On September 30 the Second Battalion advanced to a plateau 250 meters south of Bussy Farm and on October 1 to Trières Farm, where it relieved a battalion of the 371st Infantry. The provisional battalion, commanded by Major Johnson, advanced three kilometers north of Sechault on the Sechault-Monthoise road, capturing the town of Ardeuil. On October 3 the advance was held up, pending the capture of Croix de Langley, west of Monthoise, by the 120th French Division, which was stopped in its advance. The enemy took advantage of a heavy fog on the 4th and launched a strong counter-attack, assisted by heavy artillery preparation. This attack, which developed into a hand-to-hand combat, was completely repulsed by two battalions of the 333rd French Regiment, and the Second Battalion of the 372nd, the enemy leaving behind 55 prisoners and 6 machine-guns.
The 372nd was relieved on October 6 by a French regiment and moved southward to the north banks of Marson Brook for the 7th, and on to Somme Bionne, 12 kilometers west of Ste. Menehould, on the 8th. Its fighting qualities were put to severe test in the Champagne offensive from September 26 to October 7. The nature of the attack may be judged by the losses sustained. Seven officers and 74 enlisted men were killed and 32 officers and 435 men were wounded. Three of the wounded officers afterwards died.
The regiment entrained at Valmy in Champagne on the 11th for Alsace, arriving at Corcieux in the Department of Vosges the following day. Here it detrained and marched to St. Leonard, preparatory to entering the front lines to relieve the 70th French Infantry at Ban-de-Laveline in sub-sector B on the 15th. It remained in this sector until after the armistice. On the night of November 7 patrols were sent out from each battalion to gain contact with the enemy, who were believed to be retreating. A patrol from the Second Battalion, consisting of an officer and twenty-three men, advanced two kilometers into territory occupied by the Germans, who surrounded them. The officer and one man were killed. All the rest, a number of whom were wounded, were captured, with the exception of one man, who made his escape and returned to the battalion. On the last morning of the war another patrol went 1200 meters into the enemy’s line and captured a soldier of the 2nd Ersatz Bavarian Regiment. There were no heavy offensives in sub-sector B, but there was aggressive patrolling, which secured valuable information from the enemy. On November 17 the regiment was ordered to Granges, Ammontzev, and Jussarupt in the Vosges, where it remained until January 1. At Ammontzev, on December 17, 1918, General Goybet, commander of the 157th French Division, awarded the Croix de Guerre to those officers and men who had won the coveted prize, and Colonel Tupes presented to eight men the Distinguished Service Cross.
The 157th, the “Red Hand Division,” was ordered dissolved on December 20. At the same time the 372nd was returned to the American Army. The regiment had served with the French since April, 1918. During that time the relations had been most friendly, the men of the two nations working together in perfect harmony. The 372nd played an important part in the operations of its division. Its occupation of sub-sector Argonne Quest, considered a phase of training, was satisfactorily conducted. In the Vauquois sub-sector its mission was difficult and important, namely, the defense of Côtes-de-Foriment, the key to the Aire Valley, which was threatened by a German offensive. Its fighting in the Champagne and its capture of Crete-des-Observatoires, the key to Challerange and Monthois, caused the French Higher Command to say that its achievements were equal to those of any French unit in its division.
The regiment entrained for Le Mans on January 1, arriving two days afterwards. There it remained until the 11th, when it was ordered to Brest, where it arrived on the 14th. At Brest, on January 24, 1919, the regimental colors were decorated with the Croix de Guerre with palm by Vice-Admiral Moreau of the French Navy. The citation said:
The 372nd Infantry
Gave proof during its first engagement of the finest qualities of bravery and daring exploits, which are the virtues of assaulting troops.
Under the orders of Colonel Tupes, dashed with superb gallantry and admirable scorn of danger, the assault of a position continuously defended by the enemy, taking it by storm under exceptionally violent machine-gun fire, continued the progress in spite of the enemy’s artillery fire and severe fire. Made numerous prisoners, captured cannons, many machine-guns and important war material.
(Signed) QUILLET,
Colonel, Commanding 157th L. D.
Of individual heroes in the regiment thus cited for gallantry there were many. Two of the most outstanding were Corporal Clarence R. Van Alen, of Boston, and Sergeant Clifton Merrimon, of Cambridge, both of whom were members of the “Old 6th Massachusetts” and both of whom received the extraordinary triple decoration of the Croix de Guerre with palm, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medaille Militaire. On the morning of September 28, 1918, when his company was under a gruelling fire from hidden German machine-gun nests, Corporal Van Alen, having determined the location of one of these, rushed it single-handed. He killed four of the operators and brought the other three as prisoners into the American lines, himself escaping with a few scratches. Later on the same day, and during the same engagement, he rushed and captured single-handed a trench mortar battery that was inflicting severe losses upon the French lines. Corporal (afterwards Sergeant) Merrimon, near Bussy Farm on September 27, made an attack with hand grenades on an enemy machine-gun which was causing heavy losses to his platoon, and succeeded in killing the gunner and putting the gun out of commission. He then reorganized the remainder of the platoon, leading his men to their position south of Bussy Farm. Although gassed himself, he silenced the machine-gun single-handed. Colonel Tupes himself was decorated with the Croix de Guerre, and altogether four members of the regiment received the Medaille Militaire and fifty-two the Croix de Guerre.