The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1918-12-12


| cuted coup. General Pershings men
had cleared the way for the great e1-
| fort of the allies and American forces
| TO win conclusive victory. Inc
| American army moved at once toward
its GROWING achievement, the battle
of the Mouse.
The general tells dramatic story
of this mighty battle in three distinct
phases, beginning on the night OF
September 81, when Americans quick
" took the places Of the French ON
the thinIy held line of this long, quiet
sector. The attack opened on SeDtcni-
Der 90, and the Americans drove
through entanglements, across No
Mans Land, to take all the enemys
frst-line positions.
Battle of the Meuse.
Closing the chapter, General Per
shing says:
"On November 6 division of the
First corps reached a point on the
Meuse opposite Sedan, % miles from
our lines of departure. The strategy
cal goal which was our highest nope
was gained We had cut the enemy's
main line of communications, ana
nothing could save his army from
complete disaster.
SIN all forty enemy divisions had
been used against us In the Meuse-
Argonne battle. Between September
26 and November 6 we took 26Oo9
prisoners and 1853 guns on this front.
"Our divisions engaged were the
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty
ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third,
Thirty-fifth. Thirty-seventh, Seventy
eighth. Seventy-rinth, Eightieth'
Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth
and Ninety-first.
"Many of our divisions remained IN
line for 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-sev-
enth, Eightieth, Eighty-nlnth and
Ninetieth were in the line twice.
Although some of the divisions
were fighting their first battle, they
soon became equal to the best.
Other 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,
,,1 in tho british
assault on the Hndenburg line where
the ST. Quentin canal passes through
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 Ninety-frst 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 n regiment and some sanitary
units with the Italian army and the
organizations at Murmansk, also in
Guiding these en- route from the States,
approximately 2,053,347 men, less our
losses"
"Of this total there are in France
1 1893, 100 combatant troops"
Problem of Equipment.
Of their equipment he says:
"Our entry into the war found us
with few of the anxiliaries necessary
for it's conduct in the modern sense.
Among our most important deficiencies
in material were. artillery, aviation
and tanks.
'In order to meet our requirements
as rapidly as possible, we accepted the
offer of the French government to pro-
vide us with the necessary artillery
equipment of los, one 55-millimeter
howitzer and one 30 G. p. f. gun from
their own factories for so divisions.
"1'he 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 calibers
mentioned manufactured in America
on our front at the date the armistice
was signed. The only guns of these
types produced at home thus far re
ceived in France are 100 75-millimetel
guns.
First U. S. Planes in May.
SIN aviation we were In the same
situation, and here again the French
government came to our aid until oul
own aviation program should be under
way. We obtained from the French
the necessary planes for training oul
personnel, and they have provided Il:
with total of 2,G76 pursuit, observa
ton, and bombing planes.
1.-THE first airplanes received from
home arrived in May and together
we have received 1870. The frs
American squadron completely
equipped by American production, in
Guiding airplanes, crossed the German
lines on August I, 1913.
"As to tanks, we were compelled
to rely upon the French. Here
however we were less fortunate, fol-