THE FIGHTING ON NOVEMBER 10
THE fighting on the day preceding the armistice was both severe and costly. It is probable that no other
division in the Expeditionary Forces met with such stubborn resistance during the last hours preceding
the cessation of hostilities. According to prisoners’ statements, the next German position behind the
Meuse was along the heights north and east of the Chiers River, which runs through Montmédy. But the
retirement to this position was by no means precipitate. In order to cover this withdrawal, the enemy
had left two companies out of each regiment, reinforced by machine gun detachments, on the heights
between Stenay and Baalon and in the Bois du Chenois, southwest of Baalon, and this force fought with
the fiendish skill which characterized German rear-guards.
Realizing the importance of this pivotal sector opposite the 90th Division, the German high
command had thrown into line there its last remaining fresh division – the 20th – a first-class unit. The
55th Infantry regiment of the 13th Division, also a first-class organization, opposed the 358th Infantry at
Stenay. The enemy order of battle on the last day was, from west to east: 55th Infantry Regiment (13th
Division); 92d Infantry Regiment; 77th Infantry Regiment; 79th Infantry Regiment (20th Division), and;
354th Infantry Regiment (216th Division).
The casualties in our ranks on November 10 testify to the nature of the operations, one officer
and 33 enlisted men being killed, and 12 officers and 171 men wounded.
Of primary interest is the fighting for Stenay, where was located in 1916 the headquarters of the
German Crown Prince during the attack on Verdun. The 2d Battalion, 358th Infantry, led the attack.
This battalion had marched all night long from its position south of Laneuville, and reached Mouzay
about daybreak. The night was bitter cold, and the feet of many of the men, and many of the officers as
well, were so badly frozen that they could hardly walk farther. It was only the bare remnant of a
battalion which took up the advance at six o’clock.
About one and a half kilometers north of Mouzay was an old French rifle-range called the
“Stand.” Machine gun fire from this place, as well as from pits along the Route Nationale from Mouzay
to Stenay, barred the way. But, led by Company G, the companies maneuvered around these positions,
and, under cover of the unimproved road branching off south of the Stand, the progress continued. By
7:15 A. M. men had entered the outskirts of the town, and two hours later the battalion had gained
possession of the quadrangle of buildings called La Forge and established its P. C. there. This structure
was a bakery, and there were captured two thousand loaves of bread and seventeen “fishes,” the latter
being German prisoners. The battalion’s advance was materially assisted by Company C, 343th
Machine Gun Battalion, one platoon being used on each flank of the support companies to keep down
harassing fire. Captain J. F. Hennessey, Jr., commanding Company C, was cited for his work here.
The north wall of the quadrangle was covered by machine guns and snipers, and any attempt to
leave this shelter meant death. The Americans could reply only by firing from the windows of the
bakery. But their aim was so deadly that twenty-four Germans were accounted for. All of these victims,
it was later found, were shot through the head, the only exposed portion of the body. According to
German officers interviewed after the armistice, the gun with which their men did most damage was
located in the steeple of the church at Stenay. Guns intrenched off an island between the river and the
canal also made the Americans’ position uncomfortable. In this predicament Major Sim C. Souther
counted his rifles, and found that he had exactly eighty-five. This number was manifestly insufficient to
mop up a city the size of Stenay, and a report was made to regimental headquarters. Heavy artillery fire
rendered the battalion’s situation even more precarious.
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