This Division then repulsed
strong counterattacks before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne
and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from before Rheims
and yield positions they had held since September, 1914. On October 9
the Thirty-sixth Division relieved the Second and, in its first
experience under fire, withstood very severe artillery bombardment and
rapidly took up the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne.
[Sidenote: Steady progress in the Argonne Forest.]
[Sidenote: The terrain favors the defense.]
The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men in this
crucial contest as the German command threw in more and more first-class
troops to stop our advance. We made steady headway in the almost
impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, for, despite this
reinforcement, it was our Army that was doing the driving. Our aircraft
was increasing in skill and numbers and forcing the issue, and our
Infantry and Artillery were improving rapidly with each new experience.
The replacements fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions with
little time for training, but they had the advantage of serving beside
men who knew their business and who had almost become veterans
overnight. The enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which
especially favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned
by highly trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges.
In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been unable
to accomplish any progress according to previously accepted standards,
but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of
our troops.
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