PATROLLING THE MEUSE RIVER
THE orders of the corps between November 4 and the night of November 7 stressed the reconnaissance
of river crossings in the vicinity of Stenay, as well as pushing patrols across the stream to keep contact
with the enemy. During this time the 5th Division was crossing the Meuse further south and was
developing a bridgehead at Dun-sur-Meuse, while the 89th Division and divisions further to the west
were cleaning out the enemy on the west bank of the river as far north as Sedan. The 5th Division
effected a crossing on the night of November 4-5 at Brieniles, and on November 5 the 32d Division,
which had been in 3d Corps reserve behind the 90th Division, sent a regiment across to work on the
right flank of the 5th Division. Several temporary bridges had been constructed, and a bridge capable of
carrying heavy trucks at Dun-sur-Meuse was in operation on November 6.
This period of waiting sorely tried the patience of the men, who were eager to keep after the
Boche. And the longer the halt lasted, the worse the situation became. Artillery fire on Halles,
Montigny, Mont, the road from Villers-devant-Dun to Montigny, and other points daily became heavier;
bombing planes paid nightly visits to practically all the towns holding troops, including Villers-devant-
Dun, to which town Division Headquarters had moved on November 3; and the machine gun positions
east of the Meuse were strengthened.
The last enemy machine guns were not cleared out of Wiseppe until the night of November 4.
At daybreak that morning Captain DeWitt Neighbors, Company E, 357th Infantry, had advanced against
the town, but was forced to withdraw after having fourteen men killed and thirty-eight wounded.
Lieutenant Thomas S. Frere was badly wounded. The withdrawal was so hasty that six wounded men
were left behind. These men were picked up by the Germans and taken to a building in Wiseppe, where
they were given first-aid treatment, food, and wine. They were found again when the town was re-
occupied by our troops on November 6. On the afternoon of November 4, Companies E and H, 357th
Infantry, again advanced and reached Hill 206, northwest of Wiseppe, but the town was avoided, as the
Germans were then shelling it very heavily.
The territory between the bluffs and the river is as smooth as the top of a table, and any
movement drew enemy fire. Patrols attempting to investigate the condition of the river bank and
crossings were sniped at, not only by rifles and machine guns, but also by one-pounder guns and 77’s.
The information desired was obtained under the most trying circumstances and at the greatest possible
risk. Imagine, for example, the situation of Lieutenant Frank Feuille, 358th Infantry, who went out on
November 6 in broad daylight to investigate river crossings east of Wiseppe. He was forced to cross the
Wiseppe River, in plain view of the enemy, and after every movement there went whizzing by his head a
one-pounder shell from a gun on the east bank of the Meuse.
Attempts to cross the Meuse were costly. On the night of November 5 a patrol from the 357th
Infantry placed a ladder across the gap in the cement bridge at Sassey, but the fire on the bridge was so
heavy that no crossing was made. Lieutenant Wendell F. Prime, attached to Company L, was killed the
same night in attempting to cross near Saulmaury. The first crossing was made on the night of
November 6, opposite Villefranche, in a boat.
Patrols of the 358th Infantry were particularly active in investigating approaches to Stenay. On
the 8th a patrol led by Lieutenant Rufus Boylan, 2d Battalion, succeeded in wading across the five
streams between Stenay station and the main bridge, and brought back much valuable information. On
November 6 one platoon of the 358th Infantry took station in Laneuville. Engineers who accompanied
the other troops removed no less than twenty-five treacherous mines from the buildings in which the
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