accomplishment of the mission here was a supreme test. Colonel Barth has stated "he (Major Hamilton) has the dash of a
Stonewall Jackson". (14)
Meanwhile, Colonel Barth was ordered to de-truck the regiment and prepare to attack the town by enveloping it on
the right and cutting off the main road behind the town to the east. This meant getting his unit across the MAYENNE
RIVER. While the 1st Battalion was engaged in getting into MAYENNE proper, the 2d and 3d Battalions would envelop to
the right and attempt a river crossing. Lt. Colonel Mason's 3d Battalion, next in the column, was de-trucked and started
across country to an assembly area under cover, near the river. Colonel Barth and another officer went forward to contact
Colonel Mason and prepared for a reconnaissance of the river bank. As they reached the river bank they observed three truck
loads of Germans on the high ground east of the river. They apparently were pulling out. Some fire was falling in the area
but it was sporadic and all coming from the other side. At this time Colonel Barth made the decision to attempt an immediate
crossing of the river. The rubber boats of the Task Force had not yet come up, as the column was still in the process of
closing up, (It had extended back about twelve miles.)
Company I was brought down and deployed along the river bank to cover the attempted crossing. A skiff and a
larger boat had been found in poor condition, being very leaky. They had no motors, no oars, no sails, but could possibly be
used if some means of propulsion were devised. A board fence was torn down and the boards used as oars. With I Company
covering, the two boats were loaded and the river crossing begun. The men appeared rather dubious but, when Colonel Barth
took a position in one of the boats, the question appeared to be settled in the minds of the men. The boats were unloaded on
the far side and Colonel Barth with one of the engineers returned for additional loads. In this manner the force on the far
shore was gradually strengthened until the rubber boats of the Task Force arrived. (The crossing force had not yet been fired
on). The rubber boats were inflated and the crossing went quite rapidly. By 2030 hours the entire two battalions were across
the MAYENNE RIVER and the 3d Battalion nearly up to the main road behind the town. Colonel Barth felt that he had
taken a chance and had been lucky. (15) This was the type of aggressive leadership that led to the success of the unit and was
to predominate in future operations.
Let us rejoin the 1st Battalion at this time and find how their attack was progressing. We left Lieutenant Stevens
astride the road with Company B and the attached tanks. The attack had been temporarily halted, while the high ground on
the western edge of MAYENNE had been plastered with mortar, artillery and tank fire. The only casualties up to this point
had been men in the reconnaissance cars knocked out at the German road block.
The advance continued and the 1st Battalion entered the western edge of MAYENNE, which was on high ground,
gradually falling away to the river. At this time the battalion was taken under fire from the eastern section of the town across
the river. Company B had the mission of proceeding along the street that led downhill and onto the bridge that still
connected the eastern and western sections of the town. The company had been deployed and was now engaged in working
out the houses and buildings along the street. An enemy tank was reported to be on one of the streets paralleling the river and
entering the western section from the north. Artillery fire was placed on this road and at the same time heavy mortars from
Company D were displaced forward to positions on the western outskirts of town. The Battalion Anti-Tank Platoon was
ordered up, and placed to cover two roads leading into the town, one from the north and the other from the northwest. While
going into position and crossing the street leading to the bridge one of the gun crews was fired on. Sergeant Edwards was
killed, and Sergeant Harbaugh and Private Sanchez, wounded. The Tank Company was working down the street toward the
river in an attempt to gain positions from which they could fire into the eastern section of town. They also had the mission of
covering the approach into the town from the south. By 1630 hours Lieutenant Stevens reported that his two leading platoons
had reached the buildings on the western edge of the river. He had with him one of the platoons of tanks. Enemy fire had
been increasing to the point where an all out assault must be launched in order to seize the bridge and a crossing forced. The
street that led across the bridge followed the high ground to the eastern section of MAYENNE. On this street was located an
occasional enemy tank, two 88's and a 20 mm gun, all of which were looking down the throats of Company B. Any crossing
would be impossible at this time unless the enemy fire could be neutralized. (Machine gun and other small arms fire was
coming from the German side).
The problem was to obtain observation and adjustment of artillery and mortar fire on the enemy positions. By 1645
hours Lieutenant R. E. Smith, D Company mortar section, had worked his way forward to one of the buildings taken by B
Company. (16) This building faced the street leading to the bridge and here Lieutenant Smith located his observation post.
Assisted by Lieutenant McLean he was successful in adjusting mortar fire and driving away one of the 88 gun crews. The
Battalion Artillery Liaison Officer, Captain George Ingram, used the same observation post and succeeded in adjusting his
artillery fire. Major Hamilton was in the building on the corner near the bridge. Here he issued his plan of action to the
Platoon Sergeant of the 1st Platoon, Company A, 315th Engineer Battalion. There was to be a ten minute preparation by the
artillery, mortars, and cannon from Cannon Company. At the cessation of fire, Company B was to assault and cross the
bridge closely followed by the tanks, which would approach the bridge from the right, wheel around the corner and cross the
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