El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-06-10
By JOHN l. BALDERsTON

land in reserve. the Germans had the
ithfrd Bavarian, 18th Landwehr. s4ln,
] SKIN reserve. fifth LandWehrs ana
.I124fh and eighth Landwehr divisions
iof Won Fuchs army detachment =
Il These troops were part OF lns am
Y croup under Gen Won GallW llA- II
D. addition there were the -29tn ~
isfon and the 51st and S4th Lano " e-l
] brigaGes Of Gen Won Bothmers nine
|teenth army. belonging to the most
|southern German army group. 1n-ei
1.-THE duke OF Wurtemburg-
Germans Outnumbered-
Something more than eight noml1a ~
divisions thus faced our men h4l
tthev were all much underslI eng tili
badly hammered in northern battles
from which they naa osen MlI Il, i y, ~ ~
iaud were moreover demorallzeo os
having had 10 watch the s5tn aus
ltrian division leave their ranks ana
Imarch away home following the AUS
trian afmistice with Italy
I our second army on november 3
two DAYS before the attack was hold
ling its front lines with four diFisloils-
From north 20 south they were the
asrd. 2srh. 9Th and Sind In the north
1.-THE left Of Gen Billiard army. ne
as3rd. was in contact with French
TROOPS OF the 10th colonial divisions,
which formed the right wing OF Llg-
natt's first army In the SOUTH bul-
iiard's right. the 92nd, linked up win
Ithe 165th French division OF Gerard S
Eighth army
Behind our second army front, IN
support or moving up for the o1lens-
i've were our Ssth. 4th. S5th ana e-nu
divisions. the 26th French DIVISION,
land our s5th division. Wnlcn was 20
furnish replacements 1or me oliiels
when the battle began
{ The second army was divided into
three army corps the louItu -
sixth American and the seventeenth
French AS the battle continued .,' ~
more divisions were thrown IN lnese
corns would have filled out 10 their
normal size Of about six divisions
esch- but at the time operations pc
gan on q small scale and were na4leu
5efore they could proceed further the
ef-fl1 rorns was. comnosed Of the 9lnd
and 9TH divisions, and the fourth ana
eeveufeenth corns had only one ulNl-
sion each. the 2Sth and 53rd respect
lively -
attack was the line reached ly our
men after the election Of the bocnes
from the St Nihiel salient II vas
feared at the beginning OF November
that the enemy would loii the plans
for the great attack. already Iar IN r.
der vvav. by executing a strategic re-
treat. and on November I. Gen SUI
lard after consultation with Pershlnl
and on Instructions from Marsha
Foch issued field order IS. eXplaiillris
case the enemy bolted
An advance all along the front was
Immediately to be commenced as soon
as the German retreat naQ pee.
confirmed. Field order 10 declared
thar the boche II he went back would
nivot mon Metz. holding the ring OF
forts seven or eight miles OUTSIDE the
city. and the general line AmanVlller
Anov SIR lloselle Verny-
If this took place the order stated
.
right corps OF Liggetts first army
proposed to advance on Etain- OI
the Second army. the 53rd division
was 10 march on Contains. the -eln
and 9TH divisions towards Nlonvillei
and the q2nd division was to hold its
ground. NOT attempting for the NOM
eur TO push its line forward across
Tire frontier east OF PontaM0usson-
Three days after the issuance OF
order Is, on Norem Der 4 II Defa anne
known that the austrian DIVISIONS
had withdrawn from the German
front The 35th Austrians left the
line opposite the American 33rd divi-
sion. while on our first army front
the 1st and 106th Austrians had also
Quit. on this day Marshal Foch or
dered vigorous local operations along
the second army front to discover
what the enemv proposed to do n
consequences Of this detection. Wheth-
Ter ne would 90 back or stand MS
Germans stand.
The Germans. somewhat to the szir-
prise Of our high command. remained
where they were PROBABLY Luoen-
dorff. already desDairing, bad uee ID
ed to throw M the sponge and dlo
not want TO expose his weakness TO
the world by ordering another great
retreat Accordingly on November 9th
Gen. pershinE issued detailed orders
for the attacks planned by our first
and second armies
The first army operations were 10
he in continuation Of the long offens-
i've already carried out BY Liggett.
Before commencing his new attack
Liggett was ordered to throw the en-
envy off the heights OF the Meuse
forest be WoeTre and finish cleaning
up the region between the Aerse and
the Bar Then the new attack was
Ito commence by crossing the Meuse
near Stenav and AOuzen and driving
the boche over the rivers Thiente and
CHEERS This was successfully under
way when the umpire called the game
lat the historic II a. m
Pershlng's order directed the sec
oud army to conduct raids and local
operations. push forward between the
Meuse and Lachaussee Lake towards
Gore and Chambiey. and get ready
70 attack towards Briey- This last
attack was the decisive Foch push
outlined above. that the second army
was TO make in conjunction with
Nangin's tenth army 70 the south
Mangil's big attack To the south
never got going. as Il was scheduled
for the November "A. But Bullard
commenced partial attacks on the
morning OF the 10th. and these were
continued right 10 10 II o'clock next
cay. units from all four Of the army
first line divisions going into action
None Of these divisions. however. had
become fully engaged when hosuliues
ceased, nor were any OF OUT five divi-
sions assembled Immediately behind
them under fire.
About 40 square miles were
conquered by the second army in
its 80 hoUrs OF hattie. The initial
fighting from dawn on the 10Th
until the end next dnv cost 1880
Casualties. the 83rd division on
the extreme left losing Ga men
while the 9TH. 18th and 92nd lost
from 200 to $50 n piece. Prison
ers captured fOfulcd seven offic-
ers and rs men. These figures
appear ricuyune IN such cam
nafgu- IN such "a war, but they viii
" fH"