beginning on the night Of
September n. when Americana quick
~ took the places Of the French un
the thinly held line af This long. quiet
sector. The attack opened on Septcni-
ber %, and the Americans drove
through entanglements. across No
Mans Land, to take all the enemy's
nrst-line positions.
Battle Of the Meuss.
Closing the chapter. General Per
shing says:
ION November 8 division Of the
First corps reached point on the
Neuse opposite Sedan. 25 miles from
our lines Of departure. The strateEi-
cal goal which was our highest hope
was gained. We had cut the eneiny's
main line Of communications. and
nothing could save his army from
complete disaster.
I'm all forty enemy divisions had
been used against US In the Meuse-
Argonne battle. Between September
% and November 9 we took 26.Oh0
prisoners and 48S guns on this front.
"Our divisions engaged were the
First, Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth.
Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty
ninth. Thirty-second. Thirty-thIri,
Thirty-fifth. Thirty-seventh. Seventy
eighth. Seventy-ninth. Eightieth.
Eighty-second. Eighty-nlnth, Ninetieth
and Ninety-first.
MANY Of our divisions remained in
line for a length of time that re-
quired nerves of steel, while others
were sent In again after only few
days Of rest. The First. Fifth. Twen-
ty-sixth. Forty-second, Seventy-sey.
enth. Eighueth. Elghty-ninth and
Ninetieth were In the line twice.
Although some Of the divisions
were fighting their nrst battle. they
soon became equal to the best.
otissr Corps Active.
The commander In chief does not
lose sight Of the divisions operating
with French or British armies during
this time.
He tells Of the work of the Second
corps. comprising the Twenty-seventh
and Thirtieth divisions. In the British
assault on the Hindenburg line where
the st. Quentin canal passes through
q tunnel; Of how the Second and Thir-
ty-sixth divisions got their chance in
October by being assigned to aid the
French In the drive from Reims, and
Of the splendid fighting Of the Thirty
seventh and Nlnety-first divisions, sent
to Join the French army In Belgium.
OF the total strength Of the expedi-
tionary force, General Pershing re-
ports:
There are In Europe altogether, In
Guiding q regiment and some sanitary
units with the italian army and the
organizations at Murmansk. also In
Guiding these en- route from the States.
approximately 2O6S.347 men. less our
LOSSES"
"Of this total there are in France
1855, 100 combatant troops"
Problem st Equipment
OF their equipment he says:
'sOur entry into the war found us
with few Of the anxiliaries necessary
for its conduct In the modern sense.
Among our most important deficiencies
in material were artillery, aviation
and tanks. s,s-
"In order to meet our requirements
as rapidly. a. possible. We accepted the
offer Of the French government to pro-
vide Us with the necessary artillery
equipment Of 75s, one 66-millimeter
howitzer and one IS G. p. F. gun from
their own factories for 50 divisions.
"The wisdom Of this course Is fully
demonstrated by the fact that. al
though we soon began the manufac-
ture Of these classes of guns at home.
there were no guns Of the caiibers
mentioned manufactured In America
on our front Mt the date the armistice
was signed. The only guns of these
types produced at home thus far re-
ceived in France are 100 75-mililmeter
guns.
First U. .. Planes In May.
I'm aviation we were in the same
situation, and here again the French
government came to our aid until our
own aviation program should be under
way. We obtained from the French
the necessary planes for training our
personnel. and they have provided us
with a total Of 2,876 pursuit, Observa-
ton, and bombing planes.
'.The first airplanes received from
home arrived In May and together