The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1920-01-09

So 49, Ef
n -woevre. sourhsusl OF yerlun. vas
ianSferred to the newly constituted
Second army with Lieut.. Gen. Robert
l.. Billiard in command. under whom
il hogan preparations for the exten-
sion OF operations to The east IN the
direction Of Briey aud Metz. On oc'
foher I6 the command Of the First
army was transferred 10 Lieut.. Gen,
Hunter Liggett, aud my advance head
quarters was established AZ Ligny-en'
Bnrrols. from which the command Of
the group OF American armies was ex-
ercised.
Summarizing the material results
which had beer attained BY the First
army by the end Of october. We had
mel an increasing number OF Ger
many's besr divisions. rising from ~
in line and reserve on September p
TO 81 on October 81: the eueIny's elahr
orateIy prepared positions. Including
the Hindenhurg line. 10 our front had
been broken. Tie almost iinpassdBie
Argonne forest was IN our hands an
advance OF 81 kilometers had been ef-
fected; 1900 prisoners. $40 cannon,
iy0W machine guns and q mass Of ma.
teriai captured and the great railway
artery through Carignan TO Sedan wa
now seriously threatened.
ga the morning Of November !
three army corps we're in line between
the Merse river and the Bois de Boar-
gogne. Preceded by two hours Of yto.
lent artillery preparation the infantry
advanced. closely followed ~ "accon.
panying guns"
BY nightfall the Fifth corps, IN the
center. had realized an advance OF al-
most nine kllometers. TO the Bols de
IA Folie. and had completed the cap
ture Of the heights Of Barriconrs
while the Third corps. Oh the right.
Ind captured AIncreviiie and Ande.
vanne. Oir troops had broken through
the enemy's last defense. captured his
artillery positions and had precipi.
tated q retreat Of the German forces
about TO be isolated in the fnrest
north Of Grnndpre.
The following day the advance cOn
tinued toward Sedan with increasing
swiftness.
Munitions.
our entry into the war found us
with few OF the auxlllsrieS necessary
for its couduct In the modern sense.
The task OF the ordnance department
In supplying artillery vas especially
difficult In order to meet our require
ments ms rapidly as possible We &C.
cepted the offer Of the French govern.
meni to supply us with the artillery
equipment OF los. 1856 mm. howifzers
and ia5 G. Il. f. guns from their own
factories for 80 divisions. The wig
dom % this course was fully demon
strated by the fact that although VI
sVon began the manufacture OF thes-
elusses OF guns At home there were
no guns Of American manufacture Of
the caiibers mentioned on orr froat at
the date OF the armistice.
The only guns or these types pro.
dnced ~ home which reached France
before the cessation OF hostIllties were
100 u nm guns.
Ia addition - S-inch howItzers from
the United States reached our front
and were In s.se when the armIstics
was signed. Eight 14-inch naval guns
n American manufacture we're set ~
on railroad mounts. aud most OF these
we're successfully employed on thu
Mense-Argonne frSnt under the enl
cicni direction Of Admiral Plunkett OF
the navy.
Aviation.
In Bviatiun we were entirely de-
pendrm upnn our allies. asd here
again The French government came 10
our aid until our " program could
he SCI rnter way. Without going int
II complete discussion Of aviation ma.
ierlnl II will be sufficient to state that
u was with great difficulty that ave OBJ
Iainei equipment even for tralning.
A. for ~np-io-date combat planes. the
development at home was slow and
We had 10 rely upon the French. who
provided us with a total Of 2.676 pur-
suit. observation and bombing ma
chimes.
TIN first airplane received from
hoioe arrived In May aud altogether
we received i.3Tg planes or the De
Hnyiland type. The arst American
squadrn completely equipped ~
American production. Including air.
plp'rs, crossed the GerIaan lines On
August Z. 1918. AZ ia our aviators.
many Of whom trained With our allIes.
u can be said that they had no suue.
riors In daring aud IN lighting ability.
the battles of n. Mihiel and
ArgOnne our ayinrors excelled
all others. They have left y record
courageous deeds thai will eyer -
q brilliant page in the annals Of
onr army.
Tanks Made Fine Record.
IN the matter Of tanks 81. w.r.
compelled 70 rely upon both ,b,
French and The English. Here ha~.
ever, we were less fortunate foe 81,
reason that our allies barely hae suf.
tanks 10 ueet their resulrs.
While arr ,on,
W. opportunity, ~ enc personnel "a.