Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 44, Number 209, 14 June 1919 — Page 5
THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1919.
PAGE FIVE
PART PLAYED BY AMERICANS AT CHATEAU THIERRY IS REVIEWED
By FRANK H. SIMONDS (Copyright, 1919, by the IcClure Newspaper Syndicate) PARIS, June 14. In the month of June one year ago there was going on north of Chateau Thierry and about Belleau Woods that desperate fight- , ing which marked the first considerv rble intervention of the United States forces In the world war. Through the . courtesy of the American army I have been able to visit the battlefields, talk ! with the generals engaged, and recon- , struct something of the history of that action which has become for Americans at least temporarily the most interesting single detail in the war. In the present article I am going to try to set forth facts as contrasted with ( the lege of Chateau Thierry on what
. may be regarded as the anniversary of the struggle. To start at the beginning. Chateau Thierry is a name rather loosely ap-' plied to a series of operations which took place between the Marne and the Velse rivers between June 1 and the first of August. These operations may be divided Into four phases: First, that American share In pinning down the German advance of June 1 and the days Immediately following; second, the offensive about Belleau Wood of the second division, which began on June 6 and came to an end about June 25, so far as the Marines were concerned, with a complete clearing of Belleau Wood, and so far as the Ninth and Twenty-first Infantry were concerned with the capture of Vaux in the first days of July; third, the contribution of the Third Division south of the Marne to the general resistance to the great German offensive of . July 15, and, fourth, the participation of nine American divisions in the counter offensive of Foch, which began on July 18. Ludendorff Breaks Line On May 27 Ludendorff broke the allied line held by tried French divisions and remnants of the British fifth army which had been beaten at the Somme and transferred to the Chemin des Dames for rest and rent. The German attack was successful substantially all the way from Soissons to Rheims, and in the next few days German forces moved southward as far as the Marne, took Soissons and - entered the outskirts of Rheims and began to push southwestward in the general direction of Paris, pushing the beaten French. On Decoration day the 2d Division was in billets south of Beauvais under ordere to proceed next day to the Somme area and take a portion of the line next the 1st Division, fhen in action at Cantlgny, but on that day orders were changed, the 2d Division was directed to move eastward to meet the German advance which was coming towards Paris on either side of the Paris-Metz road in the neighborhood of Chateau-Thierry, while a similar order was sent to the 3d Division in billets a considerable distance south of the Marne. The objective of the 3d Division was the south bank ., of the Marne, facing Chateau-Thierry,
where it was to prevent the Germans
from crossing the river. I On June 1, the Marine brigade of the 2d Division reached Montreux aux Lions, a dozen miles west of ChateauThierry, and at one o'clock of that afternoon at the urgent request of General Degoutte, commanding the French corps, the 6th Marine regiment moved out on the Chateau Thierry road and took a position some six miles west of Chateau-Thierry in Clerembauts woods. French troops were In line still further to the east, but the 6th Machine Gun battalion was used effectively on that day. Aid on Hill., At the same time, the 7th Machine Gun section of the 3d Division brought up to the south bank of the Meuse in
automobile trucks, arrived In time to cover the retreat of the French infantry from the north, and prevent the
Germans from crossing the river. ; In the days immediately following
the whole of the second division took
ud oppositions on either side of Cler-
embauts Woods, the French troops in
front retired on June 4, and thereafter
the Americans held this sector. They
were not, however, attacked. In the same fashion the third division arrived and took over from the French the south bank of the Marne. They, too, were not attacked, although several companies of one regiment aided the French in an unsuccessful attempt to hold Hill 204 just west of ChateauThierry and dominating the town. This was the first phase of the Chateau-Thierry operation. On June 6, at daylight, the Marines north of the Chateau-Thierry road delivered the first offensive, taking the village of Bouresches, and entering the southwest edge of Belleau Wood. From that time onward, the Marines were heavily engaged up to June 25, Belleau Wood passed completely into their hands, and the Germans retired to the hills north and east, maintaining outposts in several small villages. Early on July 9 the Infantry of th"e second division south of the ChateauThierry road advanced and took Vaux, in a very brilliant offensive. This situation remained on July 10, when the second division was relieved by the twenty-sixth New England division. This ended the second phase. On July 15, Ludendorff launched his great offensive which included a main attack between Rheims and the Argonne, and a secondary attack to force a crossing of the Marne and a
move eastward across the base of the Rheims salient. The third division south of Chateau-Thierry was on the extreme left of the allied line of attack. On the morning of this day, some German troops did cross the Marne and drove the advance elements of the third division out of their trenches. Later in the day they counter-attacked, regained the lost ground, and drove the Germans eastward. But the main contribution of the third division to this phase of Ludendorff 's offensive lay in maintaining its connection with the French troops to the eastward, who were driven from the bank of the Marne
several miles southward. Skillful and gallant fighting on the part of the third division prevented the Germans from opening a gap in the allied line. This fighting took place on July 15, 16 and 17. This marks the third phase. Foch Delivers Blow. Finally, on July 18, Foch delivered his great counter offensive. The main
blow was struck by the French Moroccan division and the first and second American divisions, emerging from the forest of Villers-Cotterets a dozen miles south of Soissons. Subsidiary attacks were made by" the twenty-sixth division which advanced, northeast from Belleau Wood, and the fifth division, which was broken up and intermingled with the French
troops. This counter offensive was one of the great successes of the war. In it the American ivisions, and particularly the 1st and 2d, played an extremely brilliant part, advancing until they crossed the Soissons-ChateauThterry road, and in company with their French comrades, took positir s which made evacuation of the whole Chateau Thierry salient inevitable. As the German retreat began, other Ameri
can divisions were brought into action. The 42d Rainbow Division, which had shared in the successful defence of the line east of Rheims, replaced the 26th Division. The 28th relieved the French division, and the 31st relieved the 3d. Finally the 77th came into action when the general retreat had reached the Vesle, very early in August, just as the operation came to a standstill. This is the fourth phase of Chateau Thierry. It remains now to estimate accurately the value of the American participation. It will be seen at the outset that Chateau Thierry itself is a very misleading name, unless one applies it to the whole salient between the Aisne and the Marne created by tho
nificent, but a highly localized affair
in which the Marines and the Ninth and Twenty-first Infantry gave a splendid indication of the fighting qualities of ou rtroops. The capture of Belleau Woods did not materially change the situation, nor did it supply a vantage point of any particular value, in the later offensive. Seen as a local engagement fought for a limited objective, it possesses merit which should make Belleau Woods and the villages of Bouresches and Vux places
of American pilgrimage for many years. The best proof of the intensity j
or tne ngnting is snown Dy tne iact that the Second Division lost 1,260 killed, 8,229 wounded and 288 missing that is nearly 10,000 out of a fight
ing strength of 25,000 in six weeks. It is a glorious page in American military history, this Belleau Wood engagement, but it is easy to exaggerate its relative importance. Pressure on French. Of the contribution of the Third Division south of the Marne, it is sufficient to say that it was a useful addition to the general resistence of the allies, but it was a detail in secondary circumstance to the enormous battle. The German success or failure in the whole operation depended upon breaking the French line between Rheims and the Argonne. French resistence was predicated on defeating this attack. The French were prepared to eive ud more ground than they did
south of the Marne if necessary. After the German defeat between Rheims and the Argonne, the great counter offensive of July 18 promptly forced a German retreat south of the Marne. It remains to consider the fourth phase, that of July 18, and the share of the Americans in this turning point cf the campaign and of the war. On
this score we may say it at once that no offensive would have been possible had American troops not been available, since Foch had no other reserve.
To sum up, Chateau Thierry, so far as tt was a decisive phase of the war, must be regarded as an action which began on July 18, and ended in the first days of August, when the Germans had retired behind the Vesle. In the opening phases of this battle, four American divisions, the 1st. the 2d. the 3rd and the 42d, had already played useful parts in the feat of the German offensive of July 15. Three more divisions, the 28th, the 32d, and at the end the 77th. were used. These nine
American divisions, amountine to
something more than 200.000 men.
gave decisive weight to Foch's supreme stroke. They fought under French army and corps commanders, the strategy was French, but without them there could have been no offensive, and had they not fought magnificently, the offensive might have failed. Limited Offensives I have found in France as in America a general notion that in some fashion or other tbe Marines saved Paris in the June fighting in Belleau Wood engagement generally described as the battle of Chateau Thierry. Already many Americans go to Belleau Wood and Chateau Thierry under the impression that on this ground the American troops saved Paris. This is the legend of Chateau Thierry. It find3
no support either in the records nor in the opinion of Americans in high command. On the other hand, I have found a general lack of appreciation of the really stupendous and decisive contribution made by the American army on' July 18, and the successive days, but I do not think there can be any question as to the accuracy of the statements which I have made here, and articularly the following: First, that fighting in the immediate vicinity of Chateau Thierry in the last days of
j the German advance was insignificant
ana . relatively unimportant. Second, that Belleau Wood, where the Marines fought, and the village of Vauz, which
was taken by the 9th Infantry of th
same Division, were local and limited offensives, without general value. Third, that American participation In
the great counter offensive of July 18.
alone made the operation possible.
That fighting contribution of Ameri
can troops In that offensive was a great factor in its success, while no
one will deny that the success itself marked the turning point of the war
and the beginning of the end. Prob
ably we Americans will continue to call this whole series of operations
Chateau Thierry. Actually, howaver, our first participation was in the
closing phase of the German exploita
tion of the victories on the Chemin
des Dames, while on July 18 we mere
ly participated in what the world will probably, know as the second battle
of the Marne.
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German victory on the Chemin des We may say also tnat he would prob-
Dames of May 27, since, save for the action of the 3d Division through its machine gun detachment on June 1,
no fighting took place in the immediate vicinity of Chateau Thierry itself. The fighting of the 2d Division in and about Belleau Wood was six or eight miles away from Chateau Thierry, while Foch's main thrust in his great counter offensive took place nearly thirty miles north of Chateau Thierry on the eastern edge of the Forest of Villers Cotterets. Hun Advance at End. When the 2d and 3rd Divisions arrived on June 1, the great German advance was almost at an end. The victorious" Germans had been advancing for six days. They had outrun their artillery and their supplies. The best proof that the advance was about at an end is found in the fact that the .Americans were never attacked on the lines they took up, save as the 3rd Division participated in the general German offensive six weeks later. It is therefore Inaccurate to assert that the intervention of the Second Division on the Chateau Thierry road
bly not risked this great gamble even
with American troops had they not already in previous fighting at the Chateau Thierry 'salient revealed qualities which gave him confidence in which was not mistaken. In the counter offensive more French than American troops were used, and as it developed, British and Italian troops were also used, but many of the French troop which - were employed, particularly in the first days, could not have been put in had not the American troops replaced them in other sectors of the front. Gave Strategic Reserves. We did two things, then. We supplied Foch with a strategic reserve, which enabled him to make his great counter offensive, both by contributing four divisions to that attack and by releasing French divisions whose
places were taken by other divisions of the reserve. In that attack, the first and second Divisions fighting on either side of the French-Moroccan division, the best
shock unit of the French army, sur-
or the Third Division south of Chateau 1 al expectations. As a result
Thierry saved Paris, stopped the great German drive or did more at the moment than to support and to relieve the exhausted French divisions and conceivably halt the Germans a mile or two short of the position they might have reached before they were compelled to abandon the advance.
Of the fighting at Belleau WoodB,
of this attack southwest of Soissons, out of the Forest of Villers Cotteret, Germans were compelled t abandon the Chateau-Thierry salient, they lost the initiative which they never recovered during the war, and they began the retrograde movement which carried them to the French frontier before the armistice, and was still in
the truth is that it was brilliant, mag-Progress then.
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