The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1920-01-17

French divisions. These troops were
to follow up the retirement Of the en-
envy from the tip OF the salient.
At dawn on Sept. IL. after four hours
Of violent artillery fire Of preparation.
and accompanied by small tanks. the
infantry OF the first and fourth corps
advanced. The infantry or the fifth
corps commenced its advance at 8 a.
m. The operation was carried out with
entire precision Just after daylight
on Sept. Is elements OF the first aud
twenty-sixth divisions made junction
near Hattonchatel and vlgneulles.
eighteen kilometers northeast OF st.
Mihiel. The rapidity with which our
divisions advanced overwhelmed the
enemy and all detectives were reached
by the afternoon of Sept. 13. We cap
tured nearly 10000 prisoners. 443 guns
and large stores OF material and sup
plies. The energy and swiftness with
which the operation was carried out
enabled US TO smother opposition TO
such an extent that we suffered less
than 1000 casualties during the actual
period or the advance
The material results OF the victory
achieved were very important. An
American army was an accomplished
fact. and the enemy had felt It's power.
No form OF propaganda could over
come the depressing effect on the
morale OF the enemy OF this demon
stration of our ability TO organize
large American force and drive II sue
cessfully through his defenses. II gave
our troops implicit confidence In their
superiority and raised their morale 70
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 Inn
mediately available for employment In
heavy fighting In new theater OF OPP
erations. The strength OF the first
army I'm this battle totaled approx
mately 100000 men. OF whom about
10000 were French.
Imnnovable Since 1914.
The Meuse-Argonne front had been
practically stabilized In September.
1914. and. except for minor fluctuations
during the German attacks on verdun
in 1916 and the French counter Often
sive In August. 1917. remained I'M
changed until the American advance In
1918. The net result OF the four years
struggle on this ground was German
defensive system of unusual depth and
strength and wide zone OF utter dew
astafion. itself serious obstacle to
offensive operations.
The strategical Importance OF this
portion of the line was second to
none on the western front. All sup
plies and excavations OF the German
armies In northern France were de-
pendent upon two great railway sys-
tems--one In the north. passing through
Lege. while the other I'm the south.
with lines coming from Luxembourg,
Thionville and Metz. had as its vital
section the line Carignan-Sedan-M
ieres. No other important lines were
available to the enemy. as the noun
famous masses of the Ardennes made
the construction of east and west lines
through that region impracticahle.
Begin Victorious Advance.
On the night Of September 25 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 Br!lard
commanding. with the Thirty-third.
Eightleth and Fourth divisions In line .
next came the Fifth corps. Major Cen
eral Cameron commanding. with the
Seventy-nInth. Thirty-seventh and
NInety-first divisions; on the left was
the First corps. Major General Liggett
commanding, with the Thirty-ffth.
Twenty-elghth and Seventy-seventh d.
vision. Each corps had one division In
reserve and the army held three divi-
ciOhS rs ktuttui ttotANt. hb"ut
200 guns. 1S9 small tanks. 142
manned by Americans. and sci air
planes, Goa manned by Americans.
were concentrated TO support the at
tack of the infantry. We thus had n
superiority In guns and aviation, and
the enemy had no tanks.
Following three hours of violent ar
tIllery fire OF preparation the infan-
try advanced NJ 8 80 a. m. on Septem-
Der 90. accompanied by tanks. Dur
ing the first two days OF the attack. be-
fore the enemy was able 10 bring up
his reserves. our troops made steady
progress through the network OF the
defenses. Montfaucon was held tena-
ciously by the enemy and was not cap
tured 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