Walking back along the road, where now there were a few belated boche
shells coming, the heavy artillery officer said: "From my observation
post we could see them for a couple of minutes. They went just the way
they rehearsed, just walked along slowly, keeping in fine alignment.
We could see two of the three waves and not a single man out of place,
following the barrage like veterans. We could even see an individual
man sometimes."
Beside the road ambulances were waiting. From overhead an observer came
sweeping down to drop a message near a white marker on the ground. He
leaned out of his seat and waved his hand; then the machine soared up
again. Evidently all was going well. Other planes were hovering over
Cantigny.
As we entered headquarters all about the guns were crashing and
flashing. Headquarters was an underground hive swarming with activity.
Officers were hugging telephones or were bent over maps under electric
lights. Some were in khaki and some were in light blue. The first of
these latter was Lieut. Col. de Chambrun, a descendant of Lafayette.
"It goes well," he said, and a moment later an American officer called
from a telephone: "They can see the boche throwing down his arms in
Cantigny." After that the messages came thick and fast:
"The first boche shell hit our front line at 7:06--the Colonel
has twenty prisoners--the right flank is sending back about a
hundred--balloon reports grenade fighting west of Cantigny where
our men are mopping up the trenches--two of our stretcher bearers
are returning with an empty stretcher--one tank returning from
Cantigny--our men are seen walking around the street of Cantigny--flame
throwers can be seen through the smoke clearing out the dug-outs--enemy
fire beginning on Cantigny Wood at 7:30, three-quarters of an hour
after zero."
After that come other reports of German batteries at last able to
operate, though haltingly. Shortly afterward the officer reported,
laconically, "There goes my observation post. Steve's gone to capture
Cantigny single-handed. Couldn't keep him there."
The French and Americans were jubilant. There were mutual handshakings,
then silence, and in came a grimy, sweaty, but happy soldier, the
first of the men who'd been over the top into Cantigny. He saluted
punctiliously: "Sir, I have brought back twenty prisoners."