The Lamar register., 1919-12-31

Begin Victorious Advance.
ON the night of September - the
nine divisions to lead in the attack
were deployed between the Meuse
river and the western edge of the Ar
gonne forest. On the right was the
Third corps. Major General Bullard
commanding. with the Thirty third.
Eightierh and Fourth divisions in line;
next came the Fifth corps Major Gen
eral Cameron commanding, with the
Seventy ninth. Thirty-seventh and
Ninrry-first divisions; on the left was
the First corps, Major General Liggeti
commanding. with the Thirty-fifrh.
Twenty-eighth and Seventy-seventh di-
vision. Each corps had one division in
reserve and the army held three divi-
sinns as a general reserve. About
200 guns. 1S9 small tanks. l42
manned by Americans. and S2l air.
planes. 604 manned by Americans.
were concentrated to support tie at
tack of the infantry. We thus had
superiority in guns and aviation. and
the enemy had no tanks.
Following three hours Of violent ar
tillery fire OF preparation the infnn-
Try advanced at s 80 a. m. on Septem-
her 20. accompanied by tanks. Dur
ing the first two days Of the attack he
fore the enemy was able to bring up
his reserves. our troops made steady
progress through the network Of the
dcfenses. Montfaucon was held tena
ciously by the enemy and was not cap
turcd until noon of the second day.
The attack continued without in
terruption. meeting six new divisions
which the enemy threw into first line
before September 20. He developed
powerful machine gun defense sup
ported by heavy artillery fire. and
made frequent counter-attacks with
fresh troops, particularly on tn"
front Of the Twenty-eIghth and Thirty
NTH divisions. These divisions had
iaken varennss. Cheppy. Baulny and
Chnrpentry, and the line was within
two kilometers Of Apremont. We wer"
no longer engaged in a mnneuver for
the pinching out of a salient. but were
necessarily committed. generally speak
ing. To n direct frontal attack against
strong. hostile positions fully manned
ny Nh'htH
At . 80 n. m. October 4. the gen
erai attack was renewed. The enemy
divisions on the front from Fresnes-en-
woevre TO the Argonne had increased
from ten In first line to sixteen. and
included some Of his best divisions.
The fighting was desperate and only
small advances were realized. except
by the first division on the right Of
the First corps.
on the 7th the First corps, with the
EIghty-second division added. launched
strong attack toward cornay. TO
draw attention from the movement
time outfank the German position In
The Argonne. The following day the
Seventeenth French corps. Major Gen
eral Claudei commanding Initiated its
attack east of the Meuse against the
exact point on which the German
armies must pivot in order to with
draw from northern France. The
troops encountered elaborate fortifi-
cations and stubborn resistance. but
nv nlghtfan had realized an advance
of ak kilnmeters To line well within
thf itfN~ hF 'fiNfiifhAFs Ai'ffA-
ing the villages Of Beaumont and
lIaumont.
Foe Fought stubbornly.
Continuous fighting was maintained
along our entire battle front. with eS-
pecial success on the extreme left.
where the capture Of the create part
or the Argonne forest WIS completed.
The enemy contested every foot Of
ground on our front. In order
TO make more rapid retlrements far
ther west and withdraw his forces
from northern France before the inter
ruption Of his railroad communion
iions through Sedan.
We were confronted at this time
BY an insufficiency OF replacement 10
build up exhausted divisions. We still
had two divisions with the British aud
two with the French. A review of the
situation American and allied. espe-
cially as to our own resources in men
for the next two months convinced
me that the attack Of the First army
and the allied armies farther west
should be pushed TO the limit. But
II the First army was TO continue lis
aggressive tactics. our divisions then
with the French must be recalled and
requirements must be obtained by
i,raaking up newly arrived divisions
l.