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columns (each column composed of a company of tanks, a Company of armored infantry, a squad of
combat engineers, and a section of tank destroyers), with three armored field artillery battalions
following in the center, fanned out after the enemy. When forced to do so, the enemy fought rearguard
actions, but every indication was that he sought to reach a defensive position, known only to himself,
without becoming seriously committed.
The Corps Command Post moved to the gardens of the Vicomte de la Rochefoucauld in
Montmirail. General Walker decided that the Meuse River would be the next logical stopping place of
the German columns. He issued orders for allCorps units to prepare to attack eastward again in the
direction of the Reims and Verdun.
The 7th Armored Division, which had already overrun an enemy artillery brigade, a regiment,
and a separate battalion west of Reims, crossed the Aisne and Vesle Rivers, bypassing Reims from the
north, and cutting it off for any reinforcements.
A combat team of the 5th Division swept into Reims from the southeast and liberated amid a
flurry of sniper fire on the evening of August 29th. That same night Corps Headquarters moved into the
Louvois wood 12 miles southwest of the Cathedral city. Here General Walker was decorated with the
Distinguished Service Cross for his intrepid gallantry at Melun.
In capturing Reims, XX Corps took over an airplane factory, an ordinance depot, and huge
German supply dumps. Also, 1847 prisoners were taken and 446 of the enemy killed, whereas only 13
Americans were killed and 86 wounded. The daring aggressive tactics of the Corps Commander were
achieving maximum results at a minimum cost. Bold, reckless moves were actually saving innumerable
lives.
Captured documents served to prove that the enemy intended to organize a strong defense on the
line of the Meuse, but that the speed and power of the Corps lightning advances gave him no chance.
The enemy still had large forces but was stunned and bewildered by the tactics of the XX Corps which
would bypass towns and strong points and then wheel to attack from the east.
Prisoners streaming in now in long lines complained of the lack of equipment and organization
in the German ranks brought about by the action of XX Corps armor and cavalry operating far in the
enemy rear. Battered remnants of once powerful forces had come back in a forlorn procession from the
Argentan pocket only to find XX Corps blocking their escape route.
After telephone conversations with his division commanders, the Corps Commander ordered a
further move eastward, bypassing centers of resistance, to seize Verdun and to secure crossings over the
Meuse. The 3rd Cavalry Group moved out during an afternoon of August 30, and the armored followed
in multiple columns with the 5th Division close behind. Only small rear guard actions were fought until
the Aisne River was reached.
There the enemy had dug in on the opposite side and halted the 43rd Cavalry Squadron. Combat
Command "A" of the 7th Armored Division, following the northern route, became engaged in a fight at
Vouziers and was halted. The 3rd Cavalry Squadron on the right, however, after running into the Aisne
River line, turned south and ran the gauntlet of enemy anti-tank and infantry positions around the
western edge of the Argonne Forest to reach St. Menehould. There the bridge been blown but the river
was fordable. While a task force of armored infantry blasted its way across, the bulk of the command
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