CHAPTER VIIICHATEAU THIERRY
By forcing a passage of the Marne east of Chateau Thierry, the German army had succeeded in cutting the grand line of France, but in so doing they only delayed troop movements, for trains could be moved south from the Toul sector, then west and through the train yards of Paris to their destinations in the Chateau Thierry region. Following this route the trains passed through Brienne le Chateau, Troyes, Joinville and other cities which were fast becoming familiar to the men of the 26th Division and turned in the freight yards of Noisy le Sec, a suburb of Paris, to complete their journey by following the Marne northward through Meaux, the farthest point in the German advance of 1914, to Lizy sur Ourcq.
Detraining early on the morning of July 1, the Company marched through Laferte sous Jouarre, where it crossed the Marne to quarters in a brick yard near Reuil en Brie. Entertained during their short stay in its suburbs by an air raid on Paris, and travelling in the direction of the already well-known Chateau Thierry sector, the men were not at a loss for subjects for the discussions which always flourished when time was plentiful. There were games on the 4th, with an impromptu entertainment in the evening. On the afternoon of the following day orders were received to move up to the left of the city of Chateau Thierry and relieve the 2d Division.
Arriving in the woods northwest of Bezu le Guery late at night, the Battalion rested for two hours and was ordered out again to return almost to Laferte sous Jouarre, take another road in the direction of the front, but more to the left of the position first selected, and make camp near Montreuil aux Lions. This move was made to form a reserve for the divisions on the line because of an expected German attack in the vicinity of Belleau Wood. This failed to materialize and the Battalion returned to the woods near Bezu le Guery on the night of July 8. From there A and C Companies relieved machine gununits of the Second Division occupying the front lines, the third platoon of D Company going up in support of C Company on the left of the brigade sector.
On July 10 Lieutenant Nelson and Sergeant Sullivan returned to the Company from the machine gun school at Gondricourt.
Because the 2d Division was needed to play its part in another section, it was removed from the support of the 26th, leaving the Yankees the only obstruction between the armies of the Crown Prince and their announced goal at Paris. Orders were issued and the commanders of units on the line distributed their forces in depth, a defensive arrangement which established the greater resistance to the enemy at a point some two kilometers to the rear of the line of contact. This plan included the use of several batteries of 75 millimeter guns for the purpose of direct fire at the crests of hills behind which they were located. A certain number of machine guns were assigned each battery to aid in its defense. Besides these, other guns were used to cover certain strategic points on roads and in fields, so that all guns in the Battalion had been assigned regular positions when the scheme was completed.
Fighting in this sector had not reached the stage of trench warfare with which the men had become so familiar during their stay in the region northwest of Toul. Trenches were nonexistent except for small rifle pits and a few machine gun emplacements near the line. Dugouts at their best were nothing but rude shelters which withstood the rain with difficulty and were safe only when the Hun was not using his artillery. Men stationed in or near the villages had the opportunity of using the houses for sleeping quarters, but those in the many small patches of woodland found holes in the ground the most reliable resting places. The hitherto despised pup tent came into use where it was permitted, and the men made themselves comfortable as possible, adding to their rations by the confiscation of wandering flocks of chickens, and itinerant cows furnished milk for more than one mess.
Entering Vaux on the right of the divisional sector just west of Chateau Thierry on the night of July 14, the Germans found it deserted, but when they tried to return to their lines they were stopped by an intense artillery barrage and the raiding party wasannihilated by the 101st Infantry Regiment, with but few American casualties.
For several nights at the request of Colonel Parker of the 102d Infantry, the forward guns of the Company had been used to lay down barrages of harassing fire on various enemy communicating paths with good results, according to regimental observers. With this feature to prevent their stay becoming monotonous and many new places to explore, the men had not become discontented with the sector, when, on July 18, at an early hour in the morning, word was passed down from headquarters that the Allied offensive was to start at 4:35, shortly after daybreak. This movement was destined to be the start of the great offensive which ended in the signing of the armistice terms by the German powers in November, for at no time after they started their retreat from the Marne salient on that day, did the German armies find the strength to halt the onrushing millions of Foch's men.
It was in the area between Rheims and Soissons that the Crown Prince had succeeded in breaking through the French defenses and by this feat advanced to the Marne at Chateau Thierry, a distance of some twenty miles. The heights about the first two cities remained impregnable and thus a salient was formed which was found difficult to hold as soon as pressure was applied by the Allies.
Preparations for the Allied advance had been going on for some time and had been carried out with the greatest secrecy, so when the blow fell the first few days found the Hun unprepared to make a resistance which could impede the progress of the French and American troops. From the edge of the salient west of Soissons the Xth French Army, with the 1st, 2d, and 4th American Divisions occupied the line down to where the VIth French Army with the 26th American Division was stationed to the left of Chateau Thierry. On the right of Chateau Thierry were the 3d and 28th American Divisions operating also under French command and around the eastern side of the salient extending northward to Rheims were more French troops with Italians and Colonials to apply that arm of the pincers to the imperial forces.
As the 26th Division occupied the curved side of the salientextending from Belleau Wood on the left to and including Vaux on the right, it was forced to wait until the area immediately to its north was taken by the forces occupying the line from Soissons, south to Belleau Wood, and for a like reason the 51st Brigade, holding the right of the divisional sector, was delayed until the 52d Brigade had reached objectives assigned to clear the area to the northeast of its positions.
With all units of the Brigade on the front line, those formerly in reserve to form the first wave of the attack, the order to advance was received at 3:15 on the afternoon of July 20. D Company was assigned to the second battalion of the 102d Infantry and took up a position in the second wave. The victorious operations of the 103d Infantry on the left were visible to the men before they made their attack, so they went in at the designated time with the spirit of victors and the newly fortified knowledge that as individuals or collectively, the Germans were no match for them.
Advancing beyond its objectives, the 102d Infantry found that darkness would leave its flanks exposed, for the 103d had failed to keep the pace, so the machine guns of the Company were called to take up defensive positions on the left of the line occupied by the regiment which had moved for two kilometers in a general northeasterly direction. Private Russ, wounded in both legs by shell fire just before the start of the attack, was the first casualty of the drive. Early the next morning the 103d gained the territory intervening between its line and that of the 102d, and D Company, in the first wave of the attack, continued the advance through shell-splintered woods, piled high with German ammunition and machine guns, meeting no opposition until noon, when it became necessary for the first platoon under Lieutenant Paton to mount its guns and sweep woods where Hun machine gun nests had halted the progress of the troops. This required but a short time, for the German gunners were so discomfited by the fire that they hurriedly withdrew.
Travelling in a northeasterly direction, the Chateau Thierry-Soissons road was crossed in early afternoon, and although this was the objective for the day's advance, the march—for it had become little else—was continued to Verdilly, about ten kilometers north and a little east of Chateau Thierry. The wagon train metthe Company on the road and relieved the tired gunners of their loads, for a Hotchkiss machine gun alone weighs sixty-five pounds, and the feat of carrying one a mile or more belonged only to the stalwart. All equipment considered excess had been thrown aside at the start of the advance and packs had been filled with strips of ammunition. The men were tiring fast under the strain of their first real battle, but at 6 o'clock the advance was resumed from Verdilly with the hope that contact with the enemy might be established by nightfall.
North of Verdilly in the direction of Trugny and Epieds the country is broken by hills crowned with forests on both sides of the valley, through which the road leads and the lowlands were largely filled with wheat fields. Here the German made his first determined stand and he was aided by the fact that the American artillery had been unable to keep pace with the advance of the infantry, so that when American forces pressed close he could hold his positions with comparative ease against the onslaughts of infantry defended as they were with countless machine guns.
The bivouac in the woods was made unpleasant for the men by German artillery, which had taken up positions after a headlong flight, and a battery of 75's, manned by French, added to the general din of battle close enough to the sleeping places they had selected to prevent them from gaining a much needed rest.
Lack of artillery again delayed the attack on the morning of the 22d, but it was finally decided to attempt it without artillery preparation and the second section of the second platoon with one squad of the third under command of Lieutenant Nelson started the attack, with C Company of the 102d Infantry leaving the cover of the woods and starting down the slope on the left side of the Verdilly-Epieds road, Trugny being just to the right of the Company sector. The Hun, however, had this part of the terrain well covered with enfilading machine gun and artillery fire from positions in Trugny Wood on the opposite side of the road, and the infantry was forced to withdraw, but D Company's men stayed in the forward positions to cover the doughboys' retreat. Then attempt after attempt was made to dislodge the enemy but all efforts failed because he had more bullets than the 102d Infantry had men. Continuing to hold the positions they had taken early in the day under the hottest fire they had ever experienced,Corporal Malone's squad all became casualties with the exception of Coady and Gonsior. Kapitzke and Callahan were killed in succession as they took up their posts at the gun and the rest of the men suffered from shell shock and the gas which the Germans used freely to prevent an advance with the wheat for cover.
Taking up a flanking position, the first section of the first platoon succeeded in quieting the most troublesome of the machine gun nests. After the relief of the men in the line positions was completed by Lieutenant Paton with the second section of the first platoon, the order was given for them to retire to the woods from which they had started their advance, and with the remainder of the Company to take up the defense of the positions for the night.
Shelling became very heavy at this interval. Many of the casualties of the day were suffered by the Company while the men remained in their positions around the guns during the barrage of gas and high explosive shells. The total losses of the Company during the day included Callahan and Kapitzke, killed; Ed Malone, Farnsworth, Harry O'Neill, Raymond Smith, Brock, Diamara, and Moses, wounded; Jim Brown, shell-shocked; Corporal Malone, Oscar Johnson, Lesocke, Kostrzewski, Eddy and Jacobs, gassed.
The night was spent in mud holes, for there were no trenches or shelters, but in spite of the rain which fell all night and the German shells directed against batteries in the rear, whining and banging all through the hours of darkness, the men slept as only exhausted men can sleep, and in the morning were rewarded with an excellent meal from the kitchen, which Lieutenant Bacharach had manœuvered to Verdilly.
Artillery of all kinds and calibers arrived during the night and in the morning the 101st Engineers made the attack in place of the infantry, which had suffered severe casualties and needed a rest. This served to keep the Boche busy for the day, although no progress was made until night, when the persistence of the Engineers and French successes to the north of Epieds forced the Hun to fall back to Epieds, beyond which point he was driven by parts of the 102d Infantry and units of the 28th Division, who took up the attack when he attempted to make a stand in Trugny.
PhotographsLeft, top to bottom—Sgt. I. F. Carey, Cpl. E. F. Clark, Cpl. B. J. Fitch, Sgt. H. J. Dockendorff, Sgt. C. J. Dowers, Sgt. M. T. Krakovec.Center, top to bottom—Sgt. M. A. Guerrant.—Scene toward German lines from Jury woods.—Pvt. A. G. Kapitzke with German helmet and rifle.Right, top to bottom—Cpl. R. B. Martin, Cpl. W. I. Bassett, Sgt. F. P. Malone, 1st Sgt. T. J. Reilly, Sgt. F. R. Curtiss.
Left, top to bottom—Sgt. I. F. Carey, Cpl. E. F. Clark, Cpl. B. J. Fitch, Sgt. H. J. Dockendorff, Sgt. C. J. Dowers, Sgt. M. T. Krakovec.Center, top to bottom—Sgt. M. A. Guerrant.—Scene toward German lines from Jury woods.—Pvt. A. G. Kapitzke with German helmet and rifle.Right, top to bottom—Cpl. R. B. Martin, Cpl. W. I. Bassett, Sgt. F. P. Malone, 1st Sgt. T. J. Reilly, Sgt. F. R. Curtiss.
PhotographsLeft, top to bottom—Orphan adopted by company.—Mess time in Besombois.—Top of Lt. Nelson's dugout in Ormont.—Company billet in Mansigne.Center, top to bottom—Tallest and shortest men in the company.—Group at Brest just before embarking.Right, top to bottom—Waiting for barrage to lift, Oct. 27, 1918.—Newspaper "kiddies," Certilleux.—On road to Ormont woods.—Foster, Stevens, Fitch and Hobart at company headquarters, Besombois.
Left, top to bottom—Orphan adopted by company.—Mess time in Besombois.—Top of Lt. Nelson's dugout in Ormont.—Company billet in Mansigne.Center, top to bottom—Tallest and shortest men in the company.—Group at Brest just before embarking.Right, top to bottom—Waiting for barrage to lift, Oct. 27, 1918.—Newspaper "kiddies," Certilleux.—On road to Ormont woods.—Foster, Stevens, Fitch and Hobart at company headquarters, Besombois.
Passing a large German gun abandoned at the side of the road near Trugny and many dead Hun machine gunners at their tiny emplacements along the Verdilly-Epieds road, the Company marched with carts carrying their guns through Epieds, scarred by the devices of battle, up the hill to the east and then northeast again through the woods, shell-splintered and torn, about seven kilometers, to the Fere en Tardenois road, where the advance was halted. There the first platoon took up front line positions.
Sleeping in the woods, the remainder of the Company was treated to a "strafing" by a Hun airman, who used his machine gun without effect, but during the early morning the artillery fire which followed resulted in casualties among the members of the 101st Machine Gun Battalion occupying the same woods. Relieved by the 42d Division, the Company left the line during the afternoon of that day, July 25, and hiked to the music of Eddie O'Neil's fife to shelter in Trugny Woods.
There they slept for the first night in more than a week without being disturbed by the Hun. Tired, hungry and muddy from a week of advancing, the men gave proof of their inexhaustible spirit by singing over a few of the songs they had learned in training before they rolled up in their blankets for the night. None of the stories told that night had to do with heroism except here and there a reference to the invincible quality of their officers, but rather there was laughter at the incidents which contained elements of humor. Always the joy of the victor was uppermost.
Crossing old battlefields, the Battalion marched the following day to woods just north of Chateau Thierry and there made preparations for a stay by erecting tents and various forms of shelter to shed the rain which continued to fall at regular intervals. Visits to Chateau Thierry began the next day, but the first men encountered trouble with the Military Police posted to guard the city. This difficulty was overcome, however, when the Company appeared in a body and demanded admission.
Spending a part of the following days at drill and cleaning equipment served as a rest. During this time Lieutenant Condren, in command of the Company since its first trip to the line, was ordered to the United States as an instructor and was given a farewell by the Company. He was succeeded in commandby Lieutenant Paton, who became a first lieutenant shortly afterward.
On the 30th the Battalion marched to its old headquarters at Bezu Woods and then to Chamigny on the Marne River, just north of Laferte sous Jouarre.
With the entire Battalion billeted in one village and bathing in the Marne easily accessible, visions of that deferred rest began to arise. Then came the announcement that all men in the division were to be allowed a leave of forty-eight hours "outside the divisional area." With Paris but a scant thirty miles distant, this meant a visit to the gay French capital, and tales of the damage being done there by the "Big Berthas" of the Hun did not impede the rush for passes which followed. Individual funds were swelled by pay for June, which soon came. Added to this was about thirty francs distributed to each man from funds raised for the purpose by the Spanish War Veterans of Connecticut. Thereafter all popular stories were introduced by the phrase "when I was in Paris."
Orders to leave for home had been received by Sergeants McCarthy and McLoughlin, the latter leaving on the first day of the advance just ended. Private Foster was transferred to the headquarters detachment of the 1st American Army which was being formed for the attack at St. Mihiel, and Lieutenant Dolan, who had been with the Company since he was assigned as instructor at Certilleux, was sent to the divisional military police headquarters. Captain H. P. Sheldon was assigned to command the Company.
Athletic events occupied part of the time in Chamigny and Johnson qualified for the finals in the divisional meet at Saacy, scoring the only point for the Battalion there by placing fourth in the 440 yard race. Evenings were filled with entertainments at the "Y" hut and trips to La Ferte. Correspondence was heavy until orders were again received to move, this time after a short period of intensive training not far from the vicinity of the Toul sector the men had come to know so well, where the Division became a part of the 1st Army in the first purely American offensive.