The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-12-26

INC ene.ny s C.abo, aISi. -pfeuireu,s ,,y.., Il
uons, including the Hindenburg limo, in
M been broken; the almost
impossible Argonne Forest was in our
ands IAN advance of twenty-one kilo-
meters had been effected: ip.oIu ia
rs. so cannon, ZOO machine guns and
mass of material captured and the
.reat railway artery through CarigI.an 10
sedan was now seriously Threatened"
With the enemy gradually breaking be-
ore him. Pershng fOuna that ms O~li
eserS cs were beginning to !how tie eff
cts OF the terrific attrition. After q
arefill review OF the situation, the re-
lort reCiteS that, the decision To CON
nue. the attack' was reached on the
leory1 that the enemy divisions were
Offering even more.
Once q German division was engaged
the fight IL was practically up ~
tnect its relief the general says.
rom November ] to<S. fnre. s,,ne.i-
n army corps battered their way TO
dan and, to quote the official record:
by the 9TH the right OF lie ,.Ili,.
'orps had exploited its river Yos:ing to
distance CT ten kilometers east of the
feuse. completely ejecting the enemy
'-on the wooded heights and driving him
ut into the swampy plain OF the " oevre;
he fifth and first corps had reached
le line of the Mouse river along their
espective front AID the left OF the lat
n corps held the heights dominating
;edan. the stIpteyical goal OF tile Meuse-
Nrgonne operation, fC-ty-one- kilo meters
rom our point Of departure on November
We had cut the cnemy's main line
onnunic;aion:. Recognizing that
othing but Il cessation CT hostilitics
ould save him armies from complete dis
tster he Appealed for IN ymInediate
.rmistiee on November 6.
Meanwhile genera 4 lang had been
repaired. tor the further employment OF
nerican forces IN an advance between
he Meusc and the NcselIe 30 be d.
ected toward Ldhswy by the first army,
lille the second army was to assume
re offensive toward the Briey Iron Ba-
IN. Orders directing the preparatory
ocal operation involved In this enter
!, rise were issued ON November 5.
Between the 7th and 10th OF Novem-I
er the third corps continued It's ad-
vance eastward to Remoiville, while the
seventeenth french corps. on ITS fright.
18th the geventy- ninth. twenty-sixth and
eighty first American divisions and two
~rench divisions. drove the enemy from.
is final foothold ON the heights east Of
he Mouse. At nine p. m. on November
appropriate orders were sent TO the
first and second arniiesN in "ccc dnr :,
With the following telegram from Marsh
al Foch to the,Commander OF e.ch OF the
tied armies:
"The enemy. dlserganized by our re-
,eated attacks. retreats along the en-
\ ire front.
Jedite our movements.
u appeal to the energy and the intia-
i've Of the commanders in-chicf and oil
their armies to make decisive the re-
ults obtained"
I'm consequence OF the foregoing in
trucuons, our second army pressed the
neny along its entire front. On the
light OF the 10th-11th and the morning
II the 18th the fifth corps, in the mrs
lrmy forced CLOSING of the Mouse
asst of Beaumont and gained the com
handing heights within the reontrant of
he river. thus completing our control
of the Mouse river line. At six a. m. on
the 18th notification VISA received from |
Marshal Eochs hcadquarters that the |
uInistice had been signed and that hos
.ilities would cease at eleven a. m. |
oreparrtorv measures had already been
taken TO insure the prompt transmission |
TO the troops OF the announcements OF an /
Under the headings of ordnance. avia-
lion and tanks. General Pershing gives |
some first hand information OF the ac- |
tual equipment Of the army with those |
much discussed implements and shows |
the extent TO which America was COM
PEELED TO rely on the allies. He says:
Cur entry into the war found us with |
Few OF the aJiSiliarics necessary for its
conduct in the modern sense. rhe task
Of the ordnance department in supplying
lrtillery was especially difficult. In or
der To meet our requirements a. laplUiv
Is possible. we accepted theN offer of
the French government to supply MS win
The artillery equipment of 75's, 155 nm.
lowftzcrs and f55 6. T.. r. guns IRON
their own factories for thirty divisions.
i.Ie wisdom of this course was fully
by the fact that, although
We soon logan the manufacture of these
,iasseS of guns at home, there were q
guns. of American manufacture of the
,alibres mentioned on our front at the
late of the armistice The only guns of +
hese types produced at home which
SssttIeu france before tncs cessation OF
lostilitics were one hundred and nine
m nm In nd -ff,.,,
eight inch howitzers fIom the United
states reached our front and were in use
when the arniistic WAS signed. Eight i
ourteen inch naval guns of American
mounts. and most of these were success
ully employed on the Mouse Argonne
ront under the efficient direction of Ad-
niral Plunkett of the navy.
I'm observation and bombing machines
We were entirely dependent upon our al
les. and here again the French govern
nent came to our aid until our own pro-
ram could be set under way. From
line to time we obtained from the French
nch planes for training personnel as n
hey could provide. Without going into
| complete discussion Of aviation ma
erial, it viii be sufficient tc state that
was with great difficulty that we OBJ
aimed equipment even for tra{1irg. As I
or up to date combat planes. the de- /,
elopment AT home WA SLOW and wa
lad to rely upon the French who pro- N
iuc uo Will " lOldt OF EOfb E.-Su1t, OBJ
ovation and bombing machines. The :
rst aeroplanes fec.eived from home ar
wed IN -siay, and together we received Y
1913 planes of Haviand type. The first 1
american squadron completely equipped =
v American production. including. aero
lanes, crossed the German lines on
.ugust Z, 'l3lS. AS to our aviators, many 5
Z whom trained with our allies IL can Z
G said that they had no superiors i'm
airing end in fighting ability. During
he BATTLES of st. Mihisl ana Meuss-.- U
onne our aviators exceled all others
hey have left a record of courageous !,
eeds that Will ever remain a brilliant q
age in the annals q our army.
in the matter of tanks, we were | {
ompelled to rely upon both the French ?
nd the English. Here, however. we
'ere less fortunate for the reason that
ur Allies barely had sufficient tanks to | v
leet their own requirements. While | n
ur Tank Corps had limited opportunity :
s fine personnel responded calamity on
very possible occasion and showed S
ne battalion of heavy tanks engaged
-ont we had only the light tanks and
he number available to participate in !,
ne last great assault OF November 2
as reduced to sixteen as a result cof
ne previous hard fighting in the Meuse- c
rgonne." g
General Pershing closes his report q
18th the following Appreciation
I'm this brief summary of the achieve Y
ents of the American Expeditionary | !.
orces it would be impossible to cite in =
atnil the Snlpndiu ability lQyaIfy ondt