The Americans in the Great War; v. 2. The Battle of Saint Mihiel / (St. Mihiel, Pont-à-Mousson, Metz)

by Unknown

FIRST DAY

FROM VERDUN TO COMMERCY

Leave Verdun by the Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, Rue St. Sauveur, Rue and Gate of St. Victor (photo below) and N. 3.

Ten kilometres down this road, Rozellier Fort will be seen on the left. One kilometre further on, take the strategic I.C. 3, also known as Calonne Trench, on the right.

VERDUN—ST. VICTOR’S GATE

(From the Michelin Guide: The Battle of Verdun.)

CALONNE TRENCH

French Post of Commandment on the left, about 200 yds. before the fork in the road to Haudiomont (see sketch map, p. [25]).

Calonne Trench

This picturesque road enables the tourist to follow the phases of the struggle which took place in the district of Les Eparges. The road crosses in an almost straight line the whole forest of Amblonville, Bouchot Wood, and La Montagne Forest, and comes out about twelve miles further on at the Hattan-châtel cross-roads. Formerly this road was used only by poachers, gamekeepers, and shooting-parties, being a well-known haunt of game.

Calonne Trench will, in future, evoke more tragic memories. The name “Trench” might lead one to suppose that it dates from the Great War, but this is not the case. For more than a century the road, cut out of the crest of the hills, has borne this name. It was made by order of M. de Calonne, Minister of Finance under Louis XVI., to give access to his château at the foot of the Meuse hills. This château was destroyed during the Revolution.

CALONNE TRENCH

The “Bouée” Post of Commandment, 1 km. after the fork, and 100 yds. in the wood on the left of the road (see sketch map, p. [25]).

CALONNE TRENCH

French Trenches and Observation-Post on the right, before reaching the road to Eparges (see sketch map, p. [26]).

It is said that M. de Calonne, hoping some day to entertain the king at his château, had rose-trees planted the whole length of this road. However that may be, it is a fact that during the War wild roses were seen in bloom all along this forest road, at that time really a “trench” in the military sense of the word.

The battle-front crossed Calonne Trench a little to the south-west of St. Remy, in Bouchot Wood. Both adversaries bombarded each other and were kept constantly on the alert by attacks and counter-attacks. In March, 1915, 5.5-in. naval guns with a range of 13,000 yards were placed in position, to fire over Les Eparges, behind the enemy lines.

The marines had great difficulty in bringing these heavy guns into action, owing to the slippery, clayey soil.

+ Upper photo, p. [24].

+ + Lower photo, p. [24].

Their effective bombardment irritated the Germans so much that on April 20 they bombarded the French lines and, four days later, launched a massed attack which reached the third line of support.

The marine officers, cut off from their base and unable to communicate with the infantry—the telephone wires being cut—hastily organised defences. They swept the ground with the fire of their heavies and some 75’s brought up by hand, which opened at fuse 0.

CALONNE TRENCH

On the left: Road to Eparges (impracticable).

Meanwhile the Germans continued to advance. On the 25th they were within a thousand yards of the guns, and only vestiges of the trenches and of the original barbed wire entanglements lay between them and the guns. On the 26th, while the marines were preparing a vigorous resistance, two battalions of French Chasseurs, summoned to reinforce them, crept through the brushwood and began a counter-attack. On the 27th, the firing became more distant, but the Germans re-formed and renewed the attack on May 5. At first they met with some success, but this was quickly changed by the intervention of the Moroccan Brigade and six battalions of Chasseurs, who retook in a few hours all the ground lost on April 24.

Calonne Trench enters the forest almost immediately. On both sides of the road are numerous engineer and artillery parks, ambulance stations, shelters, rail-tracks and gun-pits.

Three kilometres from N. 3 and on the left, 200 yards before reaching the fork in I.C. 59, which lead to Haudiomont, there is a French Post of Commandment (photo, p. [24]); fifty yards to the right, beyond the fork, a military cemetery; 1 km. beyond the fork, on the left of the road, a hundred yards in the wood, the “Bouée” Post of Commandment (photo, p. 24); 2 km. further on, to the left, a French military cemetery.

Leave the fork of Mont-sous-les-Côtes on the left and follow the road.

+ Photo, p. [25].

++ Photo, p. [26].

In the “Taillis de Sauls” the French first lines (trenches, shelters, dug-outs, barbed wire entanglements and observation-posts) begin; on the left, a military cemetery; on the right, a concrete shelter.

ROAD FROM CALONNE TRENCH TO ST. REMY

German shelters and dug-outs.

From this point to where the destroyed road to Eparges begins (photo, p. [26]) the forest consists of little more than blackened shell-torn tree-stumps.

Continue along Calonne Trench which, for 1,500 yards, crosses Senoux Hill. Here the spectacle is appalling, especially on the site of the German trenches. Bear to the left and take I.C. 13 towards St. Remy. It is a bad road, but with care passable. For 2-1/2 km. it descends to the Eparges stream.

RUINED CHURCH AND VILLAGE OF ST. REMY

In the background: Combres Crest (right), Eparges Crest (left).

All along this road, cut out of the left side of the hill, are concrete shelters, dug-outs, underground passages, German posts of commandment, and a few German graves.

THE CHOIR OF ST. REMY CHURCH

Note the German stone and concrete Gun Shelter. The Germans bombarded Eparges from here.

In the valley, a cross-road is reached, close to the stream. Take the road to the right to St. Remy, the ruins of which are seen in the distance.

Climb up to the church (German graves in the cemetery). Fine extensive view across the valley towards Combres and Eparges.

In the church, where the altar formerly stood, is a German shelter of stone and concrete, which concealed a big gun firing on Eparges (photo above).

EPARGES VILLAGE (coming from St. Remy)

On the right: Montgirmont Hill; on the left: Hures Hill.

Return to the cross-road and continue along the bottom of the valley (I.C. 54) to the village of Eparges. The road crosses the original German and French front lines.

EPARGES VILLAGE

The Cemetery is in front of the last house on the right of the road to Trésauvaux.

GENERAL VIEW OF EPARGES HEIGHTS, SEEN FROM MONTGIRMONT CREST

A, The Woëvre; B, Trench along Montgirmont Crest (the photo was taken from here); C, Eparges Crest; D, Death Ravine; E, Shelters in the sides of Eparges Crest; F, Trench.

TRENCH IN DEATH RAVINE, 1915

Go through the village, of which only a few walls remain standing. Numerous French defence works, including some of concrete.

DEATH RAVINE (1915)

At the last house the road turns to the right in front of a French cemetery, and goes towards Trésauvaux, passing between Montgirmont Crest on the right and Hures Hill on the left (photo, p. [28]). All along the trenches, shelters and numerous graves.

At the top of the hill the houses of Trésauvaux come into view. Here leave the car and climb the slopes of Montgirmont (trenches, boyaux, etc.), from the top of which there is a fine panorama of Eparges on the French side (photo, p. [29]).

It is a desolate scene. The side of the hill is full of craters and shell-holes, forming so many grey patches on the reddish earth on which no vegetation survives. The glorious crest, entirely bare, stands out against the sky. Death Ravine, where so many brave men fell in the first assault on Eparges, lies between Montgirmont (where the tourist stands) and Eparges.

Eparges Spur

Eparges Spur, 1,500 yards in length and over a thousand feet high, forms the end of Woëvre Plain. Its sides are steep and slippery, while numerous springs and rivulets run down its slopes. It has been rightly called “a mountain of mud.” Eparges Heights form part of a series of hills, among which are Hures, Montgirmont, Combres and St. Remy. Of these, Eparges Crest is the most important. By nature an observation-post, its possession enabled those who held it to keep all the surrounding roads under gunfire.

The Germans captured it on September 21, 1914, and immediately made several lines of trenches between the summit and the valleys. At some points, five rows of batteries, one above another, were placed, and nowhere were there less than two.

Facing Eparges Crest, the French held the brow of Montgirmont to the north, and below, the village of Eparges, only 600 yards from the German trenches. Between Montgirmont and the northern slopes of Eparges Heights, an earth track crosses the pass between the two hills. It was on the western side that, at the end of October, the French began the attack, sapping step by step, while at the same time they slipped into the woods on the north-east, which cover the side of the ravine.

From February onward, attacks and counter-attacks took place almost daily and only came to an end early in April, after the French had captured the crest. On February 17, the explosion of a mine enabled the French to enter the west sector of the enemy’s first line. Attacks and counter-attacks continued for five days, during which Colonel Bacquet was mortally wounded while leading his troops. The French held the whole of the western bastion, and began to make progress towards the eastern bastion. From March 13 to 21 they renewed their attacks and captured the enemy’s first line.

EPARGES IN 1915. SENTRY IN TRENCH

On March 27, a battalion of Chasseurs made a fresh advance, and on April 5 began the last great attack which was to continue day and night until the 9th.

Two regiments attacked in the rain, but the muddy ground greatly impeded their movements, and it seemed at times as if the attack would fail.

In the evening the French occupied some of the trenches, but the use of aerial torpedoes, which pulverized whole rows of men, and a massed counter-attack launched at 4.30 on the morning of the 6th, forced them to give up part of the ground gained in the first advance. On the evening of the 6th, and throughout that night, in spite of the incessant rain, the trenches were retaken and the enemy driven back foot by foot, with a loss of 100 prisoners, including several officers. The French replied to the German counter-attacks with bayonet charges or barrage fire. The communicating trenches were bombarded, levelled, or blocked up. On the 8th, two regiments of infantry and a battalion of Chasseurs made a fresh bayonet charge. At 10 o’clock the summit and the western crest were strongly held, and by midnight, after fifteen hours of strenuous, uninterrupted fighting, almost the whole of the crest was in the hands of the French.

During the night of the 8th, the relief of the troops was carried out, but the ground was so muddy that men sank into it, stumbling and slipping at every step. Fourteen hours passed in blinding rainstorms before the fresh troops were established in position. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the 9th the attack was resumed. The ground was full of deep holes in which men sometimes disappeared. At the moment when the eastern edge of the plateau was reached a cloud of fog descended over the crest. Firing was out of the question. The Germans counter-attacked and forced the French to retreat momentarily, but half an hour later the French retook the lost ground in a furious charge, and by 10 o’clock at night held the whole of the Eparges Heights. Only Combres Hill, threatened by the machine-guns of Eparges and St. Remy, remained in the hands of the Germans.

The enemy had left nothing undone to put the position in a state of defence. Their cave-shelters contained a narrow-gauge railway, sleeping quarters, and even an officers’ club. Their relief reinforcements were concealed from the French, while their cannon and machine-guns were unceasingly turned on the muddy slopes up which the French laboriously climbed. Unwounded men were drowned in the mud, while many of the wounded could not be rescued in time from the quagmires into which they had fallen.

EPARGES IN 1915. POST OF COMMANDMENT IN THE SIDE OF THE CREST

The victory of Eparges has been described as “a work of giants.” But it was a costly victory. Most of the officers and thousands of men fell. The German losses were at least as heavy as those of the French.

Return to the Trésauvaux road. The village of Trésauvaux, the ruins of which were organised militarily by the French (photo, p. [34]), is reached shortly afterwards.

EPARGES IN 1915

Making rings at the entrance to a dug-out during a lull.

TRÉSAUVAUX VILLAGE

Follow I. C. 54 to Fresnes-en-Woëvre, the houses of which are seen in the distance. Go through the ruined village (photos, p. [35]). The statue of General Margueritte has been severely damaged, while the church is entirely in ruins.

Leaving Fresnes, take the Manheulles road (G.C.D. 7) on the left, which joins N. 3, 2-1/2 kms. further on.

THE SQUARE, TRÉSAUVAUX, IN 1915

FRESNES-EN-WOËVRE CHURCH, AUG. 11, 1915

FRESNES-EN-WOËVRE. MUTILATED STATUE OF GEN. MARGUERITTE

GERMAN POST OF COMMANDMENT AT ENTRANCE TO MANHEULLES VILLAGE (see P. 36)

Continue as far as Manheulles, where there are numerous military works, including concrete blockhouses and a German post of commandment established in the first house on the right at the entrance to the village. The ground-floor of this house, which appears to be an absolute ruin, is lined throughout with concrete (photo p. [35]). Several concrete shelters have been added outside, on the front facing Woëvre Plain.

MANHEULLES. THE MAIN STREET

At the cross-roads, in the middle of the village, stands a machine-gun blockhouse, built of concrete (photo below).

From Manheulles return to Fresnes-en-Woëvre.

Take G.C.D. 10, which passes through the villages of Champlon and Hannonville (severely damaged), Thillot, St. Maurice and Billy. Leave the village of Viéville on the right and, 500 yards further on, take the road which leads up a steep slope to Hattonchâtel.

MANHEULLES

German Machine-Gun Blockhouse of concrete, in the middle of the village, on left of the road.

HATTONCHÂTEL CHURCH AND CLOISTER

Hattonchâtel

Hattonchâtel stands on one of the promontories of the chain of hills which stretches from Verdun to Toul and which separates the Valley of the Meuse from the Plains of the Woëvre. It derives its name from a castle built in the 9th century by Hatton, Bishop of Verdun. The fortress has long been demolished. The church, erected as a collegiate in 1328, but united with the Collegiate Church of Apremont in 1707, remained standing until 1914. Since then it has been damaged by bombardments, especially the apse and north aisle. The little 15th century cloister, crossed by a public road, has suffered relatively little damage.

The church contained the tomb of G. de Haraucourt, Bishop of Verdun (16th century), and a remarkable altar piece. They were carried off by the Germans, but it is hoped that they will be returned.

HATTONCHÂTEL CLOISTER

The altar-screen, dating from 1523, is the earliest work attributed to Ligier Richier (see p. [57]). It rested on a marble altar shaped like an antique tomb.

CELEBRATED ALTAR-SCREEN, BY LIGIER RICHIER, STOLEN BY THE GERMANS FROM THE CHURCH OF HATTONCHÂTEL

This altar-screen, the projecting parts of which were of gold on a blue background, is divided into three sections, separated by pilasters with finely moulded bases.

On the central keystone, in the shape of a shield, are the arms of Duke Antoine of Lorraine. Two medallions between the archivolt and the first projection of the coping represent St. Peter and St. Paul.

The subjects of the three groups are: on the left, the Carrying of the Cross; Christ, in a long flowing robe, is in the centre, while behind Him stands Simon the Cyrenian wearing a pointed cap with turned-up edges; around stands a group of three women, two of whom are easily recognized—Mary Magdalene with long hair falling over her shoulders, and Veronica holding the Cloth of the Holy Face. Two executioners complete the scene.

In the centre of the altar-screen is The Crucifixion. In the foreground is the swooning Virgin supported by St. John. Kneeling at the foot of the Cross is Mary Magdalene, and opposite her, Stephaton holding the long reed with a sponge dipped in vinegar. Lastly come the three soldiers of Pilate, one of whom carries the spear which pierced Christ’s side. On a pennant held by the second soldier are inscribed the words which affirm the divinity of Christ: “Vere hic homo filius Dei erat.”

The third section of the altar-screen represents the Burial Scene. In the background is a bishop wearing a mitre, and kneeling at his feet a priest in a surplice. According to custom, the sculptor has here represented the donor, doubtless Gaucher or Gauthier Richeret, Dean of the Collegiate Church, whose initials, “G. R.,” frame the blazoned shield. The bishop is St. Maur, Bishop of Verdun, whose relics belonged to the Collegiate Church.

THE OLD GUARD-HOUSE OF HATTONCHÂTEL (before the War)

Unfortunate restorations were carried out in 1764 by Cellier Delatour, whose name appears on the background of the third picture. The date of the work (“A.D. 1.000.500.23.”) is inscribed on each of the curtains of the four pilasters which surround it.

The 18th century pulpit is almost intact.

Behind the church there is a fine view over the Heights of the Meuse towards Apremont.

In the village square is the old guard-house with an arcade, and some old houses, most of which are uninhabitable.

ENTRANCE TO A TUNNEL IN THE OLD CHÂTEAU (since destroyed by fire)

At the end of the village, in the direction of Hattonville, are the ruins of the old château. The cellars served as bomb-proof shelters, the walls being several yards thick.

From the terrace of the château is seen the immense Plain of Woëvre—partly occupied by the Germans from September, 1914.

The Woëvre Plain

The Woëvre forms a district by itself, geologically rather than geographically, and corresponds approximately to the “pays vabrensis” of the Merovingians. It lies between the Heights of the Meuse and Moselle. The soil of marl and clay becomes a slough after rain, and numerous pools and hidden sheets of water, known locally as “gorittis,” “noues,” or “crachettes,” make the ground slippery and treacherous.

Here may be followed step by step the stages of the Franco-American offensive of September, 1918 (see pp. [18-20]), which reduced the whole salient of St. Mihiel, and advanced the lines several kilometres to the out-works of the Forts of Metz, thus placing the Allied forces in strong positions in readiness for the new offensive planned for November 16, which the signing of the Armistice on November 11 prevented from being carried out to overwhelming victory.

VIGNEULLES

Entrance to concrete shelter near the Church, at the side of the road.

After visiting Hattonchâtel, proceed to Vigneulles by a road which describes a large loop.

Leaving Hattonchâtel, a German cemetery will be seen on the left, beside the village cemetery.

Vigneulles is a country town of considerable importance, built on the western fringe of the Woëvre Plain, at the foot of the chain of hills which separates the latter from the Valley of the Meuse. In the original plan of mobilisation it was to be the main French Headquarters.

Numerous houses have been destroyed.

From Vigneulles to St. Mihiel there is a choice of two roads: one, direct, via Chaillon (Itinerary A, p. [41]); the other, less direct, passes through Apremont, Brûlé Wood and Ailly Wood, and is much more interesting (Itinerary B, p. [42]).

A.—From Vigneulles to St. Mihiel, via Chaillon

At Vigneulles take G.C.D. 10 on the left, 100 yards from the church, and follow it for about 500 yards, then take G.C. 9 on the right, which passes through the village of Creüe.

The woods which rise above the village form a kind of curtain, and the Germans, well aware of its importance (the Grand French Manœuvres of 1891 had taken place in this district), seized it at the end of September, 1914, and later built a light railway which formed their main line of communication with St. Mihiel. Hidden in this recess, the railway escaped observation and was worked, with but little damage, throughout the war.

Leaving Creüe, the road follows the valley through which runs the Creüe Brook.

Before entering Chaillon, the tourist passes a German cemetery on the right. Many of the houses in this village, as well as the church, were destroyed.

GERMAN CEMETERY

This cemetery is in Mouton Wood, between Chaillon and St. Mihiel, on the left of the road when going towards St. Mihiel. One of the monuments represents a lion on a pedestal.

After Chaillon the road turns to the right and continues to follow the valley as far as the crossing of I.C. 62. It there climbs to the plateau, leaving the valley, which continues to the right in the direction of Spada. This valley is the only one which crosses the Heights of the Meuse in their entire width, uniting the Plain of Woëvre with the river. It is the “Spada Pass,” of immense strategical importance.

At the top of the slope the wood is entered just beyond a military cemetery, 200 yards to the left of the road. Cross Mouton Wood, dotted with German graves, shelters, cantonments, etc.

Leaving the Varvinay road on the left, a 100 yards further on the tourist comes to a German cemetery by the roadside, with several monuments, one of which represents a lion on a large pedestal.

Follow the road as far as St. Mihiel.

GERMAN SHELTER ON THE ROAD FROM VIGNEULLES TO HEUDICOURT 4 km. from the latter.

B.—From Vigneulles to St. Mihiel, via Apremont, Brûlé Wood and Ailly Wood

At Vigneulles, 100 yards from the church, take G.C.D. 10 to the left, in the direction of Heudicourt.

One kilometre from Vigneulles are several large concrete shelters to the right and left of the road. Creüe Wood, seen on the left of the road, 2 km. further on, is full of German defence works.

The greatly damaged village of Heudicourt is next reached. Numerous houses were destroyed by fire. Beside the cemetery is a German cemetery. On leaving the village there is a stone and concrete blockhouse.

WOINVILLE German monument at entrance to village, on the right, coming from Heudicourt.

Beyond Heudicourt, the road passes through Buxières (ruined houses); Buxèrulles (slightly damaged), containing German cemetery; Woinville (German cemetery with a monument in the middle (see photo below), on the right, before entering the village, and a roofless church); Varnéville, entirely in ruins. Leaving the village, the tourist passes several concrete shelters and blockhouses.

APREMONT. RUINS OF VILLAGE AND CHURCH

One and a half kilometres from Varnéville, G.C.D. 10, crosses G.C.D. 1 bis. Take the latter to the right towards Apremont. 800 yards from the fork, after crossing a bridge over the stream, the village of Apremont is reached.

Immediately after the bridge there is a very comfortable shelter of stone, cement and logs in a garden, behind a house on the right (the least damaged in the village).

APREMONT Shelter, on the left before crossing stream, going towards Bouconville.

Apremont is entirely in ruins. Of the church, only a few broken walls remain. In the Rue de l’Eglise, fifty yards from the church, to the left, near the end of the village, is a large concrete shelter, on the wall of which a German machine-gun has been carved (see photo above).

APREMONT

German shelter with drawing of machine-gun on the wall.

Apremont was a very important place during the war. At this point the road from St. Mihiel to Flirey and Pont-à-Mousson crosses the Vigneulles road, along which the tourist has just come, and which, beyond Apremont, goes down to Fort Gironville after skirting Fort Liouville on the right.

G.C.D. 1 bis, turns to the right in the village, then mounts a steep slope towards Brûlé Wood.

END OF APREMONT VILLAGE, GOING TOWARDS ST. MIHIEL

On the right: a Michelin sign; in the background: Hill and Fort of Gironville, Reine Forest and Vignot Wood.

APREMONT

The road to St. Mihiel.

One kilometre beyond Apremont, in a quarry on the left of the road, the Germans built a veritable village in concrete and cement, with deep shelters under the rocks. Terraces and flowering plants ornament the houses. The rooms are decorated with carved woodwork and tapestry. The furniture was either taken from the surrounding villages or made in rustic style (see photo below). At the top of this camp, beyond the terrace of the Officers’ Mess, a cement staircase leads to a concrete trench which dominates the position in Brûlé Wood. The latter is furrowed with numerous German defence works.

ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, 1 KM. FROM APREMONT

German village built in the side of the quarries and occupied by the General commanding the sector. Above: Brûlé Wood.

IN THE GERMAN VILLAGE OF BRÛLÉ WOOD American soldier looking at Insignia of the 28th Engineers.

Brûlé Wood

Lying almost on the edge of the Forest of Apremont, Brûlé Wood commanded the cross-roads on which the village of Apremont stands.

AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN GERMAN VILLAGE OF BRÛLÉ WOOD

The German trenches were only fifty yards from the French lines at this point. For months, bombs, grenades and rockets made an inferno of the place. The proximity of the respective lines required the utmost precautions, constant watching and listening, with finger on the trigger of the rifle, absolute silence, no sleep and no smoking (smoking might give an objective to the bombers). The nervous tension was so great that the average stay of a battalion was only eight days.

Brûlé Wood was the scene of the sublime rallying call “Debout les Morts” (Stand up, ye Dead!)—see below.

While early in April, 1915, important attacks were taking place in Ailly Wood, the 95th Infantry Regiment was ordered to create a diversion in Brûlé Wood. On April 5, 6 and 8 bloody fights took place for the possession of a trench. On the morning of the 8th the captured trench was consolidated, and the attacking troops relieved and sent in reserve to the second line.

GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE AT TÊTE-À-VACHE

Suddenly a strong German counter-attack was launched. The new occupants were thrown into confusion and, seized with panic, retreated through the trenches, when Adjutant Jacques Péricard, who had taken part in the action the day before but was now in reserve, called for volunteers from his company to face the enemy. The trench was retaken after a prolonged and terrible struggle, in the course of which Péricard, feeling his men wavering and seeing only dead and wounded around, cried “Debouts les Morts.”

FRENCH FIRST LINES AT TÊTE-À-VACHE

Continue up the road. Near the crest on the left, in a quarry, are several concrete defence works which communicate with one another.

GERMAN POST OF COMMANDMENT ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, AT THE FOOT OF HILL 362.

The crossing of Strategic I.C. 3 is next reached. Here leave the car and take the road to the left towards Marbotte. 400 yards further on the German first line trenches, built entirely in concrete with numerous shelters and blockhouses, are reached. This is the crest of the “Tête-à-Vache” position, which for so long formed a salient in the French lines. All the soldiers knew it because, when passing through the trenches on a level with this salient, it was necessary to stoop to avoid being seen by an observer at his loop-hole. Woe to the curious or the careless who risked walking upright past this point! The ever-ready automatic spoke at once.

GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, about 300 yds. from Hill 362.

A 100 yards beyond are the French first line trenches (equipments and soldiers’ graves). All the ground here is torn up, and the woods are completely destroyed.

Return to G.C.D. 1 bis, and follow it in the direction of St. Mihiel. All along the road are numerous military works of all kinds, especially across Ailly Wood.

MILITARY KITCHEN IN AILLY WOOD, 1915

Ailly Wood

Ailly Wood covers the brow of the hill, the southern slopes of which descend steeply towards a ravine.

GERMAN TRENCH UNDER THE APREMONT-ST. MIHIEL ROAD

Here the attacks took place which, between April 5 and 13, 1915, gave the French definite mastery of the position. The Germans held one corner of the wood and the outskirts at the foot of the slopes. The French trenches followed the ravine, mounted half-way up the unwooded part of the hill, and ran alongside the wood. The entrenchment, known as the “Le Fortin,” was in the corner. In the wood the German trenches rose in three tiers, linked together by narrow trenches. At certain points the Germans had constructed “chevaux-de-frise,” twelve yards deep by two yards high.

The bombardment began on the morning of the 5th. The 75’s opened breaches in the defences, and the observers, who were only 130 yards from the enemy line, gave accurate directions to the gunners. In their turn, 6-in. shells crushed the machine-gun emplacements, and at mid-day the explosion of five mine-fields annihilated the garrison and threw the enemy into a panic. A bayonet-attack was launched at once, without the firing of a single shot.

IN AILLY WOOD

German Post of Commandment at the side of the road, 4 km. from St. Mihiel.

Two companies attacked on the western side of the wood, two others on the southern side.

The attack on the west was successful and, going beyond the third German line, reached the northern fringe of the wood. The machine-gunners, who followed the advance, at once took up their positions.

The attack on the south, after the first rush forward, was forced to withdraw slightly before an enfilading fire. At three o’clock in the afternoon the German artillery thundered; at four o’clock a counter-attack was launched but failed; and at 5.30 the Germans tried to retake the lost ground by a terrific bombardment. In an hour and a half, on a front of 360 yards, twenty thousand shells of all sizes (4-in., 5.5-in., 6-in. and 8-in.) cut the French lines of communication, but failed to force a retreat. The attack was resumed next day, but in the evening, after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the French still held the three lines of German trenches. On the 7th and 8th they repulsed eight counter-attacks, which left the shell-leveled ground in their hands.

IN AILLY WOOD SECTOR

German Defence Works in quarry by roadside, 3 km. from St. Mihiel.

On the 10th, after an artillery preparation lasting all day, a fresh attack was launched at seven o’clock in the evening. The whole of the wood was quickly occupied and immediately consolidated, in view of counter-attack. Five machine-guns, five trench-mortars, thousands of grenades and large quantities of equipment and stores, were left in the hands of the French.

From that time scarcely a month passed without some communiqué stating that the Germans had bombarded or counter-attacked Ailly Wood.

St. Mihiel is entered via the Faubourg de Nancy, in which are the burnt ruins of the Sénarmont Barracks.

Follow the Rue Porte-à-Nancy, then the Rue Grande, as far as the Rue de l’Eglise, into which turn to the left to reach the Church of St. Etienne.

St. Mihiel during the War

On September 24, 1914, St. Mihiel was taken by the Germans, who held it until September 12, 1918.

Up to the latter date only one attempt was made to retake the town—the attack of November 17-20, 1914, during which a French unit succeeded in occupying the suburb of Chauvoncourt, but was forced to retire as the Germans had mined this section.

The Franco-American offensive of September, 1918, finally cleared St. Mihiel.

PANORAMIC SKETCH OF THE ST. MIHIEL REGION, SHOWING THE FRONT LINE UNTIL SEPT. 12, 1918

General Pershing, in the disposition of his forces, generously arranged that a French regiment, the 25th Colonial, should have the honour of being the first to enter St. Mihiel. The Prime Minister’s son, Captain Michel Clémenceau, was among those who marched into the town.

On the whole the town had suffered little. The bridges had been blown up, trenches cut up the streets, and a German narrow-gauge railway ran through the town. The monument of 1870, “Aux Morts pour la Patrie,” was damaged. As everywhere else, all copper had been removed, the machinery had disappeared or had been broken, while the optical-glass factory and the copper foundry had ceased to exist.

On Friday, September 13, General Pershing, accompanied by General Pétain and Mr. Baker, American Secretary of State for War, visited St. Mihiel. The next day President Poincaré, in his turn, paid homage to the valiant city.

Little by little, when the first excitement was over, the inhabitants told the story of the occupation; of the war levies imposed by the Germans, as in every town which they had occupied; first a million francs in 1914, when the commandeering without payment or vouchers; the fines (20 francs for omitting to salute an officer); children forced to work in the trenches; people sent to prison, and even to the convict prison on the slightest pretext; an abbé deported as a hostage because he had said in a sermon, “After the thorns will come the roses;” a whole family placed in solitary confinement for forty days because they were suspected of having telephoned to the French, etc., not to mention the systematic looting and removal of objects of art, pictures and silver.

ST. MIHIEL DELIVERED

Group of children in French Officers’ Car on Sept. 13, 1918.

On Tuesday, the 10th, the Germans, knowing the attack was imminent, made their final preparations for departure. On the 11th they ordered the inhabitants, on pain of death, to remain indoors until noon on the following day.

During the night of the 11th they blew up the bridges and removed their guns. On the morning of the 12th the French entered the town.

Several days later the American Headquarters which, until then, had been at Souilly, on the road from Verdun to Bar-le-Duc, moved into St. Mihiel.