Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-06-22

them worked under gas and high
explosive bombardments from the
artillery covering bridges across ra-
vines and streams, on, filling up
holes in the roads, throwing bridges
across ravines and streams, until, in
Harricourt, while the Germans were
still in the other end of the town,
they pushed their repairs and lines
of communication up to the Mouse
river. They made reconnaissance Of
the Mouse, looking for possible sites
for bridges, 200 yards in advance Of
the infantry outposts.
Regiments Paths Converge.
And what, all this time, of the
First and 18th divisions, to whom
had come as we'll as to the Rainbow,
the order, Sedan regardless of
boundaries!"
AS they had started off on No
vember l, the AID had had the ex-
IRENE left, the 18th had been in the
center and the First had been on the
right. But as they began hearing
the River Meuse the First had be-
gun to push over to the left. The
Meuse flowed northwest, and mere
ly to reach the river bank due north
of the point from which it had start
ed would find the First division still
several kilometers away from Sc
dan with no way to reach the city
except to follow the bank of the
stream in a northwcster1y direc-
ton. This the First had started to
do.
OF course it ran into the 77tlI.
The New Workers were very tired.
The start of the race for Sedan"
had found the First comparatively
fresh, for the Rainbow had relieved
it back at Exermont in the middle
of October, but it had found tie
18th in the midst of the same bat
tie it had been fighting for many
days.
So it was little trouble for the
First to speed up bit, cut directly
across the path of the weary 9TH
and head northwest along the river
toward Sedan.
Captured" Own Commander
Now, the path of the Forty-second,
rough as it was, led directly to Sc
dan.
1t was on the night of November
E tina, a patrol of the First division.
scouting out ahead to feel the d.
visions way through a country that
nigh. still be enemy-infested, took
its last prisoner of war"
A lieutenant had command of the
patrol. They had crawled up under
cover of a stone wall near Beaumeil
farm, about 80 kilometers from Sc
dan. The outposts of the l65th in
fantry were at that moment in We'd
laincourt, a suburb of Sedan, on the
heights overlooking the city across
the river, but the patrol leader did
not know that.
All he saw in the gathering dusk
was ar important looking officer
walking about, attired in what look
ed like a gray cape and visored
cap with a sort of soft crown, not
unlike those the crown prince
wore in his pictures.
Steslthily the lieutenant led out
his patrol and eagerly they leaped
upon the important looking officer
and made him a prisoner. And they
got him back to a brigade head
quarters of the First division before
Brig. Gen. Douglas Macarthur,
commanding the 84th brigade of the
Rainbow division, could convince
them that it was himself and not
an officer of the German army.
And no American division ever
really reached Sedan. The Rain
bows patrols were the first into
Wadlaincourt, and then, on Novem-
Der 7, all the Americans were with
drawn from that point and the
French were the first to enter the
city.
With the Rainbow out of the line
in the region of Buzancy, II o'clock
of the morning of November II ar
rived, and the war was over.