The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-05-28

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countcrcd during ihr day and night. i!
! the night of the 18th III" front I'm" OF Ia"
division lay slightly IN advanc" "l 'h'
! s. PIerrmcmont and SommaUihc. "a
the 5th the whole line moved f"rwAE"
| rapidly AZ 4:30 Il III. the 18th infantry
| entered Beaumont and took prisoners
| there. while the 3lSth infantry clcaF""
the woods in its front and advanced "E'.
| siXe Kilometres TO the StonnC-BcauinoNI
road by 9 4 m. at which hour II cup
turrd the hostile position Of NcrniioEc''
where resistance was offered.
During the afternoon IN" 18th DIVISION
| reached the Stonnc- li,aum"nt ROAD on
the left OF the S0th Division.
The division now held tho line OF IN"
! Stonnc- Beaumont road from point one
| kilometrc west Of WCrniforct 10 RC'u
mont. inclusive Al b p. IN. the "'N'
infantry attacckd the position ~ l"'''',
and before midnight had occupied an"
consolidated Hill rs. northwest OF rue
town. The 10th brigade had advanced
nearly ten Kilometres within - hours
At $50 a. m. on the 6ih the front h.'
| Of the division was lcap-froSE'd pE nv
4 Ist Division. whcrCupon the HV'h '"''
sion was assembled about Soi''hn'u ''4.'
Remaining there the following day. II
|
! morning OF the Sth for the Cornay --Npre-
| mont area in reserve.
| On the 10th Of November orlcial IN
| formation was received that hosh'n''S
were to cease 1t II 4. m. the following
day, and the S0th Division was oruercu
TO march on the nth 10 the Les lsletteS
area, whence il had moved forward
Upon the relief oe the division from
| the line the division commander rccciVco
the following letter from the command
! ing general Of the First Army corps
| THE corps commander desires that
those under your command be laforThN
| that in addition to other well deserved
Communications received from the army
and the CORDS commanders. nc wishes 10
cxprrss his particular qualification ana
! ,nnrrciation OF the work OF your dlVl-
sion from the time it has entered under
his command
More than once tho boast has peer
heard oe large casualty lists in acton
| within The SOth Division the same crc
| was taken to reduce losses by d'sct
| that was constantly exercised by the
| division commander to minimize thS'i
| in battle. The boast or the division
has always been that IT was aple 10
achieve results without cNtraNaGahcH III
human life. Those who have GuldeS
| tts destinies may well be proud or inc
| fact that Of the 5000 casualties II sur
| fercd in battle. none were reasonably
| avoidable. The knowledge that 'heS
were not being uselcssly sacrificed un-
| do,htcdly served 70 make the officers
and the men Of the Snth Division VIII
! ing TO follow where they were led. II
| should be an infinite satisfaction TO the
division command that it may face those
! 70 whom II is before God rcSponSlclc
| for tho men committed to its charge
with an absolutely clear conscience,
| II is we'll now to summaries tho
| achievements OF the division in battle
on the three occasions when 1t was en-
ploycd in the Meuse-Argonne campaign
| During the twenty-thrce days II was
| engaged in the American sector 1t ad-
vanced against intense opposition 81 Kill
omctcrs. or nearly "a miles. 1t h"ree
times broke through the main enemy
line OF defense or September 1921. on
October 4-12 and November IL, re-
| spcctiycly. 1t captured 1903 officers, In
Guiding three entire battalion STATS
| and ITO men: IS pieces OF artillery OF
various caliber. and 6f1 machine guns.
| besides vast quantity OF small arms,
ammunition equipment and stores. This
was accomplished with n total loss Of
but 2l0 officers and 5.464 men. in1lud-
ing 81 officers and 592 men killed.
One Of the saddcst losses in the divi-
sion was that of Colonel Robert S.
Welsh. who had commanded the artil-
lery brigade practically throughout tho
| lighting But a few days before the
armistice he was killed in action. while
! calamity leading his brigade, TO tAe
command Of which Brigadier General
]. n. Rryson succeeded on November 9.
A tremendous loss was also suffered
! by the division shortly after the armiS-
tice-a loss that was inevitable. and
enc that was gladly sustained. yet one
that was kcenly felt. On November IS
Major General Adelbert Cronkhite. who
had made and led the division through
out the war. secured :he recognition
which he had SO fully carned-assigncd
10 the command OF the Ninth Corps. He
was succeeded BY Major General s. D.
SturGis.
Early in December General Jamerson
resumed the command Of the 155th
Brigade and Colonel George D. Freeman
was assigned 10 the command Of the
3lSth.
! On Christmas day the division was
represented by the 1st Battalion, 320th
Infantry. at the presidential review near
La1crcs. in which five other divisions
participated. Christmas celebrations
were everywhere held in the division
for tho French children Of the villages
in which the men were quartered.
March 2lst General Jamerson, who
had organized and commanded tho 317tl
Infantry. and then commanded tho 1901
Brigade. was transferred to tho SSH
Division. His loss was keenly felt in
the Division.
, March S0th the movement OF the d..
, vision Westward to the lie Mems Ares
= commenced. preparatory to its embark.
alton for the United States at Brest
carry in May. Throughout tho month
| OF April the Division remained in this
Area. with headquarters at Ecommoy
. Thus. It was destined TO return &c
: America, after an absence OF Just ont
year.
Just "a fighting IS but small part
OF a soldiers duty so are the things
, that appear to the casual observer but
part OF those which go to make VI
, tho character Of a combat unit.
. In accordance with the usual prac
tce the Snth Division was subjected to
rigid inspection preparatory to its en-.
, barkat!on for America, with tho result
that the following communication was
received at Headquarters from the Com
mard'ng General Of the American EN-
barkation Center:
~. Tho commanding General directs
that a copy OF this report Of the In
spcctor OF the A. E. c.. be forwarded