Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-05

divisions INTO complete confusion, cap
turing 600 prisoners
Thus was the stage set for the counter
offensive which beginning with the smash
ing Of the enemys Marnc salient, brought
overwhelming victory to the Allies and
the United States IN the evcntful months
that have followed The intimation ~
strong that General Pcrshing's advice
helped Marshal Foch 10 reach his dc
clSion 70 strike General Pershing con-
tin,lcS
'"Thc great force OF the German Cha
tcau 1hierry offensive established the deep
Narnc salient but the enemy was taking
chances. and the vlllnernhlitv of this
pocket Of attack might he turned to his
disadvantage Seizng this opportunity
tn support my conviction every division
with any sort of training was made avail
able for use IN a counter offensive The
place of honor IN the thrust toward Soisson
on July Is, was given to our First and
Second Divisions in company With chosen
Ere nch divisions
TELLS OF BEE1Y-IT~st, VICTORY.
Without the usual brief warning of
preliminary bombardment. the rnasSed
French and American artillery. firing
by the map, laid down its rolling barrage
NiIWHt "iiiit tiif iiiAdAhJiN bNStl It's
charge The tactical handling Of our
troops under these trying conditions was
excellent throughout the action. The
enemy brought up large numbers of re
serves and made 4 stubborn defense both
with machine guns and artillery but
through five DAYS fighting. the First
Division continued TO advance until Il bad
gained the heights above SolSsons and
captured the village Of Berry le-scC The
Second DIVISION took Beau Repairc farm
and Very IN a very rapid advance and
reached 81 position IN front Of Tigny at
the end Of It's second day These two
divisions captured 1000 prisoners and
over lOo pieces of artillery
The report describes in some detail,
the work oi completing the reduction nf
the salient, mentioning the operations of
the Goth, Third, Fourth. f2nd, Sind and
2Sth Divisions. With the Situation on tho
Marne front thus relieved, General Per
shIng writes, he could turn 20 the organ
lzatlon Of the FIRST American Army and
the reduction of the St Athicl salient,
long planned as the initial purely Aneri-
can enterprise. A trep concentration.
aided BY generous contributions Of artl-
lery and air units bv The French, began.
involving the movement, mostly az night. !
-
Port sur Scillc cast az the MoScllc. west i
ward through ST Mihicl 70 Ncriun and /
later enlarged 70 carry 1t Ia the edge Of the ,
forrest OF Argonnc. was taken over, the |
second Colonial French holding the tip ,
u the salient opposite St Mlhlei, and the /
French Seventeenth Corps, on tho heights !
above NCrdun, beng transferred to Cen. |
pershings Command
CREAr AVIATION sol ,D EVER As@EMBIEl, /
The combined French British and /
American sir forces, mohIized for the
battle, the report saws, was the largest
aviation assembly ever engaged on the
western front up 70 that time IN = single
operation.
Of the reduction Of the -. MIhie!
salient General PershIng saws
After four hours artillery preparation
hc seven American DIVISION n he front /
Inc advanced Al 5 m on September T..
.sslsted ny limited number 81 tanks
manned partly bz Americans and lartl&
5, Tn, French Those DIVISIONS. as
hy groups of vlrc cutters and
,,hers armed with bang4lorr torFcdoc>
vent through the successive hands II
'srted uirc that protested thc cncmy'S
rout inc and support trenches u u
eslstihe waves on schedule tunc hrcak
lg donn 81. defense nf au enemy de
1oraIlzed by the great yuiumc q our
TtIllery fire ard our sudden approach out
tho log
Our First Corps advanced - 1aiaQ-
curt while m.r Fourth Corp Jrvei
ack 70 the southwest through Non.ard
&c Second Colonial French { orp made
Ge slight advance required r! Il or ver7
lficult ground, and he Fifth orIzs tool
IL i
tack a rapid march brought reserve
egiments OF a division u tho Fifth Cor7,s
ITO Vigneulles III the early morning. where
linked up with patrols Of orr Fourth
orps. closing the salient and forming q :
ew line west Of Thiaucourt u Nignculles :
nd beyond Fresnes-en-W dyre 4
"At the cost OF only 700 casualties .
ostlv light, we had taken Is 900 prison r
S and AS guns, great quantity of
aterial released the inhabitants 0t :
any villages from enemy domination. /
d established our lines IN a position y Q
rcaten Metz r
PIRST SIGNAL SUCCESS or AMERICANS
This signal SUCCESS Of the American c
lrst Army IN its first offensive Was oi =
-Ime Importance The Allies found they i
I'd formidable army 10 aid them and y
reckon with
The report shows for the first umc, :,
hciaIly, that with this brilliantly exc \
ted coup, General Pershings men had 5
cared the way for the great effort Of the +,
lies and American forces u win i con s
islve victory The American army 4
owed at once toward its crUwnlng achic- !,
ment, the battle Of the Meuse v
The general tells dramatic story of II
Is mighty battle IN three distinct ! i
Irases, beginning on the night Of Septcnn- d
r u. when Americans quickly took the 81
aces Of the French or the thinlv held !,
e Of tins long quiet sector The attack .,
ened on September -, and the :
nercans drove through entangeInents,
ross No-Man s-Land to take al the +
emys first line positions Closing the +
ipter, General Pershing says
ARMIsTICk SAVED GERMAN AkMIEs
On November q, division of the
s. Corp reached point On the Me,Isc
Dosltc Sedan, Is miles from our line 81
7arture. The strategical goal which
: our highest hope was gained We
cur the enemy main line III CON-
and nothing but surrender
an arTni,tlce could save his army from ii,
npletc disaster co
IN all. 20 enemy divisions had been A,
d against us in the Metlse-Ar Argonne | fe
tie. Between September Is and No sb
1ber 6, We took 26,O59 prisoners an d nl
gums on this front Our divisions en- / III