UNITED STATES ENTERS THE WAR
_The President Proclaims War_--_Interned Ships Are Seized_--_Congress
Votes $7,000,000,000 for War_--_Raising an American Army_--_War to
Victory Wilson Pledge_--_British and French Commission Reaches America_.
On April 2, 1917, Congress having been called in special session,
President Wilson appeared before a joint session of both houses and
in an address worthy of its historical importance asked for a formal
declaration that a state of war existed with Germany, owing to the
ruthless and unrestricted submarine campaign. He recommended the utmost
practical co-operation with the Entente Allies in counsel and action;
the extension of liberal financial credit to them, the mobilization
of all the material resources of the United States for the purpose of
providing adequate munitions of war, the full equipment of the Navy,
especially in supplying it with means for dealing with submarines, and
the immediate enrollment of an army of 500,000 men, preferably by a
system of universal service, to be increased later by an additional army
of equal size. The President took pains to point out that in taking
these measures against the German government, the United States had
no quarrel with the German people, who were innocent, because kept in
ignorance of the lawless acts of their autocratic government, which had
become a menace not only to the peace of the world, but to the cause of
fundamental human liberty. The object of the United States, said the
President, was to vindicate the principles of peace and justice
as against selfish and autocratic power, and to insure the future
observance of these principles.
After due debate the following joint resolution, declaring war with
Germany was adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives and
signed by the President on April 6, 1917:
"Whereas, the imperial German government has committed repeated acts
of war against the government and the people of the United States of
America; therefore, be it
"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between
the United States and the imperial German government which has thus been
thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the
President be, and he is, hereby authorized and directed to employ the
entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources
of the government to carry on war against the imperial German
government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all
of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of
the United States."
THE PRESIDENT PROCLAIMS WAR.
Immediately after signing the resolution of Congress, President Wilson
issued a formal proclamation of war, embodying in it an earnest appeal
to all American citizens "that they, in loyal devotion to their country,
dedicated from its foundation to the principles of liberty and justice,
uphold the laws of the land and give undivided and willing support to
those measures which may be adopted by the constitutional authorities in
prosecuting the war to a successful issue and in obtaining a secure and
just peace."
The President further enjoined all alien enemies within the United
States to preserve the peace and refrain from crime against the public
safety, and from giving information, aid, or comfort to the enemy,
assuring them of protection so long as they conducted themselves in
accordance with law and with regulations which might be promulgated
from time to time for their guidance. The great mass of German-American
citizens promptly avowed the utmost loyalty to the United States, but
numerous arrests of suspected spies followed all over the country.
INTERNED SHIPS ARE SEIZED.
Following the declaration of war all the German merchant vessels
interned in ports of the United States were seized by representatives of
the Federal authority, their crews removed and interned, and guardians
placed aboard. These ships in American waters numbered 99, of an
aggregate value of about $100,000,000, and included some of the finest
vessels of the German merchant marine; for instance, the Vaterland, of
54,283 tons, valued at $8,000,000, and numerous other Atlantic liners.
The disposition to be made of the German ships was left to the future
for decision, with great probability, however, that they would be used
to transport munitions and supplies to the Allies in Europe through the
German submarine blockade.
CONGRESS VOTES $7,000,000,000 FOR WAR.
Prompt action was taken by Congress to furnish the sinews of war.
By April 14 a bond and certificate issue of $7,000,000,000 had been
unanimously voted by both houses, and preparations were made to float
a popular subscription for the bonds. Three billions of the amount
was intended for loans to the Allies, and the remainder for active
prosecution of the war by the United States. The debates in Congress
indicated that the country stood solidly behind the President in a
determination to bring the military autocracy of Germany to a realizing
sense of its responsibility to civilization. RAISING AN AMERICAN ARMY.
Legislation was immediately presented by the War Department to the
military committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, to
provide for raising an army for active participation in the war. This
legislation was described by President Wilson as follows:
"It proposes to raise the forces necessary to meet the present emergency
by bringing the regular army and the National Guard to war strength and
by adding the additional forces which will now be needed, so that the
national army will comprise three elements--the regular army, the
National Guard and the so-called additional forces, of which at first
500,000 are to be authorized immediately and later increments of the
same size as they may be needed.
"In order that all these forces may comprise a single army, the term of
enlistment in the three is equalized and will be for the period of the
emergency.
"The necessary men will be secured for the regular army and the National
Guard by volunteering, as at present, until, in the judgment of the
President, a resort to a selective draft is desirable. The additional
forces, however, are to be raised by selective draft from men ranging
in age from 19 to 25 years. The quotas of the several states in all of
these forces will be in proportion to their population."
Recruiting for the army and navy became active as soon as war was
declared. On April 15 President Wilson issued an address to the nation,
calling on all citizens to enroll themselves in a vast "army of
service," military or industrial, and stating that the hour of supreme
test for the nation had come. The United States prepared to rise to its
full measure of duty, confident in the patent justice of its cause, and
echoing the sentiment of its President when he said:
"The hope of the world is that when the European war is over
arrangements will have been made composing many of the questions which
have hitherto seemed to require the arming of the nations, and that in
some ordered and just way the peace of the world may be maintained by
such co-operations of force among the great nations as may be necessary
to maintain peace and freedom throughout the world."
ENGLAND WELCOMES U.S. AS AN ALLY.
The news of the President's proclamation of war, following the action
of Congress, was received in England and France, Russia and Italy, with
enthusiasm. A great service of thanksgiving was held in St. Paul's
Cathedral, London, attended by the King and Queen, ministers of state,
and an enormous congregation that joined in singing "The Star-Spangled
Banner" and the national anthem, while the Stars and Stripes by official
order was flown for the first time in history from the tower of the
Parliament buildings at Westminster and on public buildings throughout
the British empire. A high commission was appointed to visit the United
States for a series of war conferences, and Premier Lloyd George
expressed the national satisfaction in glowing terms of welcome to the
United States as an ally against Germany, paying at the same time
an eloquent tribute to the masterly address of President Wilson to
Congress, which stated the case for humanity against military autocracy
in such an unanswerable manner, the British premier said, that it placed
the seal of humanity's approval on the Allied cause and furnished final
justification of the British attitude toward Germany in the war.
POPULAR DEMONSTRATION IN PARIS.
In France, the Stars and Stripes were flung to the breeze from the
Eiffel Tower on April 22, and saluted by twenty-one guns. This marked
the opening of the ceremonies of "United States day" in Paris.
The French tricolor and the star-spangled banner were at the same hour
unfurled together from the residence of William G. Sharp, the American
ambassador, in the Avenue d'Eylau, from the American Embassy, from the
city hall, and from other municipal government buildings.
It was a great day for the red, white and blue, 40,000 American flags
being handed out gratis by the committee and waved by the people
who thronged the vicinity of the manifestations, which included the
decoration of the statues of Washington and Lafayette.
Members of the American Lafayette flying corps, a delegation from the
American Ambulance at Neuilly and the American Field Ambulances were the
guard of honor before the Lafayette statue.
Ambassador Sharp and his escort were received at the city hall by the
members of the municipal council and other distinguished persons. Adrien
Mithouard, president of the municipal council, welcomed Ambassador
Sharp, who was greeted with great applause when addressing the people of
Paris. He said:
"Citizens of Paris: May I say to you, on this day you have with such
fine sentiment set apart to honor my country, that America remains no
longer content to express to France merely her sympathy. In a cause
which she believes as verily as you believe to be a sacred one, she
will consecrate all her power and the blood of her patriotic sons, if
necessary, to achieve a victory that shall for all time to come insure
the domination of right over wrong, freedom over oppression, and the
blessings of peace over the brutality of war."
The French Government also appointed a war commission to visit the
United States forthwith for conference.
Resolutions expressing the great satisfaction of the Allied nations at
the action of the United States were adopted by the British House of
Commons, the French Chamber of Deputies, the Russian Duma, and the
Italian Parliament. ENTHUSIASM IN THE UNITED STATES.
War being declared, the people of the United States were not slow in
letting the President know that they stood solidly behind him. From all
parts of the country came assurances that the action of the Government
was approved. Organizations of every conceivable kind passed resolutions
pledging their support to all war measures decided to be necessary to
carry the war to a successful issue. Recruiting was at once started for
both the Army and the Navy. The recruiting depots were thronged daily
and thousands were enrolled for active service while Congress was
debating the respective merits of the volunteer system and the
"selective draft" advocated by the general staff of the Army and
approved by the President and his cabinet.
The full quota of men desired for the Navy, to place the ships already
in commission in a high state of efficiency, was soon secured. More men
offered themselves for naval service, indeed, than could be accepted
pending the action of Congress. Volunteers for the aviation corps, the
marines, the field artillery, the engineer corps, and all the various
branches of the military establishments came forward freely, and a
general desire was expressed to send an American force to the trenches
in Europe at the earliest possible moment consistent with proper
training for the field.
As the reports of American diplomats from the war zone, freed from
German censorship, were given to the public, the martial spirit of
America grew apace. Ambassador Gerard's corroboration of German
atrocities in the occupied territory of France, and Minister Brand
Whitlock's report on the situation in Belgium and the illegal and
atrocious deportation of Belgian citizens for hard labor, ill treatment,
and starvation in Germany, added fuel to the flame of national
indignation, already running high as the result of continued destruction
of American merchant vessels and the loss of American lives by submarine
piracy and murder, continued almost without cessation since the infamous
sinking of the Lusitania, one of the never-to-be-forgotten crimes of
German ruthlessness.
One hundred million free-born people were at length aroused to action.
The Navy was ready for immediate service where it could do most good,
and promptly took over patrol duty in the western Atlantic, relieving
British and French men-of-war for service elsewhere. The raising of an
army of a million or more men for active participation in the war waited
only on the action of Congress.
American women responded nobly to the President's call for universal
service, flocking to the Red Cross headquarters in every city and
setting to work immediately in the preparation of comforts for the great
army gathering on the horizon. They were promptly organized, so that
their efforts might count to the best advantage. In August, 1916, the
United States Navy included 356 war craft of all kinds, as against
credited to Great Britain, 404 to France, and 309 to Germany, The latter
figure does not include an unknown number of submarines of recent
construction.
THE BRITISH COMMISSION ARRIVES.
On Sunday, April 22, the British war commission reached Washington,
headed by the Right Hon. Arthur James Balfour, secretary of state for
foreign affairs and former premier. The commission included Rear
Admiral Sir Dudley R.S. De Chair, naval adviser to the foreign office;
Major-General G.T.M. Bridges, representing the British army; Lord
Cunliffe of Headley, governor of the Bank of England; and a number of
other distinguished officials and naval and military officers, with
clerical assistants. The party met with an enthusiastic welcome in
Washington. Mr. Balfour was received by the President in private
conference next day, and after a round of receptions and social
functions of various kinds, arrangements were made for the business
meetings affecting war policies, which were the object of the visit.
Mr. Balfour informed the President that the British commission had come
to Washington not to ask favors, concessions, or agreements from the
United States, but to offer their services for the organization of the
stupendous undertaking of fighting Germany. He said that if the United
States was confronted by the same problems that confronted England at
the outset of the war, the British commission could be of service in
pointing out many grievous mistakes of policy and organization that
proved costly to the British cause. He was, in turn, assured by the
President that the United States would fight in conjunction with the
Allied until the Prussian autocracy was crushed and Americans at home
and abroad were safe from the ruthlessness of the Berlin government.
MARSHAL JOFFRE IN WASHINGTON
The French war commission soon followed the British envoys, arriving
in Washington on Wednesday, April 25, on board the presidential yacht
Mayflower from Hampton Roads. Headed by M. Rene Viviani, minister of
justice and former premier of France, the commission included the famous
hero of the Marne and idol of the French army and people, Marshal
Joffre; also Admiral Chocheprat, representing the French navy; the
Marquis de Chambrun (Lafayette's grandson), and other distinguished
Frenchmen. The fame of Marshal Joffre and the traditional friendship
for France secured for the party an enthusiastic popular greeting.
Its members were accorded similar official receptions to those of the
British commissioners, and they similarly expressed their desire to be
of service to the American people by giving the Washington government
the benefit of their costly experience in three years of war. ALLIES
CONTINUE THEIR WESTERN DRIVE
Following the spring drive of the Allies on the western front and the
retirement of the Germans to the so-called Hindenburg line, the British
and French continued their offensive during the months of May, June and
July, 1917, which concluded the third year of the great struggle. Great
battles in the Champagne and along the Aisne were fought by the French,
who in April had captured Auberive, and they advanced their forces
from one to five miles along a fifty-mile front, inflicting great and
continual losses on the enemy. At the end of the third year, the French
line ran from northwest of Soissons, through Rheims, to Auberive. French
troops also appeared in Flanders during this period and co-operated
with the British on the left of Field Marshal Haig's forces. The chief
command of the French armies was in the hands of General Petain, the
gallant defender of Verdun, who was appointed chief of staff after the
battle of Craonne.
The continuation of the British offensive northeast of Arras, following
the bloody battle of Vimy Ridge, which was firmly held by the Canadians
against desperate counter-attacks, placed the British astride the
Hindenburg line, and the Germans retired to positions a mile or two west
of the Drocourt-Queant line. These they held as the third year closed at
the end of July.
In June, 1917, the British began an attack on Messines and Wytschaete,
in an effort to straighten out the Ypres salient. By this time their
flyers dominated the air, and they had gained the immense advantage of
artillery superiority. By way of preparation, the British sappers and
miners had spent an entire year in mining the earth beneath the German
positions, and the offensive was begun with an explosion so terrific,
when the mines were sprung, that it was heard in London. Following
immediately with the attack, the British won and consolidated the
objective ground, capturing more than 7,500 German prisoners and great
stores of artillery. This victory placed them astride the Ypres-Commines
canal, having advanced three miles on an eight-mile front. Portuguese
and Belgian troops assisted in this offensive, which resulted in the
greatest gain the Allies had made in Belgium since the German invasion.
Fighting in this terrain had been confined for many months to
trench-raiding operations.
GERMAN LOSSES TO JULY
It is estimated that during April, May, and June the Germans suffered
350,000 casualties on the western front. The totals of the German
official lists of losses for the entire war to July 19, 1917, were as
follows: Killed or died of wounds, 1,032,800; died of sickness, 72,960;
prisoners and missing, 591,966; wounded, 2,825,581; making a grand total
of casualties of 4,523,307. The German naval and colonial casualties were
not included in this total.
FURTHER GAINS IN FLANDERS
Fighting continued almost steadily in Flanders during the month of
August, although the Allies were greatly hampered in their operations
by heavy rains and mud. On a nine-mile front east and north of Ypres, a
long drawn-out battle carried the advancing French and British troops
more than a mile into the intricate hostile trench system on August 16,
after successive advances on previous days. From Dreigrachten southward
the French surged across the River Steenbeke, capturing all objectives,
while at the same time the British occupied considerable territory in
the region of St. Julien and Langemarck, captured the latter town, and
carried the fighting beyond Langemarck. The main difficulty encountered
was the mud in the approaches to the town, the infantry plunging deep
into the bog at every step. Not infrequently the soldiers had to rescue
a comrade who had sunk to the waist in the morass, but they continued to
push forward steadily, facing machine-gun fire from hidden redoubts and
battling their way past with bombs and rifle fire. There were concrete
gunpits about the positions in front of the town, which was flooded from
the Steenbeke River, but the infantry divided and bombed their way about
on either side until they had encircled the town and passed beyond,
where the Germans could be seen running away. Little resistance was
offered in the town itself, but the Germans suffered severely from the
preliminary bombardment, which worked havoc in their ranks, according to
the prisoners taken in the Langemarck region. The contact between the
French and British forces was excellent throughout the fight; in fact,
the perfect co-operation of the two armies continued to be one of the
minor wonders of the war.
CANADIAN VICTORIES AT LENS
Canadian troops added to their laurels by the storming and capture of
Hill 70, dominating the important mining center of Lens, in northern
France, August 15, following up their victory by the occupation of the
fortified suburbs of the city and apparently insuring its redemption
from German hands, after a struggle that had lasted for two years.
The men of the Dominion swept the Germans from the famous hill, defeated
all counter-attacks, and thus gained command of the entire Loos salient.
It was on this hill that the British forces under Sir John French were
badly broken in their efforts to reach Lens in the first battle of Loos,
in September, 1915. Hill 70 was the last high ground held by the Germans
in the region of the Artois, and its fall menaced their whole line south
to Queant and north to La Bassee.
The Canadian attack began at 4:25 o'clock, just as the first hint of
dawn was appearing. All night the British big guns had been pouring a
steady stream of high explosive shells into the German positions,
great detonations overlapping one another like the rapid crackling of
machine-gun fire and swelling into a mighty volume of thunder that shook
the earth and stunned the senses. Then, a short time before the hour set
for the attack arrived, the batteries ceased abruptly and a strange,
almost oppressive stillness crept over the terrain which until then had
been an inferno of crashing noise and death. It had been raining and
gray clouds still hung over the trenches where crouched the Canadian
infantrymen, waiting eagerly for the arrival of the moment which would
summon them to attack.
Suddenly, ten minutes before the time set for the advance, every British
gun within range broke out with a hurricane of shelling, and solid lines
of crimson lightning belched from the German trenches as the explosives
broke about them. To this lurid picture was added the spectacle of
burning oil, which the British threw on the enemy lines. Great clouds of
pinkish colored smoke rolled across the country from the flaming liquid
and the murky sky threw back myriad colors from the conflagration below.
The moment of attack arrived, and as the British guns dropped their
protecting barrage fire in front of the Canadian trenches, the clouds
parted and the yellow crescent moon appeared. Under the light of this
beacon the Canadians leaped over the parapets and began their methodical
advance behind their barrage fire.
The British barrage was without a flaw, says an eyewitness. Behind it
the Canadians mounted Hill 70 and swept along the rest of the line. On
the crest of the hill, where so much blood had been, spilled before,
heavy fighting might have been expected, for the position was well
manned with machine guns. The resistance here, however, was not strong,
and it was not until the dwellings in the outskirts of the suburbs were
reached that vigorous fighting occurred. The ground over which the
infantry advanced was honeycombed with British shell holes and the
barbed wire defenses had been leveled, so that they gave little trouble.
FIGHT IN CELLARS AND DUGOUTS
The first serious resistance from the Germans was met at a point where
the enemy was strongly intrenched in connecting cellars and there
sanguinary fighting occurred. The place was a sample of many other
suburbs about Lens. The city is surrounded by colliery communities which
are so close together and so near the city proper that they really form
part of the town. Lens, before the war, had a population of 30,000, but
had become a mass of ruins.
Following their usual tactics, the Germans had carried out systematic
destruction of the houses and had constructed strong underground
defenses. The whole city was undermined with tunnels and dugouts, which
had been reinforced with concrete, and most of the ruined buildings had
been turned into machine-gun emplacements.
The effect of the preliminary British bombardment was most demoralizing
to the enemy. The first German prisoners taken were in a completely
dazed state as a result of the terrific bombardment they had undergone,
and other Germans were seen to flee to the rear, deserting their posts
as the attack began.
The result of this preliminary fire was shown in the speed of the
Canadian infantry's advance. The extreme depth reached in the first
stage was 1,500 yards, and this was achieved in ninety-three minutes.
This new front, taken into conjunction with positions secured previously
in the southwestern outskirts of Lens, established an angular line like
a pair of shears whose points reached out to the north and south of the
city.
As the Canadians pushed in on the northwest, a simultaneous advance
was started by the troops on the lower blade of the shears, and close
fighting began, with the Germans intrenched in their concreted cellars,
which were linked up with barbed wire and filled with hundreds of
machine guns. The capture of the entire city of Lens was then only a
matter of time, as Hill 70 insured the holding of the ground won by
the Canadians, German reinforcements being placed under the range of
irresistible fire from that dominating height. Among the prisoners taken
in the attack were many German lads apparently not more than 17 years of
age.
The German commander, Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, made frantic efforts
to recapture the lost positions around Lens. The taking of Hill
stirred the German high command as nothing else had done on the western
front for many months, and a grim battle was waged for several days.
On August 16 the enemy came on ten separate times, but they seldom got
close enough to the Canadians for fighting with bayonet or bomb. The
Prussian Guards participated in the counter-attacks and were subjected
to a terrible concentrated fire from the British artillery and Canadian
machine guns. Their losses were frightful and all German efforts to
retake Hill 70 came to naught, while their hold on the central portion
of the mining city became most precarious, as the Canadians consolidated
the advantageous positions their valor had finally won.
RUSSIAN VICTORIES AND COLLAPSE
After the Russian revolution in March, 1917, the military affairs of the
new nation entered upon a curious phase. At first the Russian army made
a feint to advance on Pinsk, to cover the actual operations resumed
in the month of July against Lemberg. This latter front extended for
eighteen and a half miles and was held by troops known as "Regiments
July First." These troops, reinvigorated by the consciousness of
political liberty, confounded German military prophets by the magnitude
and extent of the offensive which they began. Led by Alexander Kerensky,
the revolutionary minister of war, and observed by American army
officers, they forced the Teutons to evacuate Brzezany, and then
captured many important positions, including terrain west and south of
Halicz and strongly-defended positions northwest of Stanislau. On July
11 Halicz was taken, thus smashing the Austro-German front between
Brzezany and the Carpathians.
This Russian operation broadened by mid-July, so that it extended from
the Gulf of Riga to the Roumanian front, a distance of 800 miles. The
Germans were reported to be rushing troops from the Italian and French
fronts. Widespread enthusiasm was created throughout Russia, and the
moral effect on the other entente powers was tremendous.
Before the third year closed, at the end of July, however, Russia's
offensive suffered a collapse. German spies, anarchists, peace fanatics,
and other agitators succeeded in destroying the morale of some of the
Russian troops in Galicia, where a retreat became necessary when unit
after unit refused to obey orders. Brzezany, Halicz, Tarnopol, Stanislau
and Kaloma were lost, together with all the remaining ground gained
during the offensive. The Russians surrendered many prisoners, heavy
guns, and an abundance of supplies and ammunition.
The death penalty was invoked as a check to further insubordinations and
the provisional government introduced a policy of "blood and iron" in an
effort to avert disaster.
South of the Carpathians and in the Vilna region there was little
disaffection among the Russian troops, and Russia had not yet thrown up
her hands, although the situation on the eastern front was disappointing
to the Allies. Alexander Kerensky, a popular hero, became the strong man
of Russia. A counter-revolution was promptly and forcibly crushed in
Petrograd and an "extraordinary national council," meeting at
Moscow, August 25, took steps to end the crisis. All loyal Russians,
conservative and radical, were called to the aid of Kerensky, who
ignored factional and party lines and succeeded in bringing something
like order out of the political chaos in the new republic. Every effort
was made to restore the power as well as the will of Russia to gain
ultimate victory, and Elihu Root, head of a United States commission to
Russia, assured the American people on his return from Petrograd that
the ill effects of the revolution would soon pass away, leaving Russia
once more united for action against the Teuton foe.
On August 15, Nicholas Romanoff, the deposed czar of Russia, and his
entire family were removed from the palace at Tsarskoe-Selo, near
Petrograd, and transported to Tobolsk in Siberia. Fifty servants who
were devoted to him accompanied the ex-emperor into exile. Instead of
the gorgeous imperial train in which he was wont to travel, an ordinary
train composed of three sleeping cars, a dining car, and several
third-class coaches was used for the transportation of Nicholas and his
party, which included the former Empress Alexandra, whose pro-German
attitude was a prime cause of his downfall. On arrival at Tobolsk the
ex-czar and his entourage were received as political prisoners.
GERMAN SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN FAILS
The campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was relied upon
by Germany to win the war by the extinction of the British mercantile
marine and the stoppage of transatlantic supplies, had proved a failure
by August, 1917, after six months' duration. While the tonnage destroyed
by the undersea instruments of frightfulness was sufficiently serious to
cause grave alarm on both sides of the Atlantic, it formed but a
small percentage of the ships actively and continually engaged in the
transportation of munitions and supplies, while it was practically
counterbalanced by the activities of Allied shipbuilders and by the
seizure for Allied service of interned German ships in the countries
that entered the war subsequent to February 1, 1917, when the campaign
of unrestricted destruction began. Determined efforts were made by the
British, French and United States navies to cope with the undersea
enemy, and these were increasingly successful. Many merchant ships and
transports were convoyed to safety by the destroyers of the three great
naval Allies, and by August the fear that Britain could be starved out
by means of German submarines had practically disappeared. The record of
sinkings of British vessels for the first twenty-four weeks after the
"unrestricted" warfare began was as follows:
Over Under
1,600 1,600 Smaller
Week tons. tons.
First............ 14 9
Second........... 13 4
Third............ 16 8
Fourth .......... 19 7
Fifth............ 18 13
Sixth ........... 17 2
Seventh.......... 19 9
Eighth .......... 40 15
Ninth............ 38 13
Tenth............ 24 22
Eleventh ........ 18 5
Twelfth.......... 18 5
Thirteenth ...... 18 1
Fourteenth ...... 15 3
Fifteenth........ 22 10
Sixteenth........ 27 5
Seventeenth ..... 21 7
Eighteenth ...... 15 5
Nineteenth ...... 14 3
Twentieth........ 14 4
Twenty-first..... 21 3
Twenty-second ... 18 3
Twenty-third..... 21 2
Twenty-fourth ... 14 2
Total............ 474 164
Grand total of ships sunk......
KING OF GREECE DEPOSED
King Constantine I of Greece was forced by the Allies to abdicate his
throne on June 12, 1917, in favor of his second son, Prince Alexander.
The kingdom remained, but not a pro-German one as before. In order to
block the designs of the King and court, who were doing their best to
deliver Greece to the Germans, the Entente powers were obliged to make
a succession of demands upon the Greek government, including the
demobilization of most of the army, the surrender of the fleet, and the
withdrawal of Greek troops from Thessaly. In an effort to enforce their
demands the Entente allies landed marines in Athens--who were fired
upon--and finally declared an embargo on imports into Greece. Turmoil
and intrigue continued, and pressure was brought to bear upon
Constantine which compelled him to abdicate the throne. Venizelos
returned as premier and Greece was announced as a belligerent on the
side of the Entente.
THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
In the Trentino the Italians took the offensive in June and after
terrible fighting captured the Austrian positions on Monte Ortigara and
Agnello Pass. These they were forced to relinquish, however, in the face
of Austrian counter-attacks.
The Italian campaign on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, continued
throughout the summer, was perhaps the most scientific of all the
campaigns, involving tremendous technical difficulties, which were
solved with amazing ingenuity and skill. The campaign was largely an
engineers' and an artilleryman's war, waged in the mountains, much of
it in regions of perpetual snow--highly picturesque and spectacular.
Finally, it was as little destructive as war well can be, because the
Italians were fighting in territories which they hoped to hold after the
conflict, and they spared the towns and villages to the greatest extent
possible.
BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST
The capture of Bagdad by the British in March, 1917, after a brilliant
campaign in Mesopotamia, had a deep moral effect in the Orient,
particularly in Arabia, where the natives revolted against Turkish rule
and established an independent government in Mecca.
In the Holy Land the British in 1917 opened a new era in the history of
the East. Their advance by August 1 had carried them nearly to Gaza.
Their objective was Jerusalem, which the Turks partly evacuated at their
approach, after doing untold damage in the holy city and inflicting many
atrocities upon the inhabitants.
WAR MISSIONS OF THE ALLIES
In cementing America's association with the nations which had become
her allies, numerous exchanges of missions were arranged. France, Great
Britain, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Japan and other entente belligerents
sent delegations to the United States as a step toward unification,
military, financial and otherwise. The United States sent missions to
Russia and other countries.
AERIAL ATTACKS ON LONDON
Cities from Bagdad to London were subject to aerial raids by the
Germans during the summer, notable attacks being those by Zeppelins and
aeroplanes on London and the eastern coast cities of England. In five
attacks on England in May, June and July, 298 persons were killed and
863 injured. Insistent demands were then made by the English people for
reprisals in kind.
AN ESTIMATE OP CASUALTIES
An estimate of the total war losses, made near the close of the third
year of the war and voiced by Arthur Henderson of the British War
Council, placed the number of men killed at 7,000,000 since August,
1914. French general headquarters on August 1 estimated that 1,500,
Germans had been killed up to March 1. Mr. Henderson estimated the total
casualties of the war at more than 45,000,000.
WHEN THE THIRD YEAR CLOSED
The third year of the world war closed in July, 1917, with the fortunes
of conflict favoring the Entente, except for uncertainty as to the
outcome of the Russian situation. On the western front in Europe the
Teutons found themselves on the defensive at the advent of the fourth
year. They were fighting on lines newly established after forced
retirement from terrain which they had won in earlier days at a
tremendous sacrifice.
Following the declaration of war by the United States, Cuba and Liberia
declared themselves on the side of the Allies. Panama pledged the United
States her aid in defending the Panama Canal. Costa Rica put her naval
bases at its disposal. China, Bolivia, Guatemala and Brazil severed
diplomatic relations with Germany. Uruguay expressed her sympathy with
the United States. Late in July Siam entered the war against the central
powers, and on August 14 China formally declared war against Germany
and Austria. This made a total of seventeen nations arrayed against the
central powers.
As to the prospects for the fourth year of the war, which opened in
August, 1917, American sentiment was expressed by the _New York Sun_,
which said editorially: "We expect today as at first that the end will
be catastrophic overthrow for the Kaiser and the military party of
Germany, and a dreary expiation by the German people of their sin in
allowing themselves to be dragooned into the most immoral enterprise of
the ages."
UNITED STATES WAR ACTIVITIES
The Army bill providing for raising a new national army by selective
draft duly passed the House of Representatives and the United States
Senate and was signed by President Wilson on May 18, 1917. The President
forthwith issued a proclamation calling on all male inhabitants of the
United States between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft on
the following June 5. At the same time he formally declined the offer
of Col. Roosevelt to raise a volunteer army for immediate service in
France.
On June 5, the day of registration, 9,700,000 young men of all classes
registered in their home districts throughout the country. It was then
decided to call approximately 650,000 men to the colors as the first
national army. The formal drawing of the serial numbers allotted to
registrants occurred in Washington late in July. District boards were
appointed to examine the men drafted and receive applications for
exemption, also appeal boards in every State. The month of August
was largely occupied in preparing the quotas from each district and
meanwhile cantonments were made ready for the training of the new army,
while thousands of prospective officers received intensive training in
special camps at various points, east and west, and were commissioned in
due course. Orders were then issued for the men selected to report at
the cantonments in three divisions of 200,000 men each, at intervals of
fifteen days, beginning September 5. The National Guards of the various
States were also mobilized August 9, mustered into the Federal service,
and ordered to special training camps, mostly situated in the South. The
work of assembling equipment and supplies for the new army was rushed
and the whole country hummed with the task of preparation.
AMERICAN TROOPS IN FRANCE
France and Great Britain having joined in a request for the dispatch
of an American expeditionary force to France at the earliest possible
moment, the United States government on May 18 ordered 25,000 troops
to France under the command of Major-General John J. Pershing. A large
force of marines was subsequently ordered to join them, bringing the
strength of the expedition up to approximately 40,000 men. General
Pershing and his staff preceded the troops to Europe, reaching London
June 8 and Paris June 13, and being enthusiastically welcomed in both
the Allied capitals.
Convoyed by American warships, the first and second contingents of
American troops crossed the Atlantic in safety, despite two submarine
attacks on the transports in which at least one U-boat was sunk. Without
the loss of a ship or a man the troops were landed in France on June
and 27, to be received with outbursts of joy by the French populace,
who saw in their coming the assurance of final delivery from the German
invaders. Training camps awaited their coming and there, behind the
French lines they spent the months of July and August in active
preparation for service under the Stars and Stripes against the German
enemy on the western front.
U.S. WARSHIPS BUSY
America's destroyer flotilla arrived in British waters in May and
immediately co-operated with the British fleet in the patrol of its home
waters and the hunt for German submarines. The flotilla was commanded by
Vice-Admiral Sims and did effective work from the very start.
On August 11 it was announced in Washington that Admiral Sims had sent
to the Navy Department a series of reports detailing the work of the
American ships and men under his command. These were said to present
a thrilling story of accomplishment, telling of many encounters with
U-boats and also of the rescue of numerous crews of ships which had been
destroyed by submarines off the coasts of England and Ireland.
Soon after war was declared by the United States, American warships took
over from British and French vessels the patrol of American coasts,
while Brazil added her navy to that of the United States for the
protection of South American waters against the common enemy.
THE FIRST "LIBERTY LOAN"
On May 2, a few weeks after the United States entered the war,
subscriptions were opened for the first block of $2,000,000,000 of the
"Liberty loan" of $7,000,000,000 authorized by Congress in April. Great
popular interest was evinced and all classes of the American people
hastened to subscribe for the 3-1/2 per cent bonds, so that when the
books were closed on June 15 it was found that the loan had been
oversubscribed by $1,035,226,850 and the list of subscribers contained
no fewer than 4,000,000 names. Most of the amount raised was used
for loans to the Allies, to be expended in the United States for war
munitions and supplies.
A war budget appropriating $3,340,000,000 for current expenses of the
war was passed by Congress and signed by the President June 15; also an
Espionage bill which among other important provisions gave the President
power to place an embargo on all exports. On July 14 the House of
Representatives passed an Aviation bill appropriating the sum of
$640,000,000 for the construction and maintenance of an aerial fleet for
home and foreign service.
FOOD CONTROL BILL PASSED
On August 10 President Wilson signed the Food Control bill adopted by
Congress after prolonged debate, and he at once announced the
formal appointment of Mr. Herbert C. Hoover as United States food
administrator. Mr. Hoover, whose work as chief of the Belgian Relief
Commission had made him world famous, stated the threefold objects of
the food administration under the bill as follows:
"First, to so guide the trade in the fundamental food commodities as to
eliminate vicious speculation, extortion, and wasteful practices, and to
stabilize prices in the essential staples. Second, to guard our exports
so that against the world's shortage we retain sufficient supplies for
our own people, and to coöperate with the Allies to prevent inflation of
prices; and, third, that we stimulate in every manner within our power
the saving of our food in order that we may increase exports to our
Allies to a point which will enable them to properly provision their
armies and to feed their peoples during the coming winter."
INTERNAL HANDICAPS IN AMERICA
While the United States was busily engaged in raising its new national
army, innumerable difficulties arose to be contended with by the Federal
and State governments and local authorities. Not the least of these was
caused by enemy propaganda of various kinds, designed to interfere with
the success of the selective draft. Active opposition to the draft
developed in many districts, especially in the Western states where
the organization calling itself the "Industrial Workers of the World,"
notorious as the "I.W.W.," had a considerable following, including many
aliens, and gave the State and municipal authorities much trouble.
Attacks on munition plants, strikes, and incipient riots were frequent,
until the Federal government declared its determination to meet all such
demonstrations with the strong arm of the law. Pacifists and pro-Germans
of various stripes did their utmost to retard war preparations, and
caused much annoyance, without, however, preventing the steady march of
the selected men to the training cantonments, where the first divisions
of the national army gradually assembled. The presence in the country
of so many aliens of enemy birth constituted a difficulty, but this had
been foreseen and partly provided against, and the true American spirit
of patriotism steadily prevailed over all obstacles to the successful
prosecution of the war for humanity. Uncle Sam prepared to strike--and
strike hard.
INTERNAL TROUBLES IN GERMANY
Meanwhile, internal troubles developed in the German empire. Weary of
the war, with hopes of final victory dwindling month by month, a strong
peace party arose in the Reichstag, committing itself to the policy of
a peace without annexations or indemnities, and for a brief time the
Reichstag refused to vote a war credit. This brought the Kaiser, Von
Hindenburg, and Von Ludendorff in hot haste to Berlin, to exert the
utmost possible pressure of the military party on the recalcitrants. For
the time being their power prevailed, but the German Chancellor, Von
Bethmann Hollweg, was sacrificed, together with the Foreign Minister and
other leading officials of the empire. The Chancellor was succeeded by
Dr. Georg Michaelis, a statesman of colorless and practically unknown
quality, suspected of being a mere mouthpiece of the Kaiser, appointed
to register his decrees and continue the policy of the autocracy in the
conduct of the war. But many peace proposals came out of Germany during
the summer and every possible German effort was made to break the
solidarity of the Allies.
THE POPE PROPOSES PEACE
On August 14 Pope Benedict addressed to all the belligerent nations
a proposal for a peace agreement, stating the general terms which he
believed might be found acceptable as a basis for the cessation
of hostilities. These included disarmament of the nations, mutual
condonation of damages, the establishment of the principle of
arbitration for the future, the evacuation of Belgian and French
territory by the Germans, reciprocal restoration of the German colonies,
and a peace-table agreement as to Alsace-Lorraine, Poland, the Trentino,
Armenia and the Balkan states.
Nothing being said as to the causes of the war and the criminal
responsibility attaching to the authors of the great conflict, and all
the nations at issue being classed as equally entitled to the benefits
of the condonation proposed, the message from the Vatican met with a
cool reception from the Allied nations, including the United States,
especially as they entertained grave suspicions that it was inspired
from Berlin, by way of Vienna. The answers of President Wilson and
the British and French governments were therefore awaited with little
expectation that the hour for peace had struck.
The British attitude toward peace proposals was expressed July 20 by Sir
Edward Carson, member of the war cabinet, who said:
"If the Germans want peace we are prepared tomorrow to treat not
with Prussianism, but with the best of the German nation, and as a
preliminary to such a treaty and as an earnest of their sincerity that
they don't want to acquire any territory or show violence towards
others, we tell them to come forward and offer to enter negotiations. We
make as the first condition of such a parley that they shall withdraw
their troops behind the Rhine.
"When they have shown something like contrition for the wrongs and
outrages against humanity which they have committed on poor little
Belgium, in northern France, in Serbia, and in those other regions which
they needlessly drenched with blood, we will be willing to enter into
negotiations to see what can be done for release of the world from the
terror of arms."
CANADIANS HOLD THEIR GAINS
On August 21 Canadian troops smashed their way with bombs and cold steel
farther into the German defenses of the ruins of Lens, and defeated a
desperate simultaneous attack by the enemy, which developed into one of
the most sanguinary hand-to-hand conflicts on this battle-scarred front.
The attack began at dawn with the capture of 2,000 yards of German
positions on the outskirts of the shell-torn mining center, the
Canadians driving their lines closer about the heart of the city and
gaining possession of many railway embankments and colliery sidings in
the northwest and southwest suburbs which had been strongly fortified
for defense with a series of shell-hole nests of machine guns. The
battle raged fiercely for twenty-four hours.
When the Canadians went "over the top" in the thick haze of early dawn
of the 21st, they saw masses of shadowy gray figures advancing toward
them. The Germans had planned an attack to be delivered at the same
moment, and sent in wave after wave of infantry in desperate efforts to
regain their lost positions. In the words of an eyewitness, the Germans
fought like cornered rats among the shell holes and wire incumbrances of
"No man's Land," where the struggle raged, bomb and bayonet being the
principal weapons. As the Canadian bayonet did its deadly work, in some
of the bitterest fighting of the war, the German officers tried in vain
to rally their men and the enemy infantry gradually fell back to the
trenches they had left. The Canadians followed closely and, leaping on
the parapets, hurled masses of bombs down among great numbers of troops
which had been collected for the attack. The Germans tried to flee
through the communication trenches, but the Canadians leaped among them
with bayonets and bombs, killing many and sparing few as prisoners.
Throughout the day the entire line was a seething caldron, but the new
Canadian positions were firmly held as night fell.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig after the battle sent a message of
congratulation to Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, commanding the
Canadian forces, and refuted the German claim that the Canadians had
attacked with four instead of two divisions when Hill 70 was captured by
the gallant fellows from the Dominion. The commander-in-chief also gave
the Canadians credit for having reached all their objectives in the
battles of the previous week.
Eight heavy assaults were delivered against the Canadians at Lens by the
Germans during the night of the 21st, but in each case the enemy was
thrown back at the point of the bayonet and by afternoon of August
the Canadians had consolidated all the new positions gained. During the
battle of Lens up to this time (from August 15 to 22) the Canadians took
1,378 prisoners, 34 machine guns and 21 trench mortars. The number of
prisoners taken bore only a small ratio to the losses inflicted on the
Germans, who appeared exhausted when the assaults ceased.
On August 22 the British launched another fierce attack on the enemy
in the Langemarck sector of the front and forced their way to a
considerable depth in the neighborhood of the ridge known as Hill 35,
strongly defended by Irish troops against Prince Rupprecht's Bavarians.
At the same time a new battle at Verdun was in progress, but the
French held all their gains against reserves massed by the Germans for
desperate counter-attacks.
ITALIANS IN A GREAT OFFENSIVE
On the Isonzo front the Italian commander, General Cadorna, launched a
great offensive while the British were active in Flanders and by August
23 had broken through the whole Austrian line, capturing the town of
Selo, which was the pivot of the Austrian defense, and considered
impregnable, and inflicting upon the enemy, in this eleventh battle of
the Isonzo, the greatest losses he had sustained since the capture of
Goritz. More than 13,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners were captured during
the battle, with thirty guns, and all counter-attacks were repulsed with
heavy losses. The whole Selo line fell before the heroic onslaught of
the Italians, and the loss of this important position was a serious blow
to the Austrians. On August 22 Italian warships were showering shells on
Trieste, the big Austrian port on the Adriatic which was the objective
of the Italian campaign.
HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN!
"In the welter of the conflict an emperor of Austria-Hungary has died,
full of years and of sorrow, a czar of Russia has stepped from his
throne, and a king of Greece has lost his crown," said a well-known
publicist, reviewing the war up to this time.
"Not one of the prime ministers or ministers of foreign affairs who
conducted the diplomatic maneuvers preceding of immediately following
the beginning of the war in the six most important countries of Europe
is still in power. In Russia, Goremykin and Sazonoff are forgotten
behind a line of successors, equally unstable. In France, Delcassé left
the foreign office and Viviani ceased to head the cabinet, following the
collapse of Serbia in the second autumn of the war.
"The tragedy of Roumania a year later contributed to the overthrow of
Asquith and his foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, in Great Britain.
San Giuliano of the Italian foreign office and Salandra, the
prime minister, have passed. Count Berchtold, foreign minister of
Austria-Hungary in 1914 (the empire has no prime minister), has passed
into oblivion, while Von Jagow gave up the management of Germany's
foreign affairs last autumn. Von Bethmann-Hollweg, the last of the group
to lose his grip, has just gone down, despite the fact that he was not
responsible to any elective body.
"Ministers of war in the belligerent countries have not been more
stable. Kerensky follows a long procession in Russia. France has had
four war ministers from Millerand to Painlevé, inclusive, while Lord
Kitchener, organizer of Great Britain's most marvelous war achievement,
a volunteer army of some 4,000,000 men, sleeps below the waters of the
North Sea.
"History has as ruthlessly brushed aside most of the army commanders of
the early days. Von Kluck, who led the Germans on Paris, is retired.
Rennenkampf, with whom the Russians meanwhile swarmed into East Prussia,
is a memory only. Sir John French has been recalled to England. That
little group of generals who saved France and Europe at the Marne is
decimated. Foch and Castelnau, and Manoury are no longer in command,
while Galliéni, worn out in the service of his country, was borne on his
last journey through the streets of Paris on a sunny spring day in 1916.
"Even Joffre has been superseded in a military sense, though not as an
idol of the nation. France still holds him as close to her heart as
Germany possibly could hold Von Hindenburg--almost the only one of the
war's early commanders to retain his military power."
RUSSIAN CAPITAL IN PERIL
On August 23, Riga, the Russian seaport which is the gateway to
Petrograd, was reported in peril from the Germans, who were conducting a
determined advance on the north of the eastern front under the immediate
direction of Field Marshal Von Hindenburg. With a Japanese mission in
Washington, headed by Viscount Ishii, it was expected that steps might
be taken to send Japanese troops to the aid of the Russians.
Russia's critical internal situation, aggravated by the new German drive
against Riga, was watched by officials in Washington with the gravest
concern. While the taking of Riga would not necessarily be a decisive
blow, it would make the Baltic more than ever a German lake, leaving the
Russian fleet in the position of the mouse in the rathole to the German
cat, just as the Kaiser's fleet was the mouse to the English fleet
outside.
The outcome of the forthcoming extraordinary national council to be held
at Moscow was therefore awaited in Washington with the keenest interest,
scarcely less keen than in Russia itself. The immediate fate of Russia,
it was felt, depended upon the action of the council in its efforts to
throw off the demoralizing socialistic control of the Russian army and
workmen. German intrigues in Russia were known to be exerting powerful
influence to bring about anarchy within the new democracy.
CLOSING IN ON LENS
An advance by the Canadians in the neighborhood of the Green Grassier on
the southern edge of Lens added greatly to the strength of the British
line, which continued to tighten steadily about the heart of the city.
The Grassier is a great slag heap, and lies only about 300 yards south
of the central railway station of Lens, and overlooks it.
The Canadians made their assault before dawn this time, and the attack
was preceded by a protracted and exceedingly intense bombardment of the
German positions. The Germans, exhausted by the long strain of constant
counter-attacks, found the Canadians in their midst with little warning.
But the defenders did not give up without a struggle, and there was
fierce bayonet fighting.
The Grassier was an important buffer between the Canadians and the
defenses of the city proper, and the Germans reached it through tunnels
connected with the network of passages and dugouts beneath Lens.
Part of the ground about the Grassier was inundated, due to the waterway
near by having broken its banks, and this, in conjunction with the
great number of machine-gun emplacements on the elevation, made it a
particularly difficult position for attack.
An advance upon two German colliery positions adjoining the Grassier to
the northwest, earlier in the night, also involved stiff hand-to-hand
fighting. About the Grassier were numerous shell-shattered buildings,
many of which had been strongly fortified by the Germans. The Canadians
bombed their way systematically through these defenses, silencing the
machine guns and clearing out the defenders.
The fighting on August 23 was on the edge of the city proper, rather
than in the suburbs. Notwithstanding the tremendous strain upon the
Canadians during the previous week, there was no diminution in the
strength of their attacks. They worked steadily and methodically,
gradually weaving a net about the Germans, who were living miserably in
their underground positions within the great coal center.
MANY GERMANS CAPTURED
In the three days' fighting on the western front from August 21 to 23,
the Entente Allies captured 25,000 German prisoners and by September
1 the total for August had reached more than 40,000, according to
Major-General Frederick B. Maurice, chief director of the British war
intelligence office. This topped the figure of prisoners which the
Germans claimed to have taken in a single month on the Russian front,
although their total undoubtedly was composed by at least half of mere
stragglers from the mutinous and disorganized Russian units.
On September 1, 1917, the positions recaptured by the French around
Verdun were safely consolidated in their possession, every German effort
being thrown back in disorder. The fighting had developed into a big-gun
duel, in which the French continued to maintain undoubted mastery, and
they were firmly established once more on the left bank of the Meuse,
which the Germans had intended to hold at all costs. Thus ended the last
hope of the Crown Prince of Germany, who apparently was obsessed with
the desire to conquer Verdun, in the neighborhood of which thousands of
the flower of the German army found only a burial place, without any
laurels of victory.
ALLIED GAINS IN THE WEST
The early autumn of 1917 witnessed steady gains by the British and
French forces co-operating in Flanders and to the South of the Belgian
border along the western front. The artillery on both sides was
constantly active, but with evident superiority on the part of the
Allies. Repeated German attacks were repulsed in the Champagne and along
the Meuse, while in the Ypres region the Allied troops made frequent
gains in spite of the concrete defenses established by the enemy to
strengthen their entrenched positions.
Repeated successes of the Allies along the Chemin des Dames finally
forced a German retreat along a fifteen-mile front which the Crown
Prince had made strenuous efforts to hold. The Germans were compelled to
retire because French victories on October 21-23 enabled French guns to
enfilade the Ailette Valley behind the German positions, exposing the
enemy to a series of disastrous flanking attacks and hampering the
German communications. On October 30-31 the French bombarded the German
lines vigorously. The enemy had already moved their artillery across the
Ailette to a ridge north of the river. On the night of November 1 they
completed their preparations for retreat and withdrew their infantry.
French patrols approaching the German lines on the morning of November
2 were fired upon at first, but on renewing their reconnoissance soon
after dawn found the German trenches empty.
It was impossible for the Germans to keep their front line supplied with
ammunition or food, the carriers of which were obliged to pass through a
tornado of shells and machine gun bullets while crossing the Valley of
the Ailette, where their every movement could be observed by the French.
Eventually the position became untenable and the Germans retired during
the night to the Northern side of the Ailette Valley. The best elements
of the Crown Prince's army had sustained severe losses and were
compelled to go to the rear to reconstitute their diminished ranks. The
evacuated territory North of the crest of Chemin des Dames included
several towns that had been pulverized by bombardment, and the retreat
brought the important city of Laon within range of the French guns.
The captures by the French in this sector from September 23 to November
1 included 12,000 prisoners, 200 heavy field guns, 220 trench mortars,
and 720 machine guns. In ten days, from September 21 to 30, twenty-three
German airplanes were destroyed and twenty-eight forced to descend badly
damaged.
THE FIRST AMERICAN CASUALTIES
The first list of Americans killed and wounded in combat with the enemy
reached Washington on October 17, in an official report from Rear
Admiral Sims of an encounter between a German submarine and an American
destroyer. One American sailor was killed and five sailors were wounded
when the submarine torpedoed the destroyer Cassin on patrol duty in
European waters. The destroyer was not sunk and after making a gallant
fight reached a British port.
Two days later Rear Admiral Sims reported that the American troop
transport Antilles, homeward bound from France, was torpedoed and sunk
by a German submarine on October 17. Seventy men of the 237 aboard lost
their lives, including four naval enlisted men, sixteen army enlisted
men, three ship's officers, and 47 members of the ship's crew. The
Antilles was under convoy of American patrol vessels at the time it was
sunk.
FRENCH TRIBUTE TO U.S. DEAD
At the burial on November 7 of the first three American soldiers killed
in the trenches in France by a raiding party of Germans, a guard of
French infantrymen, in their picturesque uniforms of red and horizon
blue, stood on one side and a detachment of American soldiers on the
other while the flag-wrapped coffins were lowered into the grave, as a
bugler blew taps and the batteries nearby fired minute guns. The French
officer commanding in the sector paid an eloquent tribute to the fallen
Americans, his words being punctuated by the roar of the guns and the
whistle of shells. In conclusion he said:
"In the name of the French army and in the name of France, I bid
farewell to Private Enright, Private Gresham and Private Hay of the
American army.
"Of their own free will they had left a prosperous and happy country to
come over here. They knew war was continuing in Europe; they knew that
the forces fighting for honor, love of justice and civilization were
still checked by the long-prepared forces serving the powers of brutal
domination, oppression and barbarity. They knew that efforts were still
necessary. They wished to give up their generous hearts and they had not
forgotten old historical memories while others forgot more recent ones.
"They ignored nothing of the circumstances and nothing had been
concealed from them--neither the length and hardships of war nor the
violence of battle, nor the dreadfulness of new weapons, nor the perfidy
of the foe. Nothing stopped them. They accepted the hard and strenuous
life; they crossed the ocean at great peril; they took their places on
the front by our side and they have fallen facing the foe in a hard and
desperate hand-to-hand fight. Honor to them! Their families, friends and
fellow-citizens will be proud when they learn of their deaths.
"Men! These graves, the first to be dug in our national soil and only a
short distance from the enemy, are as a mark of the mighty land we and
our Allies firmly cling to in the common task, confirming the will of
the people and the army of the United States to fight with us to a
finish, ready to sacrifice as long as is necessary until final victory
for the most noble of causes, that of the liberty of nations, the weak
as well as the mighty. Thus the deaths of these humble soldiers appeal
to us with extraordinary grandeur.
"We will therefore ask that the mortal remains of these young men be
left here, left with us forever. We inscribe on the tombs, 'Here lie the
first soldiers of the republic of the United States to fall on the soil
of France for liberty and justice.' The passer-by will stop and uncover
his head. Travelers and men of heart will go out of their way to come
here to pay their respective tributes.
"Private Enright! Private Gresham! Private Hay! In the name of France, I
thank you. God receive your souls! Farewell!"
ITALY INVADED BY TEUTONS
In the first week of October Austrian forces, heavily reinforced by
Germans, opened a gigantic drive in an effort to crush Italy. It soon
resulted in wiping out all the gains made by the Italians under General
Cadorna on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, and in a determined invasion
of Northern Italy by the enemy, with the city of Venice as its immediate
objective.
The Teuton attack began on the morning of October 24, after an intensive
artillery fire in which specially constructed gas shells were thrown at
various places. The offensive covered a 23-mile front, from Monte Rombon
Southeast through Flitsch and Tolmino and thence Southward to the
Bainsizza Plateau, about ten miles Northeast of Goritz, the scene of
desperate fighting in the drive by the Italians which wrested important
mountain positions from the Austrians.
The greatest shock came from the North, where the Isonzo was first
crossed by the enemy. At this point there occurred a weakening of
certain troops of the second Italian army, which gave the overwhelming
German contingents an opportunity to pass forward between a portion of
the army on the North and that on a line farther South. Then began the
double exposure of the Southern force to fire in the front and on the
flank which required a steady falling back until the entire Italian
army was moving towards newly-established positions farther West. The
commanding height of Monte Nero, which the Italians had occupied after
deeds of great valor, was defended against onslaughts from three
sides which gradually resulted in envelopment and the capture of many
thousands of Italian troops and hundreds of guns.
A general retreat of the Italian forces was then carried out, with
shielding operations by rear guards, and the main body of General
Cadorna's army retired to the Tagliamento. The Germans encountered
stubborn resistance on the Bainsizza Plateau and heaps of enemy dead
marked the lines of their advance. In one of the mountain passes a small
village, commanding the pass, was taken and retaken eight times during
desperate artillery, infantry and hand-to-hand fighting.
Goritz was shelled heavily and what remained of the city was further
reduced to a mass of debris. One of the main bridges from Goritz across
the Isonzo was blown up by the Italians and the enemy movement thus was
further impeded.
West of Goritz the town of Cormons also was shelled heavily. The great
German guns opened enormous craters and literally tore the towns to
pieces.