Curiously enough, Château-Thierry looms larger in the mind of the average American than Meuse-Argonne, although the number of Americans engaged in the former battle was not half as great as those who battered their way through the forest. Of course the importance of a battle is not to be judged solely by the number of men engaged, but there seems to be no good reason for assigning a strategic importance to Château-Thierry which is denied to Meuse-Argonne. Most of the military critics are of the opinion that the wide-spread belief that the Americans saved Paris at the battle of Château-Thierry is not literally true. The American victory was a factor, to be sure. It was even an important factor. Perhaps, from the point of view of morale, it was vital, but judged by strict military standards there is no support for the frequent assertion that only a few marines stood between Paris and the triumphant entry of the German Army. Meuse-Argonne, on the other hand, was not only a campaign solely under American control but a large-scale battle which probably shortened the war by many months. This victory was America's chief contribution in the field to the cause of the Allies. It is on Meuse-Argonne that our military prestige will rest. The divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and Ninetieth were particularly honored by being put in the line twice during the campaign. Though the armistice was now close at hand the war had not ended. The policy of allied leadership was to fight until the last minute lest there should be some hitch. The American plans called for an advance toward Longwy by the First Army in co-operation with the Second Army, which was to threaten the Briey iron-fields. If the war had kept up, this would have been followed by an offensive in the direction of Château-Salins, with the ultimate object of cutting off Metz. The attack of the Second Army was actually in progress when the time came set in the armistice for the cessation of hostilities. At eleven o'clock the hostilities ceased suddenly, although just before that the Second Army was advancing against heavy and determined machine-gun fire, with both sides apparently unwilling to believe that the war was almost over. At other points in the line where no offensive was set for the last day, the artillerymen had the final word to say. Most of the American guns fired at the foe just before eleven o'clock, and in many batteries the gunners joined hands to pull the lanyards so that all might have a share in the final defiance to Germany.