my
was organized on Aug. 10 under my personal command. While American units
had held different sectors along the western front, there had not been up
to this time, for obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in
view of the important parts the American forces were now to play, it was
necessary to take over a permanent portion of the line. Accordingly, on
Aug. 30, the line beginning at Port sur Seille, east of the Moselle and
extending to the west through St. Mihiel, thence north to a point
opposite Verdun, was placed under my command. The American sector was
afterward extended across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne
Forest, and included the 2d Colonial French, which held the point of the
salient, and the 17th French Corps, which occupied the heights above
Verdun.

The preparation for a complicated operation against the formidable
defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions and of corps
and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambulances, the location
of hospitals, and the molding together of all the elements of a great
modern army with its own railheads, supplied directly by our own Service
of Supply. The concentration for this operation, which was to be a
surprise, involved the movement, mostly at night, of approximately
600,000 troops, and required for its success the most careful attention
to every detail.

The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and army
artillery and we were confident from the start of our superiority over
the enemy in guns of all calibres. Our heavy guns were able to reach
Metz and to interfere seriously with German rail movements. The French
Independent Air Force was placed under my command, which, together with
the British bombing squadrons and our air forces, gave us the largest
assembly of aviators that had ever been engaged in one operation on the
western front.

From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel to the
Moselle River the line was, roughly, forty miles long and situated on
commanding ground greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our 1st
Corps, (82d, 90th, 5th, and 2d Divisions,) under command of Major Gen.
Hunter Liggett, resting its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left
joining our 3d Corps, (the 89th, 42d, and 1st Divisions,) under Major
Gen. Joseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, was to swing toward Vigneulles
on the pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray
to