The Fourth Division

THE FOURTH DIVISION 'i/r/i -?o_ STEADFAST AND LOYAL <?Z> //*-«- r^7 Ûriô-vx. Out)- A^C&fr>t*+t*t***€0i^ THE FOURTH DIVISION ITS SERVICES AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE WORLD WAR (fathered from the Têcords of the Division BY CHRISTIAN A. BACH COLONEL, GENERAL STAFF, CHIEF OF STAFF FOURTH DIVISION AND HENRY NOBLE HALL WAR CORRESPONDENT LONDON "TIMES" ACCREDITED TO THE AMERICAN ARMY WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS PAINTED FROM LIFE BY CAPTAIN LEON DABO, A.D.C. AND NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS AND FIVE MAPS ISSUED BY THE DIVISION 1920 COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY CHRISTIAN A. BACH TO THE COUNTLESS THOUSANDS MANY YET UNBORN WHO WILL READ THE HISTORY OP THIS GREAT WAR AND DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THE HEROISM OP THOSE WHO DLED THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE LN FREEDOM THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED Foreword THIS is the story of a Division which was organized, trained, brought overseas, fought in the final great offensives of the World War and which saw the signing of the Armistice—all within a pe riod of eleven months. It is a feat not paralleled in the history of our Army. This achievement was made possible only because, earlier in its career, officers and men alike became imbued with a high sense of loyalty to their division and to each other. It was this steadfast and loyal spirit, gradually developed in the school of discipline, made perfect in the school of war, which rendered all things possible. What soul is to the individual, spirit is to the Division. It is something intangible and hard to define but we all know its ani mating power. It lives, it hovers about and over the Division. It inspires every officer and man, no matter how long or short his service. It is greater than morale, more personal than patriotism, more exacting than duty. It makes men hold their heads high and face the world proudly in the joy of good work well done, in the calm self-reliance of disciplined efficiency, in the mutual con fidence of true comradeship—that harmony of line and staff without which victory is impossible. It is a spirit, not of pride, but of service—of service to one another, to our great country, to man kind. Born of the ideals of the Regular Army, nurtured in the trying conditions of the training camp, this spirit strengthened men when their muscles ached during the long marches as they staggered through mud and darkness under heavy loads; steeled them in the great test of battle when they lay, wet and hungry, under shell-fire which racked their nerves and tore their bodies, and, when death Vlll Foreword stalked on all sides, carried them irresistibly forward without thought of themselves or heed of danger. In the following pages will be found the tangible things which have produced the intangible, but no less masterful, force: THE SPIRIT OF THE FOURTH DIVISION Contents PACE FOREWORD . VH INTRODUCTION xv CHAPTER I. WHY AMERICA ENTERED THE WAR 3 II. ORGANIZING THE 4m DIVISION ....... 17 III. CROSSING THE ATLANTIC 32 IV. TRAINING WITH THE BRITISH 46 V. TRAINING WITH THE FRENCH 56 VI. THE AISNE-MARNE OFFENSIVE 66 VTI. SERGY 91 VOT. FIGHTING ON THE VESLE 106 IX. MENDING A DIVISION 127 X. THE ST. MIHIEL OFFENSIVE 140 XL THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE—1st Phase . 152 XII. THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE—2nd Phase . 182 XIII. WITH THE SECOND ARMY 202 XIV. THE MARCH INTO GERMANY 214 XV. WITH THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION 229 XVI. HOMEWARD BOUND 243 XVII. REVIEW 257 ix x Contents PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 266 APPENDIX A ROSTER OF COMMANDERS 281 APPENDIX B DECORATIONS AWARDED 287 APPENDIX C CITATIONS AND COMMENDATIONS .... 295 APPENDIX D THE ROLL OF HONOR 313 INDEX 359 Illustrations General John J. Pershing Frontispiece FACING PAGE Major General George H. Cameron 32 Brigadier General Edwin B. Babbitt ^T> Brigadier General Benjamin A. Poore 48 The Sinking of the Moldavia 49 General Pershing and Major General Cameron ... 80 Hautevesnes in Ruins 80 Near St. Gengoulph 81 Brigadier General Ewing E. Booth 96 Field Hospital in the Foret de Fere 97 Infantry and Supplies Moving Toward the Vesle . 97 Tagging Telephone Cables at Division Headquarters . 112 Plateau Overlooking the Vesle River 112 The Heights North of the Vesle 113 Bazoches and St. Thibaut 128 Major General John L. Hines 129 Replacements Arriving at Rimaucourt 148 Moving by Truck to Vavincourt 148 Desolation in the Bois des Eparges 149 Homes Turned into Machine Gun Nests 149 Major General Hines and the Division Staff .... 156 American Trenches on Hill 304 157 German Trenches North of the Ruisseau de Forges . 164 A Few of the Prisoners Captured September 26, 1918 . 165 The Montzeville-Esnes Road, September 29, 1918 . 165 The Esnes-Malancourt Road 172 Traffic on the Esnes-Malancourt Road, Sept. 27, 1918 173 Cuisy, September 28, 1918 173 xi xii Illustrations FACING PAGE Reading His Shirt 180 The Cuisy-Montfaucon Road Under Shell-fire . i£o Division Headquarters at Cuisy 181 Supply Train and Field Hospital at Cuisy .... 188 Septsarges 189 Battery "Q" 196 Undergrowth in the Bois de Brieulles 196 Fond de Ville aux Bois from the East 197 Telephone-Radio Traffic and Trouble Chart . 197 Cunel-Brieulles Road and the Fond de Cunel . 204 Narrow-Gauge Railroad in the Bois de Foret . 205 39th Infantry Cemetery Between Hill 299 and the Bois de Foret 212 German Artillery Captured by the 4th Division . 213 Major General Mark L. Hersey 220 Entering Thionville 221 Remich on the Moselle 221 The Bridge Over the Moselle at Schengen .... 228 Burg Cochem and the Town of Cochem 229 The Night Before Inspection 229 The Division in Line 236 Passing in Review 236 General Pershing Addressing the Division . ... 237 Fourth of July on the Rhine 237 Field Day at Neuenahr, June 14, 1919 244 General Pershing with the Unit Commanders and Divi sion Staff 245 Fourth Division Monument Erected on the Vesle River 252 Fourth Division Companies of the Composite Regiment 253 The Price of Victory 253 Illustrations xiii PAINTINGS BY CAPTAIN LEON DABO FACING PAGE i. The Sinking of the Moldavia 49 2. Near St. Gengoulph 81 3. The Heights North of the Vesle 113 4. The Esnes-Malancourt Road 172 5. The Bridge Over the Moselle at Schengen . 228 MAPS Aisne-Marne Offensive St. Mihiel Offensive Meuse-Argonne Offensive March into Germany and Areas of Occupation General Map, Showing Movements of the Division Introduction IT is proper that the deeds of a Division that fought in the World War be recorded with painstaking care. The reader of this book may feel satisfied that no effort has been spared to insure the historical accuracy of the facts stated. For most of them the original documents, substantiating the statements, are on file in the Historical Branch, War Plans Division, General Staff, Wash ington, D. C; others are based upon the oral or written statements of two or more reliable eye-witnesses; still others are taken from the personal knowledge of one of the authors. This book is not a tactical study of the operations of a combat division; nor is it merely a colorful account of a series of actions, such as might be written by a non-military observer. A sincere effort has been made to produce, in readable form, a bird's-eye view of the whole war, an intimate history of the operations of the Division and a correct record of facts that embrace sufficient data to make the book of some military value. The manuscript has been revised by the commanders of regi ments and of independent battalions of the Division. As pub lished it bears the stamp of their official approval. The material contained herein has been gathered from a variety of sources. Each organization, by means of its history and the stories of incidents that it furnished, has borne its part in the prep aration of this volume. The thanks of the Division are extended to Captain Charles L. Bolte, 58th Infantry, for his labors in the preparation of the data contained in the maps and in the appendix, for intelligent proof reading of manuscript and printed matter, and for the excellent business judgment displayed by him in handling many of the final details of publication; to Captain Leon Dabo, Aide-de-Camp to Major General Hersey, for five paintings that appear as illustra tions in the book. Captain Dabo visited the Aisne-Marne and XVI Introduction Meuse-Argonne battlefields and made sketches, on the spot, for four of the paintings, the fifth—that of the sinking of the Moldavia —being based on descriptions by eye-witnesses. The Division acknowledges its gratitude to Master Engineer Charles W. Lin- berger, 4th Engineers, for several of the photographs that appear in the book. C. A. B. H. N. H. THE FOURTH DIVISION THE HISTORY OF THE FOURTH DIVISION CHAPTER I WHY AMERICA -ENTERED THE WAR HERE do we go from here?" "When do we eat?" WThese were the thoughts uppermost, "over there," in the minds of the men who crossed the sea to fight. The rank and file saw little of the stupendous drama in which they played so essential a part. Yet, to borrow a figure of speech from a great French poet, the leaders would have been as naught but for the myriad tiny letters which go to make up the page of history. So it is only right that the part played in the final victory by the men who fought should be made clear. 1 Nearly eighty thousand young Americans lie dead in France.

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