The ^§th Division in the Vosges Mountains 179 



breaking the German lines interfered with. Had we brought on 

 heavy fighting, it would probably have been necessary to rush con- 

 siderable forces to our support. The Allied High Command was 

 very anxious to have matters remain as quiet as possible in the Vos- 

 ges in order that attention might not be diverted from the main issues 

 of the campaign by minor disturbances, which could exercise little in- 

 fluence on the ultimate result. It is difficult to give the soldier the 

 necessary training to make of him a good fighting man, but having 

 done this, it is not less difficult to convince him, after he has been 

 brought face to face with the enemy, that he is not to fight, even 

 though constantly harassed by hostile artillery fire. 



It must not be gathered from what has been said above that our 

 life in the Vosges was without excitement. Hostile bombing-planes 

 sometimes dropped quantities of high explosives on our headquar- 

 ters and dugouts and frequently attacked our supply depots and bil- 

 lets behind the line. Some part of our front was nearly always under 

 shell-fire. Raids were frequently instituted by both ourselves and the 

 Germans to destroy parts of the opposing works and bring back 

 prisoners. Our raid at Hilsenfirst has been described above. 



This article would be incomplete without a description of the 

 "Ballons d'Alsace," a name applied to a number of high rounded 

 mountains of the Vosges, from which may be obtained fine views of 

 the surrounding country. Several reasons are given for their being 

 called "ballons," but the one having the most weight is that founded 

 upon their resemblance, as one glances over the terrain, to the 

 rounded "top-sides" of a group of balloons. They are not timbered 

 on the summit, but the slopes are often covered with beech and pine. 

 Early in August, 19 18, I was summoned to Belfort to witness a 

 demonstration of a new six-inch field mortar about to be adopted by 

 the French. The shortest and also the best route lay to the south 

 through Le Thillot and Saint Maurice. Five kilometers south of the 

 latter village, the road passed within half a mile of the summit of 

 the Ballon d'Alsace, the most famous but not the highest of all the 

 ballons. Its elevation is over 4000 feet. Needless to say, I seized 

 this opportunity to get what is considered one of the finest views in 

 all Europe. I was disappointed the day I made the ascent to find 

 the field of vision much obstructed by the hazy atmosphere. Points 

 more than ten miles away were quite indistinct and those over 

 twenty miles away were practically invisible. Beyond this all was but 



