Forêt de Hesse

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Decauville - Steam locomotive of the field railway at Le Marcassin in the Forêt de Hesse, July 22, 1915

The Forêt de Hesse (German: Hessewald ) is a forest in the French commune of Aubréville in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region (until 2015 Lorraine ).

position

Forêt de Hesse

The Forêt de Hesse extends west of Verdun between the localities of Vauquois , Avocourt , Béthelainville and Récicourt and Neuvilly-en-Argonne from the valley of the Buante to the valley of the Aire . Its center is at an altitude of 237 m above sea level, north-west of the Ferme de Verrières-en-Hesse and the Bois de Récicourt .

The forest area is located in the Red Zone of Verdun, an area that was irretrievably lost to agriculture due to the remains of World War I and was bought up by the state.

toponymy

The name denotes a beech grove or forest , as Hesse means either a "place where the beech grows" or a "place surrounded by a fence of beech wood," depending on the dictionary consulted.

geology

A 2001 geological laboratory and field study, the main objective of which was to establish criteria for assessing the usable water supply, showed that the horizons differ primarily in their total porosity or the associated mass volume. This correlates very well with water content at field capacity and to a lesser extent with moisture at wilting point .

The results were compared to field data from a three-year history. Considering bulk density to estimate water supply was sufficient to construct a pedotransfer function (s) . The use of the water balance model showed that the predictions of water consumption by vegetation were lower than the in situ measurements from neutron probes . Nevertheless, the model reproduced the climate fluctuations well.

archeology

Archaeologists studied in the Forêt de Hesse gallo - Belgian pottery settlements of the 1st century, spread over small plots of less than one hectare, where fragments of reducing-fired pottery were found. The pottery area is 20 × 30 km and finds its natural conditions in the pottery clay deposits of the Albian level, water resources and the forest that provided firewood. In the Belle Époque from 1905 to 1914, traces of terra sigillata fabrication were found at the Rendezvous de Chasse in the Forêt de Hesse . In July 1914, in the Hesse Forest, in the Haut-Mulard region of Aubreville, Georges Chenet excavated the kiln and outbuildings of a workshop for semolina beakers, folding beakers and jugs of various sizes. The cups unearthed there were the remains of misfires that had been baked into a lump by a burst of flame. They bore no decorations or signs of slip painting ( barbotine technique ).

A workshop for smooth and shaped terra sigillata was excavated in the Forêt de Hesse in 1978 and another in 1981 on the edge of the Allieux clearing. The location of more than thirty Late Antiquity pottery kilns in the Allieux clearing in 1985 showed that hitherto unknown objects can be found using modern archaeological methods.

A rescue excavation in 1992 uncovered a small three-kiln pottery at Fontaine aux Chêne in the Mergevau valley for Gallo-Belgian pottery and ordinary pottery (white engobed pots and jars) dating to the mid and third quarter of the 1st century be found.

The sites of Vaux-Mulard , with an area of ​​about 8 hectares, and Croix-des-Prêcheurs , with an area of ​​about 14 hectares, are located on the chalk and clay plateau of the Forêt de Hesse, one to the west and the other to the east. At Croix-des-Prêcheurs, a kiln excavated in 1978 and a dump active between 75 and 200 AD testify to the production of smooth and shaped terra sigillata , as well as ordinary pottery. Many of the molded decorations found in the dump are attributed to the potter Gesatus around AD 85 . Around these two sites and around the same time, isolated kilns and small kilns lined the Gault , clay and green sand areas around the hills of the Forêt de Hesse.

First World War

warehouse

L'Argonne - Au Rendez-vous de Chasse - Meeting for the Hunting.jpg
L'Argone - Au Rendez-vous de Chasse (hunting meeting place) on the Cote 290 in the Forêt de Hesse
hdqrs. of Major Gen. Wm. H. Johnston, Comdg. Gen, 91st Division, and officers of G-2 and G-3 on Cote 290. Taken on Cote 290, 500 yards west of Bertrame Fme, Forest de Hesse, Meuse, 2 kil. north of Auberville (111-SC-53065) (cropped).jpg
Headquarters of the US 91st Division, 450 m west of Bertrame Ferme, 2 km north of Auberville


Rendez-vous de Chasse (meeting point for the hunt) was an important landmark at the entrance to the forest and a camp during the First World War . A French officer noted his luxurious accommodation, considering the circumstances, on a postcard dated July 16, 1915: "Very well accommodated, not wanting for any luxury - for people at a position 1500 m from the enemy - English garden, lawn mowers, bridges, sheep Skins for the beds, perfect shade and most importantly no grenades.”

A little further southwest was Camp Dervin, north of Bertrame Ferme , where the US 91st Division was stationed on 23 September 1918. It was named after General Thomas Devin and a military camp near Alzada , Montana , used only briefly in 1878 when the telegraph line was built from Fort Keogh to Deadwood . On September 30, 1918, the US V Corps was transferred to nearby Verrieres-en-Hesse Farm .

field railway

Military map from February 15, 1917. The front line is marked in yellow and the field railway in red

During the war there was a military light railway from the station and depot in Aubréville to the Forêt de Hesse. It was used to transport supplies , weapons and building materials for the trenches at the front and the wounded in the opposite direction to the hospitals. It was powered by a Progrès -type Decauville steam locomotive with a gauge of 600 mm. From Le Marcassin field railway station , the trains were pulled by horses when traveling into the dangerous zone at the front.

From Le Marcassin field railway station , horses were harnessed instead of locomotives for the onward journey to the front .

The Le Marcassin field railway station was named after a wild boar - piglet (French marcassin ) that the soldiers found there, tamed and raised with milk. As a mascot he was given the name Guigui or Guillaume , and when he was given milk he was said to: 'Drink, Guillaume; here is blood!”

  • Field railway operation with Decauville locomotive in July 1915

  • "Drink, Guillaume; here is blood!”

  • Neither man likes to think that he would make an excellent roast

  • Guigui , the wild boar tamed by the artillerymen

On September 19, 1918, orders were given to expand and maintain the field railways in the American sectors by the engineering troops of the United States Army. Immediately after the advance, the Feldbahn routes were to be upgraded to connect them to the German system on the following routes:

Since it was not possible to familiarize new personnel with the field railway system in the time available, arrangements were made so that the French personnel who had been deployed up until then and who operated this system could continue to work.

Beginning on October 24, 1918, it was planned that the field railways would be operated by the engineering troops of the United States Army, with the two main lines being as follows:

  • Dombasle–Montfaucon and branch lines
  • Aubreville–Apremont and branch lines

Immediately after the start of the advance, the field railways were to be expanded by the engineer troops of the American army using the German systems on the following routes:

  • The Dombasle-Montfaucon line was to be extended to Andevanne via Cierges and Romagne
  • The Aubreville–Apremont line was to be extended via Chatel-Chehery to St Juvin and Grandpre and thence north towards Briquenay

American invasion

Meuse-Argonne, 1st Phase, 21st Division. Plate XXIX in MW Ireland, Charles Lynch, Joseph H. Ford, Frank W. Weed, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Volume VIII, Field Operations. Government Pri.jpg
21st division
Meuse-Argonne, 1st Phase, 37th Division. Plate XXX in MW Ireland, Charles Lynch, Joseph H. Ford, Frank W. Weed, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Volume VIII, Field Operations. 1925.jpg
37th Division
Meuse-Argonne, 1st Phase, 79th Division. Plate XXXI in MW Ireland, Charles Lynch, Joseph H. Ford, Frank W. Weed, The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Volume VIII, Field Operations. 1925.jpg
79th Division


American troops in the Bois de Verrières of the Forêt de Hesse, July 19, 1918

On the night of 13–14 September 1918 the 91st Division moved near Vavincourt and on the night of 16–17 September near Autrecourt . On September 17, 1918 she was assigned to the Fifth Army Corps. She then transferred to the Forêt de Hesse, northeast of Neuvilly .

The troops of the so-called Wild West Division moved in night marches in great secrecy until all were safely bivouacked at Cote 290 north of Bertrame Ferme, in the Forêt de Hesse. From 20 September 1918 the new Poste de Commandement (PC) was the Cote 290 , while the administrative staff remained at Vraincourt. To ensure the element of surprise, the troops had to move as carefully as possible. As planes approached, the bugle sounded and the troops ducked for cover. The staff was in dugouts on the south slope of the hill. The Americans were to initiate the coming attack, but General George H. Cameron (en) ordered the French to hold the line in the 91st sector until the night before the attack. Meanwhile, the American soldiers and their brigade and regimental commanders familiarized themselves with the terrain and the layout of the front line in preparation for battle, wearing French helmets and overcoats to avoid conspicuousness.

On September 16, 1918, the 37th Division was withdrawn from the Baccarat sector and transferred to the new front area around the town of Robert-Espagne . After a four-day rest, she advanced to Récicourt . Two days later, the first parts of the division were transferred north to take part in the Maas-Argonne operation , which was about to begin. The divisional headquarters were established at the farm of Verrieres-en-Hesse , 4 km (2.5 mi) south of Avocourt .

On the night of 25/26 September 1918, the 3rd Division took up position in the northeast corner of the Forêt de Hesse and formed part of the Third Corps Corps Reserve . At 5:30 a.m. on September 26, 1918, the 363rd Infantry, with the 181st Infantry Brigade on their right and the 138th Infantry on their left, advanced under shell fire ("over the top") over the top of Cote 290 down to the slopes of the Mont des Allieux into no man's land. Dense artificial fog lay over the front, so that the advancing companies had no visual contact with each other. The French trenches were protected by high barricades of barbed wire that were initially undestroyed.

Scattered groups of US infantrymen bravely charged forward across no man's land to create a breach near the front of the German trenches, leaping over the German barbed wire and leaping into the trenches where a few of the remaining Germans had met the American barrage up to that point had survived. The Americans had been ordered to proceed with all haste, so they continued to rush into the Bois de Cheppy, in what eyewitnesses saw as resembling a pack of hounds chasing rabbits.

When the American vanguard reached the northern edge of the forest, under better visibility conditions, they first met real resistance from enemy machine gun nests and gunners, snipers and artillery fired at close range, leaving dead and wounded on both sides. The 363rd Regiment pushed into the artillery positions and the Germans found themselves in a disorganized position, forcing the Germans to abandon their positions and surrender with their hands in the air and the cry of "comrade". The prisoners poured back into the American lines.

On September 29, the division was placed at the disposal of the Fifth Corps and moved into the front line on September 30, 1918 to relieve the 79th Division and take over its sector. From Baccarat she also moved to the Robert-Espagne area and, after a four-day hiatus, moved to Recicourt. Two days later, the first parts of the division moved north to take part in the soon-to-be-commencing Meuse-Argonne operation; the divisional headquarters were again set up at the Verrieres-en-Hesse farm .

Medical and Motor Transport Troops

Field Hospital Fer à Cheval , November 1916

On October 1, 1918, the division doctor moved from the rear guard at Cote 290 in the Forêt de Hesse to the advanced divisional command post at Épinonville between the Forêt de Hesse and the Argonne . Here the Deputy Division Doctor was wounded and the automobile assigned to the Division Doctor was destroyed by enemy shell fire, with some office documents and items being lost.

Around October 9, 1918, Cadillac Touring Car, No. 16820, assigned to Colonel Peter C. Field, the 91st Division Surgeon, was bombed while parked with another Cadillac Touring Car in Épinonville. The Cadillac burned out completely except for the engine and radiator. The frame was bent and the car looked like the worst possible wreck, but because it was a Cadillac and because the officers wanted Cadillacs, the men refused to scrap it. Around October 15, a team from the Motor Transport Repair Shop (s) of the 91st Division salvaged the remains of the Cadillac and, having already invaded Belgium, by November 30, 1918, fitted it with the body of another Another manufacturer's sedan that had been taken out of service.

military cemeteries

In the forest area there were u. a. The following provisional cemeteries, from which some dead were reburied in other military cemeteries in the post-war period:

  • Fer à Cheval (Horseshoe) cemetery : 14 graves; (May–July 1916). 23rd and 98th RA, 209th and 234th RI.
  • Cemetery Camp des Gendarmes : 12 graves; 26th, 69th, 88th
  • Cemetery of the Groupe de Brancardiers Divisionnaire (Côte 269) : 70 graves; mainly in May and June 1916; RI 67 and 206, RIT 44, GBD 34.
  • La Fourche Cemetery : 439 graves and 26 Muslim burials ; from May 1916, mainly 1917. 16e, 147e, 246e, 255e, 335e, 303e RI, 59e BCP.
A soldier lays flowers on the grave of a fallen comrade in the Bois de Verrières .
  • Cemetery Bois de Verrières : No information.
  • Bon Abri cemeteries :
    • Bon Abri Cemetery A : 26 French graves and 1 American grave. February 1916-18.
    • Bon Abri Cemetery B : 45 French graves and 8 German graves, February 1916–1917.
    • Bon Abri Cemetery C : 30 graves, February–July 1916. 71e and 91e RI, 8e RA.
  • Carrefour de Santé Cemetery : 15 burials; July 1915-July 1916; 3rd, 111th RI, 122nd RIT, 2nd Zouaves.
  • La Patte d'Oie Cemetery , called Carrefour du Caporal : 11 graves; 1915, 46e, 31e, 111e RI.
  • Fontaine aux Chêne cemeteries in the municipality of Aubréville, between the Ferme de Bertamé and the Bois de Parois :
    • Cemetery A of Fontaine aux Chêne or Cemetery Vallon de la Fontaine aux Chêne : 4 graves, 46. RI.
    • Fontaine aux Chêne Cemetery B : 7 graves, 45th RA (4th Bie), 3 July 1916.
  • Rendezvous de Chasse Cemetery : 8 burials.
  • Cemetery P2 ( Bois de Cumières ): 46 graves, May 1916–17.

monuments

Memorial erected by members of the Italian 51st Infantry Regiment to the fallen French allies, 10 June 1918

On June 10, 1918, members of the Italian 51st Infantry Regiment erected a memorial on Mont des Allieux in memory of the French soldiers who died. During the German spring offensive in 1918 , the regiment was subordinate to the Italian II Corps under General Alberico Albricci , which had been deployed to the western front . The military cemetery Nécropole Nationale d'Avocourt (fr) is 3 km north of the forest.

In a wooded area that is not open to the public, 950 m from the Aubreville-Avocourt road, there is a stele commemorating 15 soldiers who died in the French 122nd Territorial Regiment . The stele was moved by about 80 meters in 1975 when a fir forest was planted and erected at the side of the road. Beyond was Bon Abri Cemetery B.

web links

Commons : Forêt de Hesse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ a b Georges Chenet: The study of Gallo-Roman potteries in the Argonne since the beginning of the twentieth century. Volume 14, No. 3, 1930.
  2. ↑ Forêt de Hesse.
  3. ↑ Georges H. Parent : Three studies on the Rouge area of ​​Verdun, a totally sinistrous zone: L'herpétofaune, la diversité floristique et les sites d'intérêt botanique et zoologique à protéger prioritairement.
  4. ↑ Le toponyme Hesse: "lieu où pousse le hêtre" ou bien "lieu que l'on a entouré d'une barrière faite en bois de hêtre"
  5. ↑ Quentin C, Bigorre F, Breda N, Granier A, Tessier D: Etude des sols de la Forêt de Hesse (Lorraine): Contribution à l'étude du bilan hydrique.
  6. ^ a b Michel Gazenbeek and Sander Van der Leeuw: L'Argonne dans l'Antiquité: Étude d'une région productrice de céramique et de verre. Gallia, Vol. 60, No. 1, 2003, pp. 296 and 301–302.
  7. ↑ Marc Feller: Ceramique gallo-romaine d'Argonne. Les methods of prospecting terrestrial appliquees to the reconnaissance of the workshops of the group of Massif de Hesse and of the Vallee de la Buante. SFECAG, Actes du Congres de Lezoux, 1989.
  8. ↑ Marc Feller, Gilles Poplineau and Sabine Baccega: Ateliers de céramique gallo-romains D'Argonne: Préalables methodologiques à une recherche sur les ateliers du massif de Hesse et de la vallée de la Buante.
  9. ↑ L'Argone - Au Rendez-vous de Chasse - Meeting for the Hunting.
  10. ↑ Center of Military History: Military Operations of the American Expeditionary Forces. Volume 9. P. 54 and 181.
  11. ↑ S. Fras: Forêt de Hesse. Camp du Fer a cheval ; ambulance regimentaire.
  12. ↑ Forêt de Hesse, Le Marcassin. The locomotive of Decauville is replaced par des chevaux pour entrer dans la zone dangereuse.
  13. ↑ Les distraction de nos troupiers In: Le Pays de France, June 24, 1915, p. 6.
  14. ↑ Forêt de Hesse. Guigui, sanglier élevé par les artilleurs. July 23, 1915.
  15. ↑ William A. Stofft: United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919.. pp. 106 and 343.
  16. ^ a b c d M.W. Ireland, Charles Lynch, Joseph H. Ford, and Frank W. Weed: The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Volume VIII, Field Operations. Government Printing Office, 1925. pp. 586, 591, 592, 604 and 1001.
  17. ↑ Bill McWilliams, Scrimmage for War: A Story of Pearl Harbor, Football, and World War II. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
  18. ↑ The Great War Part Two - The Yanks are Coming.
  19. ↑ Cadillac War Record. Car Burned up, but Chassis was Unwreckable. Motor Transport Men Put a New Body on Battered Machinery and It's Still Going. The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, May 2, 1920, page 13, column 3 ( accessible digital copy ).
  20. ↑ Frederic Radet: Cimetières provisoires (Argonne).
  21. ↑ Frederic Radet: Secteur Avocourt, Forêt de Hesse. February 26, 2016.

Coordinates: 49° 10′ 40.3″  N , 5° 8′ 2.9″  E