July 1, 1918: Don Martin has a nerve racking day near the front

Don Martin diary entry for Monday, July 1, 1918: 

Went to 2^nd division. Was told all the details of the assault to be made by our troops on the village of Vaux. Went to Columniers, headquarters of our fliers. Saw the boys start on their first flight over the German lines. Returned to Meaux; then went to the Second division where I listened to reports from the 23^rd and 9^th infantry which were making the attack on Vaux. I saw part of the bombardment of the town. I returned after midnight with [Edwin] James [New York Times] and [Cameron] Mackenzie [London Chronicle] over a dark road. No light was permitted. Was a rather nerve racking ride. The boom of artillery was constant. Arriving in Meaux at 2 a.m. were told we could not go down the main street as a bomb had just been dropped on a building which was now a mass of wreckage in the street. We motored all over the place before we finally got to the hotel and meanwhile bombs were being dropped and shrapnel was falling all over. It was a fierce experience. I sat in my room until 4:30 a.m. writing a story of the capture of Vaux. Our men did it in fine shape.

           Don Martin on July 1 wrote a lengthy dispatch about praise for the Americans after Torcy, which was published in the New York Herald on Tuesday, July 2, 1918.

GENERAL LIGGETT IS IN COMMAND OF SIX DIVISIONS ON THE MARNE, READY FOR HINDENBURG BLOW

U. S. Success South of Torcy 

Shows Ability of Americans to Direct Operations

GRANADES THROWN WITH BASEBALL SWING

Don Martin Says “Wall of Guns” Is Ready 

to Meet New German Drive

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, Monday [July 1]

                 The victorious termination of the fighting south of Torcy has marked the completion of the first American military operation under American direction on the western front. It was a success and was an offensive that was directed against a vital spot in the line. I now am permitted to say that all the objectives of this unit were reached.

             All France is ringing with the praise of these Americans. The forces under General Pershing have proved their worth. In doing so they have adopted a system of warfare that is distinctly their own, and it is one that is brimful of innovations.

            The Americans do not believe in giving the enemy any rest by day or night. Always they are pounding away at the Boche with their artillery. Their guns always are hurling a solid sheet of steel into the enemy lines. The Americans, too, in many instances, have forsaken the old-time, stiff-arm fashion of throwing grenades. Now they hurl them as they would throw baseballs.

Cause Large Enemy Losses.

            By this system they have shattered no fewer than seven German divisions in three weeks. The slaughter they have wrought in the enemy lines has been terrific.

            Prisoners which our troops have captured have admitted this. They declared that their divisions which formerly remained in the front lines for weeks at a time now are exhausted after a few days' contact with the American forces.

              The activity of our troops and the constant bombing of enemy billets back of the lines, coupled with the offensives by the French and British, have weakened the Germans and have, temporarily at least, disarranged their plans. The big attack by them, however, which was scheduled to begin last week is likely to be felt somewhere along the line soon. It is enough to say that the Allies are ready for it.

             While there is no disposition in the allied camps to attempt to discount the German strength, which is known to be great, there is a feeling of optimism and confidence that all is well. It is well realized here that the Allies' situation has improved steadily every day. This means much.

Foe Faces “Wall of Guns.”

             The allied line now is such that the Germans, in order to reach it, will have to advance over what is virtually a solid wall of "heavies," of 75's and bayonets which are on rifles held by soldiers who are fired with new courage—men who will not know defeat

              It has been demonstrated in the American fighting at Torcy that the system of skirmish warfare has gone forever. A famous American unit employed it in the attack on Torcy and on Belleau Wood. This unit won gloriously, but the tactics employed necessitated a heavy toll. It was demonstrated that the attacks in this fashion would have failed completely had it not been for the splendid bravery of the men behind them—by the spirit of the American fighting man.

              After a month of actual fighting under French direction, with minor units operating under American direction, it has been revealed that the Germans have not only a numerical giant to deal with but men to whom surrender is foreign and who will fight like demons until they are prostrate. In addition to this it has been proved that the Americans have efficiency methods of their own. Their skill in handling a rifle, grenade and- bayonet has surprised all observers here.

             Along with this the American "sniper" swiftly is proving his complete superiority over the German. There is one proved instance of an American "sniper" who picked off the entire crew of a German machine gun at 800 yards. Shooting at 300-yard range was believed here to be good until the Americans came. They are shooting with deadly accuracy at thousand yards range.

General Hunter Liggett

      Early in July the Buffalo Enquirer published an article with a cartoon about Don Martin’s transformation from political reporter to war correspondent.

“THE STRAW MAN VOTE” 

ON THE FIRING LINE IN FRANCE

     Don Martin, the New York Herald “straw vote man”—the editor who probably knows more politicians and inside political history than any other man in the United States—is now a full fledged war correspondent.

     This is very interesting news to our readers, for all remember our publication of the New York Herald’s political poll in 1916, compiled and managed by Don Martin. This remarkable forecast of Mr. Martin, showing Mr. Wilson’s election, was only one of many polls conducted by the New York Herald that have been accurate in prediction.

     However, it is not of past events we wish to write, but rather of the present. Mr. Martin a few months ago was assigned to the London office of the New York Herald. In a few weeks we found him in Paris and within a short time he was in the front line trenches with Pershing’s boys.

     His pen picture of the battle of Seicheprey, where the Americans at Toul, outnumbered twelve to one, with their backs to the wall, fought the Germans to a standstill and whipped them, has been one of the most remarkable cables so far in this great war.

     Because of Mr. Martin’s wide acquaintance among the public men and officers of the army, and in view of his broad vision and experience, it is quite sure that his success as a war correspondent will measure up to that attained as “the straw vote man.”

     Charles E. Hughes during his Presidential campaign tour, addressing a vast throng at Silver Creek, N.Y., said: --“An honest newspaperman is the noblest work of God, and this is Don Martin’s home. I have great regard for Don Martin and am glad to come to his home town.”

Don Martin - Straw vote man
(Buffalo Enquirer, July 1918)