The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, July 25, 1918, Page 6, Image 6
ALLIES TAKE OFFENSIVE
270,000 AMERICAN TROOPS EN
GAGED IN BIG BATTLE.
Germans Forced Back Across Maine.
Americans Take 17,000 Prisoners
and Advance 7 to 10 Miles.
t
Washington, July 20.?The high
water mark of the German offensive
movement in France has been reached
and the initiative now is passing
to the Allied and American armies.
This is the lesson drawn from General
JP'OCQ s suaaen couuimaiuv^ uu. iuC
Aisne-Marne front by American military
leaders, General March, chief of
staff, today told members of the senate
military committee. Later he
' ( announced that American troop shipments
had now exceeded 1,200,000
- men, insuring the man power to hold
the initiative on the Western front.
The direct objective of General
Foch's CQunterstroke, General March
told newspaper men in his weekly
conference is the railway that feeds
the German forces in the ChateauThierry
region. Already it has been
attained, for the French and American
forces are either astride the line
at certain points or have it under
direct gunfire at short range, rendering
it untenable.
Even as General March spoke, unofficial
reports flashed over the cables
indicating that the German withdrawal
from the sector south of
Marne had begun under the threat
of the crush of General Mangin's attacking
army in the enemy's rear. The
withdrawal was foreseen by General
March when French and American
shells began raining on the railway.
Americans in Fight.
The American chief of staff told
with evident satisfaction of the fact
that six American divisions are bat
tling with the French and for the
first time revealed their identity. They
either are on the advancing lines between
Soissons and Chateau-Thierry
or on those that are pressing the
enemy along the Marne front, where
there is reason to believe the Ger;
. mans may suffer serious losses in
men and material before they reach
safety. Still another division of
Americans is with General Gouraud,
the French leader, who commands
east of Rheims where the enemy assault
hit against a stone wall defense.
Two regiments of American negro
troops are known to be ^engaged.
One is east of Rheims, where the
Americans held the right flank of the
whole front of attack when the German
assault began, just as the Americans
at Chateau-Thierry held them
on the left flank. The other is with
^he attacking forces on the SoissonsChateau-Thierry
line. v
General March made little effort to
conceal his elation over the turn of
V.: "
the fighting. His explanation of the
disposition of American forces indicates
that at least 196,000 American
fighting troops are in the battle
% and probably the total force is nearer
300,(TOO than 200,000. Each division
has a fighting strength of 27,000 men
"-'i "f tVio ?r\ dotanhoH rtaPTn I
aiiU caiu U1 lUb HIV uvvuvuvu UVQ. V
regiments, a strength of 3,600. The
full strength of each division with
' auxiliary units is 45,000 men.
5 /
General March said:1 "Since I last
talked with'you the field of interest
has shifted from the Italian and Balkan
fronts to our own sector in
France. Last Monday, the 15th, the
Germans began an attack which covered
a 60 mile front, one-half of
which covered the very hilly ground
between Chateau-Thierry and Rheims,
the other half the plain of the Champagne
between Rheirns and the forest
of Argonne.
>V'
The Hero is Gouraud.
"In the Champagne district the
'( position which was held largely by
French troops with the assistance of
I one American division and a regiment
of United States colored troops
#
was penetrated to a short distance
at a few points. The Champagne
district is under the command of
General Gouraud of the French army.
Gouraud is one of the most striking
personalities in France among the
army commanders. He is a man
about 50 years of age, as he seemed
. to me erect ond soldierly. He has
been in action all over the world and
has on his sleeve the five Blesse
stripes wound-chevrons, which means
that he has been wounded five times;
several of the wounds were of such
character that he was absolutely
shot ud: he has lost an arm, and a|
man of less determination and force
could never have survived. The
French call him 'Tres Soldat'?'every
inch a soldier.' He is a man of such
determination and force that in any
German drive against his troops, his
men will be inspired by his presence
to die where they are.
"Along the Marne-Chateau-Thierry
and Rheims?the Germans made an
advance of four to five miles on a 23
mile front. The terrain at that point
is very difficult, wooded hills rising
up to a height of from 400 to 500
feet perhaps. This general movement
has been brought to a standstill.
The object of the German attack was
not a great strategic objective like
an advance on Paris or an advance
on the English ports. It plainly had
for its objective simply the applying
of the nut cracker process on the
city of Rheims. If it were possible
for them to come in there and squeeze
Rheims they could force a surrender
in time. Rheims, however, as has
been shown, is very well organized
for defense. Without going into details,
it is organized for house to
house defense, and that has been the
reason why the Germans have not
been able to get it.
Blow By Foch.
"Ac cnnn as the German advance
along the line of the Marne east of
Chateau-Thierry had been brought
to a standstill Foch struck hard
along the western side of the salient.
The series of lines you see in the
map represents the German advances
which produced that salient day by
day, and at the start of this fight,
which began last Monday, our line
was along here (indicating a line
running southward from the Aisne
to the Marne). The blue cord represents
the line I pointed to you on
the larger detailed map shotving
former German advances day by day,
and our troops held that line when
the counter offensive began. The
front over which we advanced is 22
miles, and the maximum penetration
so far reported officially has been to
a depth of 10 miles, and at the other
points indicated there has been a
penetration of seven miles, so that
we have gone forward seven miles
o 9 9 milo fpnnf
VU a JLUliV A* VUV.
"This is the official statement of
how far we have gone. The last
indication we had in the official reports
was that fighting was still in
progress and the official reports also
indicat^ the capture of guns and prisoners
in very helpful amounts."
"In this advance and opposing the
advance of the Germans there #are
seven American divisions and one
tegiment of colored troops.
Twelve Hundred Thousand.
"The press has carried during the
past few days statements about the
number of troops we have continued
to send over. It was an estimate
made by some person which arrived
at his conclusion bv assuming that
we were sending troops over at the
rate we did last month and, like
many guesses, it was wrong. The
statement published in the papers
was that we had sent over about 90,000
men last week, and that the number
was now a little short of 1,200,000.
The fact of the matter is that
we have passed the 200,000 mark on
the second million. We have over 1,200,000
embarked. If you will wait
for these things I will tell you the
facts; they are always better than
when you guess.
"One question asked me has been:
t- J ..~V 4/.I1 ...
"Will you oe guuu euuugn uu icit wo
where the Illinois National Guards
which trained at Fort Logan H. Root
is situated in France?'
"The division is commanded by
Gen. George Bell, Jr., and is in the
English training sector. A unit from
that division took part in the fighting
which wAs reported last week
where the Austrailians made an advance
accompanied by American
troops, so that the training has progressed
to a point where they can
actually take part in the fighting.
"Another question is: 'Where is
the Seventy-seventh division and are
they operating as a division?'
"The Seventy-seventh is in the line
near Luneville, and is operating as a
division complete, under its own command.
"In the stenographic account of
what I told you about the organization
of the three corps, I stated that
the Seventy-eighth division was composed
of drafted men from Delaware
and New York, omitting the State of
New Jersey, which furnished a large
proportion of that contingent. About
half the men in the division came
from New Jersey."
Soissons Under Fire.
In answer to questions, General
March said:
"Our reports do not indicate that
Soissons has fallen. We have no information
it has fallen so far. It is,
of course under artillery fire. Our
troops have come up to the point
where they are so close to it that the
town must be heavily bombarded
but it is perfectly evident that the
Germans have thrown into the defense
of that line a larger number of
reserves, which did not accompany
them during the original attack
along the Marne, and fighting is going
on very heavily at that point.
"The American divisions which
are the front of the large offensive
are the First, Second, Third, Fourth,
Twenty-sixth and Twenty-eighth. The
colored regiment belongs to the Ninety-third
division. The other division
now in line is the Forty-second. In
the immediate path of the German
attack and our counteroffensive are
the seven divisions I have indicated.
These divisions are not operating as
a corps, but are used wherever it is
necessary for us to use them.
"We have nothing to indicate how
costly our casualty lists are. No reports
of casualties have come in and
we do not know yet what it will cost
us.
''I can give no information as to
the number of prisoners, because the
only reports we have refer to pris[
oners which were captured by French
| corps in which American divisions
f were operating and no dissociation
was made in the reports; but as far
as I can judge, they follow quite
i
closely the newspaper accounts.
Drive on Railways.
"Taking the salient as it stands,
one of the prime reasons for making
this advance is the position of the
railroads. Soissons is connected with
Chateau-Thierry by railroad and it is
assumed that the Germans got part
of their supplies at Chateau-Thierry
from that railroad, and of course that
has an important bearing on how long
those troops can stay there. If the
Germans have to withdraw they have
practically only one line through
which they can get out, so Foch is
hammering on this side, the western,
which is very much better than massing
a great number of troops on the
nose of the salient and hammering
there, which would only drive them
back in the direction of the railroads."
In response to a question as to the
total number of American troops engaged,
General March said:
"If the whole divisions were there
the number of combatant troops
would be 27,000 in each division, and
in my talks to you you can estimate
them at 27,000 per division, unless I
tell you otherwise. Including service
of supply troops and combatant
troops, a division comes to 45,000
men."
m mn ?
MILLIONAIRE'S SOX A COOK.
Splendid Example of Democracy at
Camp Sevier.
Camp Sevier, Greenville, July 21.?
Attired in the regulation white apron
and cap worn by Uncle Sam's army
cooks, a millionaire's son has been
serving in the modest role of army
cook for the 322nd Ambulance Company,
306th Sanitary train, Eightyfirst
division, of this camp, for a little
more than a year. He is Harry
Lord, son of G. H. Lord, well known
New York merchant. The young man's
I parentage was discovered oniy a iew
days ago by members of his company,
although he has been with the organ|
ization for many months.
Young Lord has not been dodging
any of the hard jobs that cooks fall
heir to, but has been faithful to his
duty of giving the soldiers three
square meals a day. He has on occasion
acted as a mess sergeant of his
company, and has been offered promotion
several times by his reason of
his faithful work, btft for reasons
known only to himself has declined
these offers, and has preferred to remain
simply ,a cook for Uncle Sam.
,He merely admits that he enlisted
as a cook, and would rather be that
than a mess sergeant.
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.
BYRNES DEFENDS HIS
RECORD WELL.
i
In South Carolina Congressional Campaign
Address Declares He Has
Supported Every Administration
Measure and
Crowd Accepts It.
Special to the Chronicle.
Baldock, S. C.?The congressional
campaign in the second district opened
here Thursday with all four candidates
for congress present. The occasion
was the annual Baldock picnic,
and it was attended by several
thousand people from all over the
district. A brass band was on hand
and the young people enjoyed dancing
until late in the day.
The speakers were introduced by
Col. R. M. Mixson, of Barnwell, who
made a ringing patriotic address, prefacing
the introduction of the congressional
aspirants.
Congressman James F. Byrnes is
being opposed for reelection by T. G.
Croft, of Aiken, G. L. Toole, of Aiken,
and N. G. Evans, of Edgefield. Messrs.
Croft and Evans spoke first, followed
by Mr. Byrnes, Mr. Toole speaking
last. Mr. Croft devoted practically
all his speech to a criticism of Mr.
Byrnes's record, as did also Mr. Toole.
Mr. Evans confined his talk to a patriotic
discussion of the war, which
he characterized as being the only
issue before the people at this time.
The crowd was decidedly with Mr.
Byrnes?"Jimmie" as he is fondly
known throughout the district. The
Congressman answered the criticisms
of his opponents in a very convincing
manner. It was evidently satisfying
to the crowd, as he was uproarously
applauded. The other candidates
received modest recognition
in the way of applause of their various
patriotic utterances.
Answering the charge that he had
opposed the selective service measure,
Mr. Byrnes denied that he had ever
opposed any administration measure,
and explained that the measure he
had opposed was one that provided
a draft age from 19 to 25, with examnHinnc
nniv for industrial rea
sons. The measure was so imperfect
in its provisions that after being
thrashed out in committee it died a
natural death and was never presented
to the house for a vote. Inasmuch
as this is the principal charge
against Bvrnes's record, it rather
threw a bombshell into the camp ol
his opponents.
Byrnes asserted that there had been
134 administration war measures introduced
in the house and he had
voted for every one^ of them, and 'he
defied his opponents to show by the
record that he did not. He further
asserted th^t he enjoyed the full
confidence of the president, and of
the entire administration, and was
frequently called into conference by
the president on impending measures.
?Augusta Chronicle.
A BARNWELL SOX.
Hon. G. L. Toole is now in the
prime of life, still full of energy, enterprise
and is progressive. He was
born at Montmorenci, then Barnwell
county, his father, whose name he
bears, being a Barnwell county farmer.
His mother was born and reared
in Edgefield county. His foreparents
fought in the American Revolution,
and helped to gain our lbierty, for
which again we are now fighting. A
long line of Tooles donned the Confederate
gray, among them being his
eldest brother, and fought to uphold
our rights. And again in 1876 the
Tooles put on their Red Shirts and
helped to redeem our beloved State
from the rules of the Negro and Carpetbaggers.
Mr. Toole believes in farming. He
has tilled the soil since a lad of seventeen,
producing a crop each successive
year.
This year the liberties of man are
on trial in our nation and the people
of this district are not going to be
satisfied to send a man at this time
to represent them in the halls of Congress
whose loyaly to our Democratic
institutions and all that goes to
make a man a true American, have
been questioned.
From reports throughout the District
it appears that he will be our
next Congressman.?Extract from
Jasper Herald.?adv.
NOTICE OF DISCHARGE. j
Notice is hereby given to all and
singular the creditors and other persons
interested in the estate of Mrs.
Laura C. Dowling, deceased, that the
undersigned Executors of the will
of the said deceased, will on the 10th
day of August, 1918, file with the
Judge of Probate for Bamberg couaty
their final accounting, and at said
time will ask for Letters Dismissory
as such Executors.
MRS. LINA DOWLING NEAL,
N. P. SMOAK,
Executors of the last will and testament
of Mrs. Laura C. Dowling,
deceased.
July 12th, 1918.?8-8.
~~ CITATION NOTICE.
The State of South Carolina?
pAiintrr Pv T T Pro
vuuu \.j \jl. jjauiucig xj j u v. jl/i uu
ham, Jr., Esq., Judge of Probate.
Whereas, G. W. Rentz, hath
made suit to me to grant him letters
of administration of the estate and
effcts of M. A. Kinard, deceased.
These are therefore to, cite and
admonish all and singular the kindred
and creditors of the said M. A.
Kinard, deceased, that they be
and appear before me in the Court oi
Probate, to be held at Bamberg, on
Wednesday, July * 31st, next, after
publication thereof, at 11 o'clock in
the forenoon, to show cause, if any
they have, why the said administration
should not be granted.
Given un ler my hand and seal this
17th day of July, Anno Domini, 1918.
J. J. BRABHAM, JR.
Judge of Probate. |
H
\-m
' fll
! win ATY
IT T u A ?? '
/ 1 Secoii
1 Ford
1 Ford
FIR
FULL;
J. B.
m TElUBPHOrSI
/
I SEE ME
i; 11 |J jlj! YOURNEEDS1N '
S r 'y' MANTELS' TILE
ffllffi' AND GRATES '
L. B. FOWLER
1 BAMBERG, S. C.
! I
A A A A A A A A A A A A * * A A AAAAAAAA^A AAA
VVWWWWWWVWWWWWjr
X Owen Bros. Marble & Granite Co. X
A A
J HPMiSSf DESIGNERS i
> Pi 3 MANUFACTURERS V
A | | ERECTORS ^
T l| !|g Dealers in Everything for the Cemetery ^
e^a -j-^e jar^eJ(an(| f,tJ( equipped monumental mills in <?p
X the Carolinas
v "*
? '
?f4 ^?%^6reenyood, S. C. Raleigh. H.C. ? "
f f
y
Jf I; ^
f '
I f LENDALE 1 |
| BAMBERG,' S. C. |
4 f 5
$ A
^ Fop Sale By X
4 TOM DUCKER, Grocer
? Bamberg, 8. U. *
?-?????mwarn?????? ??????^?????i
HHiMHUBHHHHHHfliHHIIHHn
flSBSB995BBB9B9
[evr6let7 I
,?*
CARS I
VANCE ON AUGUST 1st TO B
I.
d?OCfA I
tPOiJU f
id Hand Chevrolet $600 I
$425 , I ^
$300 I ;
ST CLASS REPAIRING I
<*TnCK OF FORD PARTS I
BRICKLE I
314-J BAMBERG, S. C. I
SfrwjjjT'^ c> B
,?
. " >* >