resistance. That evening this task was almost completed. We held all the southern part of the village as far as Rheims road, and patrols were sent into the northern end of the village. Some even succeeded in crossing the Vesle, but were satisfied with making a reconnaissance, as the Germans still occupied the right bank of the river in great strength. All that was left to be accomplished was to complete the mopping up of Fismes and the strengthening of our positions to withstand an enemy counter-attack.

"Such was the advance of one American division, which pushed the enemy forward from Roncheres on July 30th a distance of eighteen kilometers and crowned its successful advance with the capture of Fismes on August 5th."

In recognition of the American co-operation in Foch's master stroke, General Mangin of the French Army on August 7th, issued the following order of the day:

Shoulder to shoulder with your French comrades, you threw yourselves into the counter-offensive on July 18th. You ran to it as if going to a feast. Your magnificent dash upset and surprised the enemy, and your indomitable tenacity stopped counter-attacks by his fresh divisions. You have shown yourselves to be worthy sons of your great country, and have gained the admiration of your brothers in arms.

Ninety-one cannon, 7,200 prisoners, immense booty, and ten kilometers of reconquered territory are your share of the trophies of this victory. Besides this, you have acquired a feeling of your superiority over the barbarian enemy against whom the children of liberty are fighting. To attack him is to vanquish him.

American comrades, I am grateful to you for the blood you generously spilled on the soil of my country. I am proud of having commanded you during such splendid days and to have fought with you for the deliverance of the world.

Ο

CHAPTER XIII

THE ALLIED TIDE SWEEPS ON

N August 5th, 1918, Foch, generalissimo of the allied forces, gave the command for the British armies to

close in on the German foe. At this time the distribution of the allied forces on the western front from the North Sea to the southern terminus of the line was in the following order: The Belgian Army; 6th French Army under General Dagouete; 2d British Army under General Plummer; 5th British Army under General Birdwood; 1st British Army under General Horn; 3d British Army under General Byng, with the 2d American Army Corps consisting of the 27th New York National Guard Division and the 13th Division consisting of soldiers from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and the District of Columbia; the sector in which the Americans were brigaded was north of Amiens towards St. Quentin; the 4th British Army under General Rawlinson; the 1st French Army under General Debeney; the 10th French Army under General Mangin, with some Italian troops under General Morrone and French Colonials under General Bertholet; the 4th French Army under General Gouraud; the 2d American Army under Major-General Robert L. Bullard, and the 1st American Army under Major-General Hunter K. Liggett. Aside from the 2d American Army Corps, the 27th and the 30th Divisions, with the British 3d Army, the 2d Division was with the 4th French Army for a time; the 33d was with the 17th French Army Corps, and the 37th with the 34th French Army Corps, on the Scheldt.

By the end of July the reconstruction of the British armies had been completed; the 9th Corps under command of Lieutenant-General Sir A. Hamilton-Gordon consisting of four divisions subsequently joined by the 19th was bracketed with the 6th French Army. The 1st French Army, General Debeney, had been placed under the command of Haig.

At a conference held on July 23d, when the success of the attack on July 18th was well assured, the methods by which the advantage already gained could be extended were discussed in detail. The allied commander-in-chief asked that the British, French and American Armies should each prepare plans for local offensives, to be taken in hand as soon as possible, with certain definite objectives of a limited nature. These objectives on the British front were the disengagement of Amiens and the freeing of the Paris-Amiens railway by an attack on the Albert-Montdidier front. The rôle of the French and American Armies was to free other strategic railways by operations further south and east.

Following the brilliant example set by General Gouraud and General Pershing in their surprise attacks, the 4th British Army under General Rawlinson and the 1st French Army under General Debeney on August 8th made a sudden smash along an eleven-mile front. The surprise of the enemy was complete. As in the attack along the Marne, there was scarcely any artillery preparation. A rolling barrage was laid down at the zero hour and back of it came the infantry back of tanks wherever such maneuver was possible. The first objectives of the British Army were taken in an impetuous rush. Demuin, Marcelcave, Cerisy, south of Marlancourt all fell, and the defenses of Amiens, with the sole exception of La Quesnel were captured. Approximately fourteen thousand prisoners and four hundred guns were arrested from the enemy. The 1st French Army also obtained its objectives along the line Pierrepoint, Plessier, Fresmont. They captured 3,350 prisoners and more than one hundred guns.

The battle line immediately broadened to a width of twenty-five miles. The German lines above Montdidier from Albert to the River Avre were smashed. The penetration of enemy territory in some places extended to a depth of fifteen miles. Pressure upon the Germans from August 9th to August 12th, resulted in the evacuation of Le Quesnel and in the re-occupation by the British of their old line from Roye to Chaulnes.

The Americans brigaded with the British under General Byng came into action on August 13th, when the 3d Army

jumped off in the direction of Bapaume. Tanks and armored car batteries kept pace with the infantry and mobile artillery swept a hurricane of shells into the ranks of the retreating Germans.

All along the line German snipers and isolated machinegun billets were extremely busy, but these were silenced one by one as the advance proceeded. The Germans made an extraordinary effort to blow up with field-gun-fire ammunition and other dumps which they had to leave. They abandoned

an enormous quantity of stores and ammunition. Allied cavalrymen operated for more than twenty-four hours for the first time in four years. They rode through great holes torn in the German line by the infantry. Allied airmen blew up many of the bridges over the Somme river. The British cavalry rounded up many prisoners, but the most of those taken in the early stages of the fighting were captured by Australians and Canadians.

The scene at Bayonvillers was typical of the rest of the battle area, broad fields of crops or brown grass fringed the

town and spread for miles over the surrounding country. Abandoned German field guns with little piles of empty shell cases and the bodies of Germans lay here and there, telling the story of what had happened. Lying off on the side of the road were enemy motor trucks, one of them with a trailer filled with artillery maps-some the headquarters staff could

not save.

The guns abandoned here, as elsewhere, were in shallow pits three feet deep. Little holes nearby, covered with curved iron slabs, showed where the German gunners lived before they were killed or ran to save themselves. Harbonnières was shelled to pieces. The walls showed the accuracy of the British artillery fire. Débris lay all over the streets, which bore little signs upon which German names had been written. Here the allied forces found the house which the German mayor of the town had occupied. The whole top had been knocked off and several shells had hit the walls, but there were evidences that the mayor had stayed until the last moment in a room on the ground floor.

Montdidier, an important supply center for the Germans, was captured on August 10th. When the French troops entered, the Germans had not yet completely evacuated the town, clinging to the outskirts of the place with the help of machine guns. Some of these were being served by officers of the detachments, all the men having been killed or wounded. Following up this victory, the French cavalry, pushing far ahead, threw the Germans into disorder as they sought to fall back. In the wake of the cavalry came the armored cars with automatic guns, which scattered terror and destruction among the retreating foe.

The 2d Corps, comprising the 27th and 30th Divisions of the American Army were assigned by General Byng to a position of high honor in co-operation with the Australian Corps during the assault upon the Hindenburg line. This attack was made from September 29th to October 1st inclusive at a point where the St. Quentin Canal passes under a ridge of hills through a tunnel. The 27th Division won glory for American dash and soldierly qualities when it smashed the Hindenburg line and pushed on beyond its objective until it