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of the 30th, went over the top and by dark had entered the Bois des Grimpettes and were close to Cierges. That night, July 30-31, the 28th Division was relieved and the 32d occupied the entire front of the sector. Desperate fighting July 31 and August 1 brought the capture of Cierges and Hill 230 north of it. Capture of the Hill forced the Germans to retreat and the advance to the Vesle at once began.

In the opening days of August the whole line of the Allies went forward. The French entered Soissons, the Crise River was crossed along its whole length, and Goussancourt, Villers Agron, Coulonges and Ville-en-Tardenois were taken. The German retreat now became hasty, and by the night of August 3 the Allies had advanced from Soissons eastward along the Aisne River to the Vesle and along that river to the neighborhood of Rheims. The Americans were then in the outskirts of Fismes, which on August 4 the 127th Infantry, 32d Division, carried by storm. The men of the 32d were, during the night of August 6-7, relieved by men from the 28th Division, who during the night of the 7th forced the passage of the Vesle and the next morning captured and held the village of Fismette until August 27, when they were driven across the river. To the west, on August 3 the 4th Division relieved the 42d near the village of St. Thibaut, some five kilometers west of Fismes, took it on the morning of August 5, forced a crossing of the river on the night of the 6th, made their way to the Soissons-Bazoches-Rheims highway, and entered outskirts of Bazoches, but August 9 were driven back across the river, and during the night of the 11-12th were relieved by the 77th Division. The Marne salient was gone.

Three months had now passed since the British and French forces along the front north of Montdidier had struck an important blow. But their turn had come and early on the morning of August 8, after a violent artillery preparation, the blow was struck, and the German lines for twenty miles along the Albert-Montdidier front east of Amiens were vigorously attacked. The Germans were taken by surprise. Neverthe

less north of the Somme at Morlancourt and Chipilly and south of the Somme at Moreuil the fighting was desperate; elsewhere the enemy fled in haste, leaving behind in the ruined houses and dugouts personal belongings, letters, official papers, books, photographs, and uniforms. By nightfall the French and British had reached Plessier, Beaucourt, Caix, Framerville, Chipilly, and were west of Morlancourt. This was but the beginning. Day after day the drive continued; day after day the enemy fell back until when a week had gone by the battle front was a little to the west of Chaulnes, Roye, Lassigny and east of Ribécourt. When the month of August closed the British had pushed their front eastward from near Arras to La Bassée, had crossed the Hindenburg line southeast of Arras, and taken Peronne; the French, seven miles south of that city, had crossed the Somme canal; Noyon had been wrested from the Germans and the Americans had captured Juvigny and advanced two miles east of it, after an all day desperate fight, and had taken 600 prisoners. During the first weeks of September the progress of the Allies was slower. Nevertheless gain was made and by September 12 the French were closing in on St. Quentin and La Fere.

That day will ever be memorable in our history, for then it was our army struck its first great blow and began its first great drive in France. With the destruction of the Marne salient our period of tutelage ended. That American units should be scattered along the front holding portions of the line under command of foreign officers was neither necessary nor desirable. We could not consent to send two million or more men to France to fight under any other than American leadership. August 10 accordingly the 1st American Army was organized with General Pershing as Commander-in-Chief.

The work assigned to this army was the destruction of the St. Mihiel salient, which since 1914 had remained thrust into the French line, and from August 21 to September 12 preparations were made with the utmost secrecy for the attack. All divisions scattered along the west front, save the 27th and 30th

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which were left with the British, were brought down to the sector and moved into the woods at night. No unusual activity either of traffic, of air service or of artillery was allowed. Even the new heavy guns when they came were not permitted to fire registration shots, for the attack if possible was to be a surprise. These preparations involved the movement of divisions, the organization of corps, the assembling of artillery, transports, aircrafts, tanks and ambulances, the building of hospitals, and the placing of some six hundred thousand fighting men. The French loaned some divisions and artillery and placed their Independent Air Force at Pershing's command; the British sent bombing squadrons, and these, with our own air men, gave us the largest aviation force ever brought together in any one

sector.

Along the front, when finally taken over, from Ronvaux to a point a few miles west of St. Remy, were the 4th American Division, the 15th French and the 26th American, forming the 5th Corps. From the right of the 26th southward around St. Mihiel and eastward to near Xivray were the French Colonial troops. From Xivray to Clemery were the 1st, 42d and 89th American Divisions, forming the 4th Corps, and the 2d, 5th and 90th Divisions, forming the 1st Corps, and then the 82d. The German line along the west side of the salient and around its point occupied high ground, running over the crests of ranges of hills. On the low ground at the point of the salient was the town of St. Mihiel, where the Germans held the inhabitants to prevent the French shelling the place and driving out German troops. From St. Mihiel their line ran along the hills to Apremont and then across the low valley of the Rupt de Mad river to the hills east of Pont-a-Mousson. Dominating this valley was the isolated peak known as Montsec, from which the enemy observers could distinctly see all that went on behind the American line.

Defending the salient were nine German Divisions, twothirds of which were Landwehr, Austro-Hungarians and second class troops. According to the plan of battle, the main attack

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