=Mont-St.-Père.=--_In the village, at the fork of G. C. 4 (on the right,
leading to Epieds) and G. C. 3 (leading to Château-Thierry), take the
former for about 200 yards to a road on the left, which leads to the top
of the hill_, where stand the ruins of the church (photo p. 126) and
castle. _Leaving the car, which should return to the Château-Thierry
road and wait at the exit of Mont-St.-Père, at the point where the lane
from the Church of Mont-St.-Père rejoins the road to Château-Thierry_,
the tourist should go on foot to the church and castle.
On September 3, 1914, a French infantry regiment, retreating southwards,
found Mont-St.-Père occupied by the Germans. Forcing their way through
at the point of the bayonet, they crossed the Marne, and after
destroying the bridge, continued their retreat.
_After admiring the_ =view=, _the tourist should descend the hill on the
side opposite; on reaching the Château-Thierry road he will find his car
waiting for him_.
On the hillside to the right, on leaving Mont-St.-Père, there is an
American cemetery (photo, p. 126).
The road continues to follow the Marne. Pass through =Gland=, leaving the
church on the left. =Brasles= is reached soon afterwards. The church is on
the right.
Throughout the whole of the region covered since leaving Jaulgonne the
Americans fought with great bravery on both banks of the Marne.
On May 28, 1918, the second day of the German Offensive, the German High
Command changed its original plans, which were to limit the operations
to the taking of the heights south of the Vesle, and then to cause the
fall of Soissons and Rheims. The Franco-British resistance on the two
wings, and the rapid advance of the Germans in the centre, caused the
German High Command to attempt the thrust towards the Marne. From May 29
to June 1 the centre of the 7th German Army made a dash for the Marne.
On the evening of the 29th the Kommandant of the 231st Division declared
that it was a “question of honour to reach the Marne to-morrow.” Two
second line divisions (the 231st and 103rd) were interposed between the
10th and 28th on one side, and the 36th and 5th Guards on the other. It
thus became a race to the Marne between these divisions. On May 30 the
231st reached the river at about two o’clock in the afternoon, between
Brasles and Mont-St.-Père, while the 28th entered Jaulgonne at six in
the evening.
[Illustration: RUINED CHURCH AT BRASLES.]
On June 1 the Germans tried to get a footing on the heights on the south
bank of the Marne. It has been seen that they were unable to cross the
river at Château-Thierry, the bridge having been destroyed. At Jaulgonne
a battalion of the 36th succeeded in crossing, on the nights of May 31
and June 1, only to be thrown back on the other side, or captured by
Franco-American troops on the 2nd. On the 3rd the Germans gave up the
attempt, and things quietened down in this sector, which the Americans
continued to guard.
During the German “Peace Offensive” of July 15, the Americans (3rd
Division) resolutely withstood the shock on the Marne. Behind a thick
smoke curtain, and favoured by the night mists, German pioneers threw
bridges over the river from Gland eastwards, along a twelve-mile front.
About a dozen bridges, some of them 25 to 30 feet wide, were
established. German engineers were particularly active in front of
Mont-St.-Père, Jaulgonne, and Chartèves. At dawn, while the infantry
were being taken across the river in boats and on pontoons worked by
steel cables, the artillery crossed the bridges. French and American
aviators, flying as low as 150 feet, raked the bridges and pontoons with
machine-gun fire, while two of the bridges, struck by bombs, collapsed,
throwing men, horses, and baggage into the river.
At great sacrifice the Germans succeeded in getting a footing on the
southern slopes of the Marne. The objectives of their extreme right,
starting from Chartèves, were points five to six miles south of the
river. They were held up by the Americans. Of the 1,000 prisoners taken
by the Allies during their counter-attack south of the Marne on July 15,
600 were captured by the Americans, who forced the Germans back over the
river, west of Jaulgonne. To the east of that village the Germans
advanced several kilometres south of the river. Part of the American
front, facing eastwards, made a dogged resistance until July 20, in
spite of enemy reinforcements. The 3rd American Division fought for nine
consecutive days, and was only relieved by the 32nd Division on July 30.
The success of the Franco-American counter-attack of July 18, from
Château-Thierry to Soissons, relieved the violent pressure on the
Americans, and forced the Germans to retreat across the river. It was
now the turn of the Americans to attack. On the 21st they crossed the
river and occupied Mont-St.-Père, Chartèves, and Jaulgonne. On the 22nd,
they captured the villages east of Jaulgonne, and continued their march
towards the Ourcq.
The tourist has now gone over their field of action.
_From Château-Thierry, return to Paris per the itinerary used for
coming._
(_On arriving at the fortifications of Paris, the tourist should present
his “bulletin de réintroduction” at the “Octroi."_)