STRUGGLE FOR MADELEINE FARM
AFTER the first days rush, the taking of every patch of woods and the capture of every shattered village
meant a bitter struggle. On September 28 fresh regiments of the 79th Division took Nantillois and Bois
de Beuge, and pushed up toward Madeleine Farm, which was organized as a part of the Kriemhilde
Stellung. Despite a terrific artillery bombardment of the farm and the surrounding woods on the night of
September 28-29, the 79th was able to make but a very slight advance, and fell back to the Bois de
Beuge.
No further strong effort was made to take Madeleine Farm until the renewal of the attack along
the army front on October 4. In the readjustment which preceded this big attack, the 80th Division, after
a week’s rest, was set opposite the farm. After fighting two days and a night, under cover of darkness
the evening of the 5th, the division took the Bois des Ogons. On October 6 and 7 the division fought
desperately for the German positions east of the farm, but the attacks were not successful until the 9th.
The farm itself was in the sector of the 3d Division, on the left of the 80th Division, and was captured on
the 9th.
On October 14 the 1st Army ordered an attack by the 3d Corps to drive through Grand Carré
Farm, and by the 5th Corps against Bois d’Andevanne. The 5th Division, which attacked for the 3d
Corps, advanced with the 9th Brigade on the right and the 10th Brigade on the left, The 9th Brigade
succeeded in reducing Cunel and capturing the Bois de la Pultiere, but the 10th Brigade was badly cut
up and demoralized by cross-fire from Bantheville and the valley of the Andon brook in attempting to
advance across the open. The 3d Division, in covering the right flank of the 5th, advanced a kilometer
in the Bois de For
t and the Bois de la Pultiere. From October 14 to 20, the 3d and 5th Divisions had
difficulty in keeping control of units, due to the dense underbrush and the severity of the artillery and
machine gun fire. In some organizations the number of men reported for duty was as small as ten per
cent of the strength, and all efforts were devoted to collecting the men and returning them to their
organizations.
On October 19 the 1st Army ordered local operations all along the front for the purpose of
developing the Freya Stellung, the last organized German defensive position opposite the army’s front.
Pursuant to these instructions, the 3d Corps again attacked on October 20. The 5th Division gained
about 200 meters in the Bois des Rappes, and the 3d Division attacked Bois Clairs Ch
ne, just east of
the Bois des Rappes. The 3d Division was so badly depleted by this time that engineers, kitchen police,
and odds and ends from all units of the division were used in the fighting. The little wood was taken,
but was lost to a German counterattack. A second advance was ordered by Brigadier-General Preston
Brown, commanding the division, and this attack, personally led by Colonel Morrow, of the 7th
Infantry, recaptured the wood by 6 P. M. The 5th Division succeeded in cleaning out most of the
remainder of the Bois des Rappes on October 21, although there was still some mopping up to be done
when the men of the 179th Brigade entered the line that night.
Pursuant to the army order for the 5th Corps to operate against Bois d’Andevarine, the 32d
Division attacked on October 14 and succeeded in capturing Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, where the
headquarters of the 90th Division were located from October 30 to November 2, and penetrating deeply
into the Bois de Bantheville. The 89th Division entered the line here on October 20.
 |
 |
 |