held the bridgehead at the Marne, opposite Chateau-Thierry.  The 2d Division, in reserve near Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris.  The division attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its ground against the enemy’s best guard divisions.  In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy than to ourselves.  On July 1, before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision.

Meanwhile our 2d Corps, under Major-General George W. Read, had been organized for the command of our divisions with the British, which were held back in training areas or assigned to second-line defences.  Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three to relieve divisions in Lorraine and in the Vosges and two to the Paris area to join the group of American divisions which stood between the city and any further advance of the enemy in that direction.

AMERICAN DIVISIONS IN THE FIGHTING

The great June, July troop movement from the States was well under way, and, although these troops were to be given some preliminary training before being put into action, their very presence warranted the use of all the older divisions in the confidence that we did not lack reserves.  Elements of the 42d Division were in the line east of Rheims against the German offensive of July 15, and held their ground unflinchingly.  On the right flank of this offensive four companies of the 28th Division were in position in face of the advancing waves of the German infantry.  The 3d Division was holding the bank of the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the Surmelin to the west of Mezy, opposite Chateau-Thierry, where a large force of German infantry sought to force a passage under support of powerful artillery concentrations and under cover of smoke screens.  A single regiment of the 3d wrote one of the most brilliant pages in our military annals on this occasion.  It prevented the crossing at certain points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, who had gained a footing, pressed forward.  Our men, firing in three directions, met the German attacks with counterattacks at critical points and succeeded in throwing two German divisions into complete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners.

The great force of the German Chateau-Thierry offensive established the deep Marne salient, but the enemy was taking chances, and the vulnerability of this pocket to attack might be turned to his disadvantage.  Seizing this opportunity to support my conviction, every division with any sort of training was made available for use in a counteroffensive.  The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 18 was given to our 1st and 2d Divisions in company