The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1919-01-03
THE AMERICANS AT CANTIGNY

the. battle of Cantigny. where thu
xGans first went up against thu
u troops of the German army ant
proveG themselves worthy of the stee
u any sc1.ers on earth, is taken from
the Stars and Stripes, the official pa
per published by the American Elk
peditionary force in France. We are
giving up space to this minute accoun
OF the first hard fight in which oul
boys were engaged as showing the
the stuff they are made of because
it is the most complete and interest
ing story of that battle that we have
,en in print, and because it disillu
Shthe arrogant Huns who look
soldier of Am
p"hy Is contempiaBefore the wal
SIGN The line1ed to respect the
Ill, i. run lronfespect had it's start
ington Cent
Columbia 80 C... ,a o,
hmn,.. Important one in the Allied
n,o,n,.ttle; it may be said to have
waa.iinost supremely important
80 a few kilometers northwest ol
1,didier. which, like Cantigny It.
self, was in the possession OF the
Germans, and about 25 kilOmeters
southeast Of Amiens, it was at the
very apex of the salient which the
enemy had gained in their March Of
fensive, when they had come measur-
~ hn q
French armies. Upon the troops hold
ing the line here rested the chief re-
sponsibility for the safety of Amiens
and the vital railways and other lines
of communication, now necessarily
crowded close to the coast, by which
the British supplied all of their line
north of the Somme from LIE Havre
and other ports of the Channel coast.
Could the Americans be rolled upon
70 hold this rital~point as well as the
e'encn, who had here stopped the
German advance few weeks before
The Gefmans sneered at the idea
yowing that the unframed and self
indulgent Americans could never be
made into first-class soldiers. The
French and the English believed that
they could, and, if the event should
prove that they could, moreover, when
the opportunity came, make head Of
fensively into the German lines OPP
posite to them, 1t would be to the
wearied armies and peoples of the
allied nations like the first flush of
daylight after the stormy night. Mil
lions more Of Americantroop poten-
ti.slly as good as those OF the First
Division. were coming, and If the First
Division could stand the supreme test
no doubt would remain that eventu-
ally the war could be won.
After period of rigorous training
behind the lines, the First Division
had first occupied a quiet sector in
he region of Toul about the middle
cf January, where, through three
months of almost constant service
Nc,ey had learned the complicated les
IONS of defensive warfare, which had
been brought to such a high state OF
Irorfection during three and a hall
years of war. 1t was from this sector
that they were transferred to Can.
tiony,. where, from their arrival or
Ri %, they experienced an inten'
sty of defensive warfare vastly great
e. than that which had prevailed II
..heir former positions.
4 The Germans, constantly threaten
fng to resume their push TOWARD
,n7iens and the coast, harassed thu
American line night and day will
ortillery fire of all calibers, wihl'
ench raiding was frequent and for
-idable. The American raiding, how
--o~. wes quite as spirited as the Ger
ond patrols had soon secures
'~r- alton showing that the enemy
k'~es orpcsite the First Division wer
r. by the 271st and 272nd regiment
orman infantry, whose companie
Il an avera. : strength Of 160 men
her troopy and larger companie
Il the Average in the German arm
at iLe time.
Difficult though the American pos
ton was to hold, it soon became ev
dent that merely holding it woul
not suffice. The village of Cantign,
strongly organized and defended b
the enemy, was on rising ground, a
fording admirable observation poin
overlooking the American lines an
rear areas toward Amiens and Br
feuil, and, moreover, presenting 9
excellent jumping off place for a fu
ther great assault II the German
should determine to resume their a
vance toward. the coast. To SAT
guard the position and to place Il
line favorably for an allied counte
offensive, If the chance for one shou
come, It was necessary that Cantigl
should be taken and held. Prepar
tions for the operation were beg
at once.
The troops detailed to make the {
tack were the 2Sth Infantry, Color
Ely; one battalion of the 26th Infa
try, Major Theodore Roosevelt,
support, and detachments of Fren
tanks and flame throwers. A secti
of terrain behind the American lin
very SltIllldT III Hdluid lCuiui 90
that occupied by Cantigny and its
fenses was selected for maneuveril
and trenches in replica of the Germ
ones were dug upon 1t. Sand tab
showing the topography, woods, In
of change of the barrage, objecti
strong points, and all houses in C'
tigny which might be expected to
ORGANIZED as machine gun nests w
prepared and minutely studied. Elk
and detailed orders were prepal
by the staff and the artillery arral
ed accurate time tables for the p
liminary bombardment and the r.
ing barrage.
For three successive days the tro'
which were to participate in the
eault rehearsed It In detail upon
sted terrain until every Off