History of the 151st field artillery, Rainbow Division, by Louis L. Collins, lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Edited by Wayne E. Stevens, PH. D. Pub. by the Minnesota War records commission.

V. THE GERMAN RETREAT FROM THE MARNE1

On July 18, three days after the beginning of the attack along
the Champagne front, General Foch realized that his hour had
come. At last it was the allies' turn to strike and the blow which
now fell was but the first of a series which sent the enemy down
to defeat. Not on the Champagne front, but at the ChateauThierry salient, did Foch strike the first telling blow of his great
counter-offensive. Re-enforcements were necessary for his purpose, and additional units, including the Rainbow Division, were
ordered to that front.
That night the division was withdrawn from the line on the
Champagne front on two hours' notice, but not before it had received some further attentions from the enemy. About ten o'clock
brisk gunfire warned the civilian and military population that a
Boche raiding party was in the vicinity. Siren whistles confirmed
the information, and presently came the noise of the engines of
bombing planes, accompanied by the barking of anti-aircraft guns.
Searchlights located some of the raiding machines and the cannonading increased. Then the "eggs" began to fall, most of them
near ammunition dumps, but the activity of the guns apparently
alarmed the visitors and by eleven o'clock all was quiet again.
There was little rest for the next two days. Supplies had been
brought in, and after an inspection new clothes and equipment
were issued. The men bathed in a creek in the valley, and guns
and gun material were cleaned. On the second night the Germans
1General accounts dealing with the German retreat which is the subject
of this and the succeeding chapter are contained in DeChambrun and De
Marenches, American Army, 167-185; Pershing, Final Report, 34-36; and Thomas,
History of the A. E. F., ch. 8, 9. The story of the Rainbow Division's participation is told in Tompkins, Rainbow Division, ch. 5, and in Wolf, Rainbow
Division, 29-37. Material relating specifically to the 151st Field Artillery is to
be found in both the manuscript and published forms of Colonel Leach's diary
and in official documents, a number of which are printed on pages 239 to 254
of this volume.

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