THE PERIOD OF STABILIZATION
THE period of stabilization from September 16 until the relief by the 7th Division on October 10 was
one of the most trying in the Division’s history. A short time before the relief took place every one was
beginning to settle down fairly comfortably, but the organization of the new sector, which took the name
of “Puvenelle” from the huge forest, was by no means a simple task.
In the first place, the defense of the sector had to be prepared. Colonel F. A. Pope, the Division
engineer, immediately sited the main line of resistance, which was to run from the western boundary of
the Division along the south bank of the ravine which cut through the middle of the For
t des
Vencheres, thence along the north edge of the Bois de Friere to La Poele, the maze of German trenches
which had become famous in the fighting on September 12, here connecting with other German
trenches, the Tranchée de la Combe and the Tranchée de Plateau, which were faced in the opposite
direction. This work was supervised by the engineers, but most of the manual labor had to be done by
the doughboys, who were already exhausted after four days’ fighting. Colonel John J. Kingman, chief
of staff, personally took much interest in this work, and his engineer training was of great value in
drawing up the plan of defense.
Even more difficulty was experienced in the outpost zone. The men had not yet learned that
digging a hole and crawling into it was just as important a part of modern warfare as shooting the
enemy. They were perfectly willing to go out on patrols, or make a new advance, if necessary, but
trench digging did not appeal to them as the soldierly thing to do. The consequence was very serious, as
all the front areas were very heavily shelled, and the men were without adequate protection from shell
fire. The Germans were well acquainted with every path and lane through the Bois des Rappes, and
were very clever in calculating just the right hour to plaster them with high explosives.
The line of resistance of the outpost zone first ran through Les Huit Chemins, but about
September 20 it was pushed further forward nearer the edge of the woods. These positions were finally
completed and wired, and before the Division left the area the northern part of the Bois des Rappes, with
its innumerable “fox holes” looked like a gopher community.
The 357th Infantry had considerable trouble on its left flank due to the fact that the78th Division,
which had relieved the 5th Division, found difficulty in crossing the open ground north of Hill 361.4.
The Bois du Trou de la Haie was held by the enemy, and it was very easy for patrols, with machine
guns, to slip into the Bois des Rappes under cover of the strip of woods, less than 100 meters wide,
connecting the Bois du Trou de la Haie and the Bois des Rappes.
Every effort was made by the Division staff to give the men who had gone through the fight a
bath and clean clothes as soon as possible. The main baths and delouser were located at Griscourt. G-1
also established supplementary baths at Gezoncourt, Jezainville, and Camp Jonc Fontaine, securing
underwear by sending to the big United States laundry at Nancy, where worn garments were exchanged
for clean ones. The policy was adopted by G-3 of making battalion reliefs weekly, the reserve battalion
of the 180th Brigade going to Griscourt and the reserve battalion of the 179th Brigade taking station at
Gezoncourt. But, at best, there was a long wait for the majority of the men. During the fighting many
officers had lost their bedding rolls and had no clothes except the ones which had been torn to shreds by
barbed wire. Before the men went over the top, their packs were assembled in dumps. G-1 transported
these packs to points near the front line as fast as possible, but in many cases the rain and mud had
rendered the blankets and overcoats unserviceable.
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