Line on the Ourcq showing advance of the Allies in the Marne Salient from July 18 to July 27, 1918. From The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas.
Line on the Ourcq showing advance of the Allies in the Marne Salient from July 18 to July 27, 1918.
"The 28th Division, whose red 'Keystone' shoulder patch would soon be nicknamed the 'Bucket of Blood,' was teamed up with the 32d ('Gemutlichkeit') Division from Michigan and Wisconsin in attacking up the Château-Thierry—Fismes road. This road, though secondary to that running from Soissons to Château-Thierry, still constituted a substantial supply route for the German shock troops that Ludendorff was trying to maintain in the Aisne-Marne salient. The Americans of the 28th met only light resistance at first since the 32d Division had been carrying the bulk of the fighting. On August 6, however, the 28th Division arrived within sight of Fismes, most of which was already occupied by troops of the 32d Division."
The 28th 'Keystone' Division was drawn from the Pennsylvania National Guard. The keystone is still visible in Pennsylvania highway signs. It would be two days before the Americans secured Fismes, on the south side of the Vesle River, and moved to take Fismette on the north side. 'Gemutlichkeit' is the German word for coziness or comfortableness. The 32d Division drew on the large German population of the American upper midwest.
Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I by John S.D. Eisenhower, page 170, copyright © 2001 John S.E. Eisenhower and Joanne Thompson Eisenhower, publisher: The Free Press, publication date: 2001
1918-08-06, 1918, August, Fismes, Line on the Ourcq
