Foe’s Last Defense

On the morning of November 1 three army corps were in line between the Meuse River and the Bois de Bourgogue. On the right of the 3d Corps had the 5th and 90th Divisions; the 5th Corps occupied the center of the line, with the 89th and 2d Divisions, and was to be the wedge of the attack on the first day, and on the left the 1st Corps deployed the 80th, 77th, and 78th Divisions.

Preceded by two hours of violent artillery preparation, the infantry advanced, closely followed by "accompanying guns." The artillery acquitted itself magnificently, the barrages being so well coordinated and so dense that the enemy was overwhelmed and quickly submerged by the rapid onslaught of the infantry. By nightfall the 5th Corps, in the center, had realized an advance of almost nine kilometers, to the Bois de la Folie, and had completed the capture of the Heights of Barricourt, while the 3d Corps, on the right, had captured Aincreville and Andevanne. Our troops had broken through the enemy’s last defense, captured his artillery positions, and had precipitated a retreat of the German forces about to be isolated in the forest north of Grand Pre. On the 2d and 3d we advanced rapidly against heavy fighting on the front of the right and center corps; to the left the troops of the 1st Corps hurried forward to pursuit, some by motor trucks, while the artillery pressed along the country roads close behind. Our heavy artillery was skillfully brought into position to fire upon the Carignan-Sedan railroad and the junctions at Longuyon and Confians. By the evening of the 4th our troops had reached La Neuville, opposite Stenay, and had swept through the great Forest de Dieulet, reaching the outskirts of Beaumont, while on the left we were eight kilometers north of Boultaux-Bois.

The following day the advance continued toward Sedan with increasing swiftness. The 3d Corps, turning eastward, crossed the Meuse in a brilliant operation by the 5th Division, driving the enemy from the heights of Dun-sur-Meuse and forcing a general withdrawal from the strong positions he had so long held on the hills north of Verdun.