direct, via Chaillon (_Itinerary A, p. 41_); the other, less direct,
passes through Apremont, Brûlé Wood and Ailly Wood, and is much more
interesting (_Itinerary B, p. 42_).
A.—From Vigneulles to St. Mihiel, via Chaillon
_At Vigneulles take G.C.D. 10 on the left, 100 yards from the church,
and follow it for about 500 yards, then take G.C. 9 on the right, which
passes through the village of_ Creüe.
The woods which rise above the village form a kind of curtain, and the
Germans, well aware of its importance (the Grand French Manœuvres of
1891 had taken place in this district), seized it at the end of
September, 1914, and later built a light railway which formed their main
line of communication with St. Mihiel. Hidden in this recess, the
railway escaped observation and was worked, with but little damage,
throughout the war.
_Leaving Creüe, the road follows the valley through which runs the Creüe
Brook._
_Before entering Chaillon, the tourist passes a_ German cemetery _on the
right_. Many of the houses in this village, as well as the church, were
destroyed.
[Illustration: GERMAN CEMETERY
_This cemetery is in Mouton Wood, between Chaillon and St. Mihiel, on
the left of the road when going towards St. Mihiel. One of the monuments
represents a lion on a pedestal._]
_After Chaillon the road turns to the right and continues to follow the
valley as far as the crossing of I.C. 62. It there climbs to the
plateau, leaving the valley, which continues to the right in the
direction of_ Spada. This valley is the only one which crosses the
Heights of the Meuse in their entire width, uniting the Plain of Woëvre
with the river. It is the “Spada Pass,” of immense strategical
importance.
_At the top of the slope the wood is entered just beyond a_ military
cemetery, _200 yards to the left of the road. Cross_ Mouton Wood, dotted
with German graves, shelters, cantonments, etc.
_Leaving the Varvinay road on the left, a 100 yards further on the
tourist comes to a_ German cemetery _by the roadside_, with several
monuments, one of which represents a lion on a large pedestal.
_Follow the road as far as_ =St. Mihiel.=
[Illustration: GERMAN SHELTER ON THE ROAD FROM VIGNEULLES TO HEUDICOURT
_4 km. from the latter._]
B.—From Vigneulles to St. Mihiel, via Apremont, Brûlé Wood and Ailly
Wood
_At Vigneulles, 100 yards from the church, take G.C.D. 10 to the left,
in the direction of_ Heudicourt.
_One kilometre from Vigneulles are_ several large concrete shelters _to
the right and left of the road_. Creüe Wood, _seen on the left of the
road, 2 km. further on_, is full of German defence works.
The greatly damaged village of =Heudicourt= is next reached. Numerous
houses were destroyed by fire. Beside the cemetery is a German cemetery.
_On leaving the village_ there is a stone and concrete blockhouse.
[Illustration: WOINVILLE _German monument at entrance to village, on the
right, coming from Heudicourt._]
_Beyond Heudicourt, the road passes through_ =Buxières= (ruined houses);
=Buxèrulles= (slightly damaged), containing German cemetery; =Woinville=
(German cemetery with a monument in the middle (_see photo below_), _on
the right, before entering the village_, and a roofless church);
=Varnéville=, entirely in ruins. _Leaving the village, the tourist passes_
several concrete shelters and blockhouses.
[Illustration: APREMONT. RUINS OF VILLAGE AND CHURCH]
_One and a half kilometres from Varnéville, G.C.D. 10, crosses G.C.D. 1
bis. Take the latter to the right towards_ Apremont. _800 yards from the
fork, after crossing a bridge over the stream, the village of_
_Apremont_ _is reached_.
_Immediately after the bridge there is a_ very comfortable shelter of
stone, cement and logs _in a garden, behind a house on the right (the
least damaged in the village)_.
[Illustration: APREMONT _Shelter, on the left before crossing stream,
going towards Bouconville._]
Apremont is entirely in ruins. Of the church, only a few broken walls
remain. _In the Rue de l’Eglise, fifty yards from the church, to the
left, near the end of the village_, is a large concrete shelter, on the
wall of which a German machine-gun has been carved (_see photo above_).
[Illustration: APREMONT
_German shelter with drawing of machine-gun on the wall._]
Apremont was a very important place during the war. At this point the
road from St. Mihiel to Flirey and Pont-à-Mousson crosses the Vigneulles
road, along which the tourist has just come, and which, beyond Apremont,
goes down to Fort Gironville after skirting Fort Liouville on the right.
_G.C.D. 1 bis, turns to the right in the village, then mounts a steep
slope towards_ =Brûlé Wood.=
[Illustration: END OF APREMONT VILLAGE, GOING TOWARDS ST. MIHIEL
_On the right_: a Michelin sign; _in the background_: Hill and Fort of
Gironville, Reine Forest and Vignot Wood.]
[Illustration: APREMONT
_The road to St. Mihiel._]
_One kilometre beyond Apremont, in a quarry on the left of the road_,
the Germans built a veritable village in concrete and cement, with deep
shelters under the rocks. Terraces and flowering plants ornament the
houses. The rooms are decorated with carved woodwork and tapestry. The
furniture was either taken from the surrounding villages or made in
rustic style (_see photo below_). _At the top of this camp, beyond the
terrace of the_ Officers’ Mess, a cement staircase leads to a concrete
trench which dominates the position in Brûlé Wood. The latter is
furrowed with numerous German defence works.
[Illustration: ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, 1 KM. FROM APREMONT
_German village built in the side of the quarries and occupied by the
General commanding the sector. Above: Brûlé Wood._]
[Illustration: IN THE GERMAN VILLAGE OF BRÛLÉ WOOD _American soldier
looking at Insignia of the 28th Engineers._]
Brûlé Wood
Lying almost on the edge of the Forest of Apremont, Brûlé Wood commanded
the cross-roads on which the village of Apremont stands.
[Illustration: AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN GERMAN VILLAGE OF BRÛLÉ WOOD]
The German trenches were only fifty yards from the French lines at this
point. For months, bombs, grenades and rockets made an inferno of the
place. The proximity of the respective lines required the utmost
precautions, constant watching and listening, with finger on the
trigger of the rifle, absolute silence, no sleep and no smoking (smoking
might give an objective to the bombers). The nervous tension was so
great that the average stay of a battalion was only eight days.
[Illustration]
Brûlé Wood was the scene of the sublime rallying call “_Debout les
Morts_” (Stand up, ye Dead!)—_see below_.
While early in April, 1915, important attacks were taking place in Ailly
Wood, the 95th Infantry Regiment was ordered to create a diversion in
Brûlé Wood. On April 5, 6 and 8 bloody fights took place for the
possession of a trench. On the morning of the 8th the captured trench
was consolidated, and the attacking troops relieved and sent in reserve
to the second line.
[Illustration: GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE AT TÊTE-À-VACHE]
Suddenly a strong German counter-attack was launched. The new occupants
were thrown into confusion and, seized with panic, retreated through
the trenches, when _Adjutant Jacques Péricard_, who had taken part in
the action the day before but was now in reserve, called for volunteers
from his company to face the enemy. The trench was retaken after a
prolonged and terrible struggle, in the course of which Péricard,
feeling his men wavering and seeing only dead and wounded around, cried
“_Debouts les Morts_.”
[Illustration: FRENCH FIRST LINES AT TÊTE-À-VACHE]
_Continue up the road._ _Near the crest on the left, in a quarry, are_
several concrete defence works which communicate with one another.
[Illustration: GERMAN POST OF COMMANDMENT ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, AT
THE FOOT OF HILL 362.]
_The crossing of Strategic I.C. 3 is next reached. Here leave the car
and take the road to the left towards_ =Marbotte.= _400 yards further on_
the German first line trenches, built entirely in concrete with
numerous shelters and blockhouses, _are reached_. _This is the crest of
the_ “=Tête-à-Vache=” position, which for so long formed a salient in the
French lines. All the soldiers knew it because, when passing through the
trenches on a level with this salient, it was necessary to stoop to
avoid being seen by an observer at his loop-hole. Woe to the curious or
the careless who risked walking upright past this point! The ever-ready
automatic spoke at once.
[Illustration: GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE ON THE ROAD TO ST. MIHIEL, _about 300
yds. from Hill 362_.]
_A 100 yards beyond are the_ French first line trenches (equipments and
soldiers’ graves). All the ground here is torn up, and the woods are
completely destroyed.
_Return to G.C.D. 1 bis, and follow it in the direction of St. Mihiel.
All along the road are_ numerous military works of all kinds,
_especially across Ailly Wood_.
[Illustration: MILITARY KITCHEN IN AILLY WOOD, 1915]
[Illustration]
Ailly Wood
Ailly Wood covers the brow of the hill, the southern slopes of which
descend steeply towards a ravine.
[Illustration: GERMAN TRENCH UNDER THE APREMONT-ST. MIHIEL ROAD]
Here the attacks took place which, between April 5 and 13, 1915, gave
the French definite mastery of the position. The Germans held one corner
of the wood and the outskirts at the foot of the slopes. The French
trenches followed the ravine, mounted half-way up the unwooded part of
the hill, and ran alongside the wood. The entrenchment, known as the
“_Le Fortin_,” was in the corner. In the wood the German trenches rose
in three tiers, linked together by narrow trenches. At certain points
the Germans had constructed “_chevaux-de-frise_,” twelve yards deep by
two yards high.
The bombardment began on the morning of the 5th. The 75’s opened
breaches in the defences, and the observers, who were only 130 yards
from the enemy line, gave accurate directions to the gunners. In their
turn, 6–in. shells crushed the machine-gun emplacements, and at mid-day
the explosion of five mine-fields annihilated the garrison and threw the
enemy into a panic. A bayonet-attack was launched at once, without the
firing of a single shot.
[Illustration: IN AILLY WOOD
_German Post of Commandment at the side of the road, 4 km. from St.
Mihiel._]
Two companies attacked on the western side of the wood, two others on
the southern side.
The attack on the west was successful and, going beyond the third German
line, reached the northern fringe of the wood. The machine-gunners, who
followed the advance, at once took up their positions.
The attack on the south, after the first rush forward, was forced to
withdraw slightly before an enfilading fire. At three o’clock in the
afternoon the German artillery thundered; at four o’clock a
counter-attack was launched but failed; and at 5.30 the Germans tried
to retake the lost ground by a terrific bombardment. In an hour and a
half, on a front of 360 yards, twenty thousand shells of all sizes
(4–in., 5.5–in., 6–in. and 8–in.) cut the French lines of communication,
but failed to force a retreat. The attack was resumed next day, but in
the evening, after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, the French still held
the three lines of German trenches. On the 7th and 8th they repulsed
eight counter-attacks, which left the shell-leveled ground in their
hands.
[Illustration: IN AILLY WOOD SECTOR
_German Defence Works in quarry by roadside, 3 km. from St. Mihiel._]
On the 10th, after an artillery preparation lasting all day, a fresh
attack was launched at seven o’clock in the evening. The whole of the
wood was quickly occupied and immediately consolidated, in view of
counter-attack. Five machine-guns, five trench-mortars, thousands of
grenades and large quantities of equipment and stores, were left in the
hands of the French.
From that time scarcely a month passed without some communiqué stating
that the Germans had bombarded or counter-attacked Ailly Wood.
_St. Mihiel is entered via the Faubourg de Nancy, in which are the_
burnt ruins of the Sénarmont Barracks.
_Follow the Rue Porte-à-Nancy, then the Rue Grande, as far as the Rue de
l’Eglise, into which turn to the left to reach the Church of St.
Etienne._
St. Mihiel during the War
On September 24, 1914, St. Mihiel was taken by the Germans, who held it
until September 12, 1918.
Up to the latter date only one attempt was made to retake the town—the
attack of November 17–20, 1914, during which a French unit succeeded in
occupying the suburb of Chauvoncourt, but was forced to retire as the
Germans had mined this section.
The Franco-American offensive of September, 1918, finally cleared St.
Mihiel.
[Illustration: PANORAMIC SKETCH OF THE ST. MIHIEL REGION, SHOWING THE
FRONT LINE UNTIL SEPT. 12, 1918]
General Pershing, in the disposition of his forces, generously arranged
that a French regiment, the 25th Colonial, should have the honour of
being the first to enter St. Mihiel. The Prime Minister’s son, Captain
Michel Clémenceau, was among those who marched into the town.
On the whole the town had suffered little. The bridges had been blown
up, trenches cut up the streets, and a German narrow-gauge railway ran
through the town. The monument of 1870, “_Aux Morts pour la Patrie_,”
was damaged. As everywhere else, all copper had been removed, the
machinery had disappeared or had been broken, while the optical-glass
factory and the copper foundry had ceased to exist.
On Friday, September 13, General Pershing, accompanied by General Pétain
and Mr. Baker, American Secretary of State for War, visited St. Mihiel.
The next day President Poincaré, in his turn, paid homage to the valiant
city.
Little by little, when the first excitement was over, the inhabitants
told the story of the occupation; of the war levies imposed by the
Germans, as in every town which they had occupied; first a million
francs in 1914, when the commandeering without payment or vouchers; the
fines (20 francs for omitting to salute an officer); children forced to
work in the trenches; people sent to prison, and even to the convict
prison on the slightest pretext; an abbé deported as a hostage because
he had said in a sermon, “_After the thorns will come the roses_;” a
whole family placed in solitary confinement for forty days because they
were suspected of having telephoned to the French, etc., not to mention
the systematic looting and removal of objects of art, pictures and
silver.
[Illustration: ST. MIHIEL DELIVERED
_Group of children in French Officers’ Car on Sept. 13, 1918._]
On Tuesday, the 10th, the Germans, knowing the attack was imminent, made
their final preparations for departure. On the 11th they ordered the
inhabitants, on pain of death, to remain indoors until noon on the
following day.
During the night of the 11th they blew up the bridges and removed their
guns. On the morning of the 12th the French entered the town.
Several days later the American Headquarters which, until then, had been
at Souilly, on the road from Verdun to Bar-le-Duc, moved into St.
Mihiel.
A VISIT TO ST. MIHIEL
ITINERARY
_Enter the town via the_ Faubourg de Nancy _and the_ Rue Porte-à-Nancy
(1). St. Etienne Church (A); Place Ligier Richier (4); Hôtel-de-Ville
(H); Rue Porte-à-Metz (6); Promenade des Capucins; Les Sept-Roches.
_Cross the Meuse by the_ temporary bridge (14), Chauvoncourt, _and_
Paroches Fort.
_Return to St. Mihiel by the temporary bridge._ Place des Halles (17);
Place du Collège (20); Church of St. Michel (B); _and_ Hôtel de la
Division.
_Leave St. Mihiel by the Commercy road._
[Illustration: THE STREETS TO BE FOLLOWED ARE SHOWN BY THICK BLACK LINES
=Plan of St. Mihiel=
_Arbitrary Signs_
A.—St. Etienne Church.
B.—St. Michel Church.
C.—Cavalry Barracks.
CC.—Chauvoncourt Barracks.
CS.—Sénarmont Barracks.
H.—Hôtel-de-Ville.
J.—Palais-de-Justice.
O.—Octrois.
1.—Rue Porte-à-Nancy.
2.—Rue Grande.
3.—Rue de l’Eglise.
4.—Place Ligier Richier.
5.—Rue de la Vaux.
6.—Rue Porte-à-Metz.
7.—Rue Carnot.
8.—Rue du Général Blaise.
9.—Rue Haute des Fossés.
10.—Rue des Annonciades.
11.—Avenue des Roches.
12.—Place du Marché.
13.—Place du Manège.
14.—Temporary Bridge.
15.—Destroyed Bridge.
16.—Rue du Saulcy.
17.—Place des Halles.
18.—Rue du Pont.
19.—Rue Notre-Dame.
20.—Place du Collège.
21.—Place aux Moines.
]
[Illustration: THE “SEPULCHRE,” _by Ligier Richier_, IN ST. ETIENNE’S
CHURCH]
Starting point: The Church of St. Etienne.
The Church of St. Etienne, often called the “Eglise du Bourg,” contains
several remarkable Renaissance sculptures, chief among which are a
=bas-relief= in St. Joseph’s Chapel (_photo, p. 58_), a large =reredos=
behind the high altar (_photo, p. 58_), and above all, in the central
bay of the south aisle, behind a railing (_photo, p. 57_) in a sort of
grotto or crypt, the _chef-d’oeuvre_ of Ligier Richier, commonly known
by the incorrect title of the “=Sepulchre of St. Mihiel.=”
The “Sepulchre,” by Ligier Richier
This comprises a group of thirteen figures, rather more than life size,
executed between 1554 and 1564, and placed after Richier’s death in the
church, where it stands to-day (_photo above_).
The figures are arranged as follows: _on the left_, Salome lays in the
coffin, the shroud which is to enwrap Christ, while two disciples,
Joseph and Nicodemus, carrying the body of their Divine Master, stand in
the foreground. Nicodemus carries the body by the shoulders, while the
unsupported head rests against his arm. Joseph of Arimathæa, one knee on
the ground, supports the legs of Our Lord. Near him Mary Magdalene helps
to carry the feet, which she touches with her lips. In the background
the Virgin, leaning on St. John, and Mary, the wife of Cleophas, turn a
last look on Christ.
Between Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Salome, stands an angel bearing
the Cross—an unfounded tradition says that this is a portrait of the
artist.
_On the right of the central group, and next to Nicodemus, a woman_,
often called Veronica, carries the crown of thorns. Behind her, in the
background, two men-at-arms are casting lots for the seamless coat. _At
the other end, on the right_, a Roman officer, often, without
justification, called the Centurion, is seated on a shield with a sword
in his left hand. He is the captain of the guard in charge of the tomb.
This is a strong, touching work by a French master-sculptor, who had not
yet come under Italian influence and methods.
[Illustration: THE RAILING OF LIGIER RICHIER’S “SEPULCHRE”]
Ligier Richier
Numerous legends surround the life of the “Master of St. Mihiel.” The
only son of Jean Richier, a master-sculptor, he was born at St. Mihiel
about 1500. Brought up as a Catholic, he was converted to Calvinism
about 1560. There is a legend that Michael Angelo came to St. Mihiel,
admired the work of the boy Ligier Richier, and took him to Rome; but it
is known that Michael Angelo never visited Lorraine.
Ligier Richier, not being able to carry out his commissions
single-handed, gathered around him apprentices and companions, who have
been called his brothers. It is true that he had a son (Gerald) in 1534,
and that the latter worked in his father’s studio, and had in his turn
five sons, also sculptors, who settled in Nancy, Metz, Lyons and
Grenoble. In 1764, in consequence of the persecution of the Protestants,
he settled in Geneva, where he died about 1567.
Numerous groups of sacred figures, scattered over this district, attest
the happy skill of Ligier Richier: a =reredos= of many-coloured stone in
the church at Hattonchâtel (p. 38); =Christ Crucified= between the Virgin
and St. John, in the church at Génicourt, on the road from Verdun to St.
Mihiel; =Group of Notre Dame-de-Pitié=, in the Sacré-Cœur Chapel of the
church at Etain; a =Calvary= (six statues of wood variously coloured) in
the chapel of the new cemetery at Briey; a large =Christ carrying the
Cross= in the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Pitié in the Church of St. Laurent,
at Pont-à-Mousson (p. 92); and lastly, in St. Mihiel itself, two of his
masterpieces: “=The Swooning Virgin=,” in the church of St. Mihiel (p. 67)
and the important group, “=The Sepulchre=” in the Church of St. Etienne
(p. 56).
[Illustration: ST. ETIENNE’S CHURCH
_Renaissance Bas-relief in St. Joseph’s Chapel._]
[Illustration: ST. ETIENNE’S CHURCH
_Renaissance Reredos in the Choir._]
[Illustration: ST. MIHIEL. LIGIER RICHIER SQUARE]
_After visiting the Church of St. Etienne take on the right the Rue de
l’Eglise, at No. 3, of which there is_ a curious old house.
_Follow the continuation of the Rue de l’Eglise (Rue du Général
Audéoud), which leads to the_ =Place Ligier Richier.=
The statue of Ligier Richier used to stand in the centre of this Place.
It was removed by the Germans during the occupation.
[Illustration: ST. MIHIEL TOWN HALL]
_At the left-hand corner of the Place take the Rue de la Vaux. On the
right of the street is the_ =17th century Hôtel-de-Ville=, _at the corner
of the Rue Porte-à-Metz. On the left of the Rue Porte-à-Metz, stairs
lead to the_ public garden called “La Promenade des Capucins,” which
overlooks the town and the valley of the Meuse (_fine panorama_).
[Illustration: MONUMENT IN GERMAN CEMETERY (_See below_)]
_If the tourist enters St. Mihiel by the Rue Porte-à-Metz, he will see_
a large cemetery containing more than two thousand granite monuments,
opposite the first houses of the town. Over six thousand Germans were
buried there, killed for the most part during 1915, and a few in 1916.
No Frenchman, soldier or civilian, has been buried in this cemetery.
_The cemetery can also be reached by returning along the Rue
Porte-à-Metz as far as the last houses._
[Illustration: GERMAN CEMETERY AT THE PORTE-À-METZ ENTRANCE TO ST.
MIHIEL (_see above_)]
[Illustration: THE “MAISON AUX BOEUFS”
(_No. 3, Rue de la Vaux._)]
_Return to the Rue de la Vaux, which take on the right._
_At No. 3, on the right, is an_ old Renaissance house with curious
gargoyles; _and at No. 2, opposite_, a curious old house.
_At the beginning of Rue Carnot, which is a continuation of Rue de la
Vaux, see the_ 16th century house called “Du Narrateur,” _at No. 36_.
_Opposite this house, take the terraced Rue du Général Blaise_ (old
house at No. 30).
_Follow its continuation (Rue Haute des Fossés), at No. 7 of which is_
Ligier Richier’s house.
_Take the Rue des Annonciades as far as the Avenue des Roches, which
leads to the_ “Seven Rocks,” situated at the gates of the town (_see p.
62_).
[Illustration: RENAISSANCE HOUSE
(_No. 36, Rue Carnot._)]
The Seven Rocks
On the edge of the Verdun road, which is an extension of the Avenue des
Roches, and overhanging the Meuse just beyond the town, rise seven
rocks, known as the “Cliffs of St. Mihiel.”
In the first, surmounted by a stone cross, a grotto has been hollowed
out containing a tomb in which lies a great stone Christ. A staircase in
the rock gives easy access to it.
This calvary is a place of pilgrimage on Good Friday. The sixth rock,
worn away by water, resembles a gigantic mushroom and is called the
“Devil’s Table.”
These rocks are represented in the St. Mihiel coat of arms, which is:
“Three rocks argent on an azure field, two in chief and one in pile.”
[Illustration: THE COAT OF ARMS OF ST. MIHIEL
_Three rocks argent on an azure field, two in chief, and one in pile._]
Across the intervening wooded slopes are seen the large buildings of the
old Benedictine Abbey of St. Michel, of which the name St. Mihiel is a
corruption.
Founded in 709 on a site known to-day as St. Christopher’s Farm, in
Vieux-Moutier Wood, it was transferred in 819 to the village of
Godinécourt, which then took the name of St. Michel or St. Mihiel. It
was closed in 1791.
A romanesque tower, dating from about 1060, dominates the abbey.
[Illustration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE MEUSE]
_Return by the Avenue des Roches to the market; behind the latter_, take
the Place du Manège, which leads to the temporary bridge across the
Meuse.
Cross the bridge and take G.C.D. 1, which passes through the suburb of
Chauvoncourt.
Chauvoncourt