GREAT ADVANCE ON NOVEMBER 3
CONSIDERABLE difficulty was anticipated in piercing the dense woods on the Halles-Montigny heights.
The attack was to be made at 8 A. M., November 3, by the 358th on the left and the 357th on the right.
During the night the artillery had bombarded enemy positions with gas, and a rolling barrage advancing
at the rate of 100 meters in eight minutes was put down in front of the infantry. The 343d Machine Gun
Battalion was attached to the 179th Brigade.
Imagine the general surprise, then, when the troops entered the woods without a hostile shot
opposing them. The bursting of our own shells among the trees, as the barrage crept forward, was the
only artillery firing to be heard. The Germans had made good their escape across the Meuse during the
night. Our men went romping through the forest, and at 11: 30 A. M. Lieutenant-Colonel Waddill,
second in command of the 357th Infantry, sent back this message from the heights south of Montigny:
“No enemy in sight; no artillery; good view for miles.”
As soon as full information concerning the German withdrawal had been received by the 3d
Army Corps, orders were issued by headquarters of that corps directing the 90th Division to keep up
vigorous contact with the enemy and to push detachments, accompanied by machine guns, across the
Meuse River to protect a crossing. This order was immediately telephoned to General O’Neil, who
made plans accordingly. The 357th Infantry prepared to put a force across the river at Sassey, while the
358th Infantry exploited toward Stenay.
This was about noon. But during the afternoon another corps order was issued, changing the
previous plans, and providing that the 90th Division would hold the bulk of its forces on the Halles-
Montigny heights, while the 5th Division, on the right, developed a bridgehead at Dun-sur-Meuse. The
90th Division was to aid with the bulk of its artillery the establishment of this bridgehead, and was also
to locate and protect any undestroyed bridges over the Meuse within its sector.
As soon as full information concerning the German withdrawal had been received by the 3d
Army Corps, orders were issued by headquarters of that corps directing the 90th Division to keep up
vigorous contact with the enemy and to push detachments, accompanied by machine guns, across the
Meuse River to protect a crossing. This order was immediately telephoned to General O’Neil, who
made plans accordingly. The 357th Infantry prepared to put a force across the river at Sassey, while the
358th Infantry exploited toward Stenay.
This was about noon. But during the afternoon another corps order was issued, changing the
previous plans, and providing that the 90th Division would hold the bulk of its forces on the Halles-
Montigny heights, while the 5th Division, on the right, developed a bridgehead at Dun-sur-Meuse. The
90th Division was to aid with the bulk of its artillery the establishment of this bridgehead, and was also
to locate and protect any undestroyed bridges over the Meuse within its sector.
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