commanders were put out of action. Captain C. W. Griggs, Company E, was severely wounded, and
Captain Snowden M. Leftwich, Company F, received a machine gun bullet in the right arm, causing an
amputation of the arm to be necessary. Captain John N. Simpson, Company G, took command of the
battalion.
While Company G, on the right, was suffering terrific losses, the left assault company, F,
weathered through the enemy first lines with only slight casualties, and by 7: 15 A. M. Lieutenant
Raymond Leslie, second in command, had reached the objective with remnants of a platoon. This
company rounded up 165 prisoners in the little valley near Camp de Ouest in the Bois de Friere.
Difficulty was experienced with German snipers who had taken up positions in trees so as to command
the paths through the woods. These paths or roadways, running systematically at right angles through
the woods, are characteristic of carefully planted French forests. But these troublesome riflemen only
furnished interesting sport for the “squirrel hunters” of the 179th Brigade. Corporal Wilbur S. Light, of
Oklahoma City, out-sniped the snipers. His feat in picking three Germans off their lofty perch, and in
killing three other Germans, was given recognition by an award of the D. S. C. Others added almost as
many notches to their gun-stocks before all of the pests were cleaned out of the trees and hiding-places
that day. Private Joseph A. Buffalo, of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, was also awarded the D. S. C. for his fine
work after he had been badly wounded.
Company G continued to receive trouble from the right flank, and the entire 2d Battalion was not
on the objective until about 2 P. M. Orders were then received to clean out La Poele, a network of
trenches which had been a German strong point, and to embrace this position in the outpost for the night.
Here the company suffered still further casualties from artillery, minenwerfer, and machine gun fire.
Lieutenant Charles H. Hauser, Company H, from Eagle Pass, Texas, was killed on the ridge just north of
La Poele by a minenwerfer shell.
The 3rd Battalion, 359th Infantry, the assault unit for the regiment, commanded by Major T. D.
Collins, had been holding the line since September 8. It was necessary to “side-slip” further to the west
for the attack. Due to a combination of untoward circumstances, – the lateness of the orders, the
inability of some commanders to notify all their officers of the hour of the attack, the delay occasioned
by the distribution of extra ammunition and rations late at night, the difficulty of finding one’s way
through rain, mud, and woods, – two platoons did not arrive at their jumping-off trenches until shortly
before H hour.
The battalion assaulted in line of companies. Severe machine gun fire poured down upon them
from the Quart-en-Reserve. But continued advance was made possible by the action of such men as
Corporal Jesse W. Grisham, who, when Company L was held up by entanglements, jumped out of the
trench without command, cut a pathway through the wire, signaled back its location, and moved to the
right, continuing to cut paths and signal their position to the men of his company until killed.
Captain Walter Ferrol reached Camp du Ravin with a detachment of Company K early in the
morning. During the day Captain Ferrol, Lieutenant Ben M. Davis, and Lieutenant Otto F. Zedler
became casualties, leaving Company K without an officer. By 1 P. M. Companies K, L, and M held
trench Rhenane and were patrolling beyond, but all withdrew to trench Rhenane for the night.
Lieutenant Charles D. Harned, adjutant, 3d Battalion, was killed, and Lieutenant Glen L. Brown,
Company L, received wounds which resulted in his death. Lieutenant Montgomery Fly, Company L,
was rendered unconscious early in the advance by the explosion of a shell; but upon recovering, about
two hours later, collected some scattered men and began mopping up machine gun nests run over by the
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