French were forced from the summits
but not from the slopes. On May 23,
debouching from the positions they
had gained upon the northern slopes
of Mort Homme the Germans strove
to push their left wing between the
Meuse and the hill into the village of
Cumieres, while their right wing ad-
vancing up the Esnes ravine fell once
more upon Hill 304. Foiled time and
again by French curtain fire, they
nevertheless persisted and amid a
smoky pall that shut out the daylight
and even obscured the flashes of the
guns, they entered what had once been
the village and in fierce fighting pushed
their way on the 24th to the railway at
Chattancourt. It was a desperate
stroke aimed at reaching the main
left bank defenses of Verdun. Upon
the right by using liquid fire their
infantry had worked up the Esnes
ravine between the two hills. French
counter-attacks that same night caused
them to evacuate the slopes, whose
crater-pocked surface, strewn with their
own dead, offered mocking testimony
to the futility of the attack. So in
Esnes ravine, where there was space
among the human debris to manoeuvre,
and over the ruins of Cumieres the tide
of battle surged back and forth.
Upon the 28th, the hundredth day
of battle, a fierce blow aimed at the
civilian morale of bereaved France fell
between Mort Homme and Cumieres.
In automatic alternation artillery and
infantry worked, until, under twelve
hours' bombardment and the impetus
of the assaults of five fresh divisions,
the French lines were obliterated. Still
the infantry could not advance and
take the fruits of victory, for they were
still far from the Bourrus-Esnes line
and the road to Verdun was firmly
held, and so remained until the thun-
dering of guns on the Somme gave
warning that German offensive must
cease.
^HE BATTLE NOW SHIFTS ACROSS THE
1 RIVER.
Again the battle shifted across the
river. When Douaumont had fallen,
the French had fallen back on Fort
Vaux which stood as an outward
bastion to the great fort of Souville in
the last line of the Verdun defense.
M. Henri Bordeaux, the French his-
torian, writes: "In the great squadron
of forts which shield Verdun from a
distance like a fleet marshalled on the
open sea in front of a harbor, Fort
Vaux might claim the rank of a cruiser.
More modern than Souville and Tav-
annes, which are caponier forts, not so
vast or so fully equipped as Douau-
mont, whose girdle contains a vast
quantity of turrets, cupolas, case-
mates, barracks and strongholds, it
plants its levelled walls more firmly
in the soil. Built of masonry about
1880, it was reconstructed in concrete
after the invention of the torpedo-
shaped shell (1885), then in reinforced
concrete, and was not finished till
In the ravine beneath it and com-
manded by its guns runs the road to
Verdun, and the railway to Fleury.
This country with its "soil so well-
wooded and so uneven is eminently
suited to a war of surprises, of traps,
of ambuscades, of bold strokes, of slow
and treacherous penetration. It lends
itself admirably to the ebb and flow
of hand-grenade duels." With Douau-
mont, Vaux had mounted guard before
Verdun. In the early days of the war
when the German armies had halted
before Verdun the forts had shared
the same perils, in the long stagnation
that had followed had signaled each
other the news of the battle line. Now
Vaux stood alone to bar the German
way to Souville, Souville before
Verdun !
THE BAVARIAN INFANTRY IS MOWN
DOWN BEFORE VAUX.
From February 2 1 onwards Vaux re-
ceived its daily ration of shells: ten
thousand on an average for the dis-
trict and of all calibres, but chiefly of
the heaviest, the 210 mm., the 305 mm.,
459
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
and even the 380 mm. The enemy had
laid siege to it on March 9 and the
following day announced its capture.
It was eighty-eight days before that
communique was verified : eighty-eight
days of bombardment and assault, of
thirst, and suffering and sleeplessness.
By the end of May all superstructure
had vanished under a tornado of fire,
even the wire entanglements were in
German fire that it fought on inde-
pendently, cut off from all communica-
tion with the fort, not knowing whether
it had fallen, or still stood. Even by
night there was no peace, for star-
shells lighted up the tortured slopes
where trees and birds had once been.
The men were tormented by thirst,
and thankful when it rained so that
they might lay out canvas and drink-
FRENCH SCOUTS NEAR FORT VAUX
A scene among the cotes of the Meuse, where scarred and spectral trees replaced once luxuriant forests. In this
fighting both sides utilized the broken timber for parapets and shelters. As the artillery destroyed the trees, mat-
ters improved for the airmen who had at first found it impossible to pierce their thick screen.
fragments or buried in shell-holes.
The position was entirely isolated. The
commander of the fort, Major Raynal,
had a distinguished record: twice
seriously wounded he had asked for a
post where there would be plenty of
danger, and so had been sent to Vaux.
The normal regulation number of the
garrison was from 250-300 men, but
this was added to by companies taking
refuge, so that by June it had swelled
to nearly 600 a force for which it was
impossible to provide water under the
German hail of fire.
\ T 7ATER TO BE HAD ONLY UNDER FIRE.
By June I the strangle-hold began to
tighten around the fort. One of the
redoubts, Ri, was besieged from that
evening on, and so intense was the
460
ing-mugs. Through uninterrupted
bombardment, daily onslaughts, lack
of provisions, water and sleep, amid the
smell of the corpses and asphyxiating
shells, the redoubt lasted on until the
night of June 8-9, the day after Vaux
itself had fallen.
On June 2, the Germans reached two
open breaches in the fort and tried to
force their way through. Soon there
were two masters in Fort Vaux a
German above and the gallant Raynal
beneath. By means of carriers and
signals news was flashed to the watch-
ers outside. Thus at 3 P.M. on the 3rd
the fort issued a bulletin : "The enemy
has gained possession of the north-
eastern and northwestern transverse
galleries. I am pursuing the struggle
in the inner passages. A large number
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
of wounded ^and fugitives. Officers and inside it. The garrison step by step
men are all doing their duty. We shall
fight to the bitter end."
/-pHE LAST MESSAGES FROM THE GALLANT
1 DEFENDERS.
On the 4th, about midday, a poor
wounded pigeon dragged itself labori-
ously up to its resting place. Its dis-
defended the passage ways, and foot
by foot the stairways. Then the Ger-
mans attacked with jets of fire and
liquid flame, and gases whose heavy
fumes filled the echoing vaults. "An
unspeakable horror stalked through
these dim vaults," writes the author
SOUVILLE FORT BEFORE VERDUN
The last thrust for Verdun was directed against the line on which stood Souville Fort and Thiaumont village and
work, and it reached within half a mile of the fort before it could be stayed. Souville and Tavannes were caponiere
forts, less modern and less powerful than Vaux and Douaumont. If they had fallen, only St. Michel and Belle-
ville remained to defend Verdun itself.
patch ran, "We are still holding out,
but are subjected to a very dangerous
gas and smoke attack. It is urgent
that we shou'd be extricated; let us
have immediate visual signaling com-
munication by way of Souville which
does not answer. Th : s is my last
pigeon." Two messengers escaped
from Vaux the following day and re-
stored communication with the fort
which ever through the days that fol-
lowed signaled more and more urgently
for relief and water. The enemy in
Vaux was around the fort, above it,
quoted above, "where, in a thick pesti-
lent atmosphere, a sleepless, nerve-
racked, thirst-maddened garrison,
crowded into a narrow space, refused
to abandon the struggle."
The effort to extricate Vaux was not
relaxed for a moment but made no
progress. On the evening of June 6,
Raynal in a message resembling a last
will musters the names of his comrades-
in-arms, pays a tribute to his men, and
offers them to the High Command.
After that Vaux is silent to all signal-
ing, silent until at daybreak on the
461
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
7th the fort issues its last appeal. The
signaling posts make out these words
" Ne nous quittez pas!" Fort Vaux did
not speak again. Nevertheless General
Nivelle sent a special message to the
contingent entrusted with a final effort
for its relief. But Vaux was lost.
When Major Raynal was captured he
was allowed to retain his sword for
his gallantry moved even the Ger-
imans to admiration. From his
'captors he learned also that he had
been promoted to the rank of com-
mander in the Legion of Honor
and that the insignia of his rank
had been conferred upon his wife
in a special review at the Inval-
ides.
THE GERMANS NOW MAKE THE LAST
THRUST FOR VERDUN.
The fall of Vaux registers the
end of the battle of the wings.
While this had raged on left and
right banks of the Meuse, the line
in the centre had changed very
little, save when for a brief space
the French had held Fort Douau-
mont. The last German thrust for
Verdun now came. No longer were
the enemy attacking from the
north, but from the west, en-
deavoring to advance from Douau-
mont Plateau downhill towards
Verdun and the Meuse valley.
De Souville Fort, the village of
Fleury and the work of Thiau-
mont opposed their progress. If
these were taken, Tavannes, iso-
lated, must fall; three valley
routes were open to the Ger-
mans leading down to the river
meadows; and the light railway
from Vaux, the tunnel of the main
Paris-Verdun-Metz railway, and the
Metz-Verdun highway, all allow of
bringing up a tremendous wave of
reinforcements against Fort St. Michel
and Belleville, the last and least im-
portant of the Verdun forts.
There was not much time, for air-
men reported that Allied preparations
on the Somme were well-nigh com-
plete, and on the first day of July the
Franco-British offensive opened. Be-
fore it became dangerous, the enemy
began his attack July II, along the
462
Thiaumont-Vaux front, where if he
could capture the little village of
Fleury-devant-Douaumont, easy ac-
cess might be had to the inner de-
fense lines. The attack succeeded
and the enemy got within a kilometre
of Souville fort before he could be
stayed.
GENERAL CHARLES MANGIN
General Mangin was in command at Verdun of the Fifth
Division of the Third Corps. In May he recaptured Douau-
mont from the Germans and later commanded the offensive
in October which regained both Vaux and Douaumont.
\J
MANGIN NOW TAKES THE
OFFENSIVE.
In four days came the French
counter-attack. General Charles Man-
gin, whose Normans had retaken
Douaumont, began a series of hammer-
strokes along the whole line upon the
right bank of the Meuse which com-
pletely altered the character of the
fighting, for the Germans now were
forced to stand upon the defensive on
their new and hard-won positions.
Fleury and Thiaymont position
changed hands several times during
August, and at the beginning of
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
September the Verdun front lapsed
into a period of stagnation which
lasted for over six weeks and during
which the French line ran from Thiau-
mont to Vaux-Chapitre. The second
phase of the Verdun battle was over.
In the third the French themselves
were to take the offensive.
That offensive was taken in order
that the Germans might be driven back
from the circle of forts which they had
Mangin proposed to use only three
divisions in his operations against the
German eight that were occupying the
line of the coveted French objectives.
HOW THE ATTACKING TROOPS WERE
TRAINED.
Preparations were exact and meth-
odical. The men selected were sent
to the rear in August and September
and practiced in the detail of the ter-
rain of the coming battle. An exact
FORT ST. MICHEL, BEFORE VERDUN
After the fall of Vaux early in June things looked very dark for Verdun, for of all her circle of forts on the western
bank of the Meuse only de Souville and Tavannes still stood outside St. Michel and Belleville, the smallest and
least important. Surprisingly firm resistance developed along the Fleury-Thiaumont line, however, and the
German line advanced no nearer to the city.
captured, whose proximity gave Ver-
dun too little breathing space. In
Douaumont, Vaux, and the heights
about them, the Germans had a good
position for a final drive against the
fortress, whenever they were free to
make it. The Somme engagement was
now draining off German reserves of
men and machines, and before the
winter's immobility fell upon the cotes,
Nivelle determined to make his thrust.
General Mangin, who had led the Fifth
Division when it had recaptured Douau-
mont in May, was renowned for the
vigor of his attacks, as well as for his
knowledge of the Colonial troops gained
through arduous service in Africa.
replica of Fort Douaumont itself was
used in training the troops, and served
good purpose when the day came, for
thick fog obliterated all landmarks.
The month of October was wet and the
attack therefore put off, but airmen
were aloft observing and mapping the
maze of enemy trenches and his bat-
tery sites. Never so far in the history
of the war had this been done with
greater exactitude. Men and guns
came pouring up behind the lines, and
in the thick mud, preparation troops
dug new support trenches and field
stations, and built light railways so
that the new heavy French artillery
might be adequately munitioned.
463
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
The main objectives were Douau-
mont and Vaux forts with their com-
manding heights. For their capture
the H gh Command planned a two-
fold operation. Upon the French left,
General Guyot de Salins with Zouaves,
Tirailleurs and famous Moroccan regi-
ments was to advance and capture
Haudromont quarries, the ridge to the
north of the Ravin de la Dame and
Thiaumont Farm and fort. In the
centre, General Passaga with the
Chasseurs was to advance upon the
Caillette wood. On the right General
de Lardemelle's division of fantassins
had before it the Fumin, Chapitre and
Chenois woods and the Damloup
battery. When this advance had been
consolidated, the troops were to push
on to their final objectives, Douau-
mont and Vaux forts and their out-
flanking eastern and western positions.
As events turned out, however, the
vehemence of the French attack and
its speedy success merged both opera-
tions into one.
THE MOROCCANS TAKE DOUAUMONT IN
THE FOG.
After three weeks' continuous rains,
Saturday, October 21, dawned clear
and cold, and at once the French seized
the chance. The front to be attacked
was only four miles in width, and owing
to French aerial superiority in the dis-
trict, and to the enormous number of
great guns concentrated, the artillery
preparation was intense and effective.
For two whole days the fretted coun-
tryside was pounded and distorted as
the German lines went up in fragments
and smoke. By Tuesday, the 24th, the
guns began to vary their range; it
was time for the infantry to make use
of their curtain. But a damp thick fog
was rising from the cold Meuse and the
clayey Woevre, and blanketing the
outlines of the cdtes. If the men had
not been so thoroughly trained in the
topography of the enemy defenses, the
attack could not have proceeded. As
it was it was twelve before it started.
Success came at once, and the left
reached Douaumont fort itself. It
was well that the two Moroccan regi-
ments were familiar with its features
for its outlines were swathed in mist,
464
so that even the points of the compass
were lost. Three hours after the
Colonial troops had left their parapets
they carried the fort!
Major Nicolay's report thus de-
scribes its capture: "Ihe Marsouins,
dragging one foot after another from
the mud, pushed forward to try their
luck. There was no gunfire on their
line, no infantry resistance. It was
close upon three o'clock. Dorey's
detachment had entered the fort with-
out firing a shot, and was installed
to the southwest of the quarters and
turrets, in excellent condition, neither
firing nor being fired upon. We could
no longer think of methodically adopt-
ing the order of battle which had been
originally foreseen. The Boches, with-
out any doubt, were aware of our
arrival, and we had to attack them as
quickly as possible, before they had
recovered from their panic. The men,
moving forward under a low-flying
aeroplane showing the three colors of
France, advanced to the ditch and then
climbed up the steep slope of the ram-
part through the gorge. W 7 hen they
reached the top of this rampart they
saw before them the gaping openings
of the lower casemates, and in front of
them the courtyard in extraordinary
upheaval. Before the chaos which had
fallen upon the great fort, a symbol of
will and of power, the fort which had
been so marvelously retaken, the lead-
ing sections of the columns came to a
halt, and gazed. The battalion leader,
who had stayed behind for a moment
at the bottom of the moat in order to
control the movement, reached the
head of the battalion at this moment,
and while acknowledging to the full
the sanctity of this unforgetable sight
gave the order to attack the machine-
guns which were beginning to get into
action from the casemates. The resist-
ance put up by the Germans was
brief, and the grenadiers soon cleared
out the last of the garrison from the
underground caverns of the fort." The
attack in the centre was equally suc-
cessful, and in fifty-eight minutes won
its objectives and held a line east of
Fort Douaumont to the slopes north
of Fausse Cote Ravine and Vaux pond.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
MORE RESISTANCE IS OFFERED AROUND
FORT VAUX.
The right division under de Larde-
melle had the fiercest of the fighting,
for Vaux hill had been carefu'ly de-
fended and the German lines here were
very strong. When darkness fell only
the front line trenches had been car-
ried, and the battle raged all through
the first night and the second day as
noted: "As fighting on the French
sector of the Somme battlefield died
down the position before Verdun be-
came again critical. The French at-
tacked on the 24th, we lost Fort
Douaumont and on November I were
obliged tq evacuate Fort Vaux also.
The loss was grievous but still more
grievous was the totally unexpected
decimation of some of our divisions."
DISTANT VIEW OF BELLEVILLE ON THE MEUSE
This picture, taken within the sheltering ring of Verdun's forts, shows Belleville in the distance. The Germans
were confident that if they could advance beyond Souville and Tavannes neither the garrison in Belleville nor
St. Michel would offer protracted resistance for their retreat would be cut off by the river in the rear.
\JIVELLE PREPARES TO MAKE A FURTHER
1>I ADVANCE.
the French line crept around the fort
that Raynal had been forced to sur-
render. Throughout the 26th, the men
in the German second line trenches,
Gotha, Siegen, de Saales and Damloup
village, defended them fiercely. It was
thought wisest to renew the gun prepa-
ration once more against the fort. The
bombardment continued at intervals
for several days and on the second
Vaux was entered by the French who
found that the garrison had hurriedly
evacuated it, and left large military
supplies behind. The tide had now
certainly turned.
In Ludendorff's story of the war the
results of the October fighting are thus
Douaumont and Vaux had been
retaken, but the enemy was still in
possession of the high ground around
Louvemont and the Cote du Poivre,
and was able from these positions to
bombard the city and shell its com-
munications. The French Command
therefore made preparations through-
out November and early December to
seize these points. Mangin, as before,
was in charge of operations, with four
divisions. Results of the October
thrust had fully justified the careful
training given to the men who captured
Douaumont, and it was repeated for
465
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
the new troops. As one pushed north
from Verdun into the cdtes, the more
broken and tortuous became the out-
line of the country. The time of year,
and the fact that so many tides of
battle had churned the hillsides into
caverns and cliffs, and ploughed the
ravines into the semblance of a lunar
desert, made preparations more ardu-
ous. The difficulties of bringing up
swept out of Vacherauville, his strong
positions on the Cote du Poivre,
Louvement, Hill 378, Bezonvaux and
the Hardaumont position between
Douaumont and the Woevre. Thus
the French main positions outside the
circle of forts were once more in their
own hands. More than 11,000 prison-
ers, 115 guns, 44 mine throwers, 107
machine-guns and great quantities of
AN UNDERGROUND DRESSING STATION ON THE FRENCH FRONT
Where possible the surgeons were glad to establish themselves in caverns like this. Here they could work undis-
turbed by shells which sometimes exploded in tents or buildings which they were using as field hospitals, disturbing
or injurin; patients and surgeons. Some parts of Eastern France are honeycombed with great caves which occa-
sionally are used as storage rooms for wines. Often these caverns are old quarries.
heavy artillery which the British were
experiencing on the Somme were felt
in exaggerated degree in the Verdun
area.
On December 15, just after the
Kaiser's peace proposal, and as if 'in
answer to it, French guns echoed once
more across the bare hillsides and
through the dreary Meuse valley. The
French were striving to push the Ger-
mans back from the strong positions on
which they themselves had made their
strongest stand in February. Infantry
attacks began at 10 o'clock in the morn-
ing, and were successful beyond meas-
ure. By the i8th, the enemy had been
466
stores were captured. France's answer
to German peace overtures was given
through the mouth of the gun and at
the point of the bayonet.
T UDENDORFF'S MOURNFUL REVIEW OF
JL/ THESE OPERATIONS.
Of this fighting Ludendorff says:
"On December 14, 15, and 16, there
was again very hard fighting round
Verdun. The French attacked so as
to limit still further, before the end of
the year, the German gains of 1916
before this fortress. They achieved
their object. The blow they dealt us
was particularly heavy. We not only
suffered heavy casualties, but also lost
467
HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
THE RUINS OF VERDUN
Verdun had suffered several alarms of bombardment, but these had been at long intervals and in fancied immunity
the citizens grew secure. When heavy bombardment began at the end of February, orders for civilians to evacuate
the city were published at once, and a weary stream of fugitives wandered west through the by-ways of France,
avoiding the main roads where the hordes of soldiers were hastening in the opposite direction.
important positions. The strain during
this year had been too great. The
endurance of the troops had been
weakened by long spells of defense
under the powerful enemy artillery fire
and their own losses. We were com-
pletely exhausted on the Western
front."
Some measure of what Verdun
meant to France, and to all the
Allies may be gathered from the fol-
lowing paragraph written by the edi-
tor of the Gaulois at the end of 1916:
"Only a few hours, and 1916 will be
finished, the year that we may, that
we ought, henceforth, to call 'the year
of Verdun.' In spite of the griefs
brought by so many disappointments
succeeding to so many hopes; in spite
of the sufferings of today and the trials
of tomorrow, Verdun has thrown over
the year which is ending such a light
that gloom, anxiety and anguish dis-
appear and leave only in our imagina-
tion the two towers of Verdun, the
inaccessible and the inviolable. Ver-
dun, where Castelnau and Petain have
done their splendid work, where Nivelle
was revealed!"
THE REMAINDER OF THE GROUND IS
REGAINED IN 1917.
The real battle of Verdun ended in
December, 1916, yet the enemy still
held Hill 3,04, le Mort Homme and
French positions south of the Forges
stream on the west bank, and the Cote
de Talon, and the villages of Samog-
neux and Champneuville on the east.
When Petain came to the post of
Commander-in-Chief in the following
summer, he organized a third limited
offensive which threw the Germans off