The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-11-02
GLORIOUS PART
OF THE nth IN
ARGONNEFIGHT
Great Odds Against Which
Upton Men Labored
and Won Out.
HEROISM OF WHITTLESEY
British Writer'S Praise Of Bat
tie That Precipitated End
Of the War.
HEROISM OF wHITTLESEY
BY HERBERT BAILEY.

BY HERBERT BAILEY,
London Times Public Ledger Corre-
Spondent.
(Copuioht. 1919. by Public Ledger Co.)
III.
The night before the Argonne drive
commenced the front of the first Amer
lean army extended from where on the
extreme left 1t Joined General Gou-
raud's fourth French army at La
Harazee, across through Boureuilles
and Vauquois. to just north Of Avo-
court and south Of Malancourt, Beth
incourt and FORCES. where 1t crossed
the Mouse to Beaumont and Ornes.
On the left was the First corps with
the Seventy-seventh. Twenty-eighth
and Thirty fifth Divisions in line, then
came the Fifth Corps with the Ninety
first, Thirty-seventh and Seventy-ninth
Divisions, followed by the Third Corps
of the Fourth, Eightieth and Thirty
third Divisions. whose right rested on
the Meuse. On the right bank OF tho
was placed under General Pershing's
command. but they were to mark time
until the action developed.
The general plan of attack was that
the Americans. in concert with the
French Fourth army on their left, were
to press northward, leaving the Ar
gonne forest itself to fall by the
process OF driving up each side and
meeting around Grandpre at its north
ernmost extremity. It was. in mill
tary phraseology, "to be pinched out"
the Seventy-seventh Division in the
forest Just following up as the two
wings went forward. Five German
divisions were In line opposite the
Americans the night before the attack,
two of which were the Third and Fifth
Guard Divisions The activities be-
hind the American front had not
passed unobserved by the Germans.
and they had made all preparations
for the attack when It dawned
The night was dark and misty. The
troops found every difficulty in reaching
their assigned positions and the trans
port problem was already serious when
at III go the artillery with a sudden and
startling roar poured forth its messag e
OF new attack on the enemy lines The
Americans felt that they were partici-
pating In the greatest event of the war
ana a determination to make the NOR
row success seized every one. At
half past on the morning OF September
rs the barrage lifted and the infantry.
climbing out OF the trenches, were
quickly crossing No Mans Land with
It's barbed wire and shell holes to the
maze OF deep trenches and concrete
fortihcations OF the HiDdenburg line.
Seven Mile Penetration.
They were surprised to find so little
resistance where they expected so much
but the Germans had withdrawn most
or their main troops from the front line.
leaving garrisons at strong points and
dominating heights to check the Ameri-
can advance until reenforcements could
arrive to hold a new front Yet, even
30. the Germans were surprised. as the
haul OF 5000 prisoners on the first day
showed. In some places the Americans
penetrated to depth OF seven miles on
the FIRST day. Vauquois. where II had
been expected the Germans would have
defended their elaborate defences with
some tenacity, fell to the Thirty-f,fth
Division almost without q shot being re-
turned. while Varennes. famous as the
scene OF the arrest OF Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette when they sought to
escape from Paris to Germany through
Montmedy. was taken by the Twenty
eighth Division with little loss.
These two heights overlooked the Hin
denburg line, but they in turn were
overlooked by. the supreme height OF ali.
Montfaucon. From the obseryatton
tower on its highest point, built OF con-
crete and fitted with the highest pow
cred OF telescopes from which the Crown
Prince had anxiously watched the futile
enorts o. his legions to>take verdun, II
was possible to view the whole sector
from the Mouse to the Argonne. The
forest. black. forbidding and thick. Law
on the west, the eastern Meuse heights,
where the Germans had stationed their
long range artillery and were enfiladine
with shells OF all calibres the aank
and front Of the Americans, crowned 10
the east
The Meuse sloped away on one side
and the valley Of the Aire, hugging the
Argonne forest as far as Grandpre,
where 1t turned toward the Aisne on the
other. To seize this height was one of
the first and the most important tasks OF
the Americans. To defend and hold this
wonderful observation post Yves vital for
the Germans 1t was natural, then, that
the nghting on the first day should con-
verge toward this point. Montfaucon
lies in the direct line of advance of the
Seventy-ninth Division, new to fighting
as It was. Up from Malancourt, through
the woods clustered around the linden
burg line, the men fought their way and
then commenced moving along the climb
Ing road that led into Montfaucon.
Troops Reach Montfaucon.
It was foggy In the morning, but the
afternoon cleared, and at a in the even
Ing the Seventy-ninth Division had cap
tured part of the forward slope of Mont
faucon. One regiment, with the aid of
two tanks manned by Americans, then
pushed on after dusk to the village, with
its church standing on the top, but, I'M
supported by artillery. which, owing TO
the impossible condition of the roads,
was unable to advance with as equal
rapidity as the infantry, was driven
back to the northern edge of Montfaucon
wood. where It spent the night.
On the extreme right, where the Meuse
River formed the Americans flank, the
Thirty-third Division carried out their
part with much skill. The FORCES brook
runs from the Meuse westward through
the town Of Forges long since obliter-
ated by nre during tho Vsrdun battles
II passes beneath Le Mort Homme, the
famous Dead Mans Hill. devoid of all