Some idea of the terrific strength of the enemy offensive may be gained from a recapitulation which would show that in five days the Germans had pushed through five successive lines of Allied defence, and had penetrated more than twenty-five miles. On the first day, they had captured the Chemin des Dames, on the second day, they had overcome all resistance on the Aisne, on the third day, their forces, pushing southward, had crossed the Vesle River, on the fourth day, they had destroyed the lines of resistance along the Ourcq, on the fifth day, they had reached the Marne. It was a crisis. The battle front formed a vast triangle with the apex pointing southward toward Paris. The west side of the triangle extended fifty miles northward from the Marne to the Oise near Noyon. The east side of the triangle ran north-eastward thirty miles to Rheims. The point of this new thrust at Paris rested on the north bank of the Marne at Chateau-Thierry. The enemy had advanced to within forty miles of the capital of France; the fate of the Allied world hung in the balance. Undoubtedly I am prejudiced, but I like to feel that I know the real reason why the German hordes stopped at Chateau-Thierry on the north bank of the Marne. To me that reason will always be this--because on the south bank of the Marne stood the Americans. On that day and in that event there materialised the German fears which had urged them on to such great speed and violence. In the eleventh hour, there at the peak of the German thrust, there at the climax of Germany's triumphant advances, there at the point where a military decision for the enemy seemed almost within grasp, there and then the American soldier stepped into the breech to save the democracy of the world. The Marne River makes a loop at this place and Chateau-Thierry lies on both banks. The Marne there is called a river, but it would hardly come up to the American understanding of the word. The waterway is more like a canal with banks built up with stone blocks. There are streets on either bank, and these being the principal streets of the town, are bordered with comparatively high buildings. While the Germans were on the outskirts of the city, American forces had made brilliant counter attacks on both sides. To the west of Chateau-Thierry the German advance forces, seeking to penetrate Neuilly Wood, had been hurled back by our young troops. To the east of Chateau-Thierry the enemy had succeeded in crossing the Marne in the vicinity of Jaulgonne. This operation was carried out by the German 36th Division. On the night of May 30th, at a point where the Marne looped northward eight miles to the east of Chateau-Thierry, the enemy succeeded in putting a few men across the river.