Our  right  flank  was  protected  by  the  Meuse,  while  our
left  embraced  the  Argonne  Forest,  whose  ravines,  hills,
and  elaborate  defense,  screened  by  dense  thickets,  had
been  generally  considered  impregnable.  Our  order  of
battle  from  right  to  left  was  the  3d  Corps  from  the  Meuse
to  Malancourt,  with  the  33d,  80th,  and  4th  Divisions  in
line  and  the  3d  Division  as  corps  reserve;  the  5th  Corps
from  Malancourt  to  Vauquois,  with  the  79th,  87th,  and
91st  Divisions  hi  line  and  the  32d  in  corps  reserve,  and  the
1st  Corps  from  Vauquois  to  Vienne  le  Chateau,  with  the
35th,  28th,  and  77th  Divisions  in  line  and  the  92d  in  corpe
reserve.  The  army  reserve  consisted  of  the  1st,  29th,
and  82d  Divisions.
On  the  night  of  Sept.  25  our  troops  quietly  took  the
place  of  the  French,  who  thinly  held  the  line  in  this  sector,
which  had  long  been  inactive.  In  the  attack  which  be-
gan on  the  26th  we  drove  through  the  barbed-wire  en-
tanglements and  the  sea  of  shell  craters  across  No  Man's
Land,  mastering  all  the  first-line  defenses.  Continuing
on  the  27th  and  28th,  against  machine  guns  and  artillery
of  an  increasing  number  of  enemy  reserve  divisions,  we
penetrated  to  a  depth  of  from  three  to  seven  miles  and
took  the  village  of  Montfaucon  and  its  commanding  hill
and  Exermont,  Gercourt,  Cuisy,  Septsarges,  Malancourt,
Ivoiry,  Epinonville,  Charpentry,  Very,  and  other  villages.
