SiX
! My Exp*
Iia tlae Wo
By General Jo
1J Copyri^it. 193!. In all counfrle* ky tie
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Western Attack Slower
On the western face of the salient
progress wa& not so satisfaetoiy. The
Twenty-sixth Division, n its attempt
to make a deep advance toward Vigneuiles,
and except for a battalion
of the division reserve had not
reached the day's objective.
Thf French at the tip of the salient
had attempted to follow up the
flanks ot* our successful penetrations,
out made only small advances. Upon
t.h-r pjoquzi-t of General E. J. Iilcnd:ac_
commanding the French second
col Ops; a regiment of the
Thrstktr. Division (Cronkhite), in
reserve, as sent to his assistance.
On the tifternoon of the twelfth,
learning that the roads leading out
of the salient between the two attack
were filled with retreating er.emy
troops, with their trains and arI
gave orders to the commanner?
of the Fourh c-.nd Fifth
corps to push forward without delay.
Using the telephone myself, I diivttedj
ih; commander of the Fifth
C orps to send at least one regiment
of the Twenty-sixth Division toward
Vlgnealli-.^ with ah possible speed.
That evening a strong force from
the Fifty-first brigade pushed boldly
forward arid reached Vigr.euUes
at 2:15 .5. m. the thirteenth. Ic immediately
riiade dispositions that effect
ivoly dosed the roads leading out
of the salient west of that paint. !r.
i ~ " ???~?
Jwffi ' y'S^d'lgS . b '"v
prude of iho Liutii
iis force ahou: dawn in' the !.hirtienih.
ks Siding elements <v:n-hi>H?
Vipriu'iilide by ti a. m. The salient m?
;i closed.'ami oar troop's were wasters,
v! the field.
Could Piut (liiidenhurg '.iiir I
yhtiUrned III
on the thirteenth. when the line -.vasj
established approximately along the'
final objectives set. for this offen-d
mH give. In '.lev "1" t'.f favorable situation
Croats I }? : west of the -Moselle
River r.v our succerwf farther
j ro the let, a limited att.-ick was made
on jhar. pa ? of the front by elements
of 'iv Kuth'y -sec .-,vi an.-. Nir.etu-ih divisions.
with good results.
fDitiis? the r.tglit our troops all
along the lino were engaged in orgahiring
their new positions for defense,
prepatatuvy to the withdraw
Y a: of divisions and corps troops for;
participation in. the Meuse-Arcronr.ej
battle. September 1-t. 15 and it; local
operations continued, consisting'
of strong reconnaissances and wu
nation of better ground for defensive
purposes. Beginning the tnir-1
teenth, several counterattacks were;
repulsed. The lint as finally ostab-i
ltshed was: Haudioniont, Fresnes-en-J
tVocvre, Donrourt. Jauiny, Vanditros. j
Reports received the thirteenth and;
fourteenth indicated that the enemy !
was retreating in coDsinerablr disorder.
tVitheut doi.b;, en immediate
continuation of the advance would
have carried us well beyond the Hindenburp
line and possibly into Metz,
ar.d the temptation to press on was
very great. But we wouid probably
have becotne dec-ply involved and delayed
tnc- greater Metise-Argonne operation
to which we were wholly
committed.
Xeavly lfi.OOC prisoners were taken
and some -150 enemv rrrme hud Culio
into oar hands. Our casualties numbered
about 7.000. As the enemy retreated
he set fire to many large
supply dumps and several villages.
The few remaining French inhabitants
who found themselves within
our liiic-a >v?re overjoyed to be released
from the domination of the
enemy, but many were left destitute
by the burning of their homes at
the very moment of deliverance.
.On the thirteenth General Petain
came by my headquarters and we
twent together to St. Mihiel, where
the people, including children carrying
French flags, gave us a welcome
which may well be imagined when
one realizes that they had been held
as prisoners, entirely out of touch
with their own countrymen, for four
years, though always within sight of
the hVench lines.
i m
,i. ?
11 i
erlences
rid War
hn JJ. Per?hing
North Amctlcan "fl tf w It
|
All Jubilant Over Victory
On my visit to several corps one!
division headquarters the following
day I found all jubilant over the wci
tory and overflowing: with incidents
I of the fighting, reciting many cases
' of individual heroism among the
| troops.
The Second Division (Lejeunne)
and the Eighty-ninth (Wright) both
claimed the honor of capturing Thiacourt.
In assigning objectives, while
that village was included in the secI
tor of the Second Division, the town
' was to be taken by the Eighty-ninth
: should ir arrive first. The result was
a keen rivalry between these divisions
: as to which should nave the honor.
The two units were equally insist:
ont in upholding their claims and I
I never undertook to decide the question.
Distinctions in achieve m eni t
j among the attacking units on the
southern face could not be made with
any assurance, as all had done more
; than expected.
CHAPTER LVIII
In accordance with the undorstand!
intr of September 2 we were now
Amoving rapidly toward our second
| great offeusive^i-C^iestions concerning"
the concentration and supply of
| the elements of the First army in
: the battle areas were being worked
j out" by the staff of that army, who
j were given every possible assistance
) by the staff at G. K. Q.
? - ' ....
w vt** -*'* * * " - mtAi_
nches In Winter Time.
j The general plan of action of the
'allied armies, as agreed upon at the
[^(inference of commanders in chief
: Jvc'ty 2-1, was, to state it sun ply and
[l^ieily, that the offensive .should con-.
] thjue, each ainiy driving forward :.3|
^t%pidly as tpossibl.^ The allied and!
American /operation.- during the summer
had resulted in the . eduction of
the 0 hate a udTluer ry. Amiens and Sti'j
and the .great often-'
.iye wasaowhumiev way. Immediate-j
7y west of tile Meu?e rivev the battle
iij? nar;; remaine.ci pgaeiieaUy un-j
changed since 1917. It was on this J
front rhv American 5 army was to j
play its great
The disposition of the Belgian, the!
I British. French a id American armies J
or. the wide iropt benve.on the North
Sea and Veid\>;, was S?r| that .'.they
1 \eofiia p.nturnliy converge as'they adwiinecd.
So lor.g as the enemtv could
hold hi = ground oh;-the east of this
;bafcih : fioatai attacks farther
wesi 1 gi-T drive him back on his
; su-ccesr-ive-. 7?ositions. yet a decision
would be long delayed.
Yankfi Face Strong Position
His main line of communication
and supply ran through Cangnan,
Sedan and Mezieres. It that should
be interrupted before he could withdraw
his armies ironi France and
Belgium the communications in the
rarrow avenue between the Ardennes
E-?vo3t a.'ii the Dutch frontier were
So limited that he would be unable
adequately to supply his forces or to
evacuate them before his ruin would i
be accomplished. As our objective i
was the Sedan- Carignan railroad, it
was evident that the sector assigned
to ine American army was opposite
the most sensitive part of the German
front then being: attacked.
The danger confronting the enemy
made it imperative that he should
hold on in front of the American
army to the limit of his resources.
From the enemy's point of view this
was the vital portion of his defense
line, because here it was closer to.
his main artery of supply (CarignanSedan-Mezieres)
than at any other
point. He couid afford to retire his
armies gradually from all fronts except
the Meuse-Argonne, where he
must hold until the last.
Germans Strongly Fortified
The area between the Meuse river
and the Argonne forest was ideal for
defensive fighting. On the east the
heights of the Meuse commanded that
river valley and on the west the rugged
high hills of the Argonne forest
dominated the valley of the Aire
river. In the center the watershed
between the Aire and the Meuse rivers
commanded both valleys, with
the heights of Montfaucon, Cunel,
THE WATAUGA DEMOCRAT?EV
p^fi
^ Amiens T~
.? !aH&re ^
-v ^~v
**>\^> JT
?"^-oMeau
% Brest Pa"sV
H
A
Tours/ _ ^
i ======
I Romance and of the Boi? rie Barri
court standing- out a3 natural strong
points. From these heights observa-;
lion points completely covered the
entire German front.
The terrain over which the attack
was to be made foimed a defile \
blocked by three successive barriers,1,
the heights cf montfaucon then those j
of Cunel and Komange and farther!
back the ridges of the Bois de Barricoiirt
and of the Bois de Bourgoyne.
The Mouse River was unfordable;
the Aire river ford able only in places,
in addition to the heavy forest of
the Argonne there were numerous
woods with heavy undergrowth which
were serious obstacles.
These natural defenses were
strengthened by every artificial
mean? imaginable, such as fortified
sirongnoints, dugouts, successive lines
of trenches and an unlimited number
of concrete machine gun emplacements.
With the- advantage of commanding
position? the enemy was
particularly well located to pour oblique
and flanking artillery fire on
any assailant attempting to advance
within range between the Meuse and
the Argonne.
A dense network of wire entanglements
covered .very position. It
was small wonder the enemy had
j rested four years on this front withj
out being molested. He felt secure
in the knowledge that even with few
j division? To hold these positions his
I east and west lines of rail eommuniI
cat-, r. iii rear would !>? well proteotI
cd against the probability of interference.
Hindenburg Position Is Objective
In accordance with the principal
mission, which remained the same
throughout this great offensive, the
main attack of the First army was
to bo launched west of the Meuse
river .its right to be covered by the
river and by the operations of the
French Seventeenth corps on the east
of.the rivet, that corps being a part
of our arritv.
Our loft \vas r-id^be supported by.
is simultaneous attack French
| Fourth army. Our attack to include
| the A vgor.nc forest, was to be driver
I with all possible strength in the genSemi
direction of Mezieres.
The first operation of pur army
was to have for its objective the.Kinrienburg
position on the front Brieul essur-Meuse-Rorr.agne-sous
- Mor.tfaucon-Grandpre,
with a following
development in the direction ox .Buzaney-Mezieres
in order to force the
enemy beyond rhe Meuse and outflank
his positions on the ViuziersRethel
lino from the east.
In conjunction with our advance,
which would outflank the enemy's:
nositioil south of t.hp A'i ?r?*? ttiol
French Fourth army, by attacking
successively the positions between |
the Aisne and the Suippes rivers,!
would be able to occupy the line!
Vouziers-'Rethel. After that it would'
operate in the direction of the pla-'
teau east of the Rethel-Signy-l'Abbays
road.
A liaison attachment under the
I French army was designated to operate
along the western edge of the
| Argonne forest as a connecting ling
between the French and American
armies.
Aim at Tactical Surprise
Our purpose was to effect a tactical
surprise, if possible, overcome
the enemy's first and second positions
in the area of Montfaucon and
(Cote Dame Marie) of his third position
before the enemy could bring
up strong re-enforcements. It was
an ambitious plan and one that would
require a rapid advance of ten miles
through a densely fortified zone.
From an estimate of the enemy's reserves
and their location it was realized
that we must, capture Mcr.tfaucon
and seize Cote Dame Marie hy
the end of the cpnnnd 1
u?JIt
was thought, reasonable to count
on the vigor and aggressive spirit of
our troops to make up in a measure
for their inexperience, but at the
same time the fact was not overlooked
that lack of technical skill
might considerably reduce the chance
of complete success against well organized
resistance of experienced defenders.
General Petain had already given
it as his opinion that we should not
be able to get farther than Montfaueon
before winter.
KEY THOKSDAY?BOONE. N. C.
?? ??
LOCATJON
StOP1"?* ? ? Battle Urn
\ 8oKel.es Numerals ind,
. , .<>'? . tirc'ed nurr.er
V-'?OV_ ^ c
J Vr--.^C O SO
^w^t.Querrtin
?.^s. SedanS<tX
^.^3/ V& lw
Sscns \Ret ms <33i Rgg
VardunyJ^
Chilon^v. D , r. v*1
\ Bar-!e^Duc\
?"""\ ?Jj J
^ \ChaumTirit0 f
i\ ?
CHAPTER LIX
The Meuse-Argonne offensive op-j
j nened the morning: of September 26. j
IO Coll l; a I'amv luoj uc a iiiiuitwiu^i i
; et it was a battle, the greatest, the)
rnost prolonged in American history. |
Through 47 clays we were engaged J
| :n a persistent struggle with the eh- j
t-my to smash through his defenses.
The attack started on a front of
21 miles, which gradually extended
until the enemy was being actively
j assailed from the Argonhe Forest to
: Moselle River, 90 miles.
In all mere than 1.200,000 were
I employed and the attack was driven
122 miles to the north and 14 mile'
f the northeast before the armistice
'elm boated hostilities. The numbers
?-ngagcd, the diverse character of tils
fighting and the terrain, the Humerus
crises and the brilliant feaU of
individuals and units make a detailed
description of the battle cxtiemejy
complicated and necessarily
confuting to the reader.
The outstanding fact that I desire
t emphasize is that, once started,
the battle was maintained continuously
and relentlessly to the end
All difficulties were overridden in
our tremendous sustained effprt to
terminate the war then and there
in a victorious manner.
Battle Opens Favorably
After three hours5 violent artillery
prepnration the attack began
at 5:30 a. m. At the same time, to
divert the enemy's attention elsewhere,
local raids and demonstrations
wet i made on the Mouse- Mo- i
selle front. The Fffcnch Fourth army
(Gouvaudi. to cur left on the west
>f the Aigonne forest, began its attack
half an hour later.
The battle opened favorably. Our
attack at that particular place and
at that time evidently came as a SM?
prise ru ne enemy, ana oar troops;
were enabled quickly to overran his!
forward positions.
The vast network of nndestrc.ysil
barbed wire, the deep rnvir.,: . dense
woods and heavy fey made it difficult
to co-ordina.e the movements
of the assaulting infanlry, especially
of some division? in battle for the
fivst time, yet the advance thorughout
was extremely vigorous.
Third Corps Reaches Second Line
The Third Corps (Buliard), nearest
the Mouse, carried the enemy's
second position before dark. The
Thirty-third Division (Bell), wheeling
to the right as it advanced, occupied
the west bank of the Meusc
to protect the flank of the army. The
Bois de Forces, with its difficult tertain
and strong machine gun defenses
was carried in splendid fashion.
The right of the Eightieth Division
(Croukhite) had by noon cleared
the Bois .Julie in the face of heavy
machine gun fire and established ltline
north of Dannevoux. On its left,
after an all-day fight, the division
forced its way through the stroug
positions on Hill 262 and reached the
northern slopes of that hill.
The Fourth Division (Hines), on
the left of the Eightieth, took Septsargts
and firmly established itself
in the. woods to the north. It wasi
abreast of Nantillois and its left was
more than a mile beyond Montfaucon,
but through some mininterprctation
of the orders by the Third
corps the opportunity to capture
Monuaucon fhat day was lost. Three
counter-attacks against the division
during the afternoon were broken
up. {
Fifth Corp* Falls Short
In the center the Fifth Corns!
(Cameron), with the exception of the
ninety-first Division (Johnston) on
its left, fell short of its objective.
The 79th Division (Kuhn), on the
right of the corps, took Malancourt,
but in the open ground beyond encountered
considerable opposition,
and the advanced elements were not
in position before Montfaucon before
late afternoon. The attack of
the division launched against this
strong point early in the evening
was met by .the fire of artillery and
machine guns from the southern
slopes of the hill, which held up further
progress.
The Thirty-seventh division (Farnsworth),
in the center of the fifth
corps, after overcoming heavy machine
gun fire, pushed through the
Bois de Montfaucon, and its attacks
in the afternoon carried the line up
American divisions 1
_ International, bdy.?.icale
Divisions i
als those not in line.
50 ICO MILES
i * 11 1
100 ISO KILOMETERS
r) 1 GERMANY
fM Metz
S^Nan^fc ty
> 42 ^V\ .?/
3Neufchateau \\
Epinal^. ^ Colmar
E V\7 :
Mumouseb )
\ \ I
~ i f
to and west of Montfancon. The left
of its line, facing stiff opposition, .
cleaned up the woods in its front 5
and established itself just south of "
Ivoiry.
The Ninety-first Division (Jolinton)
overcame strong initial resistance
and advanced rapidly to Eplnonville,
which it entered but did not
hold. Crossing into the sector of the
Thirty-first division, during the davit
occupied Very.
First Corps Makes Progress
On the left cf the army the First
corps (Liggett) made excellent progress.
The Thirty-fifth division, un
der Traub) cleverly raptured the <
strong position of Yanquois and took .
Cheppy against stubborn oppositfouj }
Elements of the division reached the ^
corps objective east of Charpentry, t
but were soon withdrawn to a line <
west of Very. On the left the divis-jj
ion captured that part of Varenncs A
east of the Aire river, but was help up
between Varennes and C"n;-ppy. ,
At this time a fresh icgiment took
the lead, giving a new impetus to the ]
attack, and pushed the line forward ,
to the high ground south of Char- 1
pentry. 1
In the Twenty-eighth division j
(Muir) the right brigade captured (
the western half of Varenncs and (
continued about a mile farther. The ,
left brigade, facing the eastern spurs {
of the Argonne, which constituted (
the enemy's chief defense of that!]
forest was enable to overcome the .
intense machine gun fire from that ,
vicinity of Champ Mahaut. The Sev- ,
onty-sevonth division (Alexander) in J
the difficult terrain of the Argonne 1
made some progress. ;
By the evening of September 27 ,
th eF'fth corps was abreast of the
First Tahd the Third or. its flanks.
The Seventy-ninth captuerd Montfauconr
the morning of September 27
and on the next day Nantillois and ,
the Beds do Beuge were passed de- .
jspite determined resistance.
In the next instalment General ,
PersVins continues his description ,
of the great battle of the MeuseArgonne.
JOHN E. BROWN
I
ATTORNEY AT LAW
3CONE, N. C.
Offices Postoffice Building
Phone 63
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I
AUGUST 27. 1931 I
PEACHES!?Fine varieties;
Hale, Elbertas.
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Peaches yon will want.
Good road, nice drive,
4 miles out on the Dudley
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CARR BROTHERS
HOME BUILDERS
Johnson City, Tenn. Phone 5104
3-13-4
NOTICE OF EXECUTION SALE
By virtue of certain executions di
ectcd to the undersigned Coroner of
Watauga County from the Superior
r'ourt of said county in certain acions
entitled '"The Watauga Chevrolet
Company, Inc., vs. F. C. Ward,
U M. Farthing, J. W. Ward, W. .T.
Mast and W. Harden Brown" and
"The Unaka and City National Bank
>f Johnson City, Tennessee, vs. F. C.
Ward, J. W. Ward, L. M. Farthing
ind W. J. Mast," I will on Tuesday,
September 22, 1931, (said date being
the second day of Watauga Superior
Court) at 2 o'clock p.
m., at the courthouse door of Waauga
County, sell to the highest tidier
for cash to satisfy said exceuions
all the right, title and interest
.vhicli the said F. C. Ward and J.
W. Ward have in the following dean
ibed real estate:
BEGINNING at the mouth of a
uanch in front of Ward's home, and
runs north 87 degrees cast passing
the old road at 10 poies in all 82
poles to a stake at the forks of the
branch, the old Adams' corner in the
Grreene line; then north 0 1 degrees
*ast 5 l-l poles to a small maple;
then north 42 degrees east 29 poles
to a beach; then north 37 degrees
?ast with a drain at the foot of the
hill 02 feet to a rock; then north.
1 1-2 degrees east 2! poles to a maple;
then north 80 1-2 degrees west
with Bradley's and J. lit ' Shipley's*
line *200 poles to a stake, P. C. Ward
corner; then south 7 degrees east
39 3-5 poles to a small hickory; then
south 29 degrees west 25 1-2 poles
to a stake; then south 34 degrees
west crossing the creek to a stake
nt the Campbell gate al the old road;
then south 59 degrees east with the
old road 8 3-5 poles to a stake; then
south 7S degrees east 37 poles to a
rock at. the old foot log; then south
32 degrees east 30 poles crossing the
creek to a rock between road and
creek; then south 00 degrees east IS
poles to the beginning, containing
LI8 1-8 acres more or less.
Subject to the life estate of J. W.
Ward and wife, Betty Ward, and
also subject to ?2,000.00 to be paid
Co the daughters of J. W. Ward and
fyife, Betty Ward, after the death of
}. W. Ward and wife, Betty Wgrd.
This August 21, 1931.
J. B. HAGAMAN, Coroner.
By H. A. Hagaman, Dep. Cor.
John E. Brown, Atty. for Plaintiff
3-13-11
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