Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1918 — Tells How U. S. Marines Held the Road to Paris [ARTICLE]

Tells How U. S. Marines Held the Road to Paris

Major Denig Paints Thrilling Picture of the Battle of July 18. THREE FRIENDS ARE KILLED • Battalion of 800 Men Cut to Piece* In • Two Days' Fighting, but Held Foe In Check—. Describes Paralyzing Horrors of the Battlefield. Washington.—Details of the participation of the United States marines in the counter-attack against the German forces on the Marne on July 18 are given in a letter written shortly afterward by Maj. Robert L. Denig of the United States marines to his wife, who lives at 2131 Porter street, Philadelphia,'and which has been forwarded to Washington for the historic files of the marine corps. In addition to giving a graphic picture of modern war, the letter cites •an instance of German treachery in using airplanes painted with the allied colors In their unfair methods of aerial warfare. The letter also establishes the fact that the marines who helped to stop the German drive on Paris at Belleau wood early in June were honored by being brought forward from this wood to Vierzy and Tigny, near Soissons, for participation with a crack French division in the great counter-attack which started the disintegration of the German front in the west. Names that became- familiar through the fighting in Belleau wood are mentioned in Major Denig’s letter as being prominent in the allied counter-attack — Lieut. Col. Thomas Holcomb, LieutCol. Benton W. Sibley, Lieut. Col. John A. Hughes, Capt. Pere Wilmer, and others who took a prominent part in the fighting, when the Hun was blocked in his drive on Paris. The letter follows: “The any before we left for this big push we had a most interesting fight between a fleet of German planes and a French observation balloon right over our heads. We saw five planes circle over our town, then put on, what we thought afterward, a sham fight. One of them, after many fancy stunts, headed right for the balloon. They. were all painted with our colors except one. This one went hear the balloon. One kept right on. The other four shot the balloon up with incendiary bullets. The observers jumped into their parachutes just as the outfit went up in a mass of flames. “The next day we took our positions at various places to wait for camions that were to take us in France, when or for what purpose we did not know. Wass passed me at the head of his company—we made a date for a party on our next leave. He was looking fine and was as happy as could be. Then Hunt, Keyser, and a heap of others went by. I have the battalion and Holcomb the regional. Our turn to embark did not come till near midnight Big Shelia Falling Fast - "We at last got under way after a few big sea bags had hit near by. Wilmer and I led in a touring car. We went at a good clip and nearly got ditched in a couple of new shell holes. Shells were falling fast by now, and as the tenth truck went under the bridge a big one landed near by with a crash and wounded the two drivers, killed two marines, and wounded five more. We did not know it at the time and did not notice anything wrong till we came to a crossroad, when we found we had only 11 cars, all told. We found the rest of the convoy after a hunt, but even then were not told of the loss, and did not find it out until the next day. “We Were finally, after 12 hours’ ride, dumped in a Mg field and after a few hours’ rest started our march. It was hot’ as hades and we had had nothing to eat since the day before. We at last entered a forest; troops seemed to converge on -it from all points. We marched some six miles

L " -J. 1 . 1 ..r \ in the forest; a finer one I havenever seen—deer would, scamper ahead and we could have eaten one raw. At ten o’clock that night, without food, we lay down In appearing rain to sleep. Troops of all kinds passed up in the night—a shadowy stream, over a half million men. Some French^ officers told us that they had never seen such concentration since Verdun, If then. “The next day, the 18th of July, we marched ahead through a jam of troops, trucks, etc., and came at last to a ration dump Where we fell to and ate our heads off for the first time In hearty two days. When we left there the men had bread stuck on their bayonets. I lugged a ham; All were loaded down. Here I passed one of Wass’ lieutenants with his hand wounded, fie was pleased as Punch and told us the drive was on—the first we knew of it. I then passed a few men of Hunt’s company bringing prisoners to the rear. They had a cffionel and his staff. They were well dressed, dean and polished, but mighty .glum looking. “We finally stopped at the far end of the forest near a dressing station, where Holcomb again took commartd. This station had been a big, fine stone farmhouse, but was now a complete ruin—wounded and dead lay all about. Joe Murray came by with his head all done up; his helmet had saved him. The lines had gone ok ahead, so we were quite safe. Had a fine aero battle right over us. The stunts that those planes did cannot be described by me. z . , Field Covered With Dead. "Late in the afternoon we advanced again. Our route lay over an open field covered with dead. We lay down on a hillside for the night, near some captured German guns, and until dark I watched the cavalry, some 4,000, come up and take positions. “At 3:30 the next morning Sitz woke me up and said we were to attack. The regiment was soon under way, and we picked our way under cover of a gasinfested valley to a town, where we got our final instructions, and left our packs. I wished Sumner good luck, 'and we parted. ‘-‘We formed up in a sunken road oh two sides of a vdlley that was perpendicular to the enemy’s front; Hughes right, Holcomb left, Sibley support. We now began to get a few wounded; one man, with ashen face, came charging to the rear with shell shock. He shook all over, foamed at the mouth, could not speak. I put him under a tent, and he acted as if he had a fit. “I heard Lieutenant Overton call to one of his friends to send a certain pin to his mother if he should get hit. “At 8:30 we jumped off with a line of tanks in the lead. For two kilos the four lines of marines were as straight as a die, and their advance over the open plain in the bright sunlight was a picture I shall never forget. The fire got hotter and hotter, men fell, bullets sung, shells whizzedbanged, and the dust of battle got thick. Overton was hit by a big piece of shell and fell. Afterward I heard he was hit in the heart, so his death was without pain. He was buried that night and the pin found. Lost 17 Out of 20 Officers. “At 10:30 we dug in; the attack just died out. I found a hole or old trench, and when I was flat on my back I got some protection. Holcomb was next me; Wilmer some way off. We then tried to get reports. Two companies we neger could get in touch with. Lloyd came in and reported’ he was holding some trenches near a mill with six men. Cates, with his trousers blown off, said he had 16 men' of various companies; another officer on the right reported he had and could see some 40 men, all told. That, with the headquarters, was all we could find out about the battalion of nearly BQO. Of the 20 company officers who went in, three came out, and one, Cates, was slightly wounded* “From then on to about 8 p. m. life was a chance, and mighty uncomfortable. It was hot as a furnace, no water, and they had our range to a ‘T.’ We had a machine gun officer with

us and tft*stt a runner Came up and reported that Sumner was killed. He commanded the machine gun company with us. He was hit early in the fight by a bullet I hear. lean get no details. At the start he remarked i This looks easy—they do not seem to have much art* Hughes’ headquarters were all shot .up. Turner lost a leg. * “Well, we just lay there all through the hot afternoon. It was great—a shell would land near by and you would bounce in your hole. “As twilight came we sent our war , ter parties for the relief .of the wounded. Then we wondered if we would get ’relieved. At nine o’clock we got a message congratulating us, and saying the Algerians would take over at midnight. We then began to collect our wounded. Algerians Badly “Shot Up.” "The Algerians came up at midnight and we pushed out. They went over at daybreak and got all-shot up. We made the relief under German flares and the light from a burning town. “'fhat night the Germans shelled us, and got three killed and 17 wounded. We moved a bit further back to lhe crossroads, and after burying a few Germans, some of whom showed signs of having been wounded before, we settled down for a short stay. “It looked like rain, and so Wilmer and I went to an old dressing station to salvage some cover. We collected a lot of bloody shelter halves and ponchos that had been tied to poles to make stretchers, and. Were about to go when we stopped to look at a new grave. A rude cross made of two slats from a box had written on it: “ ‘Lester S. Wgss, Captain U. S. Marines, July 18, 1918.’ “The old crowd at St. Nazarine and Bordeaux—-Wass and Sumner killed, Baston and Hunt wounded, the latter on the 18th, a clean wound, I hear, through the left shoulder. We then moved farther to the rear and camped for the night- Dunlap came to look us over; his car was driven by a sailor, who got out to talk to a few of the marines, when one of the latter yelled out: ‘Hey, fellows I Anyone want to see a real live gob—right this way.’ The gob held a regular reception. A carrier pigeon perched on a tree with a message. We decided to shoot him. It was then quite dark, so the shot missed. I then beard the following remarks as I tried to sleep: ‘Hell; he only turned around;’ ‘Send up a flare;’ ‘Call for a barrage,’ etc. The next day further to the rear still, a Ford was towed by with its front wheels on a truck. “We are now back in a town for some rest and to lick our wounds. As I rode down the battalion where, once companies 250 strong used to march, now you see 50 men with ‘a kid second lieutenant in command; one company commander is not yet twenty-one. First Robbed, Then Burled. “After the last attack I cashed in the gold you gave me and sent it bomd along with my back pay. I have no idea of being ‘bumped off* with money on my, person, as If you fell into the enemy’s hands you are first robbed, then butted perhaps, but the first is sure. “Baston, the lieutenant that went to Quantico with father and myself, and of whom father took some pictures, was wounded in both legs in- the Bots de Belleau. It was some time before he was evacuated and gas gangrene set in. He nearly lost his legs, I am told, but is coming out O. K. Hunt was wounded in the last attack, got his wounds fixed up and went back again till he had to be sent out. Coffenburg was hit in the hand —all near him were killed. Talbot was hit twice but is about again. That accounts for all the officers in the company that I brought over. In the first fight 103 of the men in that Outfit were killed or wounded. The second fight must have about cleaned out the old crowd.

"To picture a fight mix up a lot of hungry, dirty, tired, and bloody men with dust, noise, and smoke. Forget the clean swords, prancing horses, and flapping flags. At night, a gas-filled woods, falling trees and bright, blinding flashes—you can’t see’ your neighbor—that is war. In the rear it Is all confusion. The general told me ‘Hurry I to such a place, all goes well, we are , advancing!’ His staff, miles away, al! I clean —one was shaving, another eating hot cakes—we had not had a hoi bite for two days. As I reached mj Jumping-off place, wounded men killed men, horses blown to bits —th<> contrast I “We advanced ten kilometers, wltl prisoners.find guns, and the bells rang in New York for the victory, while well-dressed girls and white-shirted men, no doubt, drank our health Id I many a lobster palace."