For the performance of the service for which the Military Intelligence Division was developed, eight sections have been established, each dealing with its peculiar problems, and working in close liaison with its fellows....

It may not be amiss to call attention to the enthusiastic co-operation which this division has consistently received from the various other intelligence agencies, civilian and others. The American Protective League, the Department of Justice, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Customs, the War Trade Intelligence have all co-operated in the heartiest manner with each and every effort of the Military Intelligence Division. Indeed, it is hardly saying too much to state that the success of the Military Intelligence Division has in a very large measure been due to the loyal assistance which it has received at all times from the various agencies whose functions are similar to its own.

WAR PLANS DIVISION

The War Plans Division of the General Staff is under the direction of Brigadier-General Lytle Brown, as Director and Assistant Chief of Staff. A very large volume of work has been accomplished by this division during the year. Exclusive of subjects pertaining to the historical branch, the inventions section, and routine matters, 9,287 cases were handled by the division during the year.

These included studies as to policies for defense and the organization of the military forces in general as published in Tables of Organization, completed studies on the policy and plans for training the army in general, training replacement troops, training cadres, training centers, training schools, schools for senior and staff officers, and plans for physical reconstruction and vocational training of wounded soldiers.

In addition, through the Training Section, the War Plans Division has supervision of training in general and has kept in touch by inspections by its officers with methods used and progress made.

The Legislative, Regulations, and Rules Branch of the War Plans Division has handled numerous changes in Army Regulations and War Department orders made necessary by the present emergency, and has considered bills before Congress pertaining to the army.

The Historical Branch of the General Staff was organized March 5, 1918, to collect and compile the records pertaining to the war under the approved policy, and satisfactory progress is being made. To June 30, 1918, 67,022 photographs and 2,590 feet of motion-picture film had been received.

The Inventions Section was organized April 16, 1918. This section has taken over from the different agencies of the government the preliminary consideration of inventions and ideas of inventions of a military nature, with a view to placing before the proper bureaus of the War Department those having sufficient military value to warrant test and development at the expense of the government. From April 16, 1918, to June 30, 1918, 4,645 cases were handled, a number of which were of exceptional merit and have already been put to use....

The Chief of Staff has as his principal assistant Major-General Frank McIntyre, United States army, who acts as executive officer for the General Staff and also for the Chief of Staff in his absence.

Beside the General Staff divisions which have been referred to in the foregoing, there has been established in the General Staff a Morale Section, under charge of Brigadier-General E. L. Munson, United States army, which has for its object primarily the stimulation of morale throughout the army, and maintaining a close connection and liaison with similar activities in civil life. This section had only gotten fairly into operation before the signing of the armistice, but had already shown its value as a military asset.

Another important addition to the organization of the General Staff has been the establishment of a Personnel Section, under charge of Brigadier-General P. P. Bishop, United States army. In this section has been consolidated the handling of appointments, promotions, and commissions of the entire official personnel of the United States army. This section has proved to be of the greatest value and has come to stay.

The signing of the armistice has interrupted the conclusion of the organization now under way for the consolidation of Procurement and Storage under the Director of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic, but the principle is sound from the standpoint of organization and extremely economical in its results.

The supply of officers for the very large military program has been throughout one of the most important problems which confronted the General Staff. I have already indicated in the statement of the functions of the Operations Division of the General Staff the organization of central training camps for officers throughout the United States. When, however, we embarked upon the final program of placing eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by June 30, 1919, which involved an army of approximately 4,800,000, the problem of the supply of officers became so serious that an understanding was obtained with the great mass of educational institutions throughout the United States, resulting in the development of the Student Army Training Corps. This scheme absorbed for military purposes the academic plants of some 518 colleges and universities throughout the country, and for vocational training in the army embraced some eighty more. This corps was put under the charge of Brigadier-General Robert I. Rees, United States army, and in its development we have had the energetic cooperation of college presidents and responsible college authorities throughout the entire United States. At the same time, in order to increase the supply of officers, the course at West Point was cut down to one year's intensive training, with the idea of placing at the disposal of the government 1,000 officers a year graduated from that extremely efficient plant rather than the graduation of about 200, which had been the case previously throughout the war.

The separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps, under the provisions of the Overman bill, and the establishment of a Bureau of Military Aeronautics, under Major-General William L. Kenly, United States army, and of a Bureau of Aircraft Production, under Mr. John D. Ryan, marked an extremely important step forward in the development of this portion of the Military Establishment. The armistice closes out this matter with the two branches of the Air Service in a state of marked efficiency and establishes unquestionably the necessity for the permanent separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps in the reorganization of the army.

During this period another new agency created in the War Department by Executive order was the office of the Chief of Field Artillery. This office has been filled by Major-General William J. Snow, United States army. This establishment was accompanied by the creation in the American Expeditionary Force in France of the office of Chief of Artillery on General Pershing's staff, having similar relation to all the artillery of the Expeditionary Force which the Chief of Field Artillery has toward the mobile artillery at home. The work of this office has been accompanied by a marked increase in the efficiency of the training system in the various Field Artillery camps, and the office itself has proved to be of distinct value.

I have directed the divisions of the General Staff concerned to study and submit for your consideration a plan for the reorganization of our army, which will take advantage of our experience in this war, which has brought about many changes in organization of all arms of the service, and has developed new arms not known when the war started. The Air Service, the Tank Corps, the development of heavy mobile artillery, the proper organization of divisions, corps, and armies, all will be set forth in the scheme which will be submitted to you with the recommendation that it be transmitted for the consideration of Congress.

The conduct of the American troops in France, their progressive development in military experience and ability, the fine staff work, and the modesty and gallantry of the individual soldier is a matter of pride to all Americans. General Pershing and his command have earned the thanks of the American people.

The work of General Tasker H. Bliss as military representative of the War Department with the American Section of the Supreme War Council at Versailles has been of the greatest value to the War Department.

I cannot close this report without making of record the appreciation of the War Department of the work of the many trained and patriotic officers of the army whom the destiny of war did not call to France. These officers, forced to remain behind in the United States by the imperative necessity of having trained men to keep the machine moving, have kept up their work with such intelligence, zeal, and devotion to duty as to show a high order of patriotism. The officers and men who have not been able on account of the armistice to be transported to France deserve also, with their comrades in France, the thanks of the American people.



CHAPTER LVIII

GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY [Footnote: From General Pershing's official report to the Secretary of War. November 20, 1918]

Immediately upon receiving my orders I selected a small staff and proceeded to Europe in order to become familiar with conditions at the earliest possible moment.

The warmth of our reception in England and France was only equaled by the readiness of the commanders-in-chief of the veteran armies of the Allies and their staffs to place their experience at our disposal. In consultation with them the most effective means of co-operation of effort was considered. With French and British armies at their maximum strength, and all efforts to dispossess the enemy from his firmly intrenched positions in Belgium and France failed, it was necessary to plan for an American force adequate to turn the scale in favor of the Allies. Taking account of the strength of the central powers at that time, the immensity of the problem which confronted us could hardly be overestimated. The first requisite being an organization that could give intelligent direction to effort, the formation of a General Staff occupied my early attention.

GENERAL STAFF

A well-organized General Staff through which the commander exercises his functions is essential to a successful modern army. However capable our division, our battalion, and our companies as such, success would be impossible without thoroughly coordinated endeavor. A General Staff broadly organized and trained for war had not hitherto existed in our army. Under the Commander-in-Chief, this staff must carry out the policy and direct the details of administration, supply, preparation, and operations of the army as a whole, with all special branches and bureaus subject to its control. As models to aid us we had the veteran French General Staff and the experience of the British who had similarly formed an organization to meet the demands of a great army. By selecting from each the features best adapted to our basic organization, and fortified by our own early experience in the war, the development of our great General Staff system was completed.

The General Staff is naturally divided into five groups, each with its chief who is an assistant to the Chief of the General Staff. G. 1 is in charge of organization and equipment of troops, replacements, tonnage, priority of overseas shipment, the auxiliary welfare association and cognate subjects; G. 2 has censorship, enemy intelligence, gathering and disseminating information, preparation of maps, and all similar subjects; G. 3 is charged with all strategic studies and plans, movement of troops, and the supervision of combat operations; G. 4 coordinates important questions of supply, construction, transport arrangements for combat, and of the operations of the service of supply, and of hospitalization and the evacuation of the sick and wounded; G. 5 supervises the various schools and has general direction and coordination of education and training.

The first Chief of Staff was Col. (now Maj.-Gen.) James G. Harbord, who was succeeded in March, 1918, by Maj.-Gen. James W. McAndrew. To these officers, to the deputy chief of staff, and to the assistant chiefs of staff, who, as heads of sections, aided them, great credit is due for the results obtained not only in perfecting the General Staff organization but in applying correct principles to the multiplicity of problems that have arisen.

ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING

After a thorough consideration of allied organizations it was decided that our combat division should consist of four regiments of infantry of 3,000 men, with three battalions to regiment and four companies of 250 men each to a battalion, and of an artillery brigade of three regiments, a machine-gun battalion, an engineer regiment, a trench-mortar battery, a signal battalion, wagon trains, and the headquarters staffs and military police. These, with medical and other units, made a total of over 28,000 men, or practically double the size of a French or German division. Each corps would normally consist of six divisions—four combat and one depot and one replacement division—and also two regiments of cavalry, and each army of from three to five corps. With four divisions fully trained, a corps could take over an American sector with two divisions in line and two in reserve, with the depot and replacement divisions prepared to fill the gaps in the ranks.

Our purpose was to prepare an integral American force, which should be able to take the offensive in every respect. Accordingly, the development of a self-reliant infantry by thorough drill in the use of the rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always uppermost. The plan of training after arrival in France allowed a division one month for acclimatization and instruction in small units from battalions down, a second month in quiet trench sectors by battalion, and a third month after it came out of the trenches when it should be trained as a complete division in war of movement....

ARTILLERY, AIRPLANES, AND TANKS

Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery equipment of seventy-fives, one fifty-five millimeter howitzers, and one fifty-five G P F guns from their own factories for thirty divisions. The wisdom of this course is fully demonstrated by the fact that, although we soon began the manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there were no guns of the calibers mentioned manufactured in America on our front at the date the armistice was signed. The only guns of these types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy-five millimeter guns.

In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be under way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The first airplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1,379. The first American squadron completely equipped by American production, including airplanes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918. As to tanks, we were also compelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less fortunate, for the reason that the French production could barely meet the requirements of their own armies.

It should be fully realized that the French Government has always taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to give us every possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation, and tanks was, of course, due to the fact that our industries had not been exclusively devoted to military production. All credit is due our own manufacturers for their efforts to meet our requirements, as at the time the armistice was signed we were able to look forward to the early supply of practically all our necessities from our own factories.

The welfare of the troops touches my responsibility, as Commander-in-Chief to the mothers and fathers and kindred of the men who came to France in the impressionable period of youth. They could not have the privilege accorded European soldiers during their periods of leave of visiting their families and renewing their home ties. Fully realizing that the standard of conduct that should be established for them must have a permanent influence in their lives and on the character of their future citizenship, the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, and the Jewish Welfare Board, as auxiliaries in this work, were encouraged in every possible way. The fact that our soldiers, in a land of different customs and language, have borne themselves in a manner in keeping with the cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their behalf but much more to other high ideals, their discipline, and their innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, that the members of these welfare societies have been untiring in their desire to be of real service to our officers and men. The patriotic devotion of these representative men and women has given a new significance to the Golden Rule, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

COMBAT OPERATIONS

During our periods of training in the trenches some of our divisions had engaged the enemy in local combats, the most important of which was Seicheprey by the Twenty-sixth on April 20th, in the Toul sector, but none had participated in action as a unit. The First Division, which had passed through the preliminary stages of training, had gone to the trenches for its first period of instruction at the end of October and by March 21st, when the German offensive in Picardy began, we had four divisions with experience in the trenches, all of which were equal to any demands of battle action. The crisis which this offensive developed was such that our occupation of an American sector must be postponed.

On March 28th I placed at the disposal of Marshal Foch, who had been agreed upon as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied armies, all of our forces to be used as he might decide. At his request the First division was transferred from the Toul sector to a position in reserve at Chaumont en Vexin. As German superiority in numbers required prompt action, an agreement was reached at the Abbeville conference of the Allied premiers and commanders and myself on May 2d by which British shipping was to transport ten American divisions to the British army area, where they were to be trained and equipped, and additional British shipping was to be provided for as many divisions as possible for use elsewhere.

On April 26th the First Division had gone into the line in the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battle front. Tactics had been suddenly revolutionized to those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the results of their training, were eager for the test. On the morning of May 28th this division attacked the commanding German position in its front, taking with splendid dash the town of Cantigny and all other objectives, which were organized and held steadfastly against vicious counter-attacks and galling artillery fire. Although local, this brilliant action had an electrical effect, as it demonstrated our fighting qualities under extreme battle conditions, and also that the enemy's troops were not altogether invincible.

The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on May 27th, had advanced rapidly toward the River Marne and Paris, and the Allies faced a crisis equally as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. Again every available man was placed at Marshal Foch's disposal, and the Third Division, which had just come from its preliminary training in the trenches, was hurried to the Marne. Its motorized machine-gun battalion preceded the other units and successfully held the bridge-head at the Marne, opposite Chateau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris. The division attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its ground against the enemy's best guard divisions. In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy than to ourselves. On July 1st, before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision.

Meanwhile our Second Corps, under Maj.-Gen. George W. Read, had been organized for the command of our divisions with the British, which were held back in training areas or assigned to second-line defenses. Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three to relieve divisions in Lorraine and the Vosges and two to the Paris area to join the group of American divisions which stood between the city and any farther advance of the enemy in that direction.

The great June-July troop movement from the States was well under way, and, although these troops were to be given some preliminary training before being put into action, their very presence warranted the use of all the older divisions in the confidence that we did not lack reserves. Elements of the Forty-second Division were in the line east of Rheims against the German offensive of July 15th, and held their ground unflinchingly. On the right flank of this offensive four companies of the Twenty-eighth Division were in position in face of the advancing waves of the German infantry. The Third Division was holding the bank of the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the Surmelin to the west of Mezy, opposite Chateau-Thierry, where a large force of German infantry sought to force a passage under support of powerful artillery concentrations and under cover of smoke screens. A single regiment of the Third wrote one of the most brilliant pages in our military annals on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at certain points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, who had gained a footing, pressed forward. Our men, firing in three directions, met the German attacks with counter-attacks at critical points and succeeded in throwing two German divisions into complete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners.

The great force of the German Chateau-Thierry offensive established the deep Marne salient, but the enemy was taking chances, and the vulnerability of this pocket to attack might be turned to his disadvantage. Seizing this opportunity to support my conviction, every division with any sort of training was made available for use in a counter-offensive. The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 18th was given to our First and Second divisions in company with chosen French divisions. Without the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, the massed French and American artillery, firing by the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while the infantry began its charge. The tactical handling of our troops under these trying conditions was excellent throughout the action. The enemy brought up large numbers of reserves and made a stubborn defense both with machine guns and artillery, but through five days' fighting the First Division continued to advance until it had gained the heights above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le-sec. The Second Division took Beau Repaire farm and Vierzy in a very rapid advance and reached a position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day. These two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners and over 100 pieces of artillery.

The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French division, was under command of our First Corps, acted as a pivot of the movement toward Soissons. On the 18th it took the village of Torcy while the Third Division was crossing the Marne in pursuit of the retiring enemy. The Twenty-sixth attacked again on the 21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Chateau-Thierry-Soissons road. The Third Division, continuing its progress, took the heights of Mont St. Pere and the villages of Charteves and Jaulgonne in the face of both machine-gun and artillery fire.

On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back from Trugny and Epieds, our Forty-second Division, which had been brought over from the Champagne, relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting its way through the Foret de Fere, overwhelmed the nest of machine guns in its path. By the 27th it had reached the Ourcq, whence the Third and Fourth divisions were already advancing, while the French divisions with which we were co-operating were moving forward at other points.

The Third Division had made its advance into Roncheres Wood on the 29th and was relieved for rest by a brigade of the Thirty-second. The Forty-second and Thirty-second undertook the task of conquering the heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second capturing Sergy and the Thirty-second capturing Hill 230, both American divisions joining in the pursuit of the enemy to the Vesle, and thus the operation of reducing the salient was finished. Meanwhile the Forty-second was relieved by the Fourth at Chery-Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty-eighth, while the Seventy-seventh Division took up a position on the Vesle. The operations of these divisions on the Vesle were under the Third Corps, Maj.-Gen. Robert L. Bullard, commanding.

BATTLE OF ST. MIHIEL

With the reduction of the Marne salient we could look forward to the concentration of our divisions in our own zone. In view of the forthcoming operation against the St. Mihiel salient, which had long been planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, the First Army was organized on August 10th under my personal command. While American units had held different divisional and corps sectors along the western front, there had not been up to this time, for obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in view of the important parts the American forces were now to play, it was necessary to take over a permanent portion of the line. Accordingly, on August 30th, the line beginning at Port sur Seille, east of the Moselle and extending to the west through St. Mihiel, thence north to a point opposite Verdun, was placed under my command. The American sector was afterwards extended across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included the Second Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and the Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the heights above Verdun.

The preparation for a complicated operation against the formidable defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions and of corps and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambulances, the location of hospitals, and the molding together of all of the elements of a great modern army with its own railheads, supplied directly by our own Service of Supply. The concentration for this operation, which was to be a surprise, involved the movement, mostly at night, of approximately 600,000 troops, and required for its success the most careful attention to every detail.



Copyright Committee on Public Information. THE AMERICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN THE FIELD Photograph of General John J. Pershing just after he had been decorated with the Star and Ribbon of the Legion of Honor of France, the highest decoration ever awarded an American soldier. General Pershing was raised to a full generalship soon after his arrival in France, an honor which has previously been held only by Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.



NOTED AMERICAN GENERALS General March is chief of staff of the American Army, Lieutenant-Generals Liggett and Bullard commanded the First and Second Armies respectively, and Major-Generals Wright and Read are corps commanders.

The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and army artillery, with its personnel, and we were confident from the start of our superiority over the enemy in guns of all calibers. Our heavy guns were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously with German rail movements. The French Independent Air Force was placed under my command which, together with the British bombing squadrons and our air forces, gave us the largest assembly of aviation that had ever been engaged in one operation on the western front.

From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel to the Moselle River the line was roughly forty miles long and situated on commanding ground greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our First Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second divisions) under command of Major-General Hunter Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left joining our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth, Forty-second, and First divisions), under Major-General Joseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing in toward Vigneulles on the pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray to Mouilly the Second Colonial French Corps was in line in the center and our Fifth Corps, under command of Major-General George H. Cameron, with our Twenty-sixth Division and a French division at the western base of the salient, were to attack three difficult hills—Les Eparges, Combres, and Amaramthe. Our First Corps had in reserve the Seventy-eighth Division, our Fourth Corps the Third Division, and our First Army the Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, with the Eightieth and Thirty-third available. It should be understood that our corps organizations are very elastic, and that we have at no time had permanent assignments of divisions to corps.

After four hours' artillery preparation, the seven American divisions in the front line advanced at 5 A. M., on September 12th, assisted by a limited number of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by the French. These divisions, accompanied by groups of wire cutters and others armed with bangalore torpedoes, went through the successive bands of barbed wire that protected the enemy's front line and support trenches, in irresistible waves on schedule time, breaking down all defense of an enemy demoralized by the great volume of our artillery fire and our sudden approach out of the fog.

Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our Fourth Corps curved back to the southwest through Nonsard. The Second Colonial French Corps made the slight advance required of it on very difficult ground, and the Fifth Corps took its three ridges and repulsed a counter-attack. A rapid march brought reserve regiments of a division of the Fifth Corps into Vigneulles in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our Fourth Corps, closing the salient and forming a new line west of Thiaucourt to Vigneulles and beyond Fresnes-en-Woevre. At the cost of only 7,000 casualties, mostly light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and 443 guns, a great quantity of material, released the inhabitants of many villages from enemy domination, and established our lines in a position to threaten Metz. This signal success of the American First Army in its first offensive was of prime importance. The Allies found they had a formidable army to aid them, and the enemy learned finally that he had one to reckon with.

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, FIRST PHASE

On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of our corps and army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, and our divisions in reserve at other points, were already on the move toward the area back of the line between the Meuse River and the western edge of the forest of Argonne. With the exception of St. Mihiel, the old German front line from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still intact. In the general attack all along the line, the operation assigned the American army as the hinge of this Allied offensive was directed toward the important railroad communications of the German armies through Mezieres and Sedan. The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines or the withdrawal of his forces with four years' accumulation of plants and material would be dangerously imperiled.

The German army had as yet shown no demoralization and, while the mass of its troops had suffered in morale, its first-class divisions, and notably its machine-gun defense, were exhibiting remarkable tactical efficiency as well as courage. The German General Staff was fully aware of the consequences of a success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he would do everything in his power to oppose us, the action was planned with as much secrecy as possible and was undertaken with the determination to use all our divisions in forcing decision. We expected to draw the best German divisions to our front and to consume them while the enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should break his line, which it was our firm purpose to do.

Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while our left embraced the Argonne Forest whose ravines, hills, and elaborate defense screened by dense thickets had been generally considered impregnable. Our order of battle from right to left was the Third Corps from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, Eightieth, and Fourth divisions in line, and the Third Division as corps reserve; the Fifth Corps from Malancourt to Vauquois, with Seventy-ninth, Eighty-seventh, and Ninety-first divisions in line, and the Thirty-second in corps reserve; and the First Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventy-seventh divisions in line, and the Ninety-second in corps reserve. The army reserve consisted of the First, Twenty-ninth, and Eighty-second divisions.

On the night of September 25th our troops quietly took the place of the French who thinly held the line in this sector which had long been inactive. In the attack which began on the 26th we drove through the barbed wire entanglements and the sea of shell craters across No Man's Land, mastering the first-line defenses. Continuing on the 27th and 28th, against machine guns and artillery of an increasing number of enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated to a depth of from three to seven miles, and took the village of Montfaucon and its commanding hill and Exermont, Gercourt, Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry, Epinonville, Charpentry, Very, and other villages. East of the Meuse one of our divisions, which was with the Second Colonial French Corps, captured Marcheville and Rieville, giving further protection to the flank of our main body. We had taken 10,000 prisoners, we had gained our point of forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the enemy's reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads and ample railroad facilities for bringing up his artillery and reserves.

In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build new roads across spongy, shell-torn areas, repair broken roads beyond No Man's Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put their shoulders to wheels and dragropes to bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but, quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counter-attacks in strong force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas. From September 28th until October 4th we maintained the offensive against patches of woods defended by snipers and continuous lines of machine guns, and pushed forward our guns and transport, seizing strategical points in preparation for further attacks.

OTHER UNITS WITH ALLIES

Other divisions attached to the Allied armies were doing their part. It was the fortune of our Second Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a place of honor in co-operation with the Australian Corps, on September 29th and October 1st, in the assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin Canal passes through a tunnel under a ridge. The Thirtieth Division speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the Twenty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the main line until some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of trenches and shell craters and under cross-fire from machine guns the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in later actions, from October 6th to October 19th, our Second Corps captured over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles. The spirit and aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly praised by the British army commander under whom they served.

On October 2d to 9th our Second and Thirty-sixth divisions were sent to assist the French in an important attack against the old German positions before Rheims. The Second conquered the complicated defense works on their front against a persistent defense worthy of the grimmest period of trench warfare and attacked the strongly held wooded hill of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a second assault, sweeping over it with consummate dash and skill. This division then repulsed strong counter-attacks before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from before Rheims and yield positions they had held since September, 1914. On October 9th the Thirty-sixth Division relieved the Second and, in its first experience under fire, withstood very severe artillery bombardment and rapidly took up the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne.

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, SECOND PHASE

The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men in this crucial contest as the German command threw in more and more first-class troops to stop our advance. We made steady headway in the almost impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, for, despite this reinforcement, it was our army that was doing the driving. Our aircraft was increasing in skill and numbers and forcing the issue, and our infantry and artillery were improving rapidly with each new experience. The replacements fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions with little time for training, but they had the advantage of serving beside men who knew their business and who had almost become veterans over night. The enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which especially favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned by highly-trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges. In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been unable to accomplish any progress according to previously accepted standards, but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of our troops.

On October 4th the attack was renewed all along our front. The Third Corps tilting to the left followed the Brieulles-Cunel road; our Fifth Corps took Gesnes while the First Corps advanced for over two miles along the irregular valley of the Aire River and in the wooded hills of the Argonne that bordered the river, used by the enemy with all his art and weapons of defense. This sort of fighting continued against an enemy striving to hold every foot of ground and whose very strong counter-attacks challenged us at every point. On the 7th the First Corps captured Chatel-Chehery and continued along the river to Cornay. On the east of Meuse sector one of the two divisions co-operating with the French captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the Fifth Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fleville, and the Third Corps, which had continuous fighting against odds, was working its way through Brieulles and Cunel. On the 10th we had cleared the Argonne Forest of the enemy.

It was now necessary to constitute a second army, and on October 9th the immediate command of the First Army was turned over to Lieutenant-General Hunter Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose divisions occupied a sector in the Woevre, was given to Lieutenant-General Robert L. Bullard, who had been commander of the First Division and then of the Third Corps. Major-General Dickman was transferred to the command of the First Corps, while the Fifth Corps was placed under Major-General Charles P. Summerall, who had recently commanded the First Division. Major-General John L. Hines, who had gone rapidly up from regimental to division commander, was assigned to the Third Corps. These four officers had been in France from the early days of the expedition and had learned their lessons in the school of practical warfare.

Our constant pressure against the enemy brought day by day more prisoners, mostly survivors from machine-gun nests captured in fighting at close quarters. On October 18th there was very fierce fighting in the Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont Woods. On the 14th the First Corps took St. Juvin, and the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, entered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had hoped to check us indefinitely. Later the Fifth Corps penetrated further the Kriemhilde line, and the First Corps took Champigneulles and the important town of Grandpre. Our dogged offensive was wearing down the enemy, who continued desperately to throw his best troops against us, thus weakening his line in front of our Allies and making their advance less difficult.

DIVISIONS IN BELGIUM

Meanwhile we were not only able to continue the battle, but our Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first divisions were hastily withdrawn from our front and dispatched to help the French army in Belgium. Detraining in the neighborhood of Ypres, these divisions advanced by rapid stages to the fighting line and were assigned to adjacent French corps. On October 31st, in continuation of the Flanders offensive, they attacked and methodically broke down all enemy resistance. On November 3d the Thirty-seventh had completed its mission in dividing the enemy across the Escaut River and firmly established itself along the east bank included in the division zone of action. By a clever flanking movement troops of the Ninety-first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a difficult wood extending across the central part of the division sector, reached the Escaut, and penetrated into the town of Audenarde. These divisions received high commendation from their corps commanders for their dash and energy.

MEUSE ARGONNE—LAST PHASE

On the 23d the Third and Fifth corps pushed northward to the level of Bantheville. While we continued to press forward and throw back the enemy's violent counter-attacks with great loss to him, a regrouping of our forces was under way for the final assault. Evidences of loss of morale by the enemy gave our men more confidence in attack and more fortitude in enduring the fatigue of incessant effort and the hardships of very inclement weather.

With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final advance in the Meuse-Argonne front was begun on November 1st. Our increased artillery force acquitted itself magnificently in support of the advance, and the enemy broke before the determined infantry, which, by its persistent fighting of the past weeks and the dash of this attack, had overcome his will to resist. The Third Corps took Aincreville, Doulcon, and Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps took Landres et St. Georges and pressed through successive lines of resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On the 2d the First Corps joined in the movement, which now became an impetuous onslaught that could not be stayed.

On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pursuit, some by motor trucks, while the artillery pressed along the country roads close behind. The First Corps reached Authe and Chatillon-Sur-Bar, the Fifth Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps Halles, penetrating the enemy's line to a depth of twelve miles. Our large caliber guns had advanced and were skillfully brought into position to fire upon the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the Meuse on the 5th and the other corps, in the full confidence that the day was theirs, eagerly cleared the way of machine guns as they swept northward, maintaining complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a division of the First Corps reached a point on the Meuse opposite Sedan, twenty-five miles from our line of departure. The strategical goal which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of communications, and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster.

In all forty enemy divisions had been used against us in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September 26th and November 6th we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 guns on this front. Our divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. Many of our divisions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest. The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and Ninetieth were in the line twice. Although some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal to the best.

OPERATIONS EAST OF THE MEUSE

On the three days preceding November 10th, the Third, the Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth French corps fought a difficult struggle through the Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the enemy into the plain. Meanwhile, my plans for further use of the American forces contemplated an advance between the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy by the First Army, while, at the same time, the Second Army should assure the offensive toward the rich coal fields of Briey. These operations were to be followed by an offensive toward Chateau-Salins east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz. Accordingly, attacks on the American front had been ordered and that of the Second Army was in progress on the morning of November 11th, when instructions were received that hostilities should cease at 11 o'clock A. M.

At this moment the line of the American sector, from right to left, began at Port-Sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Vandieres and through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, thence along to the foothills and through the northern edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the Meuse connecting with the French under Sedan....

There are in Europe altogether, including a regiment and some sanitary units with the Italian army and the organizations at Murmansk, also including those en route from the States, approximately 2,053,347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in France 1,338,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived, of which the infantry personnel of ten have been used as replacements, leaving thirty divisions now in France organized into three armies of three corps each.

The losses of the Americans up to November 18th are: Killed and wounded, 36,145; died of disease, 14,811; deaths unclassified, 2,204; wounded, 179,625; prisoners, 2,163; missing, 1,160. We have captured about 41,000 prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and trench mortars....

Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the line. When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country.



CHAPTER LIX

PRESIDENT WILSON'S REVIEW OF THE WAR

On December 2, 1918, just prior to sailing for Europe to take part in the Peace Conference, President Wilson addressed Congress, reviewing the work of the American people, soldiers, sailors and civilians, in the World War which had been brought to a successful conclusion on November 11th. His speech, in part, follows:

"The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfil my constitutional duty to give to the Congress from time to time information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with great events, great processes and great results that I cannot hope to give you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far-reaching changes which have been wrought in the life of our Nation and of the world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as I have. It is too soon to assess them; and we who stand in the midst of them and are part of them are less qualified than men of another generation will be to say what they mean or even what they have been. But some great outstanding facts are unmistakable and constitute in a sense part of the public business with which it is our duty to deal. To state them is to set the stage for the legislative and executive action which must grow out of them and which we have yet to shape and determine.

"A year ago we had sent 145,918 men overseas. Since then we have sent 1,950,513, an average of 162,542 each month, the number in fact rising in May last to 245,951, in June to 278,760, in July to 307,182 and continuing to reach similar figures in August and September—in August 289,570 and in September 257,438. No such movement of troops ever took place before, across 3,000 miles of sea, followed by adequate equipment and supplies, and carried safely through extraordinary dangers of attack, dangers which were alike strange and infinitely difficult to guard against. In all this movement only 758 men were lost by enemy attacks, 630 of whom were upon a single English transport which was sunk near the Orkney Islands.

"I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of men and material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a supporting organization of the industries of the country and of all its productive activities more complete, more thorough in method and effective in results, more spirited and unanimous in purpose and effort than any other great belligerent had ever been able to effect. We profited greatly by the experience of the nations which had already been engaged for nearly three years in the exigent and exacting business, their every resource and every proficiency taxed to the utmost. We were the pupils. But we learned quickly and acted with a promptness and a readiness of co-operation that justify our great pride that we were able to serve the world with unparalleled energy and quick accomplishment.

"But it is not the physical scale and executive efficiency of preparation, supply, equipment and dispatch that I would dwell upon, but the mettle and quality of the officers and men we sent over and of the sailors who kept the seas, and the spirit of the Nation that stood behind them. No soldiers, or sailors, ever proved themselves more quickly ready for the test of battle or acquitted themselves with more splendid courage and achievement when put to the test. Those of us who played some part in directing the great processes by which the war was pushed irresistibly forward to the final triumph may now forget all that and delight our thoughts with the story of what our men did. Their officers understood the grim and exacting task they had undertaken and performed with audacity, efficiency and unhesitating courage that touch the story of convoy and battle with imperishable distinction at every turn, whether the enterprise were great or small—from their chiefs, Pershing and Sims, down to the youngest lieutenant; and their men were worthy of them—such men as hardly need to be commanded, and go to their terrible adventure blithely and with the quick intelligence of those who know just what it is they would accomplish. I am proud to be the fellow-countryman of men of such stuff and valor. Those of us who stayed at home did our duty: the war could not have been won or the gallant men who fought it given their opportunity to win it otherwise; but for many a long day we shall think ourselves 'accursed we were not there, and hold our manhoods cheap while any speaks that fought' with these at St. Mihiel or Thierry. The memory of those days of triumphant battle will go with these fortunate men to their graves; and each will have his favorite memory. 'Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day!'

"What we all thank God for with deepest gratitude is that our men went in force into the line of battle just at the critical moment, and threw their fresh strength into the ranks of freedom in time to turn the whole tide and sweep of the fateful struggle—turn it once for all, so that henceforth it was back, back, back for their enemies, always back, never again forward! After that it was only a scant four months before the commanders of the central empires knew themselves beaten, and now their very empires are in liquidation!

"And throughout it all how fine the spirit of the Nation was; what unity of purpose, what untiring zeal! What elevation of purpose ran through all its splendid display of strength, its untiring accomplishment. I have said that those of us who stayed at home to do the work of organization and supply will always wish that we had been with the men whom we sustained by our labor; but we can never be ashamed. It has been an inspiring thing to be here in the midst of fine men who had turned aside from every private interest of their own and devoted the whole of their trained capacity to the tasks that supplied the sinews of the whole great undertaking! The patriotism, the unselfishness, the thoroughgoing devotion and distinguished capacity that marked their toilsome labors, day after day, month after month, have made them fit mates and comrades of the men in the trenches and on the sea. And not the men here in Washington only. They have but directed the vast achievement. Throughout innumerable factories, upon innumerable farms, in the depths of coal mines and iron mines and copper mines, wherever the stuffs of industry were to be obtained and prepared, in the shipyards, on the railways, at the docks, on the sea, in every labor that was needed to sustain the battle lines men have vied with each other to do their part and do it well. They can look any man-at-arms in the face, and say, we also strove to win and gave the best that was in us to make our fleets and armies sure of their triumph!

"And what shall we say of the women—of their instant intelligence, quickening every task that they touched; their capacity for organization and co-operation, which gave their action discipline and enhanced the effectiveness of everything they attempted; their aptitude at tasks to which they had never before set their hands; their utter self-sacrificing alike in what they did and in what they gave? Their contribution to the great result is beyond appraisal. They have added a new luster to the annals of American womanhood.

"The least tribute we can pay them is to make them the equals of men in political rights as they have proved themselves their equals in every field of practical work they have entered, whether for themselves or for their country. These great days of completed achievement would be sadly marred were we to omit that act of justice. Besides the immense practical services they have rendered, the women of the country have been the moving spirits in the systematic economies by which our people have voluntarily assisted to supply the suffering peoples of the world and the armies upon every front with food and everything else that we had that might serve the common cause. The details of such a story can never be fully written, but we carry them at our hearts and thank God that we can say we are the kinsmen of such.

"And now we are sure of the great triumph for which every sacrifice was made. It has come, come in its completeness, and with the pride and inspiration of these days of achievement quick within us we turn to the tasks of peace again—a peace secure against the violence of irresponsible monarchs and ambitious military coteries and made ready for a new order, for new foundations of justice and fair dealing.

"We are about to give order and organization to this peace, not only for ourselves, but for the other peoples of the world as well, so far as they will suffer us to serve them. It is international justice that we seek, not domestic safety merely.

"So far as our domestic affairs are concerned the problem of our return to peace is a problem of economic and industrial readjustment. That problem is less serious for us than it may turn out to be for the nations which have suffered the disarrangements and the losses of war longer than we. Our people, moreover, do not wait to be coached and led. They know their own business, are quick and resourceful at every readjustment, definite in purpose and self-reliant in action. Any leading strings we might seek to put them in would speedily become hopelessly tangled because they would pay no attention to them and go their own way. All that we can do as their legislative and executive servants is to mediate the process of change here, there and elsewhere as we may. I have heard much counsel as to the plans that should be formed and personally conducted to a happy consummation, but from no quarter have I seen any general scheme of reconstruction emerge which I thought it likely we could force our spirited businessmen and self-reliant laborers to accept with due pliancy and obedience.

"While the war lasted we set up many agencies by which to direct the industries of the country in the services it was necessary for them to render, by which to make sure of an abundant supply of the materials needed, by which to check undertakings that could for the time be dispensed with and stimulate those that were most serviceable in war, by which to gain for the purchasing departments of the government a certain control over the prices of essential articles and materials, by which to restrain trade with alien enemies, make the most of the available shipping and systematize financial transactions, both public and private, so that there would be no unnecessary conflict or confusion—by which, in short, to put every material energy of the country in harness to draw the common load and make of us one team in accomplishment of a great task.

"But the moment we knew the armistice to have been signed we took the harness off. Raw materials upon which the government had kept its hand for fear there should not be enough for the industries that supplied the armies have been released, and put into the general market again. Great industrial plants whose whole output and machinery had been taken over for the uses of the government have been set free to return to the uses to which they were put before the war. It has not been possible to remove so readily or so quickly the control of foodstuffs and of shipping, because the world has still to be fed from our granaries and the ships are still needed to send supplies to our men oversea and to bring the men back as fast as the disturbed conditions on the other side of the water permit; but even there restraints are being relaxed as much as possible, and more and more as the weeks go by.

"Never before have there been agencies in existence in this country which knew so much of the field of supply of labor, and of industry as the War Industries Board, the War Trade Board, the Labor Department, the Food Administration and the Fuel Administration have known since their labors became thoroughly systematized; and they have not been isolated agencies; they have been directed by men which represented the permanent departments of the government and so have been the centers of unified and co-operative action. It has been the policy of the Executive, therefore, since the armistice was assured (which is in effect a complete submission of the enemy) to put the knowledge of these bodies at the disposal of the businessmen of the country and to offer their intelligent mediation at every point and in every matter where it was desired. It is surprising how fast the process of return to a peace footing has moved in the three weeks since the fighting stopped. It promises to outrun any inquiry that may be instituted and any aid that may be offered. It will not be easy to direct it any better than it will direct itself. The American business man is of quick initiative....

"I welcome this occasion to announce to the Congress my purpose to join in Paris the representatives of the governments with which we have been associated in the war against the Central Empires for the purpose of discussing with them the main features of the treaty of peace. I realize the great inconveniences that will attend my leaving the country, particularly at this time, but the conclusion that it was my paramount duty to go has been forced upon me by considerations which I hope will seem as conclusive to you as they have seemed to me.

"The Allied governments have accepted the bases of peace which I outlined to the Congress on the 8th of January last, as the Central Empires also have, and very reasonably desire my personal counsel in their interpretation and application, and it is highly desirable that I should give it, in order that the sincere desire of our government to contribute without selfish purpose of any kind to settlements that will be of common benefit to all the nations concerned may be made fully manifest. The peace settlements which are now to be agreed upon are of transcendent importance both to us and to the rest of the world, and I know of no business or interest which should take precedence of them. The gallant men of our armed forces on land and sea have consciously fought for the ideals which they knew to be the ideals of their country; I have sought to express those ideals; they have accepted my statements of them as the substance of their own thought and purpose, as the associated governments have accepted them; I owe it to them to see to it, so far as in me lies, that no false or mistaken interpretation is put upon them, and no possible effort omitted to realize them. It is now my duty to play my full part in making good what they offered their life's blood to obtain. I can think of no call to service which could transcend this....

"May I not hope, gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking. I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the Nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counselor service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven."



Copyright Harris and Ewing. WOODROW WILSON President of the United States during the whole course of the war and Commander in-Chief of its army and navy. On November 11, 1918, he signalized the end of the war in a proclamation in which he said:—"My Fellow-Countrymen:—The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished."



Copyright International Film Service. WHEN IT WAS OVER "OVER THERE" Victorious American troops arriving at New York after the signing of the armistice.



Summarized Chronology of the War

1914

June

28.—Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife at Sarajevo, Bosnia.

July

28.—Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

29.—Russian mobilization ordered.

August

1.—Germany declares war on Russia.

1.—France orders mobilization.

2.—Germany demands free passage through Belgium.

3.—Germany declares war on France.

3.—Belgium rejects Germany's demand.

4.—Germany at war with Belgium. Troops under Gen. Von Kluck cross border. Halted at Liege.

4.—Great Britain at war with Germany. Kitchener becomes Secretary of War.

5.—President Wilson tenders good offices of United States in interests of peace.

6.—Austria-Hungary at war with Russia.

7.—French forces invade Alsace. Gen. Joffre in supreme command of French army.

7.—Montenegro at war with Austria.

7.—Great Britain's Expeditionary Force lands at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk.

8.—British seize German Togoland.

8.—Serbia at war with Germany.

8.—Portugal announces readiness to stand by alliance with England.

11.—German cruisers Goeben and Breslau enter Dardanelles and are purchased by Turkey.

12.—Great Britain at war with Austria-Hungary.

12.—Montenegro at war with Germany.

17.—Belgian capital removed from Brussels to Antwerp.

19.—Canadian Parliament authorizes raising expeditionary force.

20.—Germans occupy Brussels.

23.—Japan at war with Germany. Begins attack on Tsingtau.

24.—Germans enter France near Lille.

25.—Austria at war with Japan.

26.—Louvain sacked and burned by Germans. Viviani becomes premier of France.

28.—British fleet sinks three German cruisers and two destroyers off Heligoland.

28.—Austria declares war on Belgium.

29.—Russians invest Konigsberg, East Prussia. New Zealanders seize German Samoa.

30.—Amiens occupied by Germans.

31.—Russian army of invasion in East Prussia defeated at Tannenberg by Germans under Von Hindenburg.

31.—St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd by imperial decree.

September

3.—Paris placed in state of siege; government transferred to Bordeaux.

3.—Lemberg, Gallicia, occupied by Russians.

4.—Germans occupy Rheims.

6-10.—Battle of Marne. Von Kluck is beaten by Gen. Joffre, and the German army retreats from Paris to the Soissons-Rheims line.

10.—Emden, German cruiser, carries out raids in Bay of Bengal.

14.—French reoccupy Amiens and Rheims.

19.—British forces begin operations in Southwest Africa.

20.—Rheims cathedral shelled by Germans.

24.—Allies occupy Peronne.

25.—Australians seize German New Guinea.

28.—Anglo-French forces invade German colony of Kamerun.

29.—Antwerp bombardment begins.

October

2.—British Admiralty announces intention to mine North Sea areas.

6.—Japan seizes Marshall Islands in Pacific.

9.—Antwerp surrenders to Germans. Government removed to Ostend.

13.—British occupy Ypres.

14.—Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men lands at Plymouth.

15.—Germans occupy Ostend. Belgian government removed to Havre, France.

November

1.—Monmouth and Good Hope, British cruisers, are sunk by German squadron off Chile under command of Admiral Von Spee.

5.—Great Britain and France declare war on Turkey.

5.—Cyprus annexed by Great Britain.

7.—German garrison of Tsingtau surrenders to Japanese.

9.—Emden, German cruiser, which had carried out raiding operations for two months, is destroyed by Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands, southwest of Java.

16.—Prohibition of sale of intoxicants in Russia enforced.

27.—Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, captured by Russians.

December

2.—Belgrade occupied by Austrians.

3.—Cracow bombarded by Russians.

8.—Off the Falkland Isles, British squadron under command of Rear-Admiral Sturdee, sinks three of the German cruisers which had destroyed the Good Hope and Monmouth on Nov. 1. The Dresden escapes.

14.—Austrians evacuate Belgrade.

16.—German squadron bombards Hartlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on east coast of England.

23.—Siege of Cracow raised. Russians retire.

1915

January

24.—British fleet puts to flight a German squadron in North Sea and sinks the battle cruiser Blucher.

28.—American bark, William P. Frye, sunk by German cruiser in South Atlantic.

February

10.—Russians defeated by Germans in Battle of Masurian Lakes.

18.—German submarine "blockade" of British Isles begins.

25.—Allied fleet destroys outer forts of Dardanelles.

March

2.—Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on Asiatic side of Dardanelles.

10.—British take Neuve Chapelle in Flanders battle.

14.—Dresden, German raiding cruiser, is sunk by British squadron off the Chilean coast.

22.—Austrian fortress of Przmysl surrenders to Russians.

April

22.—Poison gas first used by Germans in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium.

May

1.—American steamer Gulflight torpedoed off Scilly Isles by German submarine; 3 lives lost.

2.—British South Africa troops under General Botha capture Otymbingue, German Southwest Africa.

7.—Germans capture Libau, Russian Baltic port.

7.—Lusitania, Cunard liner, sunk by German submarine off Kinsale Head, Irish coast, with loss of 1152 lives; 102 Americans.

23.—Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary and begins invasion on a 60-mile front.

24.—American steamer Nebraskan torpedoed by German submarine off Irish coast, but reaches Liverpool in safety.

31.—German Zeppelins bombard suburbs of London.

June

1.—Germany apologizes for attack on Gulflight and offers reparation.

3.—Austrians recapture Przmysl.

3.—British forces operating on Tigris capture Kut-el-Amara.

4-6.—German aircraft bombs English towns.

7.—Bryan, U. S. Secretary of State, resigns.

15.—Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, Baden, in retaliation.

22.—Lemberg recaptured by Austrians.

26.—Montenegrins enter Scutari, Albania.

July

9.—German Southwest Africa surrenders to British South African troops under Gen. Botha.

25.—American steamer, Leelanaw, Archangel to Belfast with flax, torpedoed off Scotland.

31.—Baden bombarded by French aircraft.

August

5.—Warsaw captured by Germans.

6.—Ivangorod occupied by Austrians.

6.—Gallipoli Peninsula campaign enters a second stage with the debarkation of a new force of British troops in Suvla Bay, on the west of the peninsula.

8.—Russians defeat German fleet of 9 battleships and 12 cruisers at entrance of Gulf of Riga.

19.—Arabic, White Star liner, sunk by submarine off Fastnet; 44 lives lost; 2 Americans.

25.—Brest-Litovsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austro-Germans.

28.—Italians reach Cima Cista, northeast of Trent.

30.—British submarine attacks Constantinople and damages the Galata Bridge.

31.—Lutsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austrians.

September

2.—Grodno, Russian fortress, occupied by Germans.

6.—Czar Nicholas of Russia assumes command of Russian armies. Grand Duke Nicholas is transferred to the Caucasus.

15.—Pinsk occupied by Germans.

18.—Vilna evacuated by Russia.

24.—Lutsk recaptured by Russians.

25.—Allies open offensive on western front and occupy Lens.

27.—Lutsk again falls to Germans.

October

5.—Greece becomes political storm center. Franco-British force lands at Salonika and Greek ministry resigns.

9.—Belgrade again occupied by Austro-Germans.

11.—Zaimis, new Greek premier, announces policy of armed neutrality.

12.—Edith Cavell, English nurse, shot by Germans for aiding British prisoners to escape from Belgium.

13.—London bombarded by Zeppelins; 55 persons killed; 114 injured.

14.—Bulgaria at war with Serbia.

14.—Italians capture Pregasina, on the Trentino frontier.

15.—Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria.

17.—France at war with Bulgaria.

18.—Bulgarians cut the Nish-Sulonika railroad at Vranja.

19.—Italy and Russia at war with Bulgaria.

22.—Uskub occupied by Bulgarians.

28.—Pirot captured by Bulgarians.

29.—Briand becomes premier of France, succeeding Viviani.

November

5.—Nish, Serbian war capital, captured by Bulgarians.

9.—Ancona, Italian liner, torpedoed in Mediterranean.

17.—Anglo-French war council holds first meeting in Paris.

20.—Novibazar occupied by German troops.

22.—Ctesiphon, near Bagdad, captured by British forces in Asia Minor.

23.—Italians drive Austrians from positions on Carso Plateau.

24.—Serbian government transferred to Scutari, Albania.

December

1.—British Mesopotamian forces retire to Kut-el-Amara.

2.—Monastir evacuated by Serbians.

4.—Henry Ford, with large party of peace advocates, sails for Europe on chartered steamer Oscar II, with the object of ending the war.

13.—Serbia in hands of enemy, Allied forces abandoning last positions and retiring across Greek frontier.

15.—Gen. Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France.

20.—Dardanelles expedition ends; British troops begin withdrawal from positions on Suvla Bay and Gallipoli Peninsula.

22.—Henry Ford leaves his peace party at Christiania and returns to the United States.

1916

January

11.—Greek island of Corfu occupied by French.

13.—Cettinje, capital of Montenegro, occupied by Austrians.

23.—Scutari, Albania, taken by Austrians.

29-31.—German Zeppelins bomb Paris and towns in England.

February

1.—Appam, British liner, is brought into Norfolk, Va., by German prize crew.

10.—British conscription law goes into effect.

16.—Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, captured by Russians under Grand Duke Nicholas.

19.—Kamerun, German colony in Africa, conquered by British forces.

21.—Battle of Verdun begins. Germans take Haumont.

25.—Fort Douaumont falls to Germans in Verdun battle.

27.—Durazzo, Albania, occupied by Austrians.

March

5.—Moewe, German raider, reaches home port after a cruise of several months.

9.—Germany declares war on Portugal on the latter's refusal to give up seized ships.

15.—Austria-Hungary at war with Portugal.

24.—Sussex, French cross-channel steamer, with many Americans aboard, sunk by submarine off Dieppe. No Americans lost.

31.—Melancourt taken by Germans in Verdun Battle.

April

18.—Trebizond, Turkish Black Sea port, captured by Russians.

19.—President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to pursue submarine policy.

20.—Russian troops landed at Marseilles for service on French front.

24.—Irish rebellion begins in Dublin. Republic declared. Patrick Pearse announced as first president.

29.—British force of 9000 men, under Gen. Townshend, besieged in Kut-el-Amara, surrenders to Turks.

30.—Irish rebellion ends with unconditional surrender of Pearse and other leaders, who are tried by court-martial and executed.

May

8.—Cymric, White Star liner, torpedoed off Irish coast.

14.—Italian positions penetrated by Austrians.

15.—Vimy Ridge gained by British.

26.—Bulgarians invade Greece and occupy forts on the Struma.

31.—Jutland naval battle; British and German fleets engaged; heavy losses on both sides.

June

5.—Kitchener, British Secretary of War, loses his life when the cruiser Hampshire, on which he was voyaging to Russia, is sunk off the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

6.—Germans capture Fort Vaux in Verdun attack.

8.—Lutsk, Russian fortress, recaptured from Germans.

17.—Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, occupied by Russians.

21.—Allies demand Greek demobilization.

27.—King Constantine orders demobilization of Greek army.

28.—Italians storm Monte Trappola, in the Trentino district.

July

1.—British and French attack north and south of the Somme.

9.—Deutschland, German submarine freight boat, lands at Baltimore, Md.

14.—British penetrate German second line, using cavalry.

15.—Longueval captured by British.

25.—Pozieres occupied by British.

30.—British and French advance between Delville Wood and the Somme.

August

3.—French recapture Fleury.

9.—Italians enter Goritzia.

10.—Stanislau occupied by Russians.

25.—Kavala, Greek seaport town, taken by Bulgarians.

27.—Roumania declares war on Austria-Hungary.

28.—Italy at war with Germany.

28.—Germany at war with Roumania.

30.—Roumanians advance into Transylvania.

31.—Bulgaria at war with Roumania. Turkey at war with Roumania.

September

2.—Bulgarian forces invade Roumania along the Dobrudja frontier.

13.—Italians defeat Austrians on the Carso.

15.—British capture Flers, Courcelette, and other German positions on western front, using 'tanks.'

26.—Combles and Thiepval captured by British and French.

29.—Roumanians begin retreat from Transylvania.

October

24.—Fort Douaumont recaptured by French.

November

1.—Deutschland, German merchant submarine, arrives at New London, Conn., on second voyage.

2.—Fort Vaux evacuated by Germans.

7.—Woodrow Wilson re-elected President of the United States.

13.—British advance along the Ancre.

19.—Monastir evacuated by Bulgarians and Germans.

21.—Britannic, mammoth British hospital ship, sunk by mine in Aegean Sea.

22.—Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, dies. Succeeded by Charles I.

23.—German warships bombard English coast.

28.—Roumanian government is transferred to Jassy.

29.—Minnewaska, Atlantic transport liner, sunk by mine in Mediterranean.

December

1.—Allied troops enter Athens to insist upon surrender of Greek arms and munitions.

6.—Bucharest, capital of Roumania, captured by Austro-Germans.

7.—David Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as premier of England.

15.—French complete recapture of ground taken by Germans in Verdun battle.

18.—President Wilson makes peace overtures to belligerents.

26.—Germany replies to President's note and suggests a peace conference.

30.—French government on behalf of Entente Allies replies to President Wilson's note and refuses to discuss peace till Germany agrees to give 'restitution, reparation and guarantees.'

1917

January

1.—Turkey declares its independence of suzerainty of European powers.

1.—Ivernia, Cunard liner, is sunk in Mediterranean.

22.—President Wilson suggests to the belligerents a 'peace without victory.'

31.—Germany announces intention of sinking all vessels in war zone around British Isles.

February

3.—United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany. Count Von Bernstorff is handed his passports.

7.—California, Anchor liner, is sunk off Irish coast.

13.—Afric, White Star liner, sunk by submarine.

17.—British troops on the Ancre capture German positions.

25.—Laconia, Cunard liner, sunk off Irish coast.

26.—Kut-el-Amara recaptured from Turks by new British Mesopotamian expedition under command of Gen. Sir Stanley Maude.

28.—United States government makes public a communication from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance, and offering as a reward the return of Mexico's lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

28.—Submarine campaign of Germans results in the sinking of 134 vessels during February.

March

3.—British advance on Bapaume.

3.—Mexico denies having received an offer from Germany suggesting an alliance.

8.—Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies.

10.—Russian Czar suspends sittings of the Duma.

11.—Bagdad captured by British forces under Gen. Maude.

11.—Revolutionary movement starts in Petrograd.

14.—China breaks with Germany.

15.—Czar Nicholas abdicates. Prince Lvoff heads new cabinet.

17.—Bapaume falls to British. Roye and Lassigny occupied by French.

18.—Peronne, Chaulnes, Nesle and Noyon evacuated by Germans, who retire on an 85-mile front.

18.—City of Memphis, Illinois, and Vigilancia, American ships, torpedoed.

19.—Alexander Ribot becomes French premier, succeeding Briand.

21.—Healdton, American ship, bound from Philadelphia to Rotterdam, sunk without warning; 21 men lost.

26-31.—British advance on Cambrai.

April

1.—Aztec, American armed ship, sunk in submarine zone.

5.—Missourian, American steamer, sunk in Mediterranean.

6.—United States declares war on Germany.

7.—Cuba and Panama at war with Germany.

8.—Austria-Hungary breaks with United States.

9.—Germans retreat before British on long front.

9.—Bolivia breaks with Germany.

13.—Vimy, Givenchy, Bailleul and positions about Lens taken by Canadians.

20.—Turkey breaks with United States.

May

9.—Liberia breaks with Germany.

11.—Russian Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates demands peace conference.

15.—Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as Commander-in-Chief of French armies. Gen. Foch is appointed Chief of Staff.

16.—Bullecourt captured by British in the Arras battles.

17.—Honduras breaks with Germany.

18.—Conscription bill signed by President Wilson.

19.—Nicaragua breaks with Germany.

22-26.—Italians advance on the Carso.

June

4.—Senator Root arrives in Russia at head of commission appointed by President.

5.—Registration day for new draft army in United States.

7.—Messines-Wytschaete ridge in English hands.

8.—Gen. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of American expeditionary force, arrives in England en route to France.

18.—Haiti breaks with Germany.

July

1.—Russians begin offensive in Gallicia, Kerensky, minister of war, leading in person.

3.—American expeditionary force arrives in France.

6.—Canadian House of Commons passes Compulsory Military Service Bill.

12.—King Constantine of Greece abdicates in favor of his second son, Alexander.

14.—Bethmann—Hollweg, German Chancellor, resigns; succeeded by Dr. Georg Michaelis.