southeastern lip of the ravine in the sector of 26th Infantry. The Germans had artillery, machine guns, and infantry emplacements throughout the ravine as well as artillery on the eastern bank. Across the bottom of the western edge of the ravine was a swamp with footbridges. When two companies of 2nd Battalion attempted to cross the ravine they were met with withering machine-gun fire from Saconin-et-Breuil and artillery fire from Breuil. A second attempt saw them advance another while taking heavy casualties. Of the five French tanks that ventured down the slopes of the ravine, three were destroyed by artillery fire and two sank in the swamp. The commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions decided they needed to combine forces to reach the eastern edge of the ravine. Wading elsewhere through the waist deep swamp, the combined force made it up the eastern bank of Missy Ravine and captured all the guns by 9:30am. While still under heavy machine-gun fire, the men formed a consolidated line east of Breuil. Having lost all of its officers, 2nd Battalion was reorganized into five small platoons plus a machine gun platoon, each commanded by a sergeant. While the combined force was attacking east across the ravine, Company M of 3rd Battalion had been placed in reserve near le Mont d’Arly. Here they spotted a large group of Germans emerge from a cave intending to attack the 2nd and 3rd Battalions from the rear. Two platoons from M Company fired on the Germans and drove them back into the cave where they held out until 4:00pm. Twenty officers and about 500 soldiers were captured along with trench mortars and machine guns. Later in the day, another large group of German medical personnel were discovered in the same cave. These were put to work in a common aid station treating wounded from both sides. By 11:00am, Colonel Conrad Babcock, commander of 28th Infantry Regiment, was conferring with the French of the 153rd Division about moving 2nd Battalion back into its own sector. However, the French 153rd Division was failing to keep abreast in the attack. This was due in large part to the southward facing entrenchments in the division's zone of attack. These entrenchments followed favorable terrain with a series of strong points which dominated the plateau running southwest from the town of Vauxbuin. This defensive position allowed the Germans to fire into the