The Washington times., 1919-09-17
History Of lst Division
Written in Life Blood
And Supreme Sacrifice

i lb3d Division had taken the diRieuls
Ploissy ravine, and had reached TIE
edge OF the Chazelle raYine. The First
| Brigade had conforned to the. move
ment with great skill and the line Was
straightened BY this tine the tanks
had all been disabled. They had rem
dered excellent assistance against the
| enemys machine guns. and the gu-
/ perb morale of the tank corps was .
l great inspiration 70 the Infantry.
Zee RealEtlnee salRena.
On July 20 the enemy's resistanss
stinened and the battle grew in In
/ tensity. The hostile artillery nra
/ greatly increased and machine-guu
nests were spread along the entire
| fnont. The losses were very heavy.
The original objsctives Of the First
division extended from BuEancy on
the south 70 Berzy-Ie-Ssc. This OBJ
jeetiVe was accordingly transferred
By the army 70 the First division on
July 20, and an assault vas ordered
Tor the entire line az 4:30 o'clock.
The position was naturally strong
and IL was defended not only ~ .
large force. including artillery and
machine guns. but the approach 20 q
was entirely swept BY the hostile ma
chine guns inifront of the 1854 diEi-
sion. The artillery Of the First dfvf-
entire front there were only eighty
four .T5-mlllimeter guns and twenty
four I5S-millimeter hoWitzers It
was, therefore. impossible 70 estab-
lish q superiority OF IRE.
Given Brief Rest.
The fighting continued through Juiv
q and %, when the First was re-
lIeved. after having remained IN line
longer thar any other division OF the
corps. 10 had captured rs officers.
1915 men, 322 pieces Of artillery. 900
machine guns, assoc rifles. 50 mortars.
and Quantities OF other material Dur
ing its dvs days Of desperate fighting
Il had gained eleven kIlometers, TAX
ing the towns Of Missy PlOissy, and
Berzy-le-See, and, in conjunction with
the First Moroccan Division. having
occupied the outskirts 81 Bezancy.- IN
addition IL has effectually cut the
railroad and the highway runninE
south from Soissons. All this q did
not do without cost. Its casualties
amounted to 2S5 officers and 1855
men killed, wounded, and missing.
including IS per cent OF the infantry
officers, so per cent OF the infantry
men. and 50 per cent Of the enlisted
strength engaged
They rested q few days IN the Dam
martin area, and then proceeded -
the vicinity OF TouI and spent tive
weeks IN the Saizerais sector, where
there was little lighting and tght
casualties. For q time after that the
artillery remained IN the sector %
support the Ninetieth American d.
vision. which relieved the FIRST, While
the infantry went afoot and By truck
to Baueouleurs for further tratning
In open warfare.
na.f a, H. H1IhaeI
Once more consolidated, the division
was attached to the Fourth army
corps, which was 60 attack around
the eastern side Of the St. MihieI SAL
lent while the Fifth was to attack
from the western side IN an eastsFly-
direction. The First was placed on
the left OF the Fourth corps, and was
required to attack on q front Of three
kilometers from SeiehpTey 20 XiVray
and to protect its own left flank.
The Second French colonial division,
on IT'S left, was to follow the move
ment, and the Forty-seeond American
division. on its right. was TO advance
In liaison with the First
The artillery was specially strength
ened with heavy guns and hoWitzers.
and after four hours OF slow IRE the
infantry started forward at 5 o'clock
on the morning OF September II. pre-
ceded by heavy rolling barrage and
a smoke screen and accompanied By
tanks and engineer troops with pas-
serelles, heavy wire cutters. and ban
galore tools.
The terrain was q difficult one FER
many reasons, but the men took all
their objectives according TO sched-
ule, and in the night pushed On
through the Bots de Digneulles. Ear
" on the morning OF September Is q
scout platoon OF the Twenty-eighth
infantry reached Hatton Chattel
where il gained contact with elements
OF the Twenty-sixth division OF the
Fifth Corps. In the meantime. sle-
ments Of the TWenty-sixth division
had reached VigneuIles. so that the
enemy's escape was cut on com
pletely.
A NotasIe Advance.
The First had advanced fourteen
kiiometers in an airline IN nineteen
hours, and they captured flve officers
and 1.19O men and much material, be
sides forcing the enemy to burn VaIu-
abe stores.
A week later the division was hur-
rying toward VeFdun BY night ana
was soon assembled in the area oR
Benoit de Vaux. in reserve for the at
tackS between the Meuse and the Ar
gonne on September 26. It was not
needed for this operation. and on Sep
tember 1880. having been attached to
the First American army corps. il was
hurried forward to relieve the right
of that corps. This IL effected by Oc-
tober l. taking up a front OF four
ktlometers. extending from the Airs
river to EclisfOntaine. Two fresh d.
visions opposed it. and though during
the next three days the men OF the First
sheltered themselves in box holes and
trenches. the hostile FIRE was so IN
tense that the daily casualties aver
aged 500 men
The First American army attacked
on October 4. and the First division,
despite the heavy shelling Il had sus-
tanned, moved forward without ar
tillery preparation and preceded only
by q thin barTage and supported BY
but few tanuks. German troops had
orders to hold their positions TO ths
death. and the lighting was even more
severe than the bitter days the men
had known at scissors. The enemy
stuck to his machine guns until they
were literally Overrun- The First
brigade overcame the Fifth guard d.
vision in the Monterbeau Woods. fol-
'c-~ing the barrage across the ExtrS-
mo- ravine. and holding the high