_This itinerary is a continuation of the circuit of the left bank of
the Meuse. It joins it at the village of Esnes (see plan above, on
the right)._
_Tourists who do not wish to prolong their itinerary by the loop
Montfaucon-Romagne can make straight for Vauquois, then, in Argonne,
by the G. C. 28, the road from Esnes to Varennes via Avocourt and
Vauquois._
_Tourists starting from Sainte-Menehould can reach Varennes by R. N.
3 from Islettes and Clermont-en-Argonne road: from Clermont, climb
the Aire valley as far as Varennes, then Vauquois by G. C. 2a and R.
N. 46._
_This itinerary joins up with that from Champagne via Vienne-la-Ville
and Ville-sur-Tourbe._
_Starting from Esnes by G. C. 18, the road climbs to Hill 304, then
falls to Forges stream and Malancourt, beyond which were our first
lines from 1914 to 1916._
_The road then climbs towards the peak of Montfaucon, one of the most
famous German observation posts along the whole front. This peak
embraced a horizon extending from the plains of Champagne to the
Heights of the Meuse._
From Hill 304 the tourist traverses the battle area of the 79th
American Division when the latter attacked the formidable heights of
Montfaucon on September 26th 1918.
To the 313th American Regiment fell the honour of making a direct
attack on Montfaucon while the other regiments of the division had to
outflank the peak right and left. Reaching the bottom of the slopes
the 313th attacked with two tanks at nightfall. They were overwhelmed
with a deluge of fire and forced to withdraw to the northern edges of
Montfaucon wood.
[Illustration: THROUGH THE APERTURE OF THE OBSERVATION POST BELOW.]
On the following morning they returned to the attack, supported by
tanks and a barrage of machine guns. At 11 a.m. the 313th entered the
village and at 1 p.m. units of the 27th Division effected contact
with the victors.
[Illustration: THE OBSERVATION POST OF MONTFAUCON.
_It was constructed on the site of and with the ruins of the
church._]
[Illustration: MONTFAUCON.--THE CHURCH IN OCTOBER 1918.]
[Illustration: MONTFAUCON. ARCH OF THE NORTH AISLE, TAKEN FROM THE
CHOIR.
_In the background in front of the trees, the German observation
post._]
[Illustration: THE IMMENSE AMERICAN NECROPOLIS OF
ROMAGNE-SOUS-MONTFAUCON IN 1922.
_In this cemetery, the most impressive in existence, the Americans
have massed together 25,500 graves._]
[Illustration: ROMAGNE. _Straight ahead is the road to Bantheville._]
_A large number of bodies have since been taken to the United States,
but 15,000 graves still remain in this cemetery._
_From Montfaucon follow I. C. 4 to Cierges and Romagne. In Romagne,
near the church keep right along the Cunel road and cross the bridge.
About 250 metres beyond the village, the vast American cemetery
of Romagne on the slopes of a hill comes into view. Return to the
church, then follow the Charpentry-Varennes road, G. C. 2a._
_Pass through Eclisfontaine and then Charpentry. Beyond this village
the road descends the valley of Aire. Two kilometres beyond the
village, turn left along R. N. 46 to Varennes._
_In Varennes, after crossing the railway, and before reaching the
church, turn left for 200 metres, then turn left again along G. C. 38
which goes down to Vauquois. Cross the railway and about 4 kilometres
from Varennes, take the road leading right to the new village of
Vauquois at the foot of the famous mound._
[Illustration: PANORAMIC VIEW OF VAUQUOIS CREST TAKEN FROM THE
VARENNES-AVOCOURT ROAD _(German lines)._]
=VAUQUOIS=
=Vauquois= is one of the famous points of the Argonne battlefield.
The Germans took it in September, 1914, during a strong attack on
the French 3rd Army, in their efforts to encircle Verdun. The ridge
concealed their operations to the north of Varennes, covered the
re-victualling of the Argonne front by the Four-de-Paris road, and
in addition furnished their artillery with an excellent observation
post. The importance of the position caused the Germans to convert
it into a veritable fortress. Caves were made in the rock and
connected by underground passages. The streets of the village were
excavated, so that the vent-holes of the cellars formed loop-holes
on a level with a man's head. The walls of the houses and gardens
were battlemented, and trenches were dug in the slopes in front of
the village. The position was supported and flanked by the guns
in the Woods of Cheppy, Montfaucon and Argonne. Approach was the
more difficult, in that the position was surrounded on all sides by
ravines and glacis, which provided admirable firing positions for the
machine-guns.
This formidable position, which, earlier in the war, before the
improvement in the French artillery, would have been considered
impregnable, was taken by the French 10th Infantry Division (Valdant)
after heroic sacrifices. The first assaults especially, made without
artillery preparation or support, cost the splendid French Infantry
heavy losses.
The first attack was made on October 28, 1914, by two battalions of
the 46th Regiment of the line. The French front lines were then on
the Mamelon Blanc, facing Vauquois. Two companies debouching from
Noir Wood attacked the western slopes of Vauquois, the sections
deployed in skirmishing order, without artillery preparation, and
without a single big French gun being fired on the village. As
the men dashed forward up the slopes, they were shot down by the
carefully concealed German riflemen, but continued nevertheless to
advance, in spite of the rain of bullets, till an avalanche of big
German shells overwhelmed and scattered them. At the end of half an
hour almost all of them were out of action.
The second assault was made on the following day (the 29th), after
a very short artillery preparation, during which only a few shells
were fired, most of which failed to burst. Fresh companies attacked
further to the right, near the Cigalerie. The men charged with the
bayonet, but as on the previous day, were mown down by the German
machine-guns and rifles, and failed, after heavy losses. At night, an
attempt to rescue the wounded left on the field was unsuccessful, the
enemy firing pitilessly on the stretcher-bearers, in spite of the Red
Cross lantern.
The third assault was carried out on February 17th, 1915. The
operation went near to success. The artillery preparation with 75's,
155's and 270's lasted more than twelve hours. Before the attack,
three mines should have gone up and destroyed the enemy lines. Only
one exploded, but not being dug deep enough into the hill, the effect
was merely that of a small mine and the stones thrown up fell back
for the most part on the starting off trench, killing or wounding 30
men. In spite of the confusion created by the mine, the men climbed
the ladders and proceeded to the attack. The band of the 31st Line
Regiment, grouped on the Mamelon Blanc, in full view of the enemy,
played the _Marseillaise_. In a few minutes several bandsmen fell
killed or wounded, but the attacking waves had gone forward and
the surviving bandsmen sounded the charge. The colonel of the 31st,
who was leading the attack, fell mortally wounded but the companies
leading the attack scaled the slopes of Vauquois. The 31st charged
into Vauquois and reached the ruins of the church, but caught by the
fire of the Argonne and Montfaucon batteries and the machine guns of
Cheppy, they were forced after heavy losses to fall back. Abandoning
the plateau they held on half-way down the hill.
[Illustration: VAUQUOIS HILL AS SEEN FROM AN AEROPLANE (AUGUST 1918).
V. V.: V. de Vauquois; B. N. Noir Wood; V. Vauquois, site of the
village; C. Cigalerie Farm; M. the Maize; M. B. Mamelon Blanc; F. H.
Hesse Forest; B. C. Cheppy Wood.]
A fourth attack was carried out on February 28th with no more
success. At last, on March 1st, the decisive attack was executed by
the 31st, supported by the 46th and the 89th. The preparation was
further improved. A plan of the village, of which only the ruins
were left, was issued to the troops. Each company had its precise
objectives and the men were armed, for the first time, with the new
hand-grenades, charged with melanite.
The bombardment began at dawn. Big guns shattered the dug-outs, and
75's hoisted to the top of Mamelon Blanc, and fed by infantry who
carried up shells on their backs, fired directly on the village.
The start off was magnificent. Suddenly, a flashing line of bayonets
stood erect on the flank of the hill.
[Illustration: VAUQUOIS HILL
_The slope occupied by the French lines: view taken from the Mamelon
Blanc._
_In the foreground, the Gabionnade, then the road from Boureuilles to
Cheppy and the communicating trenches leading to the front line at
the top of the hill._
_In the background was the pretty village of Vauquois of which
nothing is left._]
The slope was hard to climb. Standing on the parapet a bugler
madly sounded the charge until he was laid low by a bullet. At his
observation post, General Valdant, who was following the attack,
turning with great emotion to his officers, raised his kepi, and
said: "Gentlemen, salute!" The fight was stubborn: twice the troops,
dashing from one shell-hole to another, reached the plateau, the
second time standing firm. The houses were taken one by one, and the
church reached. The village had been wiped out--only shell-holes,
heaps of stones, bits of walls and shattered cellars remained.
Throughout the next day the Germans shelled the defenders, who were
armed only with rifles. Outflanked, the French were slowly forced
back from shell-hole to shell-hole, fighting all the time, but their
line of defence, organised under fire on the edge of the plateau,
brought the enemy to a standstill.
[Illustration: ON VAUQUOIS HILL
_A mountain gun placed in position on Vauquois hill, after the
attacks of March 1915. This photograph was taken ten minutes before
the gun was destroyed by a 210 shell (See opposite)._]
At 2 p.m. the French infantry again attacked the village, carried
the German trenches, entered the ruins at 2.35 p.m. and drove back
the enemy at the point of the bayonet. At 3, 4, 5 and 5.30 p.m., the
Germans counter-attacked, but although troops of fourteen different
units were successively launched, they could not dislodge the French
from the main street. Twice during the night they tried, in vain,
to take the church. For four days and nights, under an incessant
pounding by high-explosive shells and a rain of bullets, the French
troops held on, without supplies, dependent for their food on the
rations taken from the dead. The Colonial Infantry, who for a short
time relieved the attacking troops, were decimated in a few days. The
Germans were already making use of a powerful minenwerfer, to which
the French could only reply with hastily-devised mortars roughly made
out of 77 mm. shell-cases, and which carried only 100-150 yards. It
was an unequal contest. The Germans attacked almost every night, but
were repulsed with hand-grenades and rifle fire, sometimes with the
bayonet. The position became untenable, and the French had either to
retreat or advance. Once more they attacked.
On the afternoon of March 4th, the 76th Line Regiment took the German
trenches west of the church, and reached the wall of the cemetery in
spite of small mines being blown up under their feet, and the enemy's
bombs. On the 5th a German counter-attack was repulsed.
The capture of Vauquois by the French was definite. During the night
of the 15th-16th, a fresh German attack was easily repulsed. On
the 16th, at the Cigalerie, which during the attacks of February
and March had served as a dressing station, Standard-bearer
Collignon, of the 46th Regiment of the line, Councillor of State,
and former Secretary-General to the Presidency of the Republic,
who had voluntarily enlisted at the age of fifty-eight, was killed
by the explosion of a shell while trying to rescue a wounded man
belonging to the 76th Regiment of the line. Ever since, at Regimental
roll-calls, his name follows that of La Tour d'Auvergne, and the
reply is made: "Died on the field of honour".
[Illustration: ON VAUQUOIS RIDGE.
_Clearing out the shelter under which the mountain gun, photographed
opposite, used to fire, after its destruction by a 210._]
Cazeneuve, of the Opéra Comique, Adjutant of the 46th Regiment of the
line, who had volunteered at the age of fifty-four, was also killed
at Vauquois by a bomb which shattered his dug-out.
Vauquois for long remained a particularly dangerous sector, the scene
of frequent surprise attacks, of mining and counter-mining, and of
continuous bombardment. The Germans were not reconciled to the loss
of this position, which gave the French an outlook over Varennes and
the road which formed a continuation of the light railway which they
had built between Montfaucon and Spincourt. On March 22, 1915, near
the ruins of the church, they attacked a trench with liquid fire.
Mines were exploded almost every month, followed by fighting for
possession of the craters.
[Illustration: MONUMENT ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF "POILUS", KILLED IN
THE ATTACKS ON VAUQUOIS.]
The battle of Verdun was followed by comparative calm in this
sector, both sides practically abandoning mine warfare. In 1917,
there was hardly anything except surprise raids or reconnoitring
parties. On September 26th 1918, the first day of the Franco-American
offensive, the outskirts north of Vauquois were completely cleared
and Boureuilles was captured by the Americans.
[Illustration: ON VAUQUOIS RIDGE: THE FRONT LINE TRENCH.]
_After visiting Vauquois, return to and follow_ G. C. 38 _to_
=Varennes= (214 _miles_).
[Illustration: AT THE FOOT OF THE MAMELON BLANC.
_Crater formed by a 380 German shell. On the right, Colonel Cuny
commanding the 31st I. R._]
[Illustration: VARENNES.--THE PLACE DU MARCHÉ.
_On the right, the ruins of the house where Louis XVI was arrested._]
=VARENNES=
_Coming from Vauquois, the lower town is entered, opposite the
church. Cross the bridge over the Aire. The Rue de la Basse-Cour
brings you to the Place du Marché where you will see, on the right,
the ruins of the house in which Louis XVI spent the night before his
arrest._
Drouet who had recognised the king at Sainte-Menehould, reached
Varennes before him by a short cut. The whole town, aroused by the
tocsin, assembled and compelled the king's carriage to stop.
[Illustration: GERMAN DUG-OUTS SAID TO HAVE BEEN USED BY THE CROWN
PRINCE IN GRURIE WOOD. (Photo Sommer.)]
_Ascend to the upper town which is situated on the slope of a hill.
On leaving the village turn right along G. C. 38, the road to
Vienne-le-Château, which climbs towards the forest of Argonne. At the
edge of the plateau look behind for a view of the Aire valley and
Vauquois Hill. About 3 kilometres past Varennes, a road leads right
to some German dug-outs said to be those of the Crown Prince._
_Return to the Vienne-le-Château road._
One kilometre further and 200 metres beyond the highest point of the
road, the Haute-Chevauchée road branches off right and left, an old
Roman road running along the central ridge of the Argonne plateau.
_Turn left and drive carefully for the first two kilometres which are
in pretty bad repair._
The road passes through Bas-Jardinet Woods, which are full of gun
emplacements. On leaving the woods, the road climbs towards Hill 285.
On the right and behind this hill are the sectors of Fille-Morte and
Courte-Chausse, the scene of struggles as stubborn as those in Grurie
Wood.
[Illustration: CRATERS ON HILL 285 DIVIDING THE TWO LINES.]
The Haute-Chevauchée road is the central pivot where the Germans
endeavoured, on July 13th 1915, to dent in the French front so as to
reach Clermont-en-Argonne and the Sainte-Menehould-Verdun railway.
On July 13th, the 113th Regiment held the sector of Haute-Chevauchée,
on their right the 4th held Hill 263, while on the left the 91st
were on the plateau of Bolante. After an annihilating fire which
completely destroyed these sectors, five regiments of the 16th German
Corps broke through the French lines. The Germans, who no longer had
any troops to face, believed that they could march unhindered to the
south. Already the enemy patrols had reached the cross road of Maison
Forestière, 2 kilometres south of Hill 285.
The 82nd and 66th Battalions of chasseurs and the 131st who had
just been relieved received warning at their billets and went up
into the line under a barrage of enemy fire, by paths marked out
with corpses, through ravines full of poison gas. The men, who were
exhausted by a whole night's march, hurried forward, gasping and
almost suffocated. The order was given to the infantry and chasseurs
to counter-attack. The 3rd Battalion of the 131st, led by their
commander, swarmed up the steep slope of Bolante plateau. The Germans
crouching among the tall ferns endeavoured to withstand them, but
they were sharply hustled and did not waste time in turning tail.
Bolante plateau and the crest of Fille-Morte were cleared at the
point of the bayonet, without artillery support. Further to the
right, the 66th Battalion of chasseurs captured Hill 285, while
the 82nd, with three battalions in the field, recaptured the crest
joining Hills 285 and 263.
The 1st Battalion of the 82nd relieved the battalion of the 4th which
was defending the redoubt of Hill 263.
The line was established along Hill 285.
_By going on as far as the cross road at the Maison Forestière, the
large cemetery is reached._
[Illustration: ON HILL 285, THE MONUMENT "TO THE DEAD OF THE
ARGONNE". (Photo Sommer.)]
_Return to the Varennes-Four-de-Paris road, downhill road skirting
the Meurissons ravine._
It was in this wild ravine of the Meurissons spring that the
Garibaldian regiment, placed at the disposal of General Gérard,
commanding the 2nd Corps, received their baptism of fire. On December
26, 1914, the 2nd Garibaldian Battalion was detailed to take a German
trench. The attacking front was limited, about 150 yards, but the
position was strongly held and protected by a deep entanglement of
barbed wire. After an artillery preparation lasting from midnight
until dawn, the Garibaldian companies rushed forward, one behind the
other, to make a breach at all costs, but were held up by the uncut
wire. At one point an opening was made and a few men got through to
the edge of the German trench, only to be killed there. It was during
this engagement, which cost the 2nd Battalion 30 dead, 17 missing,
and 111 wounded, that Second-Lieutenant Bruno Garibaldi--a grandson
of Giuseppe Garibaldi, "the old red bird" whom, in 1870, the Prussian
General Werder confidently expected to "catch in his nest" in the
Vosges, but failed in the attempt--was killed. Bruno Garibaldi,
though in reserve, advanced to the assault with the 2nd Battalion,
his sword drawn, his green tunic unfastened, showing the traditional
and symbolic red shirt. Wounded in the hand, he went back to the
trench to have it dressed, then returned immediately to the fight.
Struck by a bullet, he continued to urge his men forward, until
another laid him low. Before dying, he embraced a wounded comrade
near by, saying "Kiss my brothers for me".
[Illustration: THE FOUR-DE-PARIS--VARENNES ROAD.
_The German front line cut the road at this point. On the left,
Meurissons ravine; on the horizon, Biesme valley._]
[Illustration: MEURISSONS RAVINE.
_German shelters on the counter slope. Bolante plateau riddled by
machine gun fire._]
[Illustration: ON BOLANTE PLATEAU.
_The forest laid waste by mine craters and machine gun fire._]
On January 7th, after a half-hearted German attack, which was easily
beaten off, rough trenches were dug on the plateau--in view of a
possible retreat--by men belonging to the 46th French Regiment of
the Line, who worked under heavy fire. General Gouraud, commanding
the 10th Infantry Division, who came to examine the position, was
wounded in the shoulder by a machine-gun bullet. On the following
day a violent German artillery preparation began at dawn. At 7.30
a.m. three regiments of Bavarian chasseurs advanced to the attack.
A trench held by men of the 89th Line Regiment was blown up and the
Bavarians took the first and second lines held by troops of the 89th
and 46th Regiments of the Line, who put up a fierce resistance. On
the plateau the 11th Company of the 46th, which held the unfinished
supporting trench, stopped the rush of the enemy. The Germans,
unwilling to risk a frontal attack, turned the position on the right
flank, and finally took the trench, but only after the gallant
defenders had fired their last cartridges. The Germans penetrated
into the ravine, capturing the regimental headquarters, and wounding
the colonel and his staff. The 11th Company, however, still held
on. On the crest, the cooks and the sick seized rifles and joined
in the fight. At about 9.30 a.m. a blast of trumpets on the right
announced the arrival of reinforcements. Units of the French 89th
Regiment of the Line and 2nd Garibaldian Battalion charged through
the undergrowth. A furious hand-to-hand struggle ensued in the
copse-wood, no quarter being given. The French succeeded in saving
their comrades of the 46th, and checked the enemy, who eventually
evacuated the ravine.
[Illustration: LE FOUR-DE-PARIS (AS SEEN FROM AN OBSERVATION POST).
_In the foreground, the road from Paris to Varennes._]
_At Le Four-de-Paris, turn right along G. C. 63 towards La Harazée
and Vienne-le-Château._
The road follows the valley of the Biesme, dominated on the right
by a series of spurs separated by ravines where flow the streams of
Fontaine au Mortier, Fontaine aux Charmes and Fontaine de Madame.
The crests and ravines covered by Grurie Wood were in 1914-1915 the
scene of fierce struggles.
Bagatelle--Fontaine-aux-Charmes--Fontaine-Madame--Saint-Hubert--
Marie-Thérèse, all these sectors were made famous by communiqués
as the scenes of terrific fights.
[Illustration: LA HARAZÉE.
_The church bell was used as a gas alarm. It was placed on the new
road, between Vienne-le-Château and La Harazée, on the right bank of
the Biesme._]
[Illustration: Map (TN).]
_From La Harazée a path leads to Fontaine-aux-Charmes, following the
stream which falls into the Biesme at La Harazée and to which it
gives its name; another path follows the stream of Fontaine-Madame._
These two streams enclose a plateau broken by ravines along which the
French advanced in September and October 1914, seeking to threaten
the German lines of communication through the Argonne.
The German troops of Von Mudra decided to reach the valley of the
Biesme by penetrating the ravines of Fontaine-aux-Charmes and
Fontaine-Mortier towards La Harazée.
In Grurie Wood, the French line was held by regiments and battalions
of chasseurs of the 32nd Corps. For over a year a desperate struggle
was destined to take place without quarter day and night.
Attacks followed attacks and counter-attacks counter-attacks: every
inch of a devastated area was disputed without truce or rest.
[Illustration: A FATIGUE PARTY EN ROUTE FOR THE FRONT LINE IN THE
SALIENT OF MARIE-THÉRÈSE.]
Every day saw the same fearful struggle in the depths of the forest:
the rival trenches were hardly 30 metres apart, sometimes only 10,
protected merely by line of barbed wire which could not be carried
far out nor fixed down. Barricades of sandbags were built up in the
communicating trenches, which often ran through the enemy lines, to
mark the boundary, and, behind these, men kept watch. On each side
the temptation was too strong to pay a surprise visit to this "no
man's land" and to spring into the opposite trench.
[Illustration: A COMMUNICATION TRENCH OBSTRUCTED WITH WOUNDED IN THE
SECTOR OF BAGATELLE.]
The front trenches were blotted out by aerial torpedoes and mine
explosions which completely demolished the frail barricades often
made up of human corpses. Then followed hand-to-hand fighting with
bayonets and knives.
Among the numerous encounters which all resembled each other, here is
the account of one taken from the annals of the 150th Regiment, one
of the gallant regiments of the 32nd Corps.
On April 18th, the 2nd Battalion attacked Bagatelle trench which
was held by the Germans. Our attack, which started at 2 p.m., was
successful and we advanced 80 metres. A German counter-attack
straightway robbed us of the fruits of our effort. At 7 p.m. the 2nd
Battalion again started the attack but were mown down by machine
gun fire. A third attack was launched by the same battalion, only
to be thwarted by a counter-attack. Their fourth effort ended at 11
p.m., with a gain of a yard and a half! Commander Grosset of the 1st
Battalion was mortally wounded.
From April 25th to 27th the Germans unsuccessfully attacked, the
150th not yielding a single inch of ground.
On the evening of May 1st, at 5 p.m., the 3rd Battalion of the 150th
relieved the 2nd Battalion of the 161st. At 5.30 p.m., before the
relief was complete, the Germans blew up one of our block-houses
by means of a mine and hurled themselves upon our trenches. On the
whole front of the 3rd Battalion, the German attack broke out with
ferocity, the enemy artillery firing behind our lines and reaching
an extreme intensity, so that our companies in the front line were
completely cut off. Liaison with the front line became impossible and
no reinforcements could be sent up to the units in the first line
trenches.
[Illustration: GRURIE WOOD.
_Cooks carrying up soup to the front line trenches (Saint-Hubert
Sector)._]
In the centre, the 9th company, commanded by Captain Juge, held on
splendidly against the incessant attacks of the enemy who used liquid
fire and an unlimited supply of bombs. To keep up the supply of
ammunition in the sector was difficult, the 9th company running out
of bombs: their casualties kept mounting and the situation was grave.
Standing upright on the parapet, with his revolver clasped in his
hand, Captain Juge cheered on his men. He fell wounded but got to his
feet again shouting: "Stand your ground, stand your ground, my men,
and be brave". He was wounded again but refused to be taken back to
the rear. This valiant officer continued to keep up the courage of
his men who stood on the exposed ground and fired point blank at the
enemy who were making incessant attacks. Captain Juge was wounded a
third time. By this time the company was reduced to one officer and
23 men, with no bombs and no cartridges. The 10th and 11th companies
counter-attacked, checking slightly, though not stopping, the furious
onslaught of the Germans. Attacked in rear, these two companies after
losing many men were forced to fall back. The 10th, though they had
run out of ammunition, only gave ground inch by inch, building up and
defending nineteen barricades in succession while falling back 100
metres. At every one of the barricades there was furious hand-to-hand
fighting: our men counter-attacked from the parapet with the bayonet
and fought with the butt end of their rifles and thus succeeded in
bringing the enemy advance to a standstill.
On the left, the 12th company held the Germans in check, and though
at one time surrounded, they cut a way through with their bayonets.
At 7 p.m., the Germans attempted a new attack and wrested from us a
second line trench. The 12th company under the command of Lieutenant
de Marolles counter-attacked once more, regaining the lost ground.
Our men snatched sacks of bombs from the hands of the German bombers,
and supplied with these, the grenadiers of the 12th company following
the irresistible lead of their officer, 2nd. Lieutenant Germain, went
forward and captured a machine gun from the enemy after killing the
gunners.
[Illustration: BEHIND THE LINES: THE RAT HUNT, A PLEASANT PICTURE.]
At 9 p.m. quiet again reigned. Our first line was left entirely
in the enemy's hands, but the second line after being lost and
recaptured, then lost again and again retaken, remained wholly in our
possession....
On August 10th, the regiments and battalions of chasseurs of the 32nd
Corps, all included under the command of the 3rd Army, were relieved
by those of the 10th Corps.
[Illustration: ON A ROAD MADE OF FAGGOTS. DONKEYS BRINGING UP
SUPPLIES.]
[Illustration: VIENNE-LE-CHÂTEAU.--THE NAVE OF THE CHURCH (15TH
CENTURY).]
_After passing through La Harazée, Vienne-le-Château is reached. Turn
left opposite the church and follow G. C. 67 to Vienne-la-Ville. The
tourist reaches the edge of the Argonne plateau which gives place to
the chalky plains of Champagne._
_For a tour of this region, read the guide entitled_: The Battles of
Champagne.
_Sainte-Menehould, on the Verdun-Paris railway, can be reached, by_
G. C. 67 _and then_ G. C. 17, 15 _kilometres._
[Illustration: IN OCTOBER 1915, TROOPS OF THE 1ST COLONIAL CORPS AT
REST IN THE CAGNAS BUILT ALONG THE ROAD TO MARSON RAVINE.
_Picture taken from the Guide: "The Battles of Champagne"._]
[Illustration: DIFFERENT MOMENTS OF AN ATTACK DURING THE OFFENSIVE OF
SEPTEMBER 25TH 1915.
_Before the attack, the first waves wait for "Zero" in the starting
off trench: in the distance, smoke of the bursting shells used in the
artillery preparation._]
[Illustration: _The first wave has gone over, and has just got into
the first enemy trench from which they are about to start for their
new objective._]
[Illustration: _Parties known as "moppers up" follow the first
waves._]
[Illustration: _Supporting lines, scattered in the open in small
columns follow the advance. In the foreground some attackers in the
first wave caught by a storm of machine gun fire._]
_Pictures taken from the Guide: The "Battles of Champagne"._