A History of Troop A Cavalry, Connecticut National Guard and Its Service in the Great War as Co. D, 102d Machine Gun Battalion

by Unknown

Officers and section leaders of the Company reconnoitered during the following day the ground over which the advance was to be made. Orders were issued for the 51st Brigade to advance through the Ravin de France along the Rue des Feuilles to the Grand Tranchee de Calonne road in a southeasterly direction parallel to the road, the left flank keeping in touch with it at all times, for the Grand Tranchee was named as the axis of liaison with the 52d Brigade, which was to advance along its left side. The objective of the first day was designated as the Rue de Vaux.

After a seven hour bombardment by a volume of artillery without rival in American operations up to that time, the advance began, A and B Companies of the Battalion in the first wave while C and D remained in reserve, proceeding leisurely with guns loaded on the carts. Arriving at Moyilly on the American side of the old line, the column was halted for three hours while the 101st Engineers repaired as best they could the damage shell fire had done to the Rue des Feuilles. Almost obliterated, the route of the Company was blocked by barbed wire, shell holes and destroyed trenches, but in a comparatively short time the path was cleared and the advance proceeded to a point where the rolling barrage following the first concentration of fire had stopped and then travelling was easy.

Arriving at the Grand Tranchee without mishap with all the area cleared of enemy troops, the Companies continued along that road in column formation and were only halted when machine guns located along the Rue de Vaux began to endanger the leading units in the advance. A few well-directed shots from mortars silenced these and the infantry added the personnel and officers serving the guns to the total it had bagged during the day.

This cleared the day's objectives but the desire was strong with those in command to gain contact with the rear guard of the fleeing Huns before they could organize defensive positions, so the advance continued through the night along the Grand Tranchee road, on both sides of which could be seen the cabins and gardens established by the Germans during their stay in the sector. Hiking on through the woods more than one man complained of "this man's war" not being nearly as interesting as the one at Chateau Thierry. When at last the cover of the woods was left, before them, all along the skyline could be seen the flames from burning villages, the funeral pyres of the hopes the German high command had entertained early in the war of going direct to Paris from Metz.

Crossing the plateau on which it emerged, the Company entered the village of Hattonchatel, located on the edge of the table land, beyond which they could see villages in flames all through the valley. Descending a long, winding road into the lowland, guns were taken from the carts in preparation for action, as it was reported the enemy was making a stand in Vigneulles, a short distance ahead. Proving to be members of a military band left behind by the retreating Germans to destroy the town, the men and officers were captured without effort or casualties. Then the Company slept for the night after hiking during the greater part of the preceding twenty-four hours and helping to attain an objective which had been thought beyond the range of possibilities.

There was no rest for the second platoon, however, for with Lieutenant Paton in command, that group of men was taken toward the south with I Company of the 102d Infantry to the village of Creue, where it was rumored Hun artillery was stationed. Fifty-one men and three officers were taken prisoners in this manœuver, and the men in the raiding party were rewarded with a rich supply of souvenirs. Mess the next day was served to the Company in Vigneulles, supplemented by a supply of beer the Huns had been forced to abandon. The town was a rich field for sightseers with its theater and other appurtenances provided in rest camps, as it was the recreation center for the sector.

A "whizz-bang" (Austrian 88 millimeter field piece) left behind at a sacrifice post by the retreating army entertained during the next day, but was silenced by a party of infantrymen. Bombs were distributed about the town by a Hun airplane during mess time but failed to produce casualties.

In the afternoon the Battalion marched out to Longeau Farm by way of Hattonchatel, a German divisional headquarters, a trip more interesting because the men could see for the first time the north side of the stronghold of Montsec, the south side of which had loomed up before American troops during their occupation of the Toul sector with a forbidding appearance.

The first platoon took positions in the town of Hannonville-sous-les-Cotes during the night of the 14th and the following day the Company marched on a short distance north to Herbeuville with the first platoon moving out on the plains of the Wœvre to Wadonville. Lieutenant Nelson, who had finished his duties as advance observation officer with Battalion Headquarters, was returned to the Company on the 21st. That night, with a part of the second platoon, he relieved guns of C Company, 103d Machine Gun Battalion, stationed in Saulx, slightly to the north of the rest of the Company.