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Chapter 19 The St. Mihiel Salient The front assigned to the First Division for the attack was the old Toul sector that it had first held. The terrain was familiar. The division assembled in the Forêt de la Reine, and units were rehearsed in their parts. Our objective was the angle of the salient, just as it had been at Soissons. We were to penetrate the enemy’s position and meet troops attacking from the opposite angle of the salient, thus cutting it off. It was necessary for us to pass through at least half a mile of our wire, cross the unfordable Rupt de Mad, and pass another half mile of enemy wire, bey ond which was the Madine Creek, protected by wire. The task was very formidable. The high hill on our left, called Montsec, was heavily fortified and commanded a view of our area.1 The plan of attack was for the engineers to proceed with Bangalore tubes to blow lanes in our wire. They were followed by engineers carrying floating bridges to be shoved over the Rupt de Mad for the infantry to cross and capture the German advanced line. Then the engineers were to blow the German wire, and the infantry were to cross it and occupy the position. The advance was to continue until it met the troops from the north. The French on our left were not to attack. We were to have a regiment of infantry face to our left in front of Montsec to protect our left flank. The attack was to begin at 5:00 A.M., September 12. An artillery neutralization fire from 168 guns was to begin at 1:00 A.M. and change to a rolling barrage in front of the infantry at 5:00 A.M. At a conference before the attack, I pointed out the difficulties and ordered that the infantry should swim the stream if the bridges failed to arrive. Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton, who commanded the tank battalion, said that he would drive the tanks into the stream and the infantry could cross on them. I replied that the men in the tanks would be drowned. He answered: “Yes, and I will be one of them.” I told him that I could not resort to such sacrifice. Fortunately, we found that the stream was fed by a lake some miles 136 THE WAY OF DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY to our left. After we cut the dam the night preceding the assault, the water became low enough in the stream for our men to ford it. We were operating in the First Corps, commanded by General Joseph T. Dickman.2 He was ignorant, foulmouthed, and brutal at the conference held with division commanders. On the night of the attack, a vicious member of the GHQ staff3 came to my headquarters with every evidence of watching and spying on me. I was sure that he was looking for some act or word of mine to report and have me relieved. The attack went off as planned in every detail. The engineers with the bridges waded the stream and continued forward looking for a stream to bridge. Finally, one man exclaimed: “Where in hell is that river that we were to bridge?” The wire cutters and the bridge details took arms from the killed and wounded and advanced with the infantry until the objective was taken. The division had a squadron of cavalry attached, with the idea of charging after the wire was crossed, but the terrain did not permit it, and the machine guns of the enemy would have made it too costly. The cavalrymen did some courier service , but the day of cavalry on the field of battle had ended. The fellow Dickman tried to discredit me for not having it charge. He knew nothing of conditions, and he was totally ignorant of battle. All objectives were taken on schedule, and our losses were unbelievably small. The division on our right (the Forty-second) bore away and created a gap of several miles. Portions of the Third Division were attached to the First to cover it. A division sent its trains over our communicating road, thus depriving us of its use and causing great inconvenience. We adopted other means, and I never complained. It was a rule of the First Division never to criticize other troops. I always felt that I was fighting Germans, not Americans, and I never criticized...

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