Chapter V (5)

June 5--Americans beat off two more attacks on the Marne
battlefield; German advance checked all along the line; attempt to
cross the Oise near Montalagache fails; French regain ground north
of the Aisne near Vingre; British repulse a raid near Marlancourt.

June 6--American and French troops advance two-thirds of a mile
in the neighborhood of Veuilly-la-Poterie; American marines gain
two and a sixth miles on a two and a half mile front northwest of
Château-Thierry; Germans recapture ruins of Locre Hospice.

June 7--American marines drive on two and one-half miles northwest
of Château-Thierry, storm Torcy and Bouresches, and take
Veuilly-la-Poterie in co-operation with the French.

June 8--Germans resume shelling near Montdidier; Americans again
attack near Torcy and hold Bouresches against fresh assault;
French push on north of Veuilly, reach the outskirts of Dammard,
gain east of Chezy, and retake Locre Hospice.

June 9--Germans begin new offensive on a front of twenty miles
extending from Montdidier to Noyon, and gain two and a half miles
in the centre; Americans again repulse the enemy near Veuilly;
Germans pound British positions between Villers-Bretonneux and
Arras; Paris again shelled by long-range guns.

June 10--American marines penetrate German lines for about
two-thirds of a mile on a 600-yard front in the Belleau Wood;
Germans gain two and a half miles around Ressons and Mareuil.

June 11--French deliver two counterblows in the centre and
left of the Noyon-Montdidier line, drive Germans back between
Rubescourt and St. Maur, regaining Belloy, Senlis Wood, and the
heights between Courcelles and Mortemer, and regain Antheuil, but
lose Ribecourt, and are forced to give ground along the Oise, as
German drive to the Matz River flanks their position; Americans
take Belleau Wood; Australians drive Germans back half a mile on
a mile and a half front between Sailly-Laurette and Morlancourt;
Americans gain at Château-Thierry and cross the Marne.

June 12--French make further advances between Belloy and St. Maur,
on the left of the Montdidier-Noyon line; Germans gain a foothold
on the southern bank of the Matz River, occupying Melicocq and
adjoining heights, and advance east of the Oise and on the Aisne
flank; French win further ground east of Veuilly, and occupy
Montcourt and the southern part of Bussiares.

June 13--French make successful counterattack against the German
centre on the Matz, retaking Melicocq and Croix Ricard, and
throwing the enemy back across the river; Germans gain a footing
in the eastern end of the line in Laversine, Coeuvres, and St.
Pierre-Aigle; Americans repel attempt to retake Bouresches.

June 14--German offensive west of the Oise ends; artillery
fighting south of the Aisne and in the area between
Villers-Cotterets and Château-Thierry.

June 15--British and Scottish troops in the Lys salient capture
German forward positions on a front of two miles north of Béthune;
French improve their position at Villers-Cotterets Forest; French
recapture Coeuvres-et-Valsery, south of the Aisne; Americans
repulse night raid south of Thiaucourt; announcement made that
Americans are holding sectors in Alsace.

June 16--Americans drive Germans off with gas attacks northwest of
Château-Thierry; French repulse Germans on the Matz River.

June 17--French improve their positions between the Oise and the
Aisne, near Hautebraye; Germans drench American lines near Belleau
with gas.

June 18--French improve their positions in local operations in the
Aisne region.

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

June 11--Italians repulse attacks at Monte Carno and Cortellazzo
and east of Capo Sile.

June 14--Austro-Hungarian forces launch attack against the Italian
lines on Cady Summit and the Monticello Ridge, but are beaten back.

June 15--Austrians begin great offensive on a 97-mile front from
the Asiago Plateau to the sea.

June 16--Austrians cross the Piave River in the vicinity of
Nervesa and in the Fagara-Musile area; Italians give way at the
Sette Comuni Plateau and in the regions of Monte Asolone and Monte
Grappa, but later re-establish their lines.

June 17--British and Italians check Austrians in the regions of
Asiago and Monte Grappa; Austrians extend their gains west of the
Piave River opposite San Dona di Piave and capture Capo Sile.

June 18--Austrians repulsed on the eastern edge of the Asiago
Plateau and fail in attempt to cross the Piave between Meserada
and Cardelu, a mountain position across Piave on their eastern
flank, but suffer enormous losses.

BALKAN CAMPAIGN

May 31--Greek troops, supported by French artillery, capture
strong enemy positions of Srka di Legen, on the Struma front.

June 2--Greeks enlarge their gains west of Srka di Legen.

June 11--Serbs repulse attacks in the region of Dobropolje.

CAMPAIGN IN EAST AFRICA

May 19--Nanungu occupied by the British.

May 24--Announcement made that direct communication had been
established between the advanced troops of Brigadier Edward's
column, advancing westward from Port Amelia, and Major Gen.
North's troops, advancing eastward from Lake Nyassa.

CAMPAIGN IN ASIA MINOR

May 22--British advance north of Tekrit on the Tigris to Fatha.

May 29--Turks on the Irak front occupy Kirkuk.

June 14--Turks occupy Tabriz in Persia.

AERIAL RECORD

The London area was raided on May 19. Forty-four persons were
killed and 179 wounded. Five German airplanes were brought down by
the British.

On May 22 the Germans made an ineffectual attempt to raid Paris.
Three persons were killed and several were injured in the
outskirts of the city, and one German machine was brought down. In
another raid, on May 23, one German machine succeeded in reaching
the city. One woman was killed and twelve persons injured. The
city was raided again on June 1 and June 2, and several persons
were wounded.

Cologne was raided by allied airplanes on May 18. Fourteen persons
were killed and forty injured. On the nights of May 21 and May 22
British aviators bombed railway stations in German Lorraine, a
chloride factory in Mannheim, and the railway near Liége. In an
allied air raid over Liége, on May 26, the railway station was
destroyed and twenty-six persons were killed. Karlsruhe was bombed
by the British on June 1, and tons of explosives were dropped on
Metz, Seblon, and other towns. Twenty-seven German machines were
downed. Metz and Seblon were again attacked on June 6. During the
period from May 30 to June 12 the British carried out many raids
against Bruges, Zeebrugge, and Ostend. On June 13 British aerial
squadrons made raids into Germany, bombarding the railway station
at Treves, in Rhenish Prussia, and factories at Dillingen, Bavaria.

A British official statement issued May 21 announced that 1,000
German planes had been downed in two months.

On the night of May 19 four squadrons of German airplanes raided
British hospitals behind the battlelines in France. Hundreds of
persons were killed or wounded. Hospitals containing French and
American wounded were again raided on the nights of May 29 and
May 31. One nurse was killed, several persons were injured, and a
number of civilians died of their wounds.

Two hundred and fifty-two German airplanes were brought down by
allied aviators on the western front in the week ended May 23. In
the first two days of June the French downed fifty-seven German
machines and dropped 130 tons of explosives in the battle area.
British airmen destroyed or damaged 518 German airplanes and seven
observation balloons in the month of May.

Major Raoul Lufbery, the foremost American air fighter, was killed
May 19 in a combat with a German armored biplane back of the
American sector north of Toul. The plane which brought him down
was later downed by a Frenchman.

On May 25 announcement was made that the first airplanes to be
furnished to the American Army from the United States had arrived
in France and were in use in a training camp.

The first American bombing squadron to operate behind the front
raided the Baroncourt railway on June 14, at a point northwest of
Briey and returned safely in spite of German attacks. A second
excursion was made later in the day, when the railway station and
adjoining buildings at Conflans were bombed.

NAVAL RECORD

An official announcement was made on May 23 that the British
Government had on May 15 established a new mine field between the
Norwegian and Scotch coasts.

One Austrian dreadnought, the Szent Istvan, was sunk by two
Italian torpedo boats off the Dalmatian coast June 10, and a
second was badly damaged.

RUSSIA

On May 23 General Semenoff established an autonomous Government in
the Trans-Baikal region, after a report of a quarrel with Admiral
Kolchak. The Bolshevist Foreign Minister, Tchitcherin, sent a
protest to China on May 26 charging the Chinese Government with
officially protecting General Semenoff in his activities against
the Soviet power.

The Germans continued their advance into Ukraine, and on May
25 broke the armistice on the Voronezh front, in spite of the
truce between Russia and the Ukraine, and occupied Valuiki after
four days' fighting. Atrocious methods were used in reprisal for
disorders among the peasants. On May 31 several villages near Kiev
were drenched with gas.

The Bolshevist Foreign Minister, Tchitcherin, protested to France
on May 29 against the further retention of Russian troops on the
French front.

The Chinese Government informed Tchitcherin on May 29 that it
was unable to admit Russian Soviet councils in China because the
Soviet Government had not been recognized by China.

On May 29 announcement was made that a new Cossack Government
had been set up in the Don country with General Krasnoff at the
head. His first proclamation announced that the Austro-Germans had
entered the territory to aid in the fight against the Red Guard
and for the establishment of order.

The Bolshevist Government offered to surrender the Russian Black
Sea fleet to Germany on condition that the warships be restored to
Russia after peace had been declared and that the Germans refrain
from using the vessels, June 6.

Several moves were made looking toward intervention by the Allies
to save Russia from complete domination by Germany. A military
agreement between China and Japan relating to the expedition into
Siberia was signed on June 2. On June 10 Senator William H. King
introduced a resolution in the United States Senate proposing
that a civilian commission be sent to Russia, backed by an allied
military force, for the purpose of overcoming German propaganda
and to aid in giving freedom to the country. The Russian
Ambassador at Washington, Boris Bakhmeteff, presented to the
State Department on June 11 a resolution adopted by the Central
Committee of the Cadet Party of Russia urging allied intervention.

June 18--Further advances into Russia by the Germans in
contravention of Brest treaty.

FINLAND

General Mannerheim, Commander in Chief of the Finnish White
Guards, resigned on May 23 because of the plan of the Finnish
Conservatives to invade the Russian Province of Karelia.

The Cabinet resigned on May 25 as a result of the appointment of
former Premier Zvinhufvud as temporary dictator. M. Paasikivi, a
member of the old Finnish party and a former Senator, was asked by
the dictator to form a Cabinet.

On June 2 Russia agreed with Germany that she would accept
proposals for the regularization of her relations with Finland.

A Swedish Socialist paper, according to a dispatch printed in The
London Times of June 3, published a statement that a secret treaty
existed between Finland and Germany whereby the Finnish Government
undertook to establish a monarchy under a German dynasty, to place
the Finnish Army under German leadership, to allow Finland to be
used as a passageway to the arctic and the Aland Islands as a
naval base. Later reports announced that Prince Oscar, the fifth
son of the German Emperor, would probably be the ruler.

On June 12, the Government proposal for the establishment of a
monarchy with a hereditary ruler was presented to the Landtag.

Kronstadt was seized by the Germans May 30, and on the same day
announcement was made that General von der Goltz had been placed
in supreme command of the Finnish Army as well as of the German
forces in Finland.

Announcement was made on June 10 that Germany and Russia had
reached an agreement concerning the boundaries of Finland,
providing that Finland cede to Russia the fortresses of Ino and
Raivola under guarantees that they were not to be fortified.
Russia ceded to Finland the western part of the Murman Peninsula
with an outlet to the Arctic Ocean.

In response to communications from the French and British
Legations at Stockholm, the Finnish Government announced that it
had no designs on the Mourmansk railway, but would not undertake
not to reunite Carelia with Finland, and on June 17 it was
announced that Finland would annex Carelia.

RUMANIA

Lord Robert Cecil announced in the British House of Commons on May
28 that diplomatic representatives of the Allies at Jassy had
notified Rumania that their Governments considered the Rumanian
peace treaty with the Central Powers null and void.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

An official French dispatch received in Washington May 22
announced that a decree had been issued in Vienna dividing Bohemia
into twelve district governments, with advantages to the Germans
which would reduce the Czech powers in the Reichsrat at Vienna
as well as in Bohemia itself. Martial law was proclaimed in some
parts of Bohemia.

The aspirations of the Congress of Oppressed Races of
Austria-Hungary, which was held in Rome in April, were indorsed by
Secretary Lansing in a statement issued May 29.

Disorders throughout Bohemia and the Slavic regions of
Austria-Hungary by the Poles, Slovenes, Czechs, and Slavs. Serious
political unrest throughout the Dual Empire. Prime Minister of
Austria, Dr. Seidler, resigns.

Austria and Germany fail to block an agreement regarding
disposition of Poland.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Manchester Guardian announced on May 18 that the war treaty
between England, France, Italy, and Russia, which embodied
Italy's terms of entering the war, and which was published by the
Bolshevist Government in Russia on Jan. 26, had been abrogated,
and that its place had been taken by a new treaty.

The Radoslavoff Ministry in Bulgaria resigned June 16.

China and Japan reached an agreement on military affairs,
including the expedition into Siberia, and on other matters on May
20, and the formal compact was signed June 2. A naval convention
had been signed May 23.

The Belgian Foreign Minister, Charles de Broqueville, resigned on
June 3. He was succeeded by M. Cooreman, former President of the
House of Representatives.

A memorandum presented to the American State Department and made
public on June 14 showed that Belgians were still being deported
and were compelled to work behind the German lines.

On June 12 the lower house of the Prussian Diet adopted the
fourth reading of the suffrage bill, including provision for
the proportional representation of the mixed language districts
of the eastern provinces, and also passed bills settling the
composition of the upper house and providing for a revision of the
Constitution.

Peru seized interned German ships of 50,000 tonnage at Callao,
June 15.

Costa Rica declared war against Germany May 23.

A Battle Seen From Above

By a Correspondent at the Front

[By arrangement with The London Chronicle]

The night mists came creeping up like a smoke screen, and the battalion that marched up toward the edge of the battlefield along the road that skirted the far end of the aerodrome was a regiment of shadow forms. A band of drums and fifes was playing them out with a merry little tune, so whimsical and yet so sad also in the heart of it.

It had been decided that an important railway junction behind the German lines was to be bombed. All day long had been the continuous roar of death, and now, when night had fallen, all the sky seemed on fire with it. Voluminous clouds, all bright with a glory of infernal fire, rolled up to the sky, the most frightful and tragic thing it has ever been given to men to behold, with an infernal splendor beyond words to tell.

With a tense, restless emotion the order to set off out over the enemy lines was awaited. In the ground-fog the machine, with a load of bombs tucked away under the wings, looked a mysterious, weird thing, and shadowy forms flitted hither and thither across the aerodrome. The tramp of marching men could be heard, and the tap of drums to the rhythm of their feet, and those transport columns which shake the Flemish cottages of the little hamlets as they pass along.

At last the order was given, and up into the chill air the machine rose. Circling round a couple of times, the nose of the airplane was set in the direction of the objective, away behind the inferno of the hell-fires of No Man's Land.

Only the mighty voice of the engine could be heard, and headlights were switched off just before crossing the line. There was still a dank, heavy mist hanging over the ground, and visibility was not so good as might have been desired.

But down below one of those terrible bombardments, a beautiful and devilish thing, was in full blast. All the sky seemed on fire with it, and thousands of gun flashes were winking and blinking from hidden places and hollows. Shells rushed through the air as though flocks of colossal birds were in flight. Amid all the noise and din of those fires of hate and hell it was certain the monotonous drone of the engine would not be heard.

Then, when the Hun lines had been crossed without trouble from "Archies," glancing back, star-shells could be seen bursting and pouring down golden rain. And as far as the eye could see, northward and southward, stretched seemingly unbroken lines of Verey lights. The enemy was also sending up his flares, as he often does, to reveal any masses of men who may be moving between his shell craters and ours.

Quickly the "eggs" were dropped on the objective, and two terrific bursts of flame indicated the explosions. Evading the beams of a searchlight that sought to pick up the machine, home and the friendly darkness were sought.

The German lines were recrossed, and, glancing below, it was seen that S O S light signals, with their little cries of color to the German gunners behind, were being sent up into the skies. It was some time ago that such lights were first seen up in the sky, and they had never ceased their winking for a single night, though now they appeared blurred in the white breath which had arisen from the wet earth.

And to pass over all this is to conceive a great admiration for these gunners, who, amid all the tumult, deafening and nerve splitting, of our batteries, work with an endurance and courage to the limit of human nature. G. B.

American Soldiers in Action

Achievements of General Pershing's Troops in
the Terrific Battles in Champagne and Picardy

[MONTH ENDED JUNE 18, 1918]

With over 800,000 American troops in France, as the Secretary of War announced on June 15, 1918, the United States in the last month has assumed a far greater portion of the Allies' burden and has begun to take its full share in the large-scale fighting on the western front. Within a year since the first American troops landed in France, a period primarily one of preparation, the United States Army has developed into an important military factor. Evidence of this was seen in June in several engagements in which the Americans distinguished themselves by their gallantry, resourcefulness, and efficient methods. Prominent in the month's record were the American offensive at Cantigny, and later, on a much larger scale, the operations at Château-Thierry and in the Marne region near that town.

General Pershing directed the offensive which resulted in the capture of the strongly fortified village of Cantigny, northwest of Montdidier, thereby creating a small salient. The attack, which was delivered on May 28, was on a front of one and one-quarter miles. The Americans, supported by French heavy guns in addition to their own artillery and French tanks, swept forward with remarkable speed and precision, occupied the village, captured 200 prisoners, and inflicted severe losses in killed and wounded on the enemy. Then, with equal rapidity, they consolidated their newly won positions and were thus able to repulse some very fierce counterattacks during the following days. The American casualties were relatively small. The troops that captured Cantigny were sent to that sector a month previously, after Pershing's offer to place all his men and resources at the disposal of the Allies. During the four weeks preceding the offensive the Americans had held their positions under comparatively heavy shelling.

Both before and after the Cantigny engagement, the Americans in all the sectors where they held positions were occupied in ceaseless fighting of minor importance. There were many artillery duels, with plentiful use of gas on both sides, many raids, and considerable aerial activity. The Americans began to feel the effect of increased aircraft production, and in several sectors where the Germans had previously had the advantage the situation was now reversed and American aviators had the upper hand.

AT CHATEAU-THIERRY

Château-Thierry, a town on the Marne, was the next place where the Americans distinguished themselves. On May 31, when the capture of the town by the Germans was imminent, American machine gunners began to arrive on the river banks. Joining a battalion of French colonial troops, they entered the town, and by their well-organized defense positions and accurate fire, caused the advancing Germans to hesitate and halt. The Americans not only repulsed the Germans at every point at which they were engaged, but took prisoners without having any prisoners in turn taken by the Germans. The Americans in this sector were units drawn from the Marine Corps.

The successful resistance against the Germans at Château-Thierry was followed by the marines beating off two determined German attacks on the Marne. The Germans concentrated large forces before Veuilly Wood, and began a mass attack. They were mowed down by the American machine gunners, and the attack was broken up before reaching the American line. The Germans fled in confusion and with heavy losses.

It was now the Americans' turn to attack. The marines, pushing forward on the morning of June 6, penetrated to a depth of over two miles on a front of two and a half miles, and occupied all the important high ground northwest of Château-Thierry. The French co-operated to the left of the Americans. The Germans were so hard pressed by the Americans that in three days it was necessary to bring up three new divisions of the best German troops.

The Americans continued to advance, pushing forward to a line which lay through Les Mares Farm, just north of the village of Lucy le Bocage, and on through the outskirts of the town of Triangle. This line included strong positions in Bussiares Wood, the crossroads south of Torcy, and the southern edge of Belleau Wood. During the night of June 6 the fighting raged with great fierceness for five hours. The Americans captured Bouresches and Torcy. Further fighting on June 7 extended the American line over a front of about six miles to a depth of nearly two and a half miles. While the losses of the Americans were necessarily heavy, the German dead were piled three deep in places.

The importance of the operations of the Americans on the Marne sector was evident from the fact that the day before they arrived on the front and began fighting, the Germans advanced about six miles. While the Americans advanced their line, the French completed the capture of Vilny, Veuilly-la-Poterie, and the heights southeast of Hautevesnes.

BELLEAU WOOD ENGAGEMENT

Following the capture of Bouresches came the fierce fighting for the possession of Belleau Wood to the north. This wooded hill was a stronghold of German infantry and machine gunners, and the only way to attack it was by advancing to the other side. The American infantry had the assistance of the artillery in clearing the wooded heights, and in the biggest artillery engagement in which the Americans had yet been engaged more than 5,000 high explosive and gas shells were thrown into the German machine gun nests in the woods. Meanwhile German attacks against Hill 204, west of Château-Thierry and commanding the town, were repulsed.

The United States marines attacked again on the morning of June 10 and penetrated the German lines for about two-thirds of a mile on a 600-yard front in Belleau Wood, with the result that the Germans were driven from all but the northern fringe of the wood. On June 11 the wood was captured and 300 prisoners were taken.

FIRST FIELD ARMY

The War Department received reports on May 21 which showed that the first of the field armies had been organized and was in service in France. The army, composed of two army corps, each made up of one regular army, one National Guard, and one National Army division, was placed under the temporary command of Major Gen. Hunter Liggett, the senior Major General then in foreign service. General Liggett was selected to command the first army corps organized in France, and this corps, with that temporarily commanded by Major Gen. Charles T. Menoher, made up the first field army, the total strength of which was almost 200,000 men. By June 14 the American forces in France had become so numerous that General Foch had informed General Pershing that it was desirable to maintain them as purely American units. This fact was communicated to the House Military Affairs Committee by the War Council at Washington. In accordance with this policy two full American divisions were engaged in the fighting in the Château-Thierry sector. The Secretary of War told the committee that General Foch was gradually decreasing the number of Americans brigaded with the French and British, and thereby increasing the American unit.

Official announcements made at Washington showed that approximately half a million soldiers had landed in France since the German drive began on March 21, 1918, and that Americans held no more than fifty miles of the whole western front. One element of Pershing's mobile forces, by direction of General Foch, guarded the way at the apex of the whole German wedge near Montdidier. Cantigny, which was captured by these forces, was very close to the point of maximum penetration achieved by the enemy after nearly three months of desperate fighting.

The total casualties sustained by the American Expeditionary Forces from the beginning of American participation in the war up to June 17, 1918, is shown in the following figures issued by the War Department at Washington:

Deaths. Total.
Killed in action 881
Lost at sea 291
Died of wounds 364
Accident and other causes 422
Died of disease 1,234
-----
Total deaths 3,192
Wounded 4,547
Missing, including prisoners 346
-----
Grand total 8,085

First American Offensive a Success

Capture of Cantigny by General Pershing's Troops
Described in Vivid Detail

By THOMAS M. JOHNSON

_Correspondent with the American Army_

_This stirring narrative of the first attack and capture of enemy territory by the American forces in France was written by a staff correspondent of The New York Evening Sun. It constitutes a memorable chapter in our military history, not because of the size of the town captured, but because the event marks the beginning of offensive operations in Europe by the United States Army. The brave men who took Cantigny--at the apex of the German salient aimed at Amiens--continued to hold it against all counterattacks through the succeeding weeks. Under date of May 29, 1918, Mr. Johnson cabled from the front:_

The Americans have made their first real attack of the war, and it is a complete success. Advancing up a wooded slope behind French tanks and protected by a perfect and annihilating barrage from French and American guns, our infantry at 7 o'clock Tuesday morning, May 28, stormed and captured the village of Cantigny, northwest of Montdidier, and the German defenses to the north and south, making an advance of a mile on a two-mile front.

The Americans went over in open formation at 6:45 o'clock, advancing at an easy walk and maintaining intervals as if on parade. The sun had just risen, and through streaky clouds all about tongues of red flame were darting from the muzzles of hundreds of massed guns, big and small, while the air itself quivered with the shock of explosions, mingled with the deafening yet purring roar that is called drum fire.

Cantigny itself was turned into a veritable hell, a pillar of fire and smoke, and into it went the crawling, sinister tanks followed by the American infantry in thin lines or little groups. For a while they were swallowed up in the great white and brown and black cloud that enveloped the village, then back to the American line came the first message: "We're here! Everything O. K.!"

Thus these troops of the New World made their first real entry into the war. Thus they did what they could to help in offsetting the new German effort. Compared with the giant struggle going on elsewhere it was just a little outburst, but we did our best with it and have succeeded.

AN UNFORGETTABLE SCENE

No one who had the privilege to be on the scene at the time of this first American attack will ever forget the sight. It was unforgettable. The whole thing is uneffaceable from the time in the pregnant darkness when the troops that had been chosen for this most honorable of tasks went quietly along the shell-pitted roads to the jumping-off place; from the time the grotesque monsters called tanks rumbled up the same roads to hide until dawn in lairs behind the front line, while other monsters with long snouts crouched upon their heavy carriages like coiled serpents and were given their last drop of oil and their last daub of grease to make sure that their devastating charges would fall true upon their mark; from the time the men were given their last orders and their last "good luck" and went off, they knew not to what, in the first early streak of rosy dawn when the cannonade began and the first airplanes whirred overhead toward the doomed village.

From then until that last throbbing hour when the tempest of shellfire drowned out everything, yes, up to that tense minute at 6:45 o'clock when we turned to one another and in an awestruck whisper said, "They're over," it is all unforgettable. One lives such moments but once.

This operation had been planned for weeks down to the minutest detail under the direction of the Superior French Command, and in the closest co-operation with the French, to whom must go a liberal measure of the credit for its success.

So far as its objects may be disclosed, they were the following: To reduce the enemy salient and capture its strong point and observation post. Cantigny was all those things. Jutting out from the German front, it gave the enemy an advantage in the field of fire, while, because of its strong cellars, which were linked up with an especially long tunnel under the château in the southern part of the village, which might be likened to its citadel, it was decidedly a strong post.

Perhaps most important of all, it gave the boche a local advantage comparable to that of a man looking down a well. It commanded a sort of valley running back into our lines and permitted the enemy observers to see many things that went on there and so direct his artillery fire upon our back areas. For all of those reasons Cantigny was a prize of value out of all proportion to its size.

ATTACK CAREFULLY REHEARSED

The attack was carefully planned and was rehearsed by our infantry with tanks. They had the further advantage of valuable data gained by our patrols in frequent night explorations of the village, whence the boche seems to have withdrawn his infantry during darkness.

To two American soldiers goes the credit for the fine and loyal thing they did which immeasurably contributed to the success of their comrades. These two soldiers were captured early yesterday morning in a trench raid, and last night the question on every one's mind was, "did they tell?" They knew what was coming and had rehearsed it. Subjected to Prussian grilling, would they tell? The answer came this morning. The Germans were caught completely by surprise just as they made relief. The prisoners taken by us included some incoming and some outgoing troops. They hadn't the slightest idea the attack was coming. They didn't tell, those boys of ours. All the more honor to them for it!

PLAN OF THE ATTACK

This is how the attack was executed: The troops selected to make it entered the trenches in two shifts, the first on Sunday night and the second on Monday night, May 27. Special trenches had been constructed to accommodate a larger number of men than usual. Two hours before zero--that is to say, at 4:45 o'clock this morning--the men withdrew to supporting trenches, whence they went to the front line at zero, or 6:45.

They were divided into three waves for the main attack, with separate detachments to whom had been allotted the task of mopping up the Cantigny cellars. On the right and centre the advance was made to the furthest objectives, while on the left, according to the plan, after mopping up the German trenches, our troops withdrew slightly to a better position, connecting with our old front line.

The troops went forward in extended order, preceded by the powerful tanks, all of which entered Cantigny and went some distance beyond. With the infantry went a detachment of flame throwers who were used against the cellars when the boche refused to come out when ordered to do so. They were also accompanied by a strong detachment of engineers, signal corps men, and carrier pigeons, but the wires have remained intact.

The artillery fire was tremendous. The German batteries at the rear were also drenched by gas. A rolling barrage behind which the infantry advanced was laid by the field guns. The infantry went forward first at the rate of fifty yards per minute and then at twenty-five yards per minute. The moving barrage of fire stalked ahead of our men into Cantigny, keeping the boche down until the infantry was upon him.

The timetable was adhered to perfectly. At 4:45 o'clock the artillery began a heavy concentrated fire, swelling to a drum fire at 6:45, "zero," continuing thence onward to 7:20, when the infantry reached their final objectives. At 7:30 the infantry outlined their position with flares so as to enable the airplanes to signal back. Thus it will be seen that Cantigny was taken in less than thirty-five minutes, for the final objectives were beyond the village.

ALL MODERN WEAPONS USED

There were some tough nuts to crack besides Cantigny itself, such as the trench system protecting it on the south, also part of the Fontaine Wood, and some separate houses at the crossroads at the southeastern outskirts of the town, but all were reduced with bombs, bayonets, or rifles, while the machine guns which went along with the infantry also aided.

Besides all this, a heavy smoke barrage was used, not only to screen our infantry from boche observers, but to blind the boche gunners. The tremendous effectiveness of the whole thing was shown by the fact that for nearly a half hour after the infantry went over the top, the German artillery was practically silenced. This was due especially to the accurate counterbattery work of the French heavies.

So the Americans in their first attack had the aid of every engine of modern warfare--tanks, gas, flame throwers, smoke barrage, numbers of airplanes, machine guns and automatic rifles, while some especially heavy trench mortars also were concentrated and hurled great bombs into the German trenches from close range. Reports all agree that the German defenses were completely leveled, and the smashed up trenches look like a field plowed by a giant harrow. Our men walked into the trenches through great gaps torn in the barbed wire, but in many places there was no wire at all for great stretches. So much for the main outlines of the attack.

WATCHING THE BEGINNINGS

Waking up early in the morning on the blanket bed on the floor of the dugout and taking a first peek through the sandbagged entrance, it was plain that our best hopes were going to be realized and that it would be a clear day with good visibility. The sun had not yet appeared, but the clouds were few and the early light showed every feature of the country. Here and there were dark dots denoting the waiting batteries, while sausage balloons were already swinging overhead.

In the messroom the commanding General sat at breakfast, cleanly shaven and unworried, although he had been on the front line most of the night. This General, who was in immediate command, talked not about the attack, but about the censorship, tactfully choosing the favorite subject of every correspondent.

By this time the artillery had started, so we went out along the road toward the front, passing a line of ambulances parked under the trees. The further we went along the road the more frequent became the flashes of the explosions on either side, but thus far not a single boche shell had come in and the sounds overhead were all caused by the familiar rushing of our shells and none by the whistle of the boche shells.

Some distance up the road was a vantage spot whence we got a clear view of Cantigny, or the spot where it had been. It was a picture terrible in its grandeur. Cantigny might have been a volcano in eruption shooting up clouds that were first white, then brown, then black, while above the air was filled with spiral shaped black clouds of exploding shrapnel.

GUNNERS BEAT THEIR RECORD

That great smoke cloud was eternally writhing and twisting and taking on new forms as if anguished Cantigny were trying to escape its fate, but every instant more guns flashed. Beside the observation post the cloud grew larger. Finally the smoke streamed off to the right. Near by the American gunners were working, stripped to their undershirts, dripping with perspiration. We walked over there.

"This is the fastest firing we've ever done," said one breathless officer.

Further to the right was the house where the correspondent spent several days and nights a month ago. It is ruined now, but batteries are still there, and they, too, were spouting fire and smoke.

To the left new batteries had opened and the din was terrific. It was hard to resist the impulse to put one's fingers in one's ears. A glance at the watch showed that it lacked barely five minutes of the "zero" hour. Those five minutes passed more rapidly, and yet more slowly, than any I had ever experienced.

Ahead was a green slope dotted with trees, up which our infantry was to advance. It was bare and empty. It seemed incredible that in a few minutes our men would be there. The second hand crawled, yet raced, around the dial. It rested on the figure 10 and we looked at one another. "They're over," we whispered.

We looked up from our watches to find that the smoke clouds had drifted down the slope until the whole country for miles about Cantigny was obscured by shifting, changing vapor from the great caldron toward which our unseen men were plunging. We almost groaned our disappointment, for in a moment there came a little rift in the smoke, revealing something moving on the ground.

Imagine looking at the teeth of a black comb through a wire screen and having some one pass the comb slowly before your eyes. That was what it looked like--those black teeth, our men, were screened by the shifting smoke. It was only the tiniest glimpse. Then the smoke drifted over and rose again, but we had seen them going forward and upward to Cantigny. After a time the smoke spread still further. Nothing remained to be seen.

ALL WENT AS REHEARSED

Walking back along the road, where now there were a few belated boche shells coming, the heavy artillery officer said: "From my observation post we could see them for a couple of minutes. They went just the way they rehearsed, just walked along slowly, keeping in fine alignment. We could see two of the three waves and not a single man out of place, following the barrage like veterans. We could even see an individual man sometimes."

Beside the road ambulances were waiting. From overhead an observer came sweeping down to drop a message near a white marker on the ground. He leaned out of his seat and waved his hand; then the machine soared up again. Evidently all was going well. Other planes were hovering over Cantigny.

As we entered headquarters all about the guns were crashing and flashing. Headquarters was an underground hive swarming with activity. Officers were hugging telephones or were bent over maps under electric lights. Some were in khaki and some were in light blue. The first of these latter was Lieut. Col. de Chambrun, a descendant of Lafayette. "It goes well," he said, and a moment later an American officer called from a telephone: "They can see the boche throwing down his arms in Cantigny." After that the messages came thick and fast:

"The first boche shell hit our front line at 7:06--the Colonel has twenty prisoners--the right flank is sending back about a hundred--balloon reports grenade fighting west of Cantigny where our men are mopping up the trenches--two of our stretcher bearers are returning with an empty stretcher--one tank returning from Cantigny--our men are seen walking around the street of Cantigny--flame throwers can be seen through the smoke clearing out the dug-outs--enemy fire beginning on Cantigny Wood at 7:30, three-quarters of an hour after zero."

After that come other reports of German batteries at last able to operate, though haltingly. Shortly afterward the officer reported, laconically, "There goes my observation post. Steve's gone to capture Cantigny single-handed. Couldn't keep him there."

The French and Americans were jubilant. There were mutual handshakings, then silence, and in came a grimy, sweaty, but happy soldier, the first of the men who'd been over the top into Cantigny. He saluted punctiliously: "Sir, I have brought back twenty prisoners."

PEN READY FOR PRISONERS

Sure enough, there they were outside, about to be herded into a detention pen that was already prepared for them. They were dull-looking men, still half stunned, in dirt-gray uniforms, looking like slugs or earthworms, sullen and angry at being captured by Americans. The officer said 120 had been counted up above already, and added: "Hope we get enough to even up for Seicheprey."

The soldier was triumphant. "I went with the first wave," he said. "We got to a sort of trench, and all of a sudden the boches jumped right up in front of us and started to throw grenades. We went at 'em with grenades, bayonets, rifles, pistols, whatever came handy. I spitted one big fellow on my bayonet, but the bayonet stuck. So I pulled out my trench knife and went for another, but he yelled 'Kamerad!' so I grabbed his gun and hit a third over the head with it. There were grenades busting all around, but I could hear our fellows shouting 'Go to it, Yanks!' the same as they did all the way over No Man's Land.

"Pretty quick all the boches were yelling 'Kamerad!' and putting up their hands. The Captain told me to herd these together and get them down quick so they could be questioned. There's about a hundred more up in the woods cut off by the barrage."

A little later the wounded began coming back to the dressing stations which had been specially prepared. The wounded were all cheerful, saying, "We went right through 'em--nothing to it--go back and do it again tomorrow." Every man asked only two things: "How many boches did we get?" and "Have you got a cigarette?"

These are the real victors of Cantigny. When all's said and done, the staff may plan, guns may fire, tanks may crawl, but the common infantry soldier is the real hero of all.

Americans' Defense of Château-Thierry

United States troops, mostly inexperienced in actual warfare, on June 1 played a brilliant part in the defense of Château-Thierry. By their prompt and resolute support to the French they assisted in driving the Germans from the south bank of the Marne at that vital point, and were largely responsible for blocking the enemy's determined advance across the river toward Paris, thus preventing the development of a most serious situation for the Allies. The French official report of the incident was as follows:

American troops checked German advanced forces which were seeking
to penetrate Neuilly Wood, and by a magnificent counterattack
hurled back the Germans north of this wood.

Further south the Germans were not able to make any gains. On the
Marne front an enemy battalion which had crept across to the left
bank of the river above Jaulgonne was counterattacked by French
and American troops and hurled back to the other bank, after
having suffered heavy losses. A footbridge which the enemy used
was destroyed and 100 prisoners remained in our hands.

A BRITISH ACCOUNT

The Reuter correspondent under date of June 5 described the feat of the Americans at Château-Thierry in these words:

On May 31, when the Germans were already in the outskirts of
Château-Thierry, an American machine-gun unit was hurried thither
in motor lorries. Château-Thierry lies on both banks of the Marne,
which is spanned by a big bridge. A little to the northward a
canal runs parallel to the river and is crossed by a smaller
bridge.

The Americans had scarcely reached their quarters when news was
received that the Germans had broken into the northern part of
Château-Thierry, having made their way through the gap they had
driven in our lines to the left of the town and then pouring along
the streets to the bridge, intending to establish themselves
firmly on the south bank and capture the town.

The American machine gunners and French colonials were thrown into
Château-Thierry together. The Americans immediately took over
the defense of the river bank, especially the approaches to the
bridge. Fighting with their habitual courage and using their guns
with an accuracy which won the highest encomiums from the French,
they brought the enemy to a standstill.

Already wavering under the American fire, the Germans were
counterattacked by the French colonials and driven from the town.
They returned to the attack the next night and under cover of
darkness crept into the town along the river bank and began to
work their way through the streets toward the main bridge. At the
same moment a tremendous artillery bombardment was opened upon the
southern half of the town.

BLOWING UP THE BRIDGE

When within range of the machine guns the Germans advanced under
the cover of clouds of thick white smoke from smoke bombs, in
order to baffle the aim of the American gunners. A surprise,
however, was in store for them. They were already crossing the
bridge, evidently believing themselves masters of both banks, when
a thunderous explosion blew the centre of the bridge and a number
of Germans with it into the river. Those who reached the southern
bank were immediately captured.

In this battle in the streets, and again at night, the young
American soldiers showed a courage and determination which
aroused the admiration of their French colonial comrades. With
their machine guns they covered the withdrawal of troops across
the bridge before its destruction, and although under severe fire
themselves, kept all the approaches to the bank under a rain of
bullets which nullified all the subsequent efforts of the enemy
to cross the river. Every attempt of the Germans to elude the
vigilance of the Americans resulted in disaster.

During the last two days the enemy has renounced the occupation of
the northern part of Château-Thierry, which the American machine
guns have made untenable. It now belongs to No Man's Land, as,
since the destruction of the bridges, it is not worth while for
the French to garrison it.

Against their casualties the Americans can set a much greater loss
inflicted by their bullets on the enemy. They have borne their
full part in what a French staff officer well qualified to judge
described as one of the finest feats of the war.

THE QUICK ADVANCE

The story of the quick advance of the American marines was related in detail by Wilbur Forrest in The New York Tribune as follows:

It is a narrative that stands for more, perhaps, than most of
those written in American history books. It is literally another
story of American minute men who abandoned the figurative
plowshares of peaceful training camps and rushed to the scene
of action. They met the enemy with weapons they knew how to
handle.

On May 30 the enemy reached the Marne east of Château-Thierry and
began a forceful advance along the north bank toward the city. The
same day American machine gunners received orders 100 kilometers
to the rear to jump into auto trucks and hurry into action.

They started almost immediately, and an all-night journey found
the battalion at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 31st on a hill
overlooking Château-Thierry. All around them French batteries were
firing full tilt. The enemy was advancing on the city.

Right here those American machine gunners got their first glimpse
of real war. German shells crashed into villages within plain view
and the little city below them was not being spared. The officers
chose a small nearby village as headquarters and the marines
waited for darkness before loading little black machine guns on
their shoulders and marching into Château-Thierry.

GERMAN SHELLS RAKE CITY

German high explosives and shrapnel were raking the city, but
the young Americans under fire for the first time coolly placed
their guns in position on the south bank of the river. They saw
heavy shells strike the railroad station and they saw it burn.
They saw houses fall like packs of cards, and I have the word of
a Frenchman, who was present, that they were "cool like American
cucumbers."

During the night the Germans gradually filtered into the outskirts
on the north side of the town. Roughly speaking, the American
guns were so placed between the houses and in the gardens as to
enfilade the approaches to the bridges and the streets on the
opposite sides. All remained on the south bank of the river with
the exception of a Lieutenant, (John T. Bissell,) a youthful
Pittsburgher, who was one of West Point's latest graduates.

The Lieutenant with a dozen men and two guns was ordered to cross
the river to prevent the enemy's advance along forked roads which
merge to the right of the northern approach to the iron bridge.
For convenience sake it is permissible to say that A Company was
charged with holding the left part of the town on the south bank
and the approaches to the larger bridges, while B Company's guns
swept the opposite approaches to the iron bridge, and, therefore,
held the right portion of the town.

Several hundred yards separated the two companies. The enemy's
shelling was intensified during the night, but no Germans were
yet in sight. The machine guns were quiet, although A Company's
commander, O. F. Houghton of Portland, Me., was forced to abandon
the headquarters he had chosen in a house on the bank of the
river and change the position of some guns because of the enemy's
precise fire.

It was a waiting game for Company A's guns. In the meantime
Company B, at about 5 A. M., in broad daylight, saw two columns
of the enemy of twelve men each, advancing across an open field
toward the river to the right of their position. The Germans
carried light machine guns and were blissfully ignorant that our
men were here. One American gun swung its shy little nose around
toward the Germans and waited. Behind it was an unpoetic youth
named Must of Columbia, S. C., a Sergeant, who waited until he
saw the whites of their eyes, and then let them have it, as he
explained today.

AT CLOSE RANGE

"I got eight out of the bunch by a little surprise shooting," said
the Sergeant with a considerable show of pride. "They flopped
nicely. Then I turned on the other squad, but they were leary and
I only got one. The rest of them got into the ditch and crawled
back without showing themselves. Later in the day their Red Cross
men came out to pick up the wounded. We've got orders not to fire
on members of the Red Cross, so I let 'em work unmolested. But I
kept tally all day when their Red Cross men came out. By my count
they carried off nine and they weren't all wounded, either."

The Germans during the day of June 1 gained the hills overlooking
the north bank of the river. Their machine guns and their
artillery observers, therefore, were able to direct a galling fire
on the south bank and portions of the north bank which still were
held by French colonials and two machine guns under an American
Lieutenant.

DEADLY MACHINE GUNS