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{
    "localId": "17343226",
    "label": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
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{
    "id": "17343226",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "collections": [
        "Verne E. Chaney Papers",
        "Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972",
        "Spina, Frank E., 1887-1972",
        "Klemm, Karl D., 1880-",
        "Wooldridge, Glenwood F., 1893-1977",
        "Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948",
        "Thacher, John H., 1872-1960",
        "Miles, John L., 1878-1961",
        "Soldiers",
        "World War, 1914-1918",
        "Artillery"
    ],
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            "logicalDate": "1919-01-01",
            "year": 1919
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{
    "seq": 46,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "46\nHun's front lines, while other batteries fired at Hun batteries to keep them\nsilenced. Each gun of our battery fired 500 rds with perfect regularity,\ncompleting the firing at 7:30 a.m. This morning must be remembered as it\nwas cold, in fact freezing our water used for cooling and swabbing the gun.\nThe weeds and sticks were all coated with frost. The morning was fogging\nand freezing making it an ideal morning for our firing. Not one shot was\nfired by the Hun in return for our harsh message.\nIt was on Sunday the third the Boche found \"E\" \"battery's position and\nrun them out. Killing five of their men, causing them to change their\nposition. For several days the Hun continued to shell their old position, but\nto no avail. Aside from aerial activity, daily searching out fire by the Hun,\nwe had no excitement up to Nov.9th. when our infantry was relieved by the\n81st Division the \"Wild Cats\". Then we were attached to the 81st. 131 At an\nearly hour we were awakened by a stiff barrage to our right and left and the\ncontinuous fire of machine guns, which were plainly heard from our\nposition. We got up to find French infantry, artillery and supplies lined up\non the roads. It only brot the news that there was an other drive on, we\nbeing on the offensive.132 We were ordered to pull our guns out in front of\nthe pits and open fire at 7:30 a.m. Here we fired barrages and fired on\nbatteries and fired on German towns, at long range. Our battery along\n133\nU.S.\nwith the French were left to hold a pivot, while the (81st) infantry and our\n131\nThe 81st National Army Division was made up from men from North Carolina, South Carolina\nand Florida. The divisional patch reflects a \"Wildcat emblem.\" The official records calls them \"The Stonewall\nDivision. Their histories call them the \"Wildcat Division. Oddly, the 35th Division had no nickname in World\nWar One. The constant demand for manpower and intense political pressure from the French and British forced\nthe American government to send over infantry divisions without their full complement of artillery and support\nservices. Many National Army divisions did not have artillery or machine gun regiments attached during the\nMeuse-Argonne offensive. Artillery regiments were borrowed from any available source and were under Corps\nheadquarters control not normal divisional control.\n132\nThe last great offense of the war had started. The second phase of the Meuse-Argonne offensive\nforced the Germans to sue for peace.\n133\nMoving the guns out of their pits lowered their elevation and increased their range."
}