Don
Martin diary entry for Saturday, August 17, 1918:
Went to Paris on train. Many of the other correspondents went also. Did
some shopping and spent the night at the Hotel Crillon. Had two good meals. The
censor’s office is soon to move away from Meaux. The understanding is it will
go to Nancy because the Americans intend soon to start a big operation in that
region.
Don Martin wrote a dispatch quoting from a French army report praising the Americans' taking of Fismes, dated Saturday, August 17, which was published
in the New York Herald on Sunday, August 18.
French Report Pays High Tribute to Courage and Skill of American Troops
Division Containing a Large Percentage of Soldiers of German Origin
Especially Commended for Dash and Daring in Recent Fighting at Sergy and Cierge
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent
of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special to the
Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Saturday
A splendid tribute to the American troops has been paid in a
French army report apropos of the recent fighting at Sergy, Cierge and other
points. The report said:--
“The Germans were compelled to meet a strong advance of American
units, who, fresh and energetic, prepared to descend the slopes of Ronchêres.
It was an American division which advanced from Ronchêres to Fismes, progressing on the parallel route
that runs through Coulange, Cohan, Longueville farm and St. Gilles.
“It is an interesting point that the American division is
made up of a great many men of German origin, who thus are shedding blood for
America gloriously showed their loyalty. At Grimpettes Wood the German
resistance was stubborn and the fighting was extremely severe. There were many
hand to hand combats. The next day the woods were in the hands of Americans.
The machine gun nests which had held up the advance on Cierge were crushed and
captured.
“At Jomblets Woods the enemy tried to stay the American advance.
The Americans went around Cierge, which was full of gas, in a magnificent dash.
They stormed the northern slopes after a short rest and captured a part of
Jomblets Woods.”
The document says the Americans confronted a series of
formidable obstacles.
“During several days’ fighting the Americans showed a keen
sense of infantry manoeuvring,” comments the report, “employing tactical means
which were most sure of accomplishing the purpose, thus giving evidence of
initiative and imagination. In addition they showed excellent knowledge of the
use of machine guns and light mortars. That was why they were able to reduce
the German defences. Hill No. 230 was taken in a superb manner and seventy
prisoners scored.
For seventy-two hours the infantry fought in spite of the
difficulty of procuring food, caused by the fact that only one narrow road
afforded convoys an opportunity of arriving. That one road was soaked by the
rains and was deep in mud. In spite of fatigue and privations the pursuit
continued. Soon the enemy turned and faced the Americans with many machine
guns, supplemented by strong artillery.
“It
was necessary to retire methodically and to manoeuvre the strong points of the adversary.
This permitted the American troops to reach the slopes north of Mont St. Martin
and St. Gilles. The division thus added to its gains by seven kilometres. In
one supreme effort to permit it to reach Fismes or the outskirts of Fismes,
solidly held by the Germans, their advance troops were hard pressed. The
Americans stormed them with light mortars and succeeded, though not without
loss, at the end of the day, thanks to slow but sure tenacity in getting within
a kilometre of Fismes and to gain the mastery of Ville Savoye and also Chenelle
Farm. Rains in the night hindered movements and rendered the morrow’s tasks
more arduous.
“On
August 5 the artillery prepared the attack on Fismes and the final assault was
launched. The Americans penetrated into the village and began the mean task of
clearing away the final resistance. By evening the task was completed. We held
all of the southern part of the village. Some Americans had succeeded in
crossing the Vesle, but were satisfied with making a reconnaissance. The
Germans still occupied the right bank of the Vesle in great strength. They were
left alone while Fismes was ‘mopped up’ and positions were strengthened to
resist a counter attack.”
The report based on official information shows the
brilliance of American dash and courage on the route travelled by the division
whose operation was described in the report. The action was vital, for if it
had failed the entire offensive might have failed. The American record is
considered the most wonderful yet made and the French war report gives it
unusual praise.
I talked to-day with many soldiers who went through the
fighting described. One of them, Elmer Dent, of Rhinelander, Wis., who has been
a lumberjack and a deputy sheriff back home, had something typical to say about
the battle.
“It was nothing special,” he said as he showed me a hole in
his “tin hat.” “Another smashed the shovel on my back,” he related, “and
another wrecked my rifle. I picked up a rifle of a chap who had been hit and
went on to the finish. It was some little old fight. Talk to some of the other
boys. They maybe saw something interesting.”
To-day I saw a huge German “210” captured in the
recent fighting. It stood in the public square surrounded by Americans.
Thousands viewed it and wrote their names on the spokes of the wheels wherever
there was room. A placard on the gun read:--
“To
Be Sent to Governor McCall and Placed in Boston Common.”
Another dispatch about German losses, dated Saturday, August 17, was published in the New York Herald on Sunday, August 18.
GERMANS HURT FAR WORSE
THAN ALLIES DREAMED
Paper Found on Hun Prisoner Indicates
Ghastly Losses by Enemy
TELLS OF DESTRUCTION OF WHOLE COMPANIES
Shows Franco-British-American Attacks
Demoralized Scheme For New Attack
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special to the Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Saturday
That the Germans were hurt in the allied drive worse than was ever dreamed is evident from a paper found on a German prisoner. The paper was circulated among the soldiers surreptitiously. The prisoner I saw said the death penalty was threatened for those having it in their possession.
I am able to quote briefly from the document. It says:--
“The awful months that we spent before Verdun are with us again. Even the General Staff admits the losses are tremendous. Whole companies have disappeared. Regiments are reduced to small numbers. Many divisions have lost seventy per cent. There is hardly one division out of a hundred between Arras and Lafère that has not lost at least a third killed and wounded.”
Indicates Ghastly Losses
The paper is a two-sheet affair addressed to German soldiers. This is one of the many indications that Germany has suffered ghastly losses since June 14. It is known now she was preparing for a giant smash at the British when the Franco-American offensive started, and that she was planning even after that a drive at another place when the Franco-British attack demoralized the scheme. What the French hardly dared believe was that on their side they definitely had turned the German defensive. Now that is accepted as settled.
The enormous array of Germans trained to be thrown against Paris in the late summer was used last month and was unable to undertake a major penetration. In the meantime it is not likely that the initiative will pass again into the hands of the Germans who have been outwitted and outfought.
Along the Vesle where the Americans are holding the line the Germans are using bombing planes to do artillery work. The guns are silent and the airplanes are whirring in the darkness before dawn dropping aerial torpedoes where they think the Americans are encamped. The Fourth German Guard division is opposite the Americans near Fismes. The Fourth Guard is being resisted vigorously, according to prisoners. The German losses have been heavy.
Bodies Remain Unburied
The extent of their losses on the retreat from Fismes north is shown by the cemeteries, many of which I visited to-day. One contains the remains of forty Germans. At the back of the cemetery are the graves of 110 more, among them one of a lieutenant commandant and fifteen other officers. Another cemetery just south of Vesle contains the bodies of forty Germans. Some of the bodies had not been buried. The shells had literally shattered the headstones—some marking the burials of a hundred years ago.
The French official report praises the action of the Americans in the recent offensive by saying of one division:--
“Such was the advance of one American division pushing forward from Rochêres over a distance of fifteen kilometres that it had crowning success with the capture of Fismes.” The regiment referred to has lumbermen and Indians in it from the American Northwest.
Americans Playing With Death
The situation on the Vesle, where the American lines are thrown out, has been quiet for several days. At the village of Fismette the Germans hold one end and the Americans the other. There is constant sniping. Machine guns dominate the streets and it is death to venture out. Night patrols clash frequently, bombs are dropped at frequent intervals, and snipers are stationed night and day in many buildings, so that the Americans are playing with death constantly.
The Germans evidently are holding Vesle heights until they can complete strongholds north of the Aisne. It is expected they will withdraw soon.
Second
Battle of the Marne–Phase III
Phase III of
the Second Battle of the Marne began on August 18 with the French 10th Army
launching a major offensive near Soissons.
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