“ On the terrace are numerous trenches, in addition to shafts dug by the engineers to reach the underground passages which communicate with concrete shelters. One of these shelters may still be seen along the southern ramparts of the old château. All these military works are very interesting to visit.
There is a splendid panorama from this terrace: on one side (photo, pp. 100 and 101) the town of Pont-à-Mousson and the valley of the Moselle with, behind Pont-à-Mousson, Puvenelle Forest and Prêtre Wood; on the other side, the valley of the Seille, with Metz Cathedral in the distance. ”

“ The American gunners were able to change their targets in the minimum of time, and with great accuracy. The liaison between the infantry and the artillery was faultless. Whenever the infantry were stopped by a nest of machine-guns, they immediately fell back, and their artillery promptly shelled the nest of machine-guns.
“Numerous tanks were ready, but only a few actually used; the masses of infantry alone ensured the victory.” ”

“ Take the road on the right, which soon leads to Prêtre Wood.
On the right, at the roadside, about 1,200 yards from the fork, are two graves: one of an American, the other of a French soldier.
Three hundred yards further on, in a ravine to the right of the road, are the fountain and house of Father Hilarion. All around are numerous trenches, shelters and military works of all kinds. ”

“ The fight became a fusilade, and would have continued indefinitely but for the arrival of the French dragoons, who, with lances fixed, charged furiously. The enemy, afraid of being cut off, retreated, followed by the cavalry, who began the siege of the houses. Every window, door and roof sheltered a Bavarian marksman. All day on the 17th the fighting continued in favour of the French, who by night occupied the western part of Chauvoncourt and slept in a French barracks. On the left bank of the Meuse the Germans, two hundred of whom had surrendered, now occupied only a few ruined houses. ”

“ PARIS—home of grandeur, elegance, and wit—plays a part in France probably unequalled in any other country, and may be considered, in many respects, as the chief city of Europe, and one of the greatest in the world. ”

“ On Friday, September 13, General Pershing, accompanied by General Pétain and Mr. Baker, American Secretary of State for War, visited St. Mihiel. The next day President Poincaré, in his turn, paid homage to the valiant city.{54}
Little by little, when the first excitement was over, the inhabitants told the story of the occupation; of the war levies imposed by the Germans, as in every town which they had occupied; first a million francs in 1914, when the commandeering without payment or vouchers; the fines (20 francs for omitting to salute an officer) ; children forced to work in the trenches ”

“ Machine-guns at once opened fire; the Adjutant was killed and Senator Reymond wounded. The French came out of their trenches and a fierce struggle, which lasted until night, took place round the machine. Only then was Reymond able to crawl into the lines, while the French carried back the body of the Adjutant.
Reymond was taken to the hospital at Toul, and was able, before he died, to give an exact account of the mission in the fulfilment of which he had met such a glorious end.
On reaching the crest, the road crosses the old German first lines (concrete blockhouses) . ”

“ The sight is more tragic still. In the distance is seen Mousson Crest, which stands out above the trees of Prêtre Wood and, to the right, on a small hill, 100 yards from the road, the site of the famous “Croix des Carmes.”
GERMAN TRENCHES IN “MOUCHOIR” SECTOR, PRÊTRE WOOD, NEAR PÈRE HILARION FOUNTAIN
{107}
PRÊTRE WOOD, THE “PELLEMENT” TRENCHES IN “MOUCHOIR” SECTOR
When the position was taken by the French, sappers of the Engineers Corps piously removed the cross from its place and carried it to the cemetery in the valley where the heroes of these battles lie buried. ”

“ THE “PROMENADE DE LA MOSELLE”
The “grateful people” dragged this statue off its pedestal into the mud a few days before the French entered the town, and on the night of January 6 replaced it with a statue “To the Victorious Poilu,” bearing the inscription “On les a” (variation of the famous rallying cry “On les aura”) as a pleasant surprise for Marshal Pétain who, next day, was to decorate sixteen regiments with the “fourragère” cord and bestow decorations on various officers and soldiers. This statue was made in seven days by the local sculptor Bouchard (photos, p. 128) . ”

“ Suddenly a strong German counter-attack was launched. The new occupants were thrown into confusion and, seized with panic, retreated through{48} the trenches, when Adjutant Jacques Péricard, who had taken part in the action the day before but was now in reserve, called for volunteers from his company to face the enemy. The trench was retaken after a prolonged and terrible struggle, in the course of which Péricard, feeling his men wavering and seeing only dead and wounded around, cried “Debouts les Morts.”
FRENCH FIRST LINES AT TÊTE-À-VACHE
Continue up the road. ”

“ Near a house on the left, at the end of the village, is a German concrete shelter with the inscription “Pommernburg.” Other shelters of less importance are to be seen among the ruins.
GERMAN SHELTER IN RICHECOURT VILLAGE
This concrete shelter is seen on leaving the village by the road to Montsec. Over the door is the word “Pommernburg.” The village is a heap of ruins. ”

“ About 500 yards from Pagny, near the bridge over Mouton stream, is a machine-gun blockhouse in concrete on the right.
N. 52 bis next passes through Vandières, which was burnt down by the Germans during their retreat of September 16. All the houses along the road, especially those on the left, are in ruins.
Five kilometres further on, after crossing the railway, Pont-à-Mousson is entered by the Rue du Port, Place Colombe and Rue St. Laurent; the latter brings the tourist to the Grand Place or Place Duroc. ”

“ During the great Meuse-Argonne Battle, fought by General Pershing’s troops after September 26, the operations on the St. Mihiel front were limited to intermittent bombardments and local attacks.
When the Armistice was signed on November 11, General Pershing was making dispositions to invest Metz by an offensive towards Longwy with the 1st Army, and towards Briey with the 2nd Army, while a detachment of six American divisions was to co-operate on the right bank of the Moselle with General Mangin’s Army, in an attack on Château-Salins. Meanwhile, the Germans had already begun to evacuate Metz. ”

“ I.C. 13 runs through a pretty valley, alongside the Rupt-de-Mad and passes near the railway station. The old road having been destroyed by the explosion of a German ammunition train, a new road enables the tourist, by crossing the river, to reach the village of Rembercourt on the left bank. The bridge was blown up and many of the houses are in ruins. ”

“ Apremont is entirely in ruins. Of the church, only a few broken walls remain. In the Rue de l’Eglise, fifty yards from the church, to the left, near the{44} end of the village, is a large concrete shelter, on the wall of which a German machine-gun has been carved (see photo above) . ”

“ The Corps was to join hands in the latter village with the troops engaged in the main attack.
The French 2nd Colonial Corps, first under General Blondlat and afterwards General Claudel, operated in the centre of the salient, from Xivray to Mouilly, with orders to protect the flanks of the two American attacks.
The attacking forces consisted of some 216,000 Americans and 48,000 French, in addition to the American Reserves (190,000 men) , who were ready at a moment’s notice to take part in the battle. ”

“ The attack had been worked out in minute detail, and the time-table of the advance exactly laid down. Everything took place as arranged. After an artillery preparation lasting four hours, the American divisions advanced, supported by a certain number of tanks, half of them driven by Americans and the other half by Frenchmen. Accompanied by soldiers whose duty it was to cut the barbed wire, and by men armed with “bangalore torpedoes,” the Americans advanced in successive waves. They soon reached the enemy trenches and fell unexpectedly on the demoralized foe in the middle of a fog. ”

“ From the American advance-posts the out-works of Metz were now plainly visible, and Wagner Fort, situated in front of the town, was already under the fire of the American guns.
German Comments on the Attack
A German report on the American attack of the St. Mihiel salient contains the following:—“The Americans made a clever use of their machine-guns. They are stubborn in defence, and rely greatly upon this weapon, of which they have large numbers. ”

“ The enemy had left nothing undone to put the position in a state of defence. Their cave-shelters contained a narrow-gauge railway, sleeping quarters, and{33} even an officers’ club. Their relief reinforcements were concealed from the French, while their cannon and machine-guns were unceasingly turned on the muddy slopes up which the French laboriously climbed. Unwounded men were drowned in the mud, while many of the wounded could not be rescued in time from the quagmires into which they had fallen. ”

“ Viollet-le-Duc considered the Church of Etain, with its three naves, as one of the five most remarkable churches in the Meuse province. Begun in the 13th century, it was completed in the 15th. The imposing choir, with its large, many-mullioned windows, is 15th century. In the right aisle are a remarkable holy-water basin, and a statue of Our Lady of Mercy by Ligier Richier. ”

“ While endeavouring to respect the old building, Blondel sought, not so much to build the portal in the style of the Cathedral, as to erect an independent portal in front of the church. Its irregular lines contrast with the general style of the Cathedral.
In 1791, the rood-loft, old altars and vaults were removed, in accordance with the plans of Gardeur Lebrun. The roof, destroyed by fire on the night of May 6, 1877—the day Emperor Wilhelm I. entered Metz—was replaced in 1880-1882 by a copper roof several yards higher than the original. ”

“ From January, 1915, the French operations were directed against the western portion, towards Quart-en-Réserve and Croix des Carmes Hill. Four lines of trenches bristling with machine-guns and defences held up the attack. The ground had to be taken bit by bit, and often a counter-attack would win back in the evening the gains of several days’ hard fighting. ”

“ The drawback to this plan was that the vast Woëvre Plain lying between Stenay, Longwy, Toul and Nancy, would be sacrificed in the event of a surprise attack. The importance of this possible loss was made all the greater by the discovery of coalfields in the Briey district. It was therefore decided that a number of battalions of Chasseurs should be garrisoned in the Woëvre towns. Moreover, the passing of the Three Years’ Military Service Bill made it possible to increase considerably the number of covering troops. ”

“ In the background is a bishop wearing a mitre, and kneeling at his feet a priest in a surplice. According to custom, the sculptor has here represented the donor, doubtless Gaucher or Gauthier Richeret, Dean of the Collegiate Church, whose{39} initials, “G. R.,” frame the blazoned shield. The bishop is St. Maur, Bishop of Verdun, whose relics belonged to the Collegiate Church.
THE OLD GUARD-HOUSE OF HATTONCHÂTEL (before the War)
Unfortunate restorations were carried out in 1764 by Cellier Delatour, whose name appears on the background of the third picture. ”

“ In Gravelotte (12 km. 700 from Metz) take the road to Doncourt (D.I.) on the right, in front of the Post Office. The road passes close to Mogador Farm, from which Kaiser Wilhelm I. saw his troops thrown into confusion and beating a hurried retreat under the cover of night.
After passing in front of Malmaison Farm, the old frontier is crossed.
Eight kilometres 900 beyond Gravelotte, Doncourt village is reached. Cross through and keep straight on along D.I. After passing by Jarny Mines, the road crosses the railway (l.c.) and enters Jarny village, 4 km. from Doncourt. ”

“ The Woëvre Plain
The Woëvre forms a district by itself, geologically rather than geographically, and corresponds approximately to the “pays vabrensis” of the Merovingians. It lies between the Heights of the Meuse and Moselle. The soil of marl and clay becomes a slough after rain, and numerous pools and hidden sheets of water, known locally as “gorittis,” “noues,” or “crachettes,” make the ground slippery and treacherous.
Here may be followed step by step the stages of the Franco-American offensive of September, 1918 (see pp. 18-20) , which reduced the whole salient of St. ”