Don Martin diary entry for Sunday, July 21, 1918: Most interesting day. Visited Chateau
Thierry which the Germans evacuated last night. Captain [Gerald]
Morgan [Colliers] accompanied [Edwin] James [New York Times] and me but had nothing to do with our visit. Wandered around the
wrecked streets climbing over debris, etc. I was interested to see the effect
of the shelling of the city which I had witnessed from a hill a short distance
away on June 2nd. The city is badly shot up. Shells fell in the city
(outskirts) while we were there. Wrote 700 word cable on my visit to Chateau
Thierry and a longer one on the general situation. The Franco-American
offensive is progressing satisfactorily.
At Château-Thierry, Don Martin visited a
large number of looted and wrecked private residences. As indicative of the
general looting and wanton destruction in that region, he reported the
following list of what the Germans did in one single home. [Source:The New York Times current history: the European war, Volume 17 - page 4]:
Threw
an ink bottle against a seven-foot mirror, afterward splashing ink on the walls
and ceiling;
Jammed
a bayonet through the works of five handsome marble clocks;
Tore
covers and blocks of pages from costly volumes and strew more than 500 books
about the floor, practically ruining a library which was very evidently the
pride of a booklover;
Tore a
Teddy bear in two; pulled arms and legs from large dolls; smashed a doll cradle
and generally wrecked a child's nursery;
Smashed
all the china in a cabinet and a cupboard and shattered expensive glassware;
Slit
oil paintings and stamped holes in pictures, which had been torn from the walls
and left on the floor;
Broke
the keys on a costly piano;
Knocked
tops off vases and fancy urns;
Slit
tapestries and curtains to ribbons;
Threw
bottles against handsomely decorated walls and poured various kinds of sauces
and other liquids on expensive rugs and carpets;
Rifled
every drawer in the house; blew open a small safe; threw trinkets and fancy
articles of wearing apparel all over; and
Wrecked beds, dresses, and mirrors in all the sleeping
rooms.
Don Martin wrote at length about the "biggest moment of the war." The New York Herald featured this article, dated Sunday, July 21, on the first page of its July 22 edition.
BATTLE RAGES ALONG
SIXTY MILES OF FRONT
CHATEAU-THIERRY FALLS IN NEW MARNE DRIVE
Writing in the Midst of the Great Battle, Don Martin Tells of the
Bravery of Americans and Their Success at Hill 193, Which They Have Stormed and
Captured in an Advance of a Mile and a Quarter.
TRAVELS OVER RECONQUERED GROUND AND SEES EFFECT OF OUR GUNFIRE
Morale of Huns Drops Lower and Lower with Appearance of Fresh Men form
the States, but the Correspondent Warns That Stern Days Are Ahead
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent
of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special Cable to the
Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Sunday
The evacuation of Château-Thierry and of scores of towns and
villages in the toe of the Marne salient points to the wholesale retreat of the
Germans and, temporarily at least, the collapse of the boasted offensive. It is
the biggest moment of the war and the situation is as critical as the Marne of
1914 was for the Germans.
The Americans are in Château-Thierry. I accompanied them
into the town at dawn. It was a splendid and inspiring spectacle as they swung
through the battered streets, from which they had been driven by the weight of
the Hun advance in the first days of June. French cavalry patrols preceded us
as we entered.
It was in the dark days of early June when I saw
Château-Thierry first. The Hun was making great strides down the roads that
lead to Paris. There was little optimism among the men whom I had seen racing
toward the Marne. Then the Americans came! After days of the hardest kind of
travel by train and by foot they appeared on the banks of the historic
river—and were sent across to hold Château-Thierry to the very last moment.
Even then the Hun was knocking at the gate.
Sheltered by underbrush, I stretched out on the edge of a hill
south of the river and watched American machine gunners shell the town for a
big price. In that day, however, the Boche was not to be denied. Those sturdy,
two-fisted, hard-hitting machine gunners were forced to make their way down to
the banks and escape to the south side as best they could. They were the last
allied soldiers in the town.
 |
| Company A, 9th Machine Gun Battery, Château-Thierry (National Archives photo No. 111-SC-14654) |
To-day, little more than six weeks afterward, I was
permitted to march through it with them. It seems to me nothing could provide a
more eloquent commentary on the events of the last five days than this incident
of Château-Thierry, nor a more brilliant omen for the future.
The Return to Château-Thierry
The crisis of the war has been reached, with the German
hordes buried across the Marne River. The very wizardry of General Foch’s
tactics, coupled with the brilliant and resistless quality of the French
attacks, assisted by the Americans, has transformed the Huns’ grand offensive
into a defensive, has demoralized, at least temporarily, the supposed wonderful
military machine of Germany and has humiliated the Crown Prince. At the same
time it has sent a thrill of joy into the heart of France, which has been waiting
long for just such developments, which may soon grow into the greatest battle
of all time.
American troops are in the thick of it and are conducting
themselves in a manner of which our nation should be proud. As I write this
they are holding their ground in advanced positions and are throwing back the
fanatical assaults of German shock troops, meanwhile retaking terrain which
previously was captured by the Germans at extremely heavy cost.
We are fighting at many points in the line, which extends
from Soissons all around the big Marne salient as far east as Rheims. A unit
which is having its first baptism of fire is battling with the grim vigor of
veterans and is repulsing the ferocious attacks of the Huns while our artillery
is playing frightful havoc in the enemy back lines.
A Wall of Flame a Hundred Miles in Length
I have just returned from a trip to the front, where I saw
monsters of destruction manned by Americans and firing American shells of
tremendous power. Our great guns were spurting a rain of death ten miles away,
and the sky presented the appearance of a great conflagration a hundred miles
in length. The roar of the guns was audible for a distance of thirty miles.
The Huns now have been forced back by the Franco-American
troops north of the Marne and are retreating to escape the merciless hail from
our artillery, which is throwing up what seems to be geysers of gas and
shrapnel.
It is sad to think of our men from home in the midst of this
volcano, but we know that they are heroes and are fighting for a holy cause.
When the first steps in the Franco-American attack on the
Germans south of the Marne were undertaken I was fortunate enough to be in that
sector. The American troops were among those who advanced into the region just
south of Dormans, where the enemy thought he had obtained a good hold from
which he could sweep the whole area to the Marne River’s edge. We found there
that the Germans had gone and later learned that they had used a smoke screen
to aid their withdrawal. The enemy suffered stupendous losses. Of this there is
no question. The significance of the retreat is better understood when it is
known that the Germans in their drive across the Marne regarded this point as
one of the most vital to them and boasted of it in their communiqués when they
crossed the river.
German officers who were captured by our forces a few days
ago said that their commanders intended pushing their line south of the Marne
as far a Montmirail. Now there can be no doubt that the Hun, in the breaking
down of his offensive, suffered the severest setback he has met since the
beginning of the war.
Advance the Line North of Château-Thierry
The Allies not only are continuing to push ahead all along
the Soissons-Château-Thierry line, but in threatening to cross the Marne after
the enemy, have driven the Huns back in the region west of Rheims, thus
relieving the situation of the French forces in that city. Also we are
advancing our line northwest of Château-Thierry and making the position of the
Germans in the area between Soissons and Rheims extremely dangerous.
The Germans in this entire area will have to withdraw or
they will be encircled by the French and American armies.
Our force had a difficult job in swinging the German line
back immediately west and north of Château-Thierry and around Hill No. 204 and
Hill No. 193. In that stretch of territory which leads in the direction of
Etrepilly, the Franco-American forces had bitter fighting with the Boche, who
had brought up reserves in large numbers. The Americans attacked them on
Saturday morning, cooperating with the French. They encompassed Hill No. 204
and forced the withdrawal of the Germans, who were well protected by a series
of machine gun nests between Fossoy and Crezancy. Then they drove the Germans
northward across the Marne and established the line which we have been holding
there since that time.
The entire situation is subject to instant change. The
outstanding fact is that the Germans, who celebrated Bastille Day by striking
the French, by bombing Paris and training their long range gun on that city and
many other towns and cities within its range, thus expecting to terrify the
French nation and impress upon the people the power of Germany, are having the
tables turned on them in a sensational and critical way. This is due primarily
to the mastery of General Foch, who now, for the first time, is able to take
the initiative on a gigantic scale, with every assurance of the complete
support of America, England and the other Allies. He now is getting the very fullest
measure of this support.
Entire Battle Line in Vibrating
The entire line is vibrating from the force of the battle.
It is impossible at this time to tell what may happen. It is known, however,
that Germany intends making the Marne the scene of the final battle in the
Marne region, which, after the bloody but brilliant French victory in the
beginning of the war, is hallowed ground. Right now it is impossible to tell
the full extent of the battle, since the French fight instead of advertise what
they are doing and what they intend to do. They are slow to announce their
victories. That state of mind is understood from the fact that the order read
to the army simply stated that the Germans had been forced back across the
Marne. This had a wonderful sentimental effect on the French.
To-night I talked with a French officer of high rank and
asked him if he thought this meant the beginning of the end. He was very
conservative and said: --
“The results are very satisfactory, but it is difficult to
predict the outcome. The Germans still have many divisions available. We cannot
tell what they will do, but the Allies have been ready for any developments up
to this date and have scored a big advantage over the enemy everywhere that he
has assailed our lines. At the same time, the situation holds many
possibilities.
“Germany is now in a position of having to wait and see what
her enemies do. Germany cannot decide where the blow is coming. We can decide
that, which is a great advantage.”
The disposition of the average person, however—and
especially Americans—is to believe that this marks the beginning of the defeat
of Germany. This may be wrong and the world is likely to be too optimistic.
Germany is virile yet; she still has superiority in manpower and is not lacking
in organization for war and genius in strategy. It is a heroic task yet for the
Allies to keep her on the defensive, but, whatever the result of the present
allied blow, Germany is mightily weakened. Her prospects of capturing Paris
have vanished and her ability to organize a new attack approximating the vigor
of her assault of March 21 is gone. She is certain to lose strength as the
Allies gain.
It is hard to tell what reserves Germany has left for a new
attack. Indications are that she used many of her best divisions to try to
repel the attack started by the Franco-American forces last Wednesday. At least
twenty German divisions, known to be crack shock troops, have been in the
fighting for the last three days. To-day they are exhausted. The accuracy of
the Franco-American artillery and the effect of our gas checked their onrush
and forced them back steadily.
The Americans reached their farthest place at a point south
of Soissons, where, on Friday and Saturday, they engaged in a terrific duel
with Prussian troops that were supported by the deadliest kind of artillery
fire.
As I previously stated, the Germans have been forced back
across the Soissons-Château-Thierry road. Thrice superior enemy forces returned
to attack with a view to regaining their original positions. In spite of these
attacks the Americans are still holding firm.
Americans Are Qualifying as Shock Troops
The dogged resistance of the American troops to the attacks
of the enemy is amazing. It is a happy fact that our men, who are abundantly
scattered along the line, are showing qualities that are marking them as shock
troops. Units with brilliant records were used for shock purposes south of
Soissons. They were told to reach objectives which were difficult of
attainment, and they obeyed every time and on schedule to the dot.
On one day a unit went four kilometres, and fought all the
way. Many of these men never got to their goal, but none of them faltered on
the way.
Indications, according to the opinion of experts with whom I
have talked, are that Germany is not now the peak in military strength that she
was. Slowly but inevitably she is losing strength. This is due largely to the
lowering of the German morale, which is the outcome of the realization in the
rank and file of the army that there are a million American soldiers in France.
At first that fact alone failed to startle the Teutons, but the opinion of the
troops regarding our men has changed, now that they have had a taste of
American fighting methods. These methods, let it be said, are fair to the last
degree, but they are always demoniacal.
So far as it is known here, this is the first time the
Allies have taken the Boche completely by surprise. It now is sure that he is
stunned by the attack started by General Foch on Wednesday morning at daybreak.
Enemy officers were taken by surprise as they lay asleep, and their soldiers
were surprised in their dugouts. Our forces easily made the first few
kilometres of advance. In the meantime the Germans began attacking with the
intention of renewing their thrust toward Epernay and to capture Chalons, thus
trying to straighten their line for a fall drive on Paris.
Observations by American aviators showed the consternation
of the Boches at the advance of the Franco-American forces. They showed the
enemy crowding the roads back of his lines with troops and supplies when
divisions which had intended to smash the way to Epernay and to Chalons were
transferred hurriedly to Soissons to be used against our attack on that side of
the salient.
The Foch blow was a surprise to the enemy all along the line
except in the region south of Dormans, where the preparations of the Allies
caused the Boche to withdraw from his positions under cover of smoke screens.
He did this presumably with the intention of waiting in Dormans until he had
attended to the Soissons matter, when he purposed to return southward, recross
the Marne and sink his line southward as far as he pleased.
The absence of German shock troops on the Marne front
northward and around Rheims gave an opportunity to the Allies at half-past
seven o’clock yesterday evening, when twenty miles of cannon spoke and twenty
miles of infantry advanced, while twenty miles of Germans retreated, their
ranks depleted under our withering fire.
Our “75’s” and even our heavier guns are belching forth a
sheet of steel and flame, and as I write the sky is lighted as if by a thousand
great fires, and the thunder of cannon is such as was never heard before.
Prisoners already are coming in, but it is hard to estimate the number. They
are terror stricken, astonished and they shout, “Kamerade!” in an incessant
chorus.
The French barrage was thrown with devilish precision,
leaving the ground in spots churned into mush and trees stripped away. At nine
o’clock last night the Germans feebly attempted to return fire, but were unable
to do much. Apparently they were getting as many guns as possible back out of
reach of our advance.
I am writing this close to the scene of this gigantic battle
and see the gunplay and the flashes in the sky like streaked lightning. The
surrounding woods are filled with soldiers, sleeping and resting, who are
waiting for the call for fresh reserves.
The Germans are sure to strike back on a large scale,
although there is no doubt now that they are playing the role of the defensive,
which the Allies have played for so long. There is a feeling here that the Hun
will strike a sledgehammer blow against the British, but it seems likely,
instead, that he will need all his reserves to resist the battering of the
French and the Americans and the other Allies elsewhere.
Germany’s Peril in Face of America
The situation is one that is almost certain to precipitate
one of the critical stages of the war. If Germany fails to stay the advance of
the Allies, soon she will be drifting to utter defeat. If she succeeds in
checking the advance she will be in a bad situation just the same, for the
Allies, with America’s ever increasing forces here, soon will be able again to
strike an even harder blow, while Germany is making her maximum resistance now.
When I was in regions
evacuated a few hours before by the Germans south of Soissons I saw proof that
the enemy suffered vastly more than did the Americans. In a field of ten acres
I counted more than seventy Germans and seven Americans fallen. The Americans
all fell forward. The Boches lay in all positions.
These villages had been taken and retaken and were scenes of
sad desolation. I saw what was once a city of ten thousand inhabitants.
Alternate buildings were in ruins. Shells had been thrown into the place first
by the Germans and then by the French. In one small city which had been shelled
and bombed incessantly there remained only a woman and little girl of ten
years. Now they sit in the public square and sell postal cards to the American
soldiers. The little girl is the pet of our men. There also I saw a string of
German prisoners a mile long. They were marching from the “pen” close to the
front to a railway station. The number of these prisoners has been increased
materially since then.
Don Martin wrote and
mailed a dispatch dated July 21 about American negro solders. It was published
in the New York Herald on Sunday, August 11, 1918
FEARLESSNESS OF NEGRO SOLDIERS UNDOES GERMANS
Colonel Hayward’s New York Regiment Unfailing in Valor
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent
of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special to the
Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, July 21
Fear seems foreign to the negro
soldier. In most savage shelling and gas attacks he is as calm as if he were
strolling along 185th street in New York.
The Germans have tried him out and
it is not likely they will make any more like experiments.
A regiment of negroes, all
volunteers from New York city, under command of a former Public Service
Commissioner and secretary of the Republican National Committee, was sent some
time ago into the front line in the Argonne region. The colored boys had never
heard a shell or seen a German. After they had become settled in their
underground abodes the Germans made an attack. Obviously the purpose was to
ascertain how the American negro would act under furious shellfire. Other
colored troops from different parts of the world had been terrified under like
conditions, and it was assumed by the Germans that the American negro would be
affected similarly.
But he was not. For two hours the
Germans shelled the American position with high explosives. Between four and
five thousand shells were thrown. A more ferocious bombardment could not be
imagined. The negroes were knocked all around.
Surprise for the Germans
Dugouts were smashed, trenches were
destroyed, gun positions were obliterated. Yet when the German infantry came
over, presumably expecting to find the American positions deserted or the
shelters filled with terror-stricken darkies, it was met with a withering
machine gun and rifle fire.
The Americans had remounted machine
guns, worked on new positions, dragged one another out of demolished dugouts,
and when the German line came rushing across No Man’s Land the negroes were
ready at every point. Germans fell by the scores. A few reached the wire
stretched a few rods out from the American front line, but none got through it.
It was a solid victory for the Americans.
And only two Americans were
seriously wounded. A great many received slight injuries, but they are all back
in the line now ready for anything.
During the bombardment two darkies
did what may earn for them the Distinguished Service Cross. Telephone wires
connecting the front line with company and regimental headquarters were
destroyed.
Fearless Adventurers
The negroes went out and at
twenty-five points, every one in the danger zone, repaired the wires so that
communication was re-established.
A few nights after the attempted
assault on the Americans two negroes in a listening post well out in No Man’s
Land were attacked, they assert, by forty Germans. The official record says
there were twenty Germans.
The enemy rushed at the listening
post, but was halted by a series of grenade in-shoots. They began a rifle fire
on the Americans, who replied with grenades so long as the supply lasted, and
continued the defence with rifles. The engagement took place in the dark, but
it was apparent the next morning that the darkies had done much damage.
One of the negroes was injured. A bullet
hit him in the leg. His companion carried him back, then returned. Single-handed
he fought the Germans until they retired. The lone negro received a bullet in
the foot. Next morning the bodies of several Germans were seen about two hundred
feet from the listening post.
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