359TH INFANTRY CAPTURES VILLERS-DEVANT-DUN
THE 359th Infantry found its task on November 2 to be much more difficult than that of the preceding
day. In a dense fog at 5:30 A. M. the 2d Battalion, which had taken over from the 1st Battalion the
afternoon of November 1, was formed up as follows to go after the Hun: Company H to go north to
Villers, with Company E in support; Company F to clear the triangular wood, take Remé Farm, and
continue north, Company G being in support. Company F did not encounter serious difficulty in the
first part of its mission, but it was brought to a standstill south of the road which runs southeast from
Villers-devant-Dun to Doulcon by fire from the heights “en Haut,” just north of the road. Company G
took up the advance. Lieutenant John C. Patterson was shot through the leg, and the command passed to
Lieutenant Patrick J. Murphy, who was the first man of the company to hurdle the wire.
Company H had its troubles from the outset. Machine gun positions had been sited skillfully to
cover the road from Aincreville to Villers-devant-Dun. After these positions had been cleared, the
advancing line came under fire from the heights “en Haut,” from the vicinity of Villers itself, and from
the eastern edge of Hill 321. The supporting artillery fired on these positions for twenty minutes, after
which the advance was renewed, and by 2 P. M. Company H had taken the town and the crest to the
north. These positions were held under the most trying circumstances. A rain of artillery came pouring
down as soon as the Germans were out, and small detachments of the enemy, with light machine guns,
worked forward by rushes up the Ravin du Fond de Theisse and attempted to retake the town. Captain
H. S. Hilburn, commanding Company H, received the D. S. C. for his work here.
The counter-attack was delivered by troops of the 27th German Division, a first-class unit which
was put into the line after four weeks’ rest. According to prisoners’ statements, this division was put in
with the express purpose of counter-attacking and saving the situation at this point. It went into position
between the 88th and 28th German Divisions. Elements of these three divisions, as well as of a fourth,
the 107th Division, had opposed the 180th Brigade during this operation. While the enemy units
became mixed during the retreat, and the order of battle by sectors was hard to determine, it is probable
that no units engaged opposite the 90th Division were withdrawn, the presence of new troops indicating
a reinforcement.
In the meantime the 1st Battalion had received orders to move north as far as Villers, pass
through the 2d, and continue northeast, south of the Villers-Montigny road. In the fog, a group of
sixteen Company H men on the heights north of Villers were overlooked and were not relieved.
Lieutenant Walter S. Burke, who was in command of this small force, had been wounded during the
fighting but refused to give in and maintained his post throughout the night.
The 1st Battalion carried on the fight, arriving at the edge of the dense Bois de Sassey at
nightfall. Forty-two Germans were killed in one nest of resistance on the brink of the “punch bowl” east
of “en Haut.” Corporal T. W. Butcher, Company C, received the D. S. C. for his feat in capturing three
machine guns after he had been wounded in the back. Major Brown was cited in division orders. He
had placed himself in the front line, rounded up the men who had taken refuge in shell-holes and
directed the operations under machine gun fire. The bravery of Captain William Fisk, Company D, also
inspired the men of his company to greater action. On this occasion, as repeatedly on November 1,
Corporal Clive C. Collier and Corporal Glen A. Bell, both of Company D, displayed such soldierly
qualities in leading their squads that they were awarded crosses.
A little strip of woods called “les Dix Jours” caused the last trouble of the day. Here Captain
Dan C. Leeper, who was posthumously awarded the D. S. C., was killed.
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