STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS IN THE WAR 



1041 



In the days now far distant when we sat on the benches 

 of the Forestry School at Nancy, our comrades will recall 

 that we were taught that our woods and forests would 

 play a dual role in war. In proportion to their extent 

 they could have, on the one hand, a tactical influence as 

 points of support in particular corners of the field of 

 battle, while on the other hand, when affording a con- 

 tinuance screen, they could play a most important and 

 valuable part as a mask for widespread movements and 

 for important maneuvers of large masses of troops. 



It is considerations of this sort that for four years we 

 have expounded to our pupils at the National Institute 

 of Agronomy. How many of them have been able to 

 verify in person the truth of these theories ; how many 

 have unhappily wet with their blood the soil of a wood 



our men who fought to the death under the shade of these 

 unfortunate woods which are now themselves gone and 

 for so long a time appreciated too well their tactical 

 value ! 



Can we minimize the strategic value of our more con- 

 tinuous forests, any more than we can deny that the 

 smaller patches, often only a few hundred acres in extent 

 and without a name until baptized with some title sug- 

 gested by their shape "square," "trianglar," "star-shaped 

 woods" have played a truly military role in the defense 

 of our front? Let no one be so deceived. Our great 

 French forests, from the Vosges to the sea, have often 

 stripped the invader of his offensive powers. 



In 1914 the German armies of the East are held up on 

 the crest of the Vosges from Mulhouse to the forests of 



Photograph by Underwood and Underwood 



NORTHERN FRANCE A BATTLE-SCARRED AREA, AS IT APPEARS TODAY 



A scene at sunset on the National Road between Soissons and Chavignis, at one time the very center in the turmoil of battle. These skeletons- 

 mute and pathetic witnesses arc all that remain of the once magnificent avenue of trees which lined the road. 



the tactical importance of which they fully understood, 

 and which it had been their mission to defend at any 

 price ? 



This conception of the military role of forests, based 

 as it is upon the numerous and exact data of history, 

 should not and can not be minimized when we consider 

 this latest war. Is it necessary to recall the names, for- 

 ever celebrated, of the woods of le Pretre, of la Grurie, 

 and of Mortemart, where thousands of our soldiers were 

 cut to pieces by shells in defending the approach against 

 the repeated attacks of the infamous Boche? Those of 



Parroy before Luneville. The great forests of Alsace, of 

 the Vosges, and of Lorraine permitted us to regroup our 

 forces. Epinal was saved. At the same time the defense 

 of the Grand Couronne of Nancy succeeded in supporting 

 itself in the important forests of Champenoux and of the 

 plateau of Haye. 



When, after having jumped the defiles of the Islettes 

 and of the Chalade in the Argonne, the victorious hordes 

 tried to menace our lines of communication in the rear 

 while themselves advancing on the Marne, it was again 

 the great forests of Trois-Fontaines, in front of Saint- 



