"Of the 42 divisions that reached France 29 took part in active combat service, while the others were used for replacements or were just arriving during the last month of hostilities. The battle record of the United States Army in this war is largely the history of these 29 combat divisions. Seven of them were Regular Army divisions, 11 were organized from the National Guard, and 11 were made up of National Army troops.

"American combat divisions were in battle for 200 days, from the 25th of April, 1918, when the first Regular division after long training in quiet sectors, entered an active sector on the Picardy front, until the signing of the armistice. During these 200 days they were engaged in 13 major operations, of which 11 were joint enterprises with the French, British, and Italians, and 2 were distinctively American.

"At the time of their greatest activity in the second week of October all 29 American divisions were in action. They then held 101 miles of front, or 23 percent. of the entire allied battle line. From the middle of August until the end of the war they held, during the greater part of the time a front longer than that held by the British. Their strength tipped the balance of man-power in favor of the Allies, so that from the middle of June, 1918, to the end of the war the Allied forces were superior in numbers to those of the enemy."

Our Flag in Alsace

A scene in Alsace after the armistice when American doughboys occupied a small town. They were welcomed there by the inhabitants.

[Click for a larger image.]

The total battle advances of the American divisions amounted to 782 kilometers, or 485 miles, an average advance for each division of 17 miles, nearly all of it against desperate enemy resistance. They captured 63,000 prisoners, 1,378 pieces of artillery, 708 trench mortars, and 9,650 machine guns. In June and July they helped to shatter the enemy advance toward Paris, and to turn retreat into a triumphant offensive.

It is stated in reference to the part played by the American divisions in the Argonne-Meuse that it was the 77th Division of New York selective draft men that achieved the greatest advance against the enemy—71½ kilometers, or nearly 45 miles.

In that battle the American Army captured 16,059 prisoners, liberated 150 French towns and villages, and as an army penetrated 34 miles into territory previously held by the Germans.