Chapter XIII

THE CHAMPAGNE—BATTLE OF BLANC MONT RIDGE—CAPTURE OF ST. ETIENNE—MARCH TO LEFFINCOURT.

Marshal Foch, having asked for an American division to assist in breaking through the powerful German defenses in the Champagne, the Second Division, including the Marine Brigade, was temporarily placed at the disposal of the Fourth French Army under Gen. Gouraud from September 27, 1918, to October 10, 1918. At first it was directly subject to the orders of Marshal Petain, but before the actual fighting began it was placed directly under the orders of Gen. Gouraud.

On September 28, 1918, the Fourth Brigade moved by bus and marching to the Souain-Suippes area, with brigade headquarters at Suippes.

On October 1, 1918, in an order of the Second Division, the commanding general of the Second Division encouraged his division with the following words:

1. The greatest battles in the world’s history are now being
fought. The Allies are attacking successfully on all fronts. The
valiant Belgian Army has surprised and defeated the enemy in
Flanders; the English, who have been attacking the enemy without
ceasing since August 8, have advanced beyond the Hindenburg Line,
between Cambria and St. Quentin, capturing thousands of prisoners
and hundreds of cannon; the heroic Allied Army of the Orient has
decisively defeated the Bulgars; the British have captured over
50,000 prisoners in Palestine and have inflicted a mortal blow on
the Turk; and our own First Army and the Fourth French Army have
already gained much success in the preliminary stages of their
attack between the Meuse and Suippes Rivers.

2. Owing to its world-wide reputation for skill and valor, the
Second Division was selected by the commander in chief of the
Allied Armies as his special reserve, and has been held in
readiness to strike a swift and powerful blow at the vital point of
the enemy’s line. The hour to move forward has now come, and I am
confident that our division will pierce the enemy’s line, and once
more gloriously defeat the Hun.

The Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge was one of the most powerful and effective blows struck under the direction of Marshal Foch against the retreating Germans, and its brilliantly successful conclusion was due in a great degree to the military genius of Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune of the Marines.

On September 27, 1918, Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune called on Gen. Gouraud at the headquarters of the Fourth French Army, who explained the situation at the front to him. Facing a large relief map of the battlefield, Gen. Gouraud placed his hand on the Blanc Mont Ridge and said: “General, this position is the key of all the German defenses of this sector including the whole Rheims Massif. If this ridge can be taken the Germans will be obliged to retreat along the whole front 30 kilometers to the river Aisne. Do you think your division could effect its capture?” Maj. Gen. Lejeune responded that he felt certain the Second Division could take the stronghold pointed out, whereupon he was informed that he would be ordered to make the attack within a few days and was directed to prepare a plan for the assault.

At this time the Second Division was directly subject to the orders of Marshal Petain, but later in the day Gen. Gouraud informed Maj. Gen. Lejeune that after an explanation of the circumstances Marshal Petain had assigned the division to the Fourth French Army.

The general plan provided for an attack by the whole Fourth French Army between the Argonne and the Suippes River.

On October 1, 1918, the brigade with the rest of the Second Division marched to the front line near Somme-Py on the night of October 1-2, 1918, and relieved elements of a French division. The brigade headquarters was located in the trenches about 2½ kilometers south of Somme-Py. The relief was effected before daylight without incident.

The Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge was fought and won by the Second Division, as a unit of the Fourth French Army, between October 3 and 9, 1918, over the desolated white chalky ground of the Champagne, which was scarred and shell pocked by years of artillery fire, marked with huge mine craters, gridironed with an intricate maze of deep trenches and concrete fortifications, and covered with tangled masses of wire.

The overwhelming success and the far-reaching effect of the Second Division’s part in these operations, the cleaning up of the Essen Hook, the capture of Blanc Mont Ridge, and the capture of St. Etienne, are well described in general terms in the following excerpts from official publications.

That the plan was as brilliantly executed as it was daringly conceived is shown by this extract from an order of the Second Division, dated November 11, 1918, reading in part as follows:

In the Champagne district, October 2 to 10, it fought beside the
Fourth French Army. On October 3 it seized Blanc Mont Ridge, the
keystone of the arch of the main German position, advanced beyond
the ridge and, although both flanks were unsupported, it held all
its gains with the utmost tenacity, inflicting tremendous losses on
the enemy. This victory freed Rheims and forced the entire German
Army between that city and the Argonne Forest to retreat to the
Aisne, a distance of 30 kilometers.

The amazing success of the attack and the vital effect of the capture of Blanc Mont Ridge and St. Etienne is described in the words of Gen. Gouraud himself in a letter to Marshal Foch, reading in part as follows:

Because of the brilliant part played by this “Grand Unit” in the
offensive of the Fourth Army during the autumn of 1918, I propose
the Second American Division for a citation in “The Order of the
Army” upon the following specific grounds:

The Second Infantry Division, United States, brilliantly commanded
by Gen. Lejeune * * * played a glorious part in the operations of
the Fourth Army in the Champagne in October, 1918. On the 3d of
October this division drove forward and seized in a single assault
the strongly entrenched German positions between Blanc Mont and
Medeah Ferme, and again pressing forward to the outskirts of
Saint-Etienne à Arnes it made in the course of the day an advance
of about 6 kilometers.

It captured several thousand prisoners, many cannon and machine
guns, and a large quantity of other military matériel. This attack,
combined with that of the French divisions on its left and right,
resulted in the evacuation by the enemy of his positions on both
sides of the river Suippe and his withdrawal from the Massif de
Notre-Dame-des-Champs.

The further opinion of the French as to the results and effect of the Second Division’s operations in Champagne is set forth in the following-quoted extract from Information Bulletin No. 12 of the Fourth French Army dated October 7, 1918:

Up to October 4, at which date the present bulletin is written,
the Fourth Army has pushed its advance up to objectives of the
very highest importance. A splendid American division, full of
dash and ardor, the Second Division, United States, placed at the
disposition of the Twenty-first Corps on October 3, made itself
master of Massif du Blanc Mont, which dominates the valley of the
Arnes and gives us excellent outlook on the valley of the Suippe in
rear of the region of Monts. This conquest rapidly brought about
the downfall of Notre-Dame-des-Champs and the Grand Bois de Saint
Souplet.

The American commander in chief in his first report describes the Battle of Blanc Mont in the following words:

The Second Division conquered the complicated defense works on
their front against a persistent defense worthy of the grimmest
period of trench warfare and attacked the strongly held wooded hill
of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a second assault, sweeping
over it with consummate dash and skill. This division then repulsed
strong counterattacks before the village and cemetery of St.
Etienne and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from
before Rheims and yield positions they had held since September,
1914.

In his final report the American commander in chief remarked as follows:

The Second Division completed its advance on this front by the
assault of the wooded heights of Mont Blanc, the key point of the
German position, which was captured with consummate dash and skill.
The division here repulsed violent counterattacks and then carried
our lines into the village of St. Etienne, thus forcing the Germans
to fall back before Rheims and yield positions which they had held
since September, 1914.

The citation of the Fifth Regiment of Marines (the citation of the Sixth Regiment being identical) reads as follows:

Après approbation du général commandant en chef les forces
expéditionnaires Americaines en France, le maréchal de France,
commandant en chef les armées françaises de l’est, cite à l’Ordre
de l’Armée:

“Le 5ème Regiment de Marine Americain, sous les ordres du Colonel
Logan Feland:

“A pris une part glorieuse aux opérations engagées par la 4ème
Armée en Champagne, en Octobre 1918. Le 3 Octobre 1918, a participé
à l’attaque des positions allemandes fortement retranchées entre le
Blanc Mont et la Ferme Medeah, et, poussant de l’avant jusqu’aux
abords de Saint-Etienne à Arnes, a réalisé une avance de 6
kilométres. A fait plusieurs milliers de prisonniers, capturé des
canons, des mitrailleuses et un important matériel de guerre. Cette
attaque, combinée avec celle des Divisions Françaises, a eu pour
conséquence l’évacuation des deux rives de la Suippe et du Massif
de Notre-Dame-des-Champs.”

Au Grand Quartier Général, le 21 Mars 1919.

Le Maréchal, Commandant en Chef les Armées Françaises de l’Est.

Signé: PETAIN.

(Ordre No. 14.712 “D.”)

On October 10, 1918, having been relieved from the line in the Blanc Mont sector, the brigade took station in the Suippes-Somme Suippes-Nantivet area and the adjacent camps with headquarters at Suippes, being assigned as Fourth French Army reserve. The brigade remained in this area resting and refitting until October 14, 1918, when, in accordance with orders, it marched to the Vadenay-Bouy-la-Veuve-Dampierre area, north of Chalons-sur-Marne, with headquarters at Bouy. While here orders were received placing the Fourth Brigade provisionally at the disposal of the Ninth French Army Corps to hold a sector in the region Attigny-Voncq-Aisne River.

Accordingly on October 20, 1918, the brigade was temporarily detached from the Second Division and marched to the area Suippes-Nantivet-Somme-Suippes, with headquarters at Suippes. On October 21, 1918, in obedience to orders, the Marines hiked to the vicinity of Leffincourt, where brigade headquarters was established. While about to take over the assigned sector the Fourth Brigade received orders to rejoin the Second Division, which was preparing to enter the Meuse-Argonne offensive. After a hard march these orders were obeyed and brigade headquarters established at Mont Pelier on October 23, 1918.

On October 24, 1918, Maj. Matthew W. Kingman relieved Maj. Littleton W. T. Waller, jr., in command of the Sixth Machine Gun Battalion of Marines, Maj. Waller joining the Second Division staff as division machine gun officer.