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6 Aisne-marne, Croix rouge Farm, July 24–26, 1918 move to the Front immediately after the Champagne, Foch scheduled the rainbow division for more battle, ordering it to join a Franco-American drive to the northeast.the mission was to break up the Château-thierry salient, where the German battle line projected farthest into the French position.1 Foch knew the Allies had to capture the marnevalley to close the road to Paris to the Germans.this called for the kind of open field fighting that Pershing wanted. Foch also understood fully that the Germans had retained strongholds in an area that was well suited for defense and deadly for the attackers. the rainbow proceeded to Château-thierry.they saw “ghastly evidence of the huns’departure—the ruined homes;the ruthless destruction coupled with the terrible artillery bombardment [had] left the town a scene of desolation.”2 the trip was sobering, “the route was a panorama of panic and sudden death. Pontoons, ripped with shell, stood on the river.A lot of gents had gone to glory there.”3 only weeks earlier, the Germans had believed victory at hand. Chancellor von hertling later admitted, “at the beginning of July 1918, i was convinced, i confess it, that before the first of September our adversaries would send us peace proposals.”4 the rainbow was shifted without rest to Château-thierry.the division was placed in thevi FrenchArmy under General Jean marie Joseph degoutte, who put i Corps into American control for the first time when command went to General hunter liggett.this was an arrangement by which French generals controlled the major operations, butAmerican officers oversaw the details.5 “General Jean degoutte . . . sent word through General liggett, who passed 108 / Chapter 6 the order to General menoher, to attack a German rearguard unit . . . at Croix rouge Farm . . . to push out the defenders . . . with a bayonet charge. the order . . . went to the 167thAlabama regiment . . . and the result was a minor chapter in the war’s history, but no minor chapter in the history of the 167th.”6 the regiment’s fighting skills earned it the point position in the French initiative. theAmericans had intense admiration for their French commanders.“All during this time,” an American lieutenant observed, “our respect, liking and admiration of the French was unqualified.the good nature of the poilu is apparently inexhaustible, and the French officer is nearly always a gentleman . . . which is not so universally true in our army, unfortunately.”7 theAlabama regiment received its warning order at la Ferté near Châteauthierry at 3:20 P.M.on July 24.8 the 167thwastoldtobereadytoload on trucks in an hour, but in typical “hurry up and wait” army fashion, departure was rescheduled for 7:45 P.M.the trucks arrived even later, and the troops did not leave Ussy-sur-marne for the all-night drive until 11:30 P.M. moving a combat-loaded infantry battalion required seventy-five solid rubbertired camions (trucks) with sixteen men crowded onto each one.9 traveling over rough roads in thick dust and fumes, they reached liggett’s i Corps in epieds shortly after dawn on July 25,about the same time as the 168th (iowa).10 An overturned German howitzer littered the street. Fires smoldered. German ammunition and equipment was strewn among their dead.there was an activeAmerican aid station,andAmerican dead lay in nearby fields.Full of rainbow soldiers, epieds was a good target for German artillery, which crashed all around. Prior to the arrival of the two regiments of the 84th brigade, i Corps consisted of two divisions: the French 167th and the US 26th, commonly called the yankee division oryd. liggett had nothing but praise for the French, but there were problems.earlier liggett had ordered the 26th to take over the sector held by the French,but the task was beyond its capacity.major General Clarence edwards , theyankee division commander, failed to put the order into effect, and liggett canceled it, telling edwards that neither he nor his subordinates obeyed orders. edwards, a West Pointer with a reputation for being easy on his men, was later deemed not to have pushed aggressively enough in the July fighting.11 by July 26 the rainbow took over the entire i Corps front, where theyankee division had failed.12 liggett controlled the coming battle from epieds, using the 39th division (French),the 167th division (French),and the just-arrived US 42nd division.13 the rainbow...

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