Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1920-01-02

armies in northern France were de-
pendent upon two great railway sys-
tems-one in the north, passing through
Liege, while the other In the south,
with lines coming from Luxembourg,
Thionville and Metz, had as its vital
section the line Carignan-Sedan-Mez
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 impracticable.
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
come forest. On the right was The
Third corps, Major General Bullard
commanding, with the Thirly-Ihird,
Eightieth and Fourth divisions in line;
next came the Fifth corps. Major Cen
eral Cameron commanding. with the
Seventy-ninth, Thirty and
Ninety-frst divisions on the left was
the First corps, Nj jnr General Liggett
commanding, with the Thirly-tifth.
Twenty eighth and Seventy di-
vision. Each corps had one division in
reserve and the army held three divi-
siOns as a general reserve. About
2,7OO guns, 1s9 small tanks, 142
manned by Americans, and S21 air
planes, GOA manned by Americans,
were concentrated to support the 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 infan-
try advanced at 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 to 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 %. He developed
4 powerful machine gun defense sup
ported by heavy artillery fire. and
made frequent counter-attacks with
'resh troops particularly on the
ront of the Twenty-eighth and Thirty
fifth divisions. These divisions had
AIKEN varennes. Cheppy, Baulny and
and the line was within
wo kilcmeters of ApremOnt. We were
10 longer engaged in a maneuver for
he pinching out of a salient, but were
committed, generally speak
ne, to a direct frontal attack against
trong, hostile positions fully manned
Y a determined enemy.
At 3 80 a. m, October 4, the gen.
raj attack was renewed. The enemy
visions on the front from Fresnes-en
yoevre to the ArgOnne had increased
rom ten in first line to sixteen, and
lcluded some of his best divisions.
he fighting was desperate and only
mall advances were realized, except ,
Y the first division on the right Of ;
ne First corps.
On the 18th the First corps, with the
-StNOlu ulflSAOh dhuChf iAdhAhIh Z
strong attack toward Cornay, to :
raw attention from the movement
lst of the Mouse and at the same
me outfiank the German position in
e Argonne. The following day the
eventeenth French corps, Major Cen =,
al Claudel commanding, initiated its -
tack east Of the Mouse against the :.
.act point on which the German .
mics must pivot in order to with y
aw from northern France. The =
oops encountered elaborate fortif- =
lions and stubborn resistance. but ..
nlghtfall had realized an advance =,
six kilometers to a line well within -
e Bots de Consenvoye. and includ- -
3 the villages of Beaumont and -.
lumont. h.
Foe Fought stUbbornly. "
Continuous fighting was maintained th
1ng our entire battle front, with es- ar
cfal success on the extreme left, Ia
lere the capture of the greater part all
the Argonne forest was completed. nc
lie enemy contested every foot of