Longwood Central School District

The 302nd ENGINEERS

by,
Gilbert H. Crawford
Thomas H. Ellett
John J. Hyland

CHAPTER X.
SECOND PHASE OF THE ARGONNE BATTLE.

FROM the middle of October until the 1st of November, the American battle line advanced very little. This was due, not to the inability to go forward, but to the very great difficulty of bringing up supplies.

For a distance of many miles in the rear of the front, the heavy traffic and the rainy weather had wrought havoc with the roads.

The railroads had not been brought forward so far as had been anticipated. A renewal of the attack was planned, however, and the usual artillery preparations were made. Large numbers of guns were brought forward and great supplies of ammunition were accumulated. The 77th Division relieved the 78th Division toward the end of October, taking over the same line that it had held earlier in the month.

American troops held the line at all points north of the Aire, so that bridging work could be carried on in comparative safety. For the expected attack, preparations were made similar to those preceding the drive of 26th of September. The front to be attacked by the 77th Division, however, w a s much narrower and was covered by the 153rd Brigade alone. This meant that the 1st Battalion of the Engineers was to be in the attack. Co. "A" and Co. "B" each supplied one platoon to accompany the first line infantry. The remainder of the 1st Battalion was assigned to certain roads, which were to be temporarily repaired as fast as the enemy was driven back. The 154th Brigade, with our 2nd Battalion, was to follow up in support, and to "leap frog" the 153rd Brigade and take over the front when so ordered. The specific task of the 2nd Battalion was also to repair certain roads as the Division advanced.

As an extra precaution, in case other bridges were ruined by shellfire, Co. "D" was ordered, prior to the attack, to build another artillery bridge across the Aire near the two bridges constructed by Co. "A" and Co. "B" during the first phase of the Argonne Battle. The work was performed under the personal supervision of Lieut. James F. Brown. This bridge had a gross length of 215 feet and was undoubtedly the finest structure of its kind erected by the Regiment. It was at this bridge that Pvt. Samuel Apstein lost his life by shellfire on 31st of October, just before the completion of the structure.

During the period prior to the attack, Co. "E" also was busy with bridge building. On the east and west main road between St. Juvin and Grand Pre, the Boche during his retreat from the valley of the Aire, had demolished two bridges, where the two branches of the Agron River cross the road before emptying into the Aire. Although these demolitions were in view of the advanced enemy observation outposts, Co. "E", under command of Capt. Thomas H. Ellett, worked in the broad daylight and two substantial bridges were constructed.

All preparations for the attack being complete, orders were issued that it take place on the morning of the 1st of November. This day will long linger in the memories of most of the 302nd Engineers. The 77th Division was to attack and take Champigneulle, a small village on the heights north of the Aire. This attack made small progress during the day of the 1st, and the town was not entered until early on the morning of the 2nd. During the early morning of the 1st, the Engineers were ordered to cross the Aire and were forced to wait, practically in the first line, all that day and night until the advance could proceed. There was work only for one company (Co. "C") so the rest of the Regiment remained inactive, in the midst of the battle, expecting momentarily to advance.

To Co. "C" was assigned the task of repairing a partly demolished German pile-bridge, which crossed the Agron River on the road between St. Juvin and Champigneulle. This bridge was practically in the front line and directly under fire from the enemy advanced machine guns. It could only be approached with great difficulty, and work had to be carried on from underneath. It was of the utmost importance to the Division, for as soon as Champigneulle was cleared, the only practicable route north for the artillery and transport was over this bridge. All during the day of the 1st, the men of Co. "C" worked at this exposed point, and in spite of several casualties, the bridge was made passable by evening, many hours before it was actually used. This very hazardous and successful mission was carried out under the personal supervision of Major Per-Lee, assisted by Lieutenant Weston of Co. "C". It was during this operation that Lieutenant Macqueron of the French Army was slightly wounded in the -neck by a machine gun bullet.

Company "D" Bridge across the Aire

It was here also that Colonel Giesting greatly distinguished himself. He had come up to inspect the work on the bridge, which was to be of such prime importance to the whole Division. While at this point, he was constantly watching the battle going on around him, expecting every minute that our troops would advance. He noticed that those in the immediate vicinity were wavering. There were no infantry field officers in sight. Colonel Giesting, quitting the cover of the river banks, stepped out into the open, within full sight of the enemy, and coolly walked up and down the infantry lines, encouraging the m e n a n d preventing the threatened retirement.

This action was carried on with utter disregard for his personal safety, because at no time was he out, of sight of the enemy and at no time did he seek cover.

The advance of the Division from the early morning of the 2nd of November to the evening of the 6th was the most rapid in its history. In these five days, the line was pushed northward 32 kilometers, from the Aire to the Meuse. This rapid advance meant exceptionally strenuous labor for the Engineers. The rain and the Boche engineers had conspired to impede the forward movement of artillery and transport, and it was the duty of the Engineers to make the roads passable in the shortest possible time. Thus it was that the five days, from the 2nd to the 6th of November, called forth the greatest efforts from the Regiment of the whole war, and much excellent work was done in this short time.

Showing how to carry a road across a Trench

Early on the morning of the 2nd, the infantry advanced through Champigneulle. Co. "A" and Co. "B", under command of Major Per-Lee, soon cleared the streets of Champig-neulle of fallen debris and followed on after the infantry. During the day of the 2nd, the 2nd Battalion repaired the roads between St. Juvin and Champigneulle. It was on this road that Co. "D", under Capt. N. N. Barber, who had recently joined the Regiment, untangled a traffic jam during the night of the 2nd, which prompted a written commendation from the Division Commander, General Alexander. Co. "E" worked on the road from Champigneulle toward Beffu et le Morthomme.

After clearing the streets of Champigneulle, Co. "A" and Co. "B" proceeded northward, the former to Thernorgues and the latter to Verpel. It was at this time that Captain Howry, with his runner, got ahead of the advancing infantry and captured a machine gunner at Thernorgues mill, together with a roll of valuable German maps of the area. These maps were of the utmost use to the Regiment, as the advance of the Division had carried us "off" the French maps, which up to this time we had been using. The same day (2nd of November) Captain Howry and Captain Farrin, who had the day before been placed in command of Co. "C", and Lieutenant Weston advanced ahead of the infantry and entered Buzancy. So far as is known, they were the first Americans to enter that famous town. Captain Ellett of Co. "E" similarly entered Briquenay. A study of the map will show the rapidity of this advance, and how open the warf are had become in the closing days of the war. The German method of defence was to have lines of machine gunners every few miles, designed to check the American troops. This method had worked well in the Argonne Forest, where it had been difficult to discover the machine gun locations; but in the open country north of the Aire these lines were quickly broken up by our own infantry, so that the limit of the advance was fixed by the marching powers of our men, and the transportation of supplies. The latter was rendered especially difficult by many demolitions.

Co. "E" building a bridge across the Agron

On the afternoon of the 2nd, Co. "B" had removed an unexploded mine from the bridge southwest of Verpel. Sergeants Edwards, Jorgensen and Clader successfully supervised this work. During the evening of the 2nd, Co. "C" began to repair a demolished highway bridge between Buzancy and Bar, which at that time was over a mile in advance of the Infantry. On the 3rd, this work was turned over to Corps Engineer troops and Co. "C" moved northward to Fontenoy to work on the almost impassable road to the south. On the same day, Co. "B" moved to the north and west through Thernorgues and Briquenay to Germont, one platoon stopping at Briquenay to help the 303rd Engineers repair a demolished stone highway bridge. Co. "A" moved to the vicinity of the Authe.
The road between Germont and Authe had the following demolitions in it:
One-half exploded road mine.
One-half demolished stone bridge.
One unexploded road mine.
Three demolished culverts.

Co. "B" worked during the night of the 3rd on the above demolitions, built two road bridges, and had the road passable by morning, except for the third culvert. Assisted by a platoon from Co. "B", one platoon from Co. "A", under Lieutenant Edebohls, bridged this culvert on the 4th.

Between the Authe and Authruche another culvert had been blown up. This was tackled by Co. "A" on the evening of the 3rd and was made passable before morning, by means of a "turnout" bridge. Not satisfied with this turnout, Co. "A" constructed a fine pile bridge alongside, the latter being completed on the 4th. These two culvert bridges, one on each side of Authe, were of great importance and were used by the transports of four American divisions.

The traffic situation was appalling at this time. The roads were in very bad shape. It was necessary for the Regiment to keep men on the roads night and day to enable traffic to move at all. During this fast advance, the front line was, of course, constantly changing. As a consequence, Colonel Giesting and Major Per-Lee several times found themselves ahead of the infantry while riding in their automobile, and twice were fired on by the enemy. Their chauffeur considered his car a tank.

The movement on the 4th had carried the line north of St. Pierremont, at which point the brigades were "leap-frogged". This put the 2nd Battalion in the advance, and the 1st Battalion in the support. There was heavy fighting between St. Pierremont and Oches. During the night of the 4th, the latter village was practically in the front line. Co. "D" advanced under cover of darkness to rebuild a bridge at Oches. This work had to be carried on very carefully so as not to attract attention, as the enemy was very close by. In the morning, the infantry advanced again and the bridge was completed. This particular bridge was novel in design. The only material available was from a standard- gauge railroad. The stringers for the bridge were the heavy steel rails. On these were wired ties close together. These ties were staggered and on top was laid a diagonal course of one inch boards, from flooring of houses in Oches, no real plank being available. A trestle was built up under the center of this bridge, which was finished early on the 5th. It was ready for traffic long before the time set. A similar bridge located a few hundred yards away was finished by Co. "E" on the afternoon of the 5th.