We visited this area and stopped in many of the towns displayed on the map.
St. Mihiel Offensive
From Le Neufour, get on the A4 going east (north of Le Neufour take the D85 toward St Menehould, take right fork). Take D964 south to St. Mihiel (exit 31). Take D907 east toward Apremont-la-Foret and just through the village follow D908 south. Just past Jouy-sous-les-Cotes, turn left toward Cornieville.
This is a town where Martin’s battalion was sent for a brief rest (put into reserve) in the end of August 1918. They had to hike all night to get here from the Bois de Rehanne, a distance of approximately 20km.
Follow D908 south all the way to Bruley. The D10 will intersect the D908 at Boucq, and that is the route that Martin’s battalion came from on their all night hike.
Bruley was the town where Martin’s battalion spent its first night (August 5, 1918) billeted in the combat zone. They received final instructions from commanders in a “vacant vineyard on the hillside.” At 4PM they loaded up on flatcars on a narrow-gauge railway and headed up toward the front.
Follow D118A west, then follow D904 north toward Menil-la-Tour. This road approximately follows the route of the narrow-gauge railroad. At Royaumiex, get off D904 and follow the D100 north toward Minorville.
At the right-hand curve just north of Royaumiex, the small patch of woods on the left is the site of the American ammo dump that the Germans successfully targeted on August 30 1918, causing a huge explosion and fire. Martin’s company was in the Bois de Rehanne, approximately 2 miles north, and he doubtless witnessed the fireworks. There is another sharp right-hand turn before arriving at Minorville. On the left-hand side was the site of the Red Cross field hospital, which was full of casualties from a German gas attack when Martin’s train passed by.
Minorville was one of three towns that Martin’s Battalion spent much time in during the next six weeks. Minorville was on the “line of resistance” which was to be defended at all costs in the event of a German attack. (T&N)
Follow the D100 north to Noviant-aux-Pres. This town was on the “support line,” the second line of defense and the area from which front-line troops were rotated into the main trench system facing the Germans. Follow the D907 west to Bernecourt, then take the D904 north toward Flirey. Stop at the national cemetery just around the curve (T&N).
This area was known as “Gas Hollow” to the 354th. On the night of August 5-6, the first and second battalions of the 354th suffered major losses in a German gas attack in this area. The victims of this attack were the same ones that Martin’s battalion saw as they rode past the Red Cross hospital on August 6. The ravine that stretches toward the east is the place where the 354th regiment formed up during the night of September 11-12 in preparation for going “over the top” in the St. Mihiel offensive. At 1 AM the artillery opened up over a 40km front, and fired more than 1 shells over the next four hours. Martin’s company was held in reserve until approximately 10:30, when it was ordered to Limey in support of the 353rd Regiment, which had attacked to the north at 5AM.
Proceed to Flirey and stop at the site of the old ruined church (T&N)
The American front-line trenches were just to the north of the Flirey-Limey road, and the German front-line trenches were on the edge of the Mort Mare forest to the north. This was not a simple linear trench, but a tangled and meandering mass of old trenches from previous German-French battles, as well as new ones dug by American troops. It was possible to enter the German lines across no-mans-land by following the old trenches, and so one of the tasks of the front-line troops was to guard the entrances to these “communication trenches.”
Proceed to Limey, take first left after the road joins from the right, follow road toward Ansoncourt Farm. This road marked the eastern edge of the 89th Division’s attack sector. Past Ansoncourt Farm is a turnoff to the left that leads to the ruins of the Robert Mesnil farm, a strong point in the German line where several Americans in the first wave were killed. The turnoff to the right (just before the Mesnil turnoff) goes through the fields to join up with the road to Euvezin. At Euvezin turn left to enter the town (crossing bridge) and in center of Euvezin turn right on D28b. At junction with D28, turn right and follow to Bouillonville.
Bouillonville is where Martin’s battalion spent the night of September 12-13, sleeping on the ground under the destroyed RR bridge and on the adjoining slopes (site of old RR bridge is the ravine to the left just before entering the town). Eyewitness accounts mention the many dead Germans who had been caught in the artillery barrage, horses still tethered to their posts outside of the old German HQ, and food found cooking in military kitchens, all left by the retreating Germans. T&N
Leave Bouillonville following the D28 toward Thiaucourt. Take the first left after the left-hand curve in the road, which should be a farm lane leading across fields to the town of Beney.
This road cuts across the fields through which the 354th advanced on September 13, under heavy shell fire from the retreating Germans. Col. Babcock wrote that the casualties would have been much higher if the ground had been harder, since most of the shells exploded underground and threw up geysers of mud rather than shell fragments. The town of Beney was used as an HQ for the 89th Division, and Martin’s battalion passed through Beney on several occasions.
Leave Beney and proceed east toward Thiaucourt. Follow the first left toward Xammes.
Martin spent the next three weeks in the front lines in and around Xammes (mainly to the west) and also occasionally going into reserve around Bouillonville (which involved delousing, bathing, new clothes, etc.). The 354th was under constant shell fire from German positions to the north, and spent the nights digging and reinforcing trenches and placing barbed wire. Days were spent sleeping in the trenches. The first trenchline that was dug followed roughly the farm lane that exits Xammes to the northwest; the most advanced position extended from the northern edge of the woods to the NW of Xammes to the small patches of woods directly north of Xammes. The regimental PC was in a house in the south of town, directly across from where the first side road on the left connects to the main road. The 354th cemetery was in the back yard of this house.
If time, visit cemetery at Thiaucourt; otherwise, return to Le Neufour up the D904 toward Woel. Pass through Fresnes-en-Woevre, and get on the A4 at exit 32, just outside of Ville-en-Woevre. Take A4 west
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