Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-09-06

utes on the front line, and then to
move the next objective. This bonn
bardment was to commence at 4:5o,
and at ASS the men were 10 go over
the top
The troops reached the position
safely by about 4 O'Clock. Our posi-
ton lay along the edge of a rugged
and steep ratine. The rain had
stopped and the first faint pink of
the ear Y summer morning lighted the
sky. Absolute silence hung over every
thing, broken only by twittering of
the little birds. Suddenly out of the
stiffness without the warning of a
preliminary shot. our artillery opened
with a crash. All along the horizon
silhouetted against the pale pink of
the early dawn was the tufted smoke
of high explosive shells and the burst
of shrapnel showed in flashes like the
splitting of a broken electric wire in
a hailstorm. After the bombardment
had been going on for two or three
minutes d company, on the right, be-
came impatient and wanted to attack,
and I heard the men begin to call,
Let's go, let's got"
Surprise Complete.
At 4S5 the infantry went over. The
surprise WAS complete. Germans We're
killed in their dugouts half dressed
One of the units of the division cap
tured a colonel and his staff still in
his dugout. So rapid was the advance
on the first day that the German ad-
vance batteries were taken. The
French cavalry followed NJ our ad-
vance, looking for a break through,
Iex t,inht oil nhianfiNec IN L on
and the troops bivouacked in the cap
tured position. During the night Hun
airplanes flew low over us dropping
flares and throwing small bombs. Next
morning the attack started again. VT
ran into much machine gun fire.
"Only those who have danced to its
music can know what the miltrail-
leuse means"
The Germans now rushed up all the
reserves they could to hold this threat
ened point. On the second day we took
prisoners from four Hun divisions in
front of the regiment. One prisoner
told US he had marched twenty
kilometers during the preceding night
For five days the advance continued,
until the final objective was taken
and we held the Chateau Thierry-
scissors railroad and the Germans or
dered a general retreat. | was not
fortunate enough to see the last half
of this battle. as / was wounded. !
heard about it, however, from men
who had been all through 1t.
Our casualties were very heavy. AT
the end of the battle companies in
some cases came out commanded by
corporals and battalions by second
lieutenants. In the battle the regf-
ment lost most of the men that built
it up.
Col. Hamilton A. Smith, as fine an
officer and as true a gentleman as l
have ever known. was killed by ma
chine gun fire while he was verifying
his outpost line. Major McCloud, a
veteran of the Philippines, who had
served with the British for three years,
was killed on the second day. l have
somewhere a note written by HIM to
me shortly before his death. He was
on the left, where heavy resistance
was being encountered. | had just
sent him q message advising him that
| was attcking in the direction of
Ploisy. His answer, which was brought
by wounded runner, read; MY staff
are all either killed or wounded. VIII
attack toward the northeast against
machine gun nests. Good hunting"
Lieutenant Colonel Elliott was kill
ed. Capt j. II. Holmes, a gallant
young South Carolinian, was killed.
He left in the United States young
wife and a baby he had never seen.
Captains Mood. Hamel and Richards
were killed. Lieutenant Kern, OF
whom l spoke before, was mortally
wounded while CALAMITY leading. his
company. Lieutenant Clarke died in
the hospital from the effect of his
wounds few days later. Clarke was
big, strapping fellow who feared
nothing. Once he remarked to me:
Eyes. it is a messy, damn war, sir, but
it's the only one we've got and | guess
we have got to make the best of t.
These are only a few of those who
fell. Both Major Compton and Major
Travis were wounded.
The Twenty sixth infantry was
brought out of the fight, when it was
relieved, by Lieut., Col. (then captain)
Barnwell Rhett Legge of South Caro-
lima. Colonel Legge started the war
as a second lieutenant. When I first
knew him he was adjutant. Later he
took q company and commanded 1t
during the early fighting. He was
then made adjutant of the regiment,
and two or three times | recall his
asking the colonel to let him go back
with his company, Captain Frey.
killed earlier, who was originally my
senior company commander. thought
very highly of him and used to Josh
him continually. Once Legge took
out raiding party and captured a
German prisoner 81 years old. Frey
never let him hear the last of it, ask
ing him If he considered 1t a sports
manlike proceeding to take man of
that age, and saying that a man who
would do such a thing would shoot
quail on the ground and catch trout
with worm. All during my service
in Europe Legge served with me. Dur
ing the latter part he was my second
in command in the regiment | have
seen him under all circumstances. He
was always cool and decided, No mis-
sion was too difficult for him to un-
dertake. His ability as troop leader
was of the highest order. In my
opinion no man OF his age has better
war record.