TOWARD HUNLAND
Near Chatel-Chehery, in the depth of the woods, the soldiers found a
hunting lodge which prisoners said had been occupied for a long time by
the German Crown Prince. They said that, unmindful of the great tragedy
such a short distance away and for which he was at least partly
responsible, he entertained parties of gay friends at the lodge and went
boar hunting in the forest. That he was more or less successful was
attested by several large boars' heads on the walls.
In the course of their progress up the valley, our men had captured a
railroad which had been part of the German system of communications.
With it were taken seven locomotives and 268 cars. The locomotives were
of odd construction, to American eyes, having a big flywheel over the
boiler, and on each a fanciful name was painted in German on the side of
the cab. Locomotives and cars were camouflaged to make them blend with
the trees, bushes and ferns of the forest. An effort had been made to
wreck them, but four were easily repaired and in a few hours after they
were seized men of the 103d Engineers had the railroad running full
blast and performing valuable service.
Our men also had taken a complete 15-cottage hospital. It was located
attractively upon the side of a hill and winding paths connected the
buildings, which were of red brick and painted concrete. In the modern
operating room a gruesome sight was presented. Evidently the hospital
force had fled in haste as the Americans approached, for upon the
operating table lay a dead German with one leg amputated. The detached
member and the surgical implements lay right at hand, indicating that
the surgeons had deserted the man upon the table while operating,
without a thought for his welfare.
Another valuable capture was an electrically-operated sawmill, with
1,000,000 feet of prepared lumber. All of these, together with a number
of electric power plants, were immediately set to work for the benefit
of the division, the mill and power plants under mechanics from the
engineer regiment, the hospital under men from the sanitary train.
Moving on from Chatel-Chehery, the division took Fleville and then came
to the outskirts of Grand Pre, which promised to make itself worth the
taking of any division and which did, indeed, prove quite a stumbling
block.
Not for the Iron Division, however, for its service of fourteen days in
that magnificent drive was regarded as enough for one body of men and it
was ordered withdrawn. The organizations were relieved on October 9th
and 10th and moved southward, crossed the Aire and came to rest in
positions around Thiaucourt, sixteen miles southwest of Metz and about
four miles back of the front lines. Division headquarters was
established at Euvezin, several miles southwest of Thiaucourt.
The artillery was detached and sent scurrying away along the rear of the
roaring battle line, where the Germans now were rapidly nearing the
crash to cause which our men had done so much. Straight away northwest
they traveled, mile after mile, and when they finally came to a halt
the gunners, to their utter amazement, found themselves in that devils'
cauldron of the whole war, Belgium.
Here they were attached to the Army of Pursuit, which was intended to
hound the retiring Germans to the last ditch, but the signing of the
armistice intervened before they saw real action. The artillerymen had
thought they knew something about devastation and desolation from what
they had seen hitherto, but the sights in Belgium taught them that they
knew little of such things. That ghastly, bleak, barren land, clawed to
pieces like a carcass under the beaks of carrion birds by four long
years of war, left the Pennsylvania gunners speechless with horror.
Back with the division, the men had but a day or two to rest in the
billets about Thiaucourt. Then, just after the middle of October, the
56th Brigade moved up toward the front and took position on a line,
Xammes, Jaulny, Haumont. They had now become a part of the Second
American Army, which obviously was getting into position for a drive on
Metz, and our men looked forward to more strenuous work.
The 55th Brigade was to have relieved the 56th in ten days, but this
order was countermanded. The 55th instead moved up and took position on
the left of the 56th, and it was approximately in these positions that
the signing of the armistice found our men. In the meantime they had
some smart action and a number of casualties, but the work was nothing
which drew attention during the closing days of the world's greatest
war. When hostilities ceased they were moved back somewhat and went into
a real rest camp based on Heudi-court. On November 18th they achieved
the right to wear a gold chevron on the left cuff in token of their
having been six months in overseas service.
Four days before this, however, on November 14th, the division was named
as one of several to push forward toward the German frontier, to act in
support of the Third Army, the American Army of Occupation.
Disappointment at not having been made a part of the Army of Occupation
promptly gave way to rejoicing at this new honor and fresh evidence of
the confidence reposed in the Pennsylvanians by the High Command.
Some days before the signing of the armistice, General Muir had taken
leave of the division with every sign of deep regret. He was going to
take command of the Fourth Army Corps and Major-General William H. Hay
succeeded him in command of the Twenty-eighth.
General Muir once more took occasion to voice his admiration for the
division as a whole and directed that special orders, commending each
unit and mentioning some of the special feats it had performed, be
issued to the commanding officers of the units. These were in turn
reproduced by the commanding officers and a copy given to each man.
In concluding this record, probably nothing could be more appropriate
than to quote the order of its fighting commander, citing its glorious
action. The communication read:
"The Division Commander desires to express his appreciation to all the
officers and soldiers of the Twenty-eighth Division and of its attached
units who, at all times during the advance in the valley of the Aire and
in the Argonne forest, in spite of their many hardships and constant
personal danger, gave their best efforts to further the success of the
division.
"As a result of this operation, which extended from 5.30 o'clock on the
morning of September 26th until the night of October 8th, with almost
continuous fighting, the enemy line was forced back more than ten
kilometers.
"In spite of the most stubborn and at times desperate resistance, the
enemy was driven out of Grand Boureuilles, Petite Boureuilles, Varennes,
Montblaineville, Apremont, Pleinchamp Farm, Le Forge and Chatel-Chehery,
and the strongholds on Hills 223 and 244 and La Chene Tondu were
captured in the face of strong machine gun and artillery fire.
"As a new division on the Vesle River, north of Chateau-Thierry, the
Twenty-eighth was cited in orders from General Headquarters for its
excellent service, and the splendid work it has just completed assures
it a place in the very front ranks of fighting American divisions.
"With such a position to maintain, it is expected that every man will
devote his best efforts to the work at hand to hasten that final victory
which is now so near."
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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the |
| original document have been preserved. |
| |
| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
| |
| Page 24 their's changed to theirs |
| Page 85 stubborness changed to stubbornness |
| Page 88 dumfounded changed to dumbfounded |
| Page 297 Montblainville changed to Montblaineville |
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