Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-03-14

the object of eventually pushing across
the Aisne and recovering the old French
positions on the Chemin des Danes.
About the 10th Of the month, in order
to aid the progress of both these attacks
the French began driving wedge into
the German front between SCISSORS and
the Disc river, which by the 18th had
developed salient the left side of
which flanked the enemy's Hindenburg
line near the Disc, while its right side
was moving eastward squarely across
the flank of his defensive systems be-
tween the Aisne and the Ailette.
The Germans knew that II this flank
attack could not be stopped promptly,
their Vesle, Aisne and Chemin des
Danes positions were all doomed, and
perhaps Laon as well, and they fought
fiercely to retain their foothold. From
the vicinity of the Disc to Scissors, the
18th, 9TH, 30th, LIST and 10th French
Corps, constituting the 10th French
Army, were pressing the attack, and on
August 26 the 32nd United States Divis-
ion, its strength to some extent, though
by no means completely, restored by
requirements, was ordered up from its
rest area near Dravegny to the 3Oth
French Corps, where, during the night
Of August 27-28, it relieved the 127th
French Division in the front line.
HOLDING UP ARMY FRONT
To its left lay the 64th French Divis-
ion OF its own corps and to its right the
59th French Division of the LIST Corps.
In front of it distance of about a kilo-
meter down gradual, open hill slope,
the embankment of the railroad from
scissors to Crecy-au-Mont crossed the
divisional sector nearly at right angles,
and about kilometer beyond the rail-
road, in the middle of the sector, the
solidly-built village of Juvigny nestled
in the bottom of a ravine, one of whose
wooded branches extended, southwest
ward toward the right flank of the 32nd
Division and the left flank of the 59th
Division.
The enemy's position here, to which
he was clinging with all his power, was
holding up the Allied advance along
the 10th Army front, and the 32nd Di-
vision had been brought in specifically
to smash through.
Without time for previous reconpais-
sance, the Sind Division, with the 63rd
Brigade in front, the l26th Infantry on
its right and the l25th Infantry on its
left, moved forward early on the morn
ing of the 18th, in conjunction with the
59th French Division and seized the
line of the railroad where, however,
the troops were so exposed to the
enemy's raking fire that eventually re-
sort had to be had to distribution in
great depth, leaving few men in shell
holes at the extreme front while most
of them lay back of the hill crest.
ASSAULT STOPPED IN TRACKS
A violent enemy counter-attack down
the branch of the ravine above men,
toned was readily repulsed, and early
the following morning, simultaneously
with the whole 10th Army, the 32nd
Division attacked toward Juvigny, ac-
companied by two companies of French
tanks and company of cavalry, preced-
ed by 25-minute artillery preparation
and covered by rolling barrage.
But it was all to no purpose. The
German machine gun emplacements in
the ravines were SO well covered that
the artillery fire did them little damage.
On the whole front the assault was
stopped in its tracks and at evening the
32nd, having suffered severe losses,
lay practically where it had lain in the
morning, west of the railroad. Un-
deniably the Germans had scored.
But their defensive success was not
long-lived. During the night of the
18th, the 63rd Brigade, to the command
of which Brig. Gen. Frank r. Mccoy
had that day succeeded Brig. Gen. L.
C. Covell, gave up the front line to the
Gath Brigade, which went in with the
127th Infantry on the right and the
12Sth on the left. Before noon of the
Both, the 59th French Division begun
pushing ahead slowly against Chavigny
and the ravines in its front, and at $3.50
p. m, general advance of the 32nd
Division commenced, the right of the
line pressing northeast through the
ravines toward Juvigny, while the ex-
IRENE left was obliged to echelon back
to the railroad grade to keep liaison
with the division on its left, which |
could not advance against the machine |
guns ahead of it.
The Germans counter-attacked vigor-
ously on the pocket thus developed at
the division left, but to no avail; the
l27th Infantry and the right Of the l2sth,
closely supported at every step by the