[Sidenote:  Prisoners and guns taken.]

[Sidenote:  Divisions long in battle line.]

In all 40 enemy divisions had been used against us in the Meuse-Argonne battle.  Between September 26 and November 6 we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 guns on this front.  Our Divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first.  Many of our divisions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest.  The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and, Ninetieth were in the line twice.  Although some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal to the best.

[Sidenote:  The fight in the Meuse Hills.]

On the three days preceding November 10, the Third, the Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth French Corps fought a difficult struggle through the Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the enemy into the plain.  Meanwhile, my plans for further use of the American forces contemplated an advance between the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy by the First Army, while, at the same time, the Second Army should assure the offensive toward the rich iron fields of Briey.  These operations were to be followed by an offensive toward Chateau-Salins east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz.  Accordingly, attacks on the American front had been ordered and that of the Second Army was in progress on the morning of November 11, when instructions were received that hostilities should cease at 11 o’clock a.m.

[Sidenote:  A new offensive is halted by the armistice.]

At this moment the line of the American sector, from right to left, began at Port-sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Vandieres and through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, thence along to the foothills and through the northern edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the Meuse connecting with the French under Sedan.

[Sidenote:  Cordial assistance of the Allied armies and governments.]

Cooperation among the Allies has at all times been most cordial.  A far greater effort has been put forth by the Allied armies and staffs to assist us than could have been expected.  The French Government and Army have always stood ready to furnish us with supplies, equipment, and transportation and to aid us in every way.  In the towns and hamlets wherever our troops have been stationed or billeted the French people have everywhere received them more as relatives and intimate friends than as soldiers of a foreign army.  For these things words are quite inadequate to express our gratitude.  There can be no doubt