The Story of the Great War, Volume VII (of VIII)

ing lines in their training camp, continuing their education in trench warfare. The manipulation of the hand grenade, rifle, bayonet, trench mortar, and machine g

the British lines to drill their nerves to withstand scenes of ruin and desolation, the whine of high-explosive shells, and the rattle of shrapnel. All these preliminaries were directed toward a modest aim-storming a trench line. Formerly troops were tra

were averse to submitting to the unheroic obligation of learning to fight in ambush; they clung to primitive ideas of warfare and wanted to spring upon and charge the enemy in the open. Only bitter losses finally persuaded the Canadians, French, and Australians that fighting the

r as possible that impetuosity must be subordinated to steadiness. This has become a time-clock war. The men must advance in given time and go no

dians did in the earlier stages. We will undoubtedly have big losses in this way, but the men who come through our first battles will be worth their weight in gold thereafter. They will learn quickly the val

ction of an English sergeant major. At one camp three short lines of such trenches were constructed in a dip in the g

hes, lay out every boche in the lot, and then get to cover and fire six rounds at them 'ere tin 'ats. Don't waste a shot, gentlemen; every bu

peared in the first trench. Their rifle butts rose and fell as they lunged desperately at the supposed foe. Then they reappeare

ir place beside the fighting forces of the Allies at length came from General Pershing's headquarters. O

contingents, in association with veteran French battalions, are in the first-line trenches of a quiet sector on th

adapted themselves to actual trench con

pouring rain and seas of mud. At six o'clock on the morning of that day, American artillery, already installed, fired the first American sho

gun range and a few kilometers from the American trenches. The guns were hauled by Missouri mules, whose drivers were swathed in ponchos and he

cision. Only the tramp of many hobnailed boots disclosed their march through the village. They safely entered their trenches, unit by unit, and passed quickly to the places assigned them. The French welcomed them with ardor. Every American was shaken by the hand, som

here the first clashes between

d at daylight, under low-hanging, dripping clouds, they obtained their first view of the Germ

ositions, sprinkling fragments, but doing no serious damage. They were merely establishing contact as a prelude to more serious operations. Gunners and infantrymen alike, the latter in first-line trench

taken prisoner near the American trenches. He encountered an American patrol in no-man's-l

targets. Many bullets passed singing harmlessly overhead. Their frequency called for retorts, and a number of infantrymen we

were things of the past and that they faced the real foe. The Germans in fact, were not tardy in impressing them with their new situation.

of a reconnoitering thrust, North America

nerable Verdun on the northeast and the French positions in the Alsatian Vosges on the southeast. A quiet sector it might be, but more than 40,000 German dead lie buried there, the flower of the army of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. They fell in a twenty-eight day battle in August and September, 1914, when five French army corps under General Castelnau fought seven under the Crown Prince The Germans finally retired into Lorraine after vainly attempting to cross the Moselle. Bot

n press was riotously gleeful over the event, one journa

ot be denied. Scarcely have they touched the soil of this putre

these gentlemen. They will find comfort in the thought that they are rendering their almighty President, Mr. Wilson, valuable services

couriers for larger numbers to come. We are sure the latter will come and be gathered in by us. At home they believ

lishments and consider whether it would not be better to haul down your sign and engage in some other line. Perh

the salient, so that help could not reach the troops, nor could they retire, and thus had the besieged men at the mercy of their superior force. The Americans fought obstinately until they were overwhelmed. They had only been in the trenches a few days and were part of

ll the adjacent territory, including the passage leading to the trenches, thereby effecting a complete barrage of the salient front and rear. Soon after the enemy,

heavy fire from 77's and 115's, which searched the whole line of trenches communicating with the salient where they were isolated. The Frenc

renches, armed with grenades, revolvers, trench knives, and rifles. They followed, in columns of fours, a tape across no-man's-land laid out by leaders who had previously been over the ground. Advancing across a swampy ravine toward the salient, they penetrated the gaps in the American wire entanglements, and a number reached the trenches at the

s found with his throat cut from ear to ear on the top of the parapet. While fighting a German in front of him he appeared to have been attacked from be

es, and paid for their error. Corporal Gresham, for example, was the sentry at a dugo

ot! I'm an

r," answered one of the three, a

over 200 Germans, and it was the Americans' first taste of Teutonic warfare. They fought stoutly with pistols, knives, and bayonets until overcome, whereu

inconsequential; but to Americans it was of moment in being their first clash with the enemy. Young, inexperienced soldiers, cooped in a position they were not familiar with, encountering their bap

n in the section delivered an oration at their graves in the presence of French and American troops ami

ommon 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 f

ere lie the first soldiers of the Republic of the United States to fall on the soil of France for liberty and justice.' The passer-b

ate Hay! In the name of France I thank

tions enabled them to acquire a better insight of the science of war than they could learn in months of instruction in training camps. While the infantry were thus engaged in their underground finishing school, the gunners, in addition to making progress in actual firing, acquired greater facility in observation work and in locating enemy ba

t was a dreary vigil in the mud, where they lay throughout the small hours, until their patience was rewarded by the appearance of a large German patrol, in number more than double those of the Franco-Americans. They permitted the Germans to pass, and then attacked them on their flank. The fus

of yeoman service behind the French lines in hauling tons of ammunition and other equipment to supply the French forces, but had been engaged on the railroad in the rear of the British front. They did not belong to the fighting units, and no achievements were looked for from men whose sole arms were picks and shovels.

ted their work in the neighborhood. At 6.30 four officers and 280 men went to Gouzeaucourt, arriving at 7 and starting to work with Canadian engineers. Th

o the east. At 7.30 a general retirement was ordered, and it was effected

y the German advance, had taken refuge in dugouts. Some of these men who had been cut

of the German prison cages, they encountered a small body of British troops who had been separated from their comrades and were wandering about aimlessly. The appearance of the Germans with the prisoners produced an immediate charge toward them by the British. The Germans sought to drive their captives toward La Vacquerie before the adva

eing unarmed when the Germans came, a predicament which forced them to seize the guns of dead and wounded soldiers to protect themselves. The army commands afterward ordered that all engineers be armed to enable them to tak

, 1917. They exchanged their picks and shovels for rifles and cartridges and fought with the English. Many died thus bravely, arms in hand, before the invader. All helped to

enches in the Lorraine sector, and tidings of the happenings at Gouzeaucourt impressed the troops with the fact that not on them only was

nce to use our rifles except to snipe and pot Fritz out in no-man's-land on dark nights. These railroaders m

ions of German airships added to them. Bombs were dropped on a party of engineers, killing one of them

together with a downpour of fine rain combined to make weather conditions on the American front the worst the troops had encountered since their arrival in France. The roads were cluttered in places with ditched motor trucks. Here and there mule-drawn vehicles were mired. Transport trains drawn by mules suffered most before the thaw, the animals