The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1918-12-13

aid them, and the enemy learned hnll-
~ that he had one to reckon with"
The report shows for the first time
officially that with this brilliantly exc
Gated coup, General Pershing's men
had cleared the way for the great eff
fort Of the allies and American forces
TO win a conclusive Victory. The
American army moved nt once toward
its browning achievement, the battle
Of the Mouse.
The general tells a dramatic story
Of this mighty battle In three distinct
phases, beginning on the night Of
September q, when Americans quick
ly took the places of the French on
the thlnly held line of this long, quiet
sector. The attack opened on Septeul-
Der 20. and the Americans drove
through entanglementS, across No
Mans Land, to take all the entmy's
tirst-llne positions.
Battle OF the Meuse.
Closing the chapter, General Per
shlng says:
ION November 8 a division Of the
First corps reached point on the
Mouse opposite Sedan, % miles from
our lines of departure. The strategy
cal goal which was our highest hope
was gained. We had cut the enemy's
main line Of communications, and
nothing could save his army from
complete disaster.
"In all forty enemy divisions had
been used against us In the Meuse-
Argonne battle, Between September
20 and November 6 we took 26,059
prisoners and 46S guns on this front.
"0ur divisions engaged were the
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
Twenty-slxth, Twenty-eighth. Twenty
ninth, Thlrty-second, Thlrty-thIrd,
Thirty.hfth, Thlrty-seventh, Seventy
eighth. Seventy-nlnth, Elghtleth,
Eighty-second, Eighty-nlnth, Ninetieth
and Nlnety-frst.
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, TWEEN
ty-slxth. Forty-second, Seventy-sev-
enth, Elghtleth, Eighty-ninth and
Nlnetieth 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
and Thirtieth divisions, in the British
assault on the Hindenburg line where Z
the st. Quentin canal passes through
a 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-first divisions, sent
to join the French army In Belgium.
OF the total strength of the expedl-
tionary force, General Pershlng 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 2,053.347 men, less our
losses"
"Of this total there are in France
1885, 100 combatant troops"
Problem Of Equipment.
OF their equipment he says:
"Our entry into the war found us
with few of the anxlllaries necessary
for its 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
howltzer and one So G. p. II. gun from
their own factories for 30 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 calibers
mentioned manufactured in America
on our froEt at the date the armIstlce
was signed. The only guns of these
types produced at home thus far re-
celved In France are 100 75-millimeter
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 our
own aviation program should be under
way. We obtained from the French
the necessary planes for training our
and they have provided us
with total of 2.676 pursuit, obserya-
ton, and bombing planes.
The first airplanes received from
home arrived in May, and together
we have received 1879. The first
American squadron completely