Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-03-02

reserves between them ana the Marine.
~ Snes1lrst day in the lines the ma
rines repulsed an attack. Then the
historic fighting inkBelleau Wood. In
their first attack the marines gained a
foothoid IN the woods in the face OF
terrible machine gun fire. The wood
was literally alive with machine gun
ners. In the almost impenetrabie un-
oererowth and among the rocks the
Germans concealed scores of machine
gun nests arranged for infilading fire.
ror Gays the ugly man-to man fighting
went on Meanwhile Bouresches had
peen penetrated and held securely. One
py one the machine gun nests were
wiped out OF the sinister wood, mostly
with the bayonet. After nearly two
weeks OF bitter fighting, during which
q regiment Of the Third division had
made an attempt, the marines finally
swept through the wood. Meanwhile
the Fourth brigade launched the at Y
tack upon vaux. The little village
was reduced to heap Of stones by the
artillery. Before the attack the Ger
mans put over Is hours Of intense coun-
ter artillerying. But Vaux was occu-
pied within five minutes after the
Jump off"
In the early fighting the men had
only their iron rations" and sometimes
were without food or water for "a
hours, owing to the difficulty Of trans
port. There was an ammunition short
age in the first hours OF the battle.
The enemy shelled the whole area heav-
lily. In one brigade area nearly $4,000
shells fell in "a hours.
During the month Of continuous
fighting that followed, the Second cap
tured "a officers, 1854 men and a large
quantity of guns and material Owing
to the bitter nature Of the fighting the
division lost heavily-more heavily than
in any other fight. The total casual
ties were 9777 Of which 1850 were kill
ed on the field and over 1900 severely
wounded, and nearly 1000 slightly
wounded, gassed and missing.
At first the hospitals were made
quate to care for the stream Of wound
ed. In one village the stretchers were
laid out. in the open, side by side, as
they awaited treatment, until nearly an
acre was covered by the rows Of
stretchers.
HELD ROAD 70 PARIS.
For five weeks the division held the
road to Paris. The German drive was
halted. Then the Second was with
drawn to nurse its grievous wounds
At this time Foch was preparing the
great counter offensive that sent the
Germans reeling back from the Paris
salient. The Second was getting re-
placements to fill up its depleted ranks
TIL "a Iixyte =, lxy
loaded into trucks and unloaded in the
Villers Cotterest region. BY night
marches through the forest the divi-
sion was pushed up to the lines. The
forest was full of troops moving to-
ward the front. In the inky darkness
and driving rain the men were forced
to march double file touching one an
other to avoid being separated. Reach
ing the lines OILY few minutes be-
fore the III hour, the Second attack
ed behind the tanks at the vital point
Of the thrust near SCISSORS. In spite
Of stubborn resistance and heavy loss
es the line swept over the German posi-
tions. Many times the German artil-
lery fired point blank into the advanc-
ing Americans. But they fired only a
few times. Then the tide rolled over
them. Most Of our losses occurred in
the first few hours. The Ninth infan-
try lost 66 per cent of its men within
three hours. AS the officers fell others
took their places, until sometimes SER
geants commanded battalions. After
a terrific day of fighting the Second
gained It's detectives. During the night
the Germans brought up fresh divisions
and at dawn the Americans and French
tore into them again. In severe fight
ing they gained the heights domfnat-
ing all the region around Scissors.
In this battle the French and Am
erican divisions were under the COM
mand of General Mangin. At Mayence.
after the armistice. Mangin declared
that this battle was the decisive bat
tie of the war.
The Seconds casualties totaled 394o
men in the two attacks. Only 4s1 were
killed on the field Among the killed.
wounded and gassed were 154 off,
GERS. The captures included Sc Off
GERS, 1899 men, rs guns and much
other booty.
The next action of Importance was
the battle of St. Mihiel. Americas
first offensive effort as an army. In
seven days of. fighting the division adj
vanced more than five miles against
resistance. with 1851 casualties. Over
1900 prisoners and 121 guns were
taken.
Within few days the division was
shifted to the Blanc Mont sector. By
an impetuous attack the Germans
were showed back and the martyred
city Of Rheims relieved. In an advance
nearly $500 prisoners were taken. The