Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-03-19
pershing's Story
fcontinued from last week.

--~~ - ssIlent
.sa fifth corps. Maj Gen. George
ny Cameron commanding. with the
n.n,v.sixth division. fifteenth French
t wv. division and the fourth d.
ov ,on IN line, from Mouilly west to
.i' rnorges and north to Wantron-
Of these three divisions the
,nonty-sixth alone was to make
W. ADVANCE directed southwark to-
"ard yigneulles. The French division
70 make short progression to
w. edge of the heights in order to
.asor the left of the twenty-sixth.
~ fourth division was not to ad-
vance. go.
- aftb army corps. was the second
Treocb Colonial corps, Maj. Gen. E. j.
p,oodlat commanding, covering front
- Az kilometers with three small
Tronch divisions. These troops we're
!. follow up the retirement of the en-
smv from the tip of the salient.
~ dawn on Sept. IL, after four hours
- violent artillery fire Of preparation.
and accompanied by small tanks, the
,,fantry of the first and fourth corps
aavanced. The infantry Of the fifth
arms commenced its advance at a.
The operation was carried out with
.rare precision. Just after daylight
on Sent. 10 elements of the first and
tuenty-sixth divisions made junction
near Hattonchatel and Vigneulles,
o,uhteen kilometers northeast of st.
uIhiel. The rapidlty with which our
divisions advanced overwhelmed the
snemy and all detectives were reached
nv the afternoon of Sept. 10. We cap
,rred nearly 10000 prisoners, 443 guns
and large stores of material and sup
niles The energy and swiftness with
which the operation was carried out
enabled us to smother opposition to
sncb an extent that we suffered less
than 1000 casualties during the actual
neriod of the advance.
The material results of the victory
achieved were very important. An
American army was an accomplished
fact. and the enemy had felt Its power.
No form of propaganda could over
come the depressing effect on the
morale of the enemy of this demon.
stratlon of our ability to organize a
large American force and drive It sue
cessfully through his defenses. It gave
our troops implicit confidence In their
superiority and raised their morale to
the highest pitch. For the first time
wire entanglements ceased to be re.
garded as impossible barriers and
open-warfare training. which had been
so urgently insisted upon, proved to be
the correct doctrine. Our divisions
concluded the attack with such small
losses and In such high spirits that
without the usual rest they were I'M
mediately available for employment In
heavy fighting In new theater of OBJ
erations The strength of the first
army IN this battle totaled approx
nately 100000 men. OF whom about
10000 were French.
irnmovabie Since 1914.
The Meuse-Argonne front had been
practically stabilized in September
1914, and. except for minor fluctuations
during the German attacks on Verdun
ID 1916 and the French counter often
sive In August. 1917. remained On.
changed until the American advance In
1918. The net result of the four years
struggle on this ground was a German
defensive system of unusual depth and
strength and wide zone Of utter dev.
astation. Itself serious obstacle to
offensive operations.
Inc strategical importance Of this
portion OF the line was second to
oone on the western front. All sup.
pnes and excavations Of the German