THE BATTLE OF VERDUN—THE GERMAN ATTACK

Toward the close of 1915 the German General Staff decided on a vast onslaught on the French front that would so crush and cripple the fighting forces of France that they would cease to count as an important factor in the war. A great action was also necessary owing to the external and internal situation of the German Empire. The time was ripe for staging a spectacular victory that would astonish the world, intimidate Greece and Rumania, and stiffen the weakening hold that Germany had on Turkey and Bulgaria.

The German General Staff knew that Russia was arming several hundred thousand new troops, that Great Britain had reenforced her armies on the Continent, that the Allies were amply supplied with guns and shells, and that in the spring they would undertake an offensive on a large scale that would go far toward ending the war. In order to anticipate this threatened onslaught the German staff decided to strike, hoping to gain a victory before the Allies were entirely ready.

Having arrived at this decision, the next problem was to select the battle field, and Verdun was decided upon. At first this choice created general astonishment, for the capture of Verdun would only mean the gaining of a certain number of square miles of territory. But the German staff believed that the capture of the ancient fortress of Verdun would have a powerful effect on public opinion at home and abroad. As a military operation they were confident that such a victory might have a decisive effect on the future of the war. It was hoped that the French army, already weakened, would receive a crushing blow from which it could never recover. An intelligent German prisoner explained the German point of view: "Verdun sticks into our side like a dagger, though sheathed. With that weapon threatening our vitals, how can we think of rushing on France elsewhere? If we had done so, the Verdun dagger might have stabbed us in the back as well as in the side."

In order to sustain the German people's faith in the Hohenzollern dynasty there was urgent necessity that the crown prince should gain a success. The capture of Verdun would reestablish his somewhat tarnished military reputation and might force an exhausted France to sue for peace.

The loss of Verdun and its girdle of forts would have made the situation of the defenders very difficult, they would find it a serious problem to hold back the German hosts while organizing a new line of defense from St. Mihiel to Ste. MÉnÉhould. Moreover as the German lines formed a semicircle around the French position at Verdun an immense number of guns could be massed against a small area.

In the matter of railway facilities the Germans had every advantage. They possessed fourteen strategic lines, while the French had only one ordinary double line, which was in easy range of the German guns south of Vauquois, and a narrow gauge from Verdun to Bar-le-Duc. This terrible handicap was in time overcome by the French, who brought to perfection a system of motor transport by road that enabled them at a moment's notice to bring up men, ammunition, and supplies to the defense of Verdun.

The French positions around the fortress had not greatly changed since the closing months of 1914, when the French carried the village of Brabant and Haumont Wood and occupied the southeast corner of Consenvoye Wood. Two formidable natural barriers had been secured by the Germans: Forges Wood on the left, a long crest east and west confronting the French lines and bisected its full length by a ravine. Protected from French fire from the south, it afforded an excellent artillery position, while the trees served as a screen against aerial observation. The position also commanded a clear view of the French left at Brabant. To attack Forges Wood it would be necessary to advance over an open space entirely bare of any natural protection. On the right of the French positions the Germans occupied a strong post on a sort of island that overlooked the Woevre plain and having on one side a steep cliff.

The possession of these two strong positions by the Germans exposed the French flanks to artillery fire from every direction. It was impossible that the French line, bent into a salient in front of Haumont and Caures Wood, could hold out if the Germans massed a great number of guns against it.

When the struggle in the Verdun sector began the French left was resting on the centers of Brabant, Consenvoye, Haumont, and Caures Wood, their first position. The second was marked by a line passing through Samogneux, Hill 344, and Mormont Farm.

The French center included the Bois de la Ville, Herbebois, and Ornes, with the woods of Beaumont, La Wavrille, Les Fosses, Le Chaume, and Les CauriÈres as the second position.

The French right included Maucourt, Mogeville, the Haytes-CharriÈres Wood, and Fromezey, with a second position covering Bezonvaux, Grand-Chena, and Dieppe. Back of these positions the line of forts was distinguished by the village of Bras, Douaumont, Hardaumont, the fort of Vaux, La LaurÉe, and Eix. Between this line of forts and the second position an intermediate position on the reverse side of the slope had been begun from Douaumont to Louvemont, on the Poivre and Talou Hills, but at the time of the opening assault the work had not made much progress.

The Germans prepared for the offensive with the most exhaustive labors, and as far as it was humanly possible left nothing to chance. Roads were made through the woods and up the slopes, firm foundations were laid down, and the heavy guns were dragged to elevated positions. As the result of these weeks of herculean toil there were massed against the selected sector over a thousand guns brought from every quarter—Serbia, Russia, and the west front. The proportion of heavy guns was much larger than had ever been employed in preparing attacks of this kind.

Toward the close of December, 1915, the Germans received strong reenforcements, the first to arrive being three divisions which had fought in the campaign against Serbia. From other fronts also they flowed in, and the two corps which had held the Vauquois-Etain sector was increased to seven. Some of the finest German troops were included in these armies, such as the Third Brandenburg Corps and the Fifteenth Corps. It was evident that the Germans counted on the battle of Verdun to decide the fighting in France, for just before the offensive began General Daimling addressed his troops in these words: "In this last offensive against France I hope that the Fifteenth Corps will distinguish itself as it has ever done by its courage and its fortitude."

Starting from the north of Varennes the German order of battle on the day of attack was as follows: On the extreme right were the Seventh Reserve Corps, comprising the Second Landwehr Division, the Eleventh Reserve Division (later relieved by the Twenty-second Reserve Division), and the Twelfth Reserve Division in the order given. Northeast of Verdun, and facing the French lines, were the Fourteenth Division and the Seventh Reserve Corps, with the Eleventh Bavarian Reserve Division in support. To the left of these armies was a central force, comprising the Eighteenth Corps, the Third Corps, the Fifteenth Corps, and the Bavarian Ersatz Division in the order named.

It was estimated by a competent French military authority that the Germans had under arms in this sector up to the 16th of March a grand total of 440,000 men, of which 320,000 were infantry. When the battle opened, the Germans were at least three times as strong in numbers as their opponent.

Before the date fixed for the great offensive the Germans undertook many local attacks on the French front with a view to deceiving their antagonists as to their real objective. In Artois, Champagne, and the Argonne Forest there was some strenuous mine fighting, and at Frise in Santerre the Germans gained some ground only to lose it a little later.

A bombarding squadron of Zeppelins which the Germans sent out along the Verdun front to cut railway communications fared badly. The French antiaircraft guns brought down a number of Fokkers and a Zeppelin in flames at Revigny, but the raiders succeeded in cutting the Ste. MÉnÉhould line, leaving only a narrow-gauge road to supply Verdun.

At 4.15 in the morning of February 21, 1916, the great battle began, the German guns deluging the sector with shells of every caliber that smashed and tore the French positions and surroundings until the very face of nature was distorted. French trench shelters vanished and in Caures Wood and La Ville Wood men were buried in the dugouts or blown to fragments. Telephone lines having been cut, communication could only be maintained by runners. News of the great destruction wrought by the German guns, far from depressing the French fighting units, had a stimulating effect. The French front lines crumbled away under the deluge of fire, but their occupants still clung tenaciously to the dÉbris that remained. The German guns were everywhere, and it was useless for French aerial observers to indicate any special batteries for bombardment. The Germans had the greater number of guns and the heavier, but the French artillery was better served on the whole, and there was less reckless expenditure of ammunition. As an illustration of the brilliant work of the French artillery, an eyewitness has described the defense of a position southeast of Haumont Wood. Here one battery was divided into flanking guns in three positions—one to the southeast of Haumont Wood, a second to the south, and a third to the north of Samogneux. The two other batteries were to the south of Hill 312; there was also a supporting battery of six 90-mm. guns. In response to the German attack the French replied with a curtain of fire, but, unchecked by the fearful loss of life, they began to swarm in from all sides.

"They reached Caures Wood by the crests between Haumont Wood and Caures Wood itself, and advanced like a flood on our positions. The section which attempted to hold them back adjusted its range to their rate of progress and mowed them down wave after wave. Swept by the storm of shells, the Germans continued to advance and some succeeded in making their way around to the rear of the guns. The French by this time had come to the end of their ammunition, but they did not lose their head, and, destroying their pieces, retreated, bringing a wounded sergeant major along with them."

A battery of 90's on the Haumont knoll was forced to stop firing. Pierrard, an adjutant whose battery had ceased to exist, was dispatched by the commander to help.

"Pierrard collected his companions and attached himself to the battery, which opened fire again with tremendous effect. Those guns were in action under him for forty-eight hours, during which he kept up constant communication with the group commander, the burden of his song being an incessant demand for ammunition for this truly epic duel with the Germans.

"Unfortunately it was impossible to get supplies up. The Germans were so near that Pierrard and his men used their rifles against them; then, finding the position untenable, they blew up their guns and retired." It was during this retreat that the gallant Pierrard was killed.

The indomitable courage of the French gunners in this great battle is described in another instance by a French officer who was present: "A certain battery was being terribly shelled. A 305-mm. shell burst and killed the captain, the adjutant, a sergeant major and five gunners. Do you think that the others stopped? Not at all; they took off their coats and, working in their shirt sleeves, increased their efforts to intensify the curtain of fire and to avenge their leaders and comrades."

The defense of Caures Wood by Lieutenant Colonel Driant's chasseurs was one of the most brilliant and dramatic incidents in the battle of Verdun. The deluge of German shells had destroyed the deepest French dugouts, and before noon their stronghold had been smashed in, burying an officer and fourteen men beneath the dÉbris. The bombardment continued until the French defenders were left without a single shelter worthy of the name. When the Germans began to attack Haumont, their front-line skirmishers, to create confusion, wore caps that imitated the French, and were also provided with Red Cross brassards. The attempted deception was soon discovered, and the Germans were forced to pay heavily for the trick. In spite of great losses the Germans continued to advance, succeeded in gaining a foothold in the French first-line trenches, and held on. Throughout the night there were many counterattacks and constant grenade fighting, but the French maintained their positions.

On the second day of the assault the Germans resumed their terrific bombardment. Trenches were obliterated, and portions of the forest were swept away. About noon a large body of German troops attacked French positions in Caures Wood, trying to turn their flanks from two sides, Haumont and La Ville Wood. The French fought with desperate energy, but the Germans had one gun that raked their chief position, and the iron ring of the enemy gradually contracted. To attempt to defend the position longer in the face of such conditions would mean death or captivity and reluctantly the French commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Driant, gave the order to retire. Driant waited to see the last of his men through the wood. He was never heard of again.

The retiring column, leaving the shelter of the wood, encountered heavy machine-gun fire, and, greatly depleted in numbers, finally gained the first line of the second position at Beaumont.

No attempt was made by the Germans to advance on the Woevre front. In the territory of Soumazannes, La Ville Wood, and Herbebois the French firmly maintained the supporting line.

The tactics pursued by the Germans during the first days of the battle of Verdun were ably considered and not lacking in thoroughness. Their favorite method was to break into defensive sectors with heavy artillery, and then completely surround them by barrage fire. After the destructive work of the guns they sent forward a scouting party of a dozen or fifteen men to report on the extent of the damage. Following them came bombers and pioneers, and then a strong body of infantry. Theoretically, this system had merit, but it did not always work out as perfectly as the German strategists had planned. Their artillery fire often failed to win the ground and make it safe for their infantry to advance and occupy it. The French artillery endeavored to isolate the attacks, should they succeed in reaching the French lines, and their fearless infantry by vigorous counterattacks prevented the Germans from making any important advance.

The fighting for Haumont was continued on February 22, 1916. The strong resistance the French had offered to the furious attacks of the German infantry may be called a failure. But they succeeded in holding back the Germans until their reserves had time to reach the scene and prepare a new defensive line.

Early in the morning of the 22d the Germans had increased their bombardment. Shells of the largest caliber fell, uprooting trees and demolishing houses.

When the Germans attacked Consenvoye Wood with flame projectors and advanced toward the western edge of Haumont Wood, the French could not move out of the village, so dense was the curtain of fire around them.

Braving this blasting storm, troops of the Haumont garrison occupied the half-ruined works on both sides and in front of the place, while the southern exit was held by some reserves that had reached the scene. Haumont and the ravine to the south were flooded with German shells of the largest caliber. Early in the afternoon they were falling at the rate of twenty a minute. The French held on undismayed. The village crumbled into a mass of dÉbris. The principal French defense, a redoubt of concrete, was smashed, and some eighty men were buried in the ruins. A number of machine guns were also lost, and the ammunition dump was destroyed.

About 5 o'clock in the evening a German battalion attacked Haumont, advancing in three columns. The remnant of French troops manned the trenches. The few remaining machine guns were brought into action and, being well served, wrought havoc in the enemy's ranks, but the deadly advance continued, regardless of the heavy losses incurred.

The French then assembled every survivor in some trenches southeast of Haumont, and with three machine guns continued the fight. But the Germans had the advantage of numbers. They penetrated to the center of the village, and finally surrounded the French battalion headquarters.

After premises were fired by means of flame projectors, the French colonel and his staff, facing capture or death, were fortunate in escaping through the German machine-gun barrage without a single casualty. They had been forced to evacuate Haumont, but their sustained and splendid defense of the place was one of the bravest deeds that marked the Homeric struggle at Verdun.

At the close of the day the French still held the greater part of Herbebois and Wavrille, but La Ville Wood was in the hands of the enemy. The French line now ran by Hill 240, the Mormont Farm, and the intermediate position of Samogneux-Brabant. Their defensive works and trenches having been destroyed or made useless, the French had no cover. Fighting must now be carried on in the open. Often the French artillery fired at point-blank range regardless of their own sacrifices so long as they could mow down the enemy.

Fighting at Verdun up to March 1, 1916.