"Not only has the Champagne front been marked by continuous and often violent combats; not only were the guns never silent there, but the fatal gas waves were constant in their flow. But five of the most important battles of the war were fought there: The first battle of Champagne, of February-March, 1915, the first offensive in the grand style after the Battle of the Marne; the second battle of Champagne, the big offensive of September 25, 1915, leading us to hope so strongly that we could capture the hills of Morronvilliers, which was one of the most brilliant successes of the offensive of April, 1917; the third battle of Champagne, in which the Forty-second American division took part, and which on July 15, 1918, stopped short the last German drive and was the turning point of the war; finally, the fourth battle of Champagne, carrying, on September 26, 1918, the old fortified front of the enemy to a depth of 17 kilometers, and continuing its successes, in which the Second and Thirty-sixth American divisions took part, and which, from September 26 to November 11, 1918, carried our flags to the Meuse, to Mezieres and to Sedan." 