Resource Center OLLibrary
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[1918 |
The first drive started in March, 1918. (See
Map, p. 419, and colored Map facing p. 428.) An overwhelming mass
of German troops rushed forward toward the city of
Amiens1 for the purpose of splitting off the British
army from its junction with the French. The enemy's impetuous
attack bent the British line -- it did more, it cracked it. But by
a desperate effort a British officer managed to get together such
men as he could find at hand, including a regiment of American
engineers2 -- men who seemed
A ROW OF DUGOUTS
SHOWING HOW THE ROOF
WAS CONSTRUCTED OF
SANDBAGS, SHEET-IRON,
AND SODS
From a photograph by Gertrude R. Thurber,
September, 1920
never to rest or sleep. With this little picked-up army he held
part of the Germans back and so staved off a disastrous
defeat.
The Allies, that is, the British, French, and
Americans, felt that they had narrowly escaped and took action
accordingly. Their different forces had been under different
leaders. They saw that in the future they must have one man direct
all. They also saw that General Foch,3 the great French
soldier, was that man. As
1 Amiens
(ah-me-an'), about forty miles west of the Hindenburg Line (see
Map, p. 419), was a center of the railways which connected the
British and French armies and brought food supplies and munitions
of war, shipped from England, to the British forces. Had the
Germans taken the city it would have been a fearful blow to both
the British and French.
2 The American engineers were sent to
France to build roads, bridges, wharves, and storehouses for our
troops and to do any other work which would be of use to them.
3 General Foch (fush) had shown his
remarkable ability in his defense of Paris in 1914
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the whole of them agreed to this plan, he was forthwith
appointed Commander-in-Chief. The day that was done General
Pershing called on the new Commander and placed the American
forces in France at his disposal.1 He said to General
Foch: "All that we have is yours. Use them as you will. There are
more to come -- as many more as shall be needed."
The second great German drive began in April. It
was directed toward the northwest. The object of the enemy was to
crush the power of the British in that section. If the Germans
could get possession of the French ports on the Strait of Dover
(see Map, p. 419), they could stop England from sending over a
never-ending stream of troops to strengthen their own army and to
help the Belgians and the French.
It was then that Marshal Haig, commander of the
British forces in the northwest of France, saw that the time had
come when they had got to win or die. "With our backs to the
wall," said he, "each one of us must fight to the end." They did
fight and held their own, with terrible loss, until French troops
came up and, with a small number of Americans to aid them,
repulsed the enemy's attack.
The third German drive started late in May. This
time their army moved from the vicinity of Reims2 (see
Map, p. 419), straight for Paris. The leaders felt sure that if
they could take the capital of France they could force the French
people to beg for peace -- no matter how hard the Kaiser's terms
might be. They swept on with such speed that they reached the
northern bank of the River Marne3 and captured the town
of Château-Thierry,4 less than sixty miles from
Paris.
Near that town two regiments of American
Marines, or soldiers belonging to our navy, attacked an advance
force of the enemy in Belleau Wood.5 The Marines fought
their way through
1 We then had about
320,000 men there, but not more than two thirds of these were
combat troops.
2 Reims (ranz), about eighty miles
northeast of Paris.
3 Marne (marn).
4 Château-Thierry
(shah-toe'tee-er'y).
5 After the Germans were cleared out
of it, Belleau (bel-lo') Wood received a new name. The French
government henceforth called it "The Wood of the Marine
Brigade."
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[1916 |
A PROSPEROUS TOWN
IN WESTERN
FRANCE
THE SAME TOWN AFTER THE GERMANS HAD SHELLED IT
part of the forest with such ferocity that they brought the
veteran German soldiers to a standstill. Later on, in a second
attack, the Marines rushed the Germans entirely out of the forest
and so blocked their progress toward Paris for a time. In like
manner
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our men made their mark a little earlier, when they had their
first dash at the Germans and drove them out of the fortified
village of Cantigny.1
These were not great battles on our part, but
they showed what we meant to do when we should fight great
battles. For this reason General Foch said, speaking of these
engagements: "A year ago the American sword was brought to us.
To-day we have seen it strike. It is the certain pledge of
victory."
The fourth German drive began in June. It was an
attempt to open a road to Paris from the north. If successful the
enemy could then approach the city from two directions -- from the
north and from the east. But again they met disappointment, for
French and American troops stopped them halfway.
On July 15 the Kaiser's armies on the cast and
west of Reims (see Map, p. 419) began their fifth drive. It was
their last desperate push for Paris. They meant to enter the city
and take possession of it through sheer force of numbers. If they
found that impossible they resolved to get near enough to destroy
the city with their long-range guns, which would throw huge shells
thirty miles or more.2 In that way they had already
destroyed the venerable cathedral of Reims and reduced much of the
remainder of the place to a heap of ruins.
This time their advance force succeeded in
reaching and crossing the River Marne. But French and Americans
acting together not only thrust them back but drove them out of
Chateau-Thierry never to return.
448. Hammering out the Enemy; End of the
Great War. Three days later General Foch taught the enemy that
"turn about is fair play" when he began his great counter drive
against the Germans -- something he had been long preparing. He
saw that
1 Cantigny
(can-teen-ye'). It is about sixty miles north of Paris (see Map,
p. 419). General Pershing praises the action of our men there.
2 In the spring of 1918 the Germans
began firing shells into Paris from a huge gun which they called
"Big Bertha" and which they concealed in a forest about
seventy-five miles northeast of the city. Later they added two
more guns. The apparent object of the enemy was to kill or mangle
as many citizens as possible in order to terrorize the rest; but
the Parisians were not moved except by "intense
indignation."
