Chapter 26

March 5--Russians are taking the offensive from the Baltic Sea to the Rumanian frontier; German armies in the north have been split into isolated columns; Russians report the recapture of Stanislau and Czernowitz; snow is retarding the invasion of Hungary.

March 6--Russian centre takes up attack; Russians are gaining in North Poland; Austrians give ground in East Galicia.

March 7--Germans start another drive in region of Pilica River; Austrians retreat in Bukowina.

March 8--Russians silence two batteries of German siege artillery at Ossowetz; Austrians gain ground in the Carpathians and Galicia; it is reported that German troops in Northern Poland and Galicia are exhausted.

March 9--Germans are raising the siege of Ossowetz and are retreating in Northern Poland; Russians claim that the Austrian offensive in Eastern Galicia is a complete failure.

March 10--Germans attempt to break through Russian line in Northern Poland; General Eichorn's army, retreating from the Niemen, is being harried by Russian cavalry and has been pierced at one point; Austrians have successes in the Carpathians and Western Galicia.

March 11--One million men are engaged in a series of battles in Northern Poland, the front being eighty miles long.

March 12--In the Carpathians the Russians capture the villages of Lupkow and Smolnik and the surrounding heights.

March 13--Russians check German offensive against Przasnysz; fighting in progress along Orzyc River; Austrians repulse Russian attack near Cisna in the Carpathians.

March 14--Russians check German advance in Mlawa region.

March 15--Russians capture the chief eastern defense of Przemysl, three miles from the heart of the defense system, Austrian troops which held the position leaving many guns in the snow; the siege ring is now drawn tighter; battle is on in Bukowina; there is fighting among the ice fields of the Carpathians.

March 16--Russians take vigorous offensive and drive back army that was marching on Przasnysz; 100,000 men have been buried in a triangle a few miles in area between Warsaw and Skierniewice; Germans are making use of fireworks at night to locate Russian guns; Austrian Archduke Frederick suggests to Emperor Francis Joseph the abandonment of the campaign against Serbia, all troops to be diverted to the Carpathians.

March 17--Przemysl is in peril; Russians have recrossed the German frontier in two places; there is fighting on a 600-mile front; it is reported that the Austrian Army in East Galicia has been flanked; a battle is being fought in the snow for the possession of Tarnowice.

March 18--Germans threaten severe reprisals on Russians for devastation in East Prussia; German offensive in much of Poland is reported to be broken.

March 19--Memel, German port on the Baltic, is occupied by the Russians; Tilsit is menaced; Von Hindenburg starts a new offensive in Central Poland; the Germans have lost heavily along the Pilica; Austrians claim that they have halted the Russian advance in the Carpathians.

March 20--Russians win battle in streets of Memel; battle line extends to Rumanian border; sortie by Przemysl garrison is driven back; statistics published in Petrograd show that 95 towns and 4,500 villages in Russian Poland have been devastated as result of German invasion; damage estimated at $500,000,000.

March 21--Austrians renew operations against Serbia and are defeated in artillery duel near Belgrade; Russians are advancing on Tilsit; another Przemysl sortie is repelled.

March 22--After a siege which began on Sept. 2, the longest siege in modern history, the great Galician fortress of Przemysl is surrendered to the Russians, who capture 9 Austrian Generals, 300 officers, and 125,000 men, according to Russian statements; the strategic value of Przemysl is considered great, as it guarded the way to Cracow and to important Carpathian passes; Germans retake Memel; Russians are preparing for vigorous offensive in the Carpathians; Austrians are shelling the Montenegrin front.

March 23--Demonstrations are held in Russia over fall of Przemysl; Germans say that the capture of the place cannot influence general situation.

March 24--Battle is being fought in the Carpathians; Russians march on Hungary and pursue strong column that had been seeking to relieve Przemysl; Germans withdraw big guns from Ossowetz.

March 25--Russians carry Austrian position on crest of Beskid Mountains in Lupkow Pass region and win victory in Bukowina; fighting in Southern Poland is resumed.

March 26--It is reported that the Austro-German armies in the Carpathians are withdrawing into Hungary; Germans retreat in the north.

March 27--Violent fighting in the Carpathians; Austrians make gains in Bukowina.

March 28--Russians break into Hungary and carry on offensive operations against Uszok and Lupkow Passes.

March 29--Austrians make gains at several points; Russians say that the Memel dash was a mere raid.

March 30--Russians storm crests in the Carpathians; Austrians are in a big drive across Bukowina; 160,000 Germans are reported as being rushed to Austria.

March 31--Russians are making their way down the southern slopes of the Carpathians into Hungary; German army corps reported trapped and cut to pieces in Northern Poland; Pola is preparing for a siege.

CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN EUROPE.

March 2--Germans are pouring reinforcements into Belgium; British gain ground near La Bassée.

March 4--Hard fighting in the Vosges; Germans spray burning oil and chemicals upon French advancing in Malancourt woods.

March 5--Germans checked at Rheims; report of Sir John French says situation is unchanged in Belgium; Germans are holding reserves in Alsace.

March 9--Floods hamper campaign in Alsace; it is reported that Germans are shelling factories in France which they cannot capture.

March 10--Germans declare that the French have failed in the Champagne district and have lost 45,000 men.

March 11--After several days of severe fighting the British capture Neuve Chapelle, the German loss being estimated by British at 18,000; the British also have lost heavily, particularly in officers; British believe they will now be able to threaten seriously the German position at La Bassée; French War Office says operations in Champagne have aided Russians by preventing Germans from reinforcing eastern armies.

March 12--British are pressing on toward Lille; they gain near Armentières, occupy Epinette, and advance toward La Bassée; Germans are intrenched in Aubers; the new drive is expected by Allies to prevent Germans in the west from sending reinforcements to the east.

March 13--Sir John French reports further gains in Neuve Chapelle region.

March 14--French occupy Vauquois, the key to a wide area of the Argonne; they capture trenches and occupy Embermenil; Belgians gain on the Yser; British repel German attack on Neuve Chapelle; it is announced that the French recently won a victory at Reichackerkopf in Alsace.

March 15--French capture trenches north of Arras; Germans drive back British south of Ypres; Germans meet reverse at Neuve Chapelle; it is announced that the French recently won a victory at Combres; French and British are preparing for a general offensive; the first installment is given out from French official sources of a historical review of the war, from the French viewpoint, covering the first six months.

March 16--Belgians cross the Yser; they drive Germans from trenches south of Nieuport; British retake St. Eloi; barbed wire fence, ten feet high, encompasses entire zone of German military operations in Alsace; British still hold Neuve Chapelle after several spirited attempts to retake it.

March 17--Westende bombarded; Belgians carry two positions in Yser region.

March 18--Belgian Army continues to advance on the Yser; French continue to hold the heights near Notre Dame de Lorette despite repeated shelling of their position; Germans are fortifying towns in Alsace.

March 19--Belgians and Germans are fighting a battle in the underground passages of a monastery in front of Ramscappelle; official British report tells of new German repulse at St. Eloi.

March 21--Germans take a hill in the Vosges.

March 24--New battle begins along the Yser.

March 26--Belgians make progress on road from Dixmude to Ypres.

March 27--French capture summit of Hartmanns-Weilerkopf Mountain.

March 29--French are pressing the Germans hard at various points in Champagne; as an offset, the Germans renew activity against Rheims with lively bombardments; sapping and mining operations are stated to be the only means of gaining ground in the Argonne.

TURKISH AND EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN.

March 1--Turkish forces mass on Asiatic side of the Dardanelles under Essad Pasha, defender of Janina; Russians have completed the expulsion of Turks from Transcaucasus region and dominate the Black Sea.

March 3--Russians, after three days' battle, stop reinforcements for Turks in the Caucasus.

March 5--Turks abandon for the time the campaign against Egypt and recall troops.

March 7--British drive Turks back from the Persian Gulf, with considerable losses on both sides; it is reported that the Germans killed 300 Turks in a conflict between these allies after the Egyptian retreat.

March 9--Germans report that British were routed recently in Southern Mesopotamia.

March 12--General d'Amaade, commander of the French forces in Morocco, has been put in command of a force which is to aid the allied fleets in operations against Constantinople.

March 13--Turks are driven back in Armenia and Northwestern Persia.

March 16--Russians rout Turks in Armenia and threaten Turks in the Caucasus.

March 18--Turkish soldiers kill several civilians in the Urumiah district of Persia; Turks are massing large forces near Constantinople and on Asiatic side of the Dardanelles.

March 19--Russians occupy Archawa.

March 20--Turks reported to be four days' march from Suez Canal.

March 23--Turkish force operating against town of Suez is routed.

CAMPAIGN IN FAR EAST.

March 12--It is reported from Peking that nine Germans, among them the German Military Attaché at Peking, who is leading the party, escaped from Tsing-tao when it fell, and have made their way 1,000 miles into Manchuria, where they are trying to blow up tunnels along the Trans-Siberian railway; Russian troops are pursuing them.

CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA.

March 21--Official announcement is made that General Botha, Commander in Chief of the Army of the Union of South Africa, has captured 200 Germans and two field guns at Swakopmund, German Southwest Africa.

NAVAL RECORD--GENERAL.

March 1--Norwegian steamer reports ramming a submarine off English coast.

March 2--Bulgaria protests to Austria, Russia, and Serbia against mines in the Danube; diligent inquiry in England fails to produce any evidence supporting report that British superdreadnought Audacious, wrecked by mine or torpedo on Oct. 27, is about to be restored to the fighting line.

March 3--Allied fleet silences three inner forts on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles; Berlin report says British cruiser Zephyr was damaged.

March 4--Attack on Dardanelles continues; French ships bombard Bulair forts and destroy Kavak Bridge; Field Marshal von der Goltz has asked for German artillery officers to aid in defending Dardanelles, but it is reported that Germans cannot spare any; German submarine U-8 is sunk by destroyers of the Dover flotilla; German submarine chases hospital ship St. Andrew.

March 5--Allies report that six, possibly seven, German submarines have been sunk since beginning of the war; two Captains of British merchant ships claim prize for sinking German submarines; British Admiralty informs shipping interests that a new mine field has been laid in the North Sea; Germans report a French ammunition ship sunk at Ostend; Japanese report that the schooner Aysha, manned by part of the crew of the Emden, is still roving the Indian Ocean; there is despair in Constantinople as Dardanelles bombardment continues; Russian Black Sea fleet is steaming toward the Bosporus; allied fleet is bombarding Smyrna.

March 6--British ships Queen Elizabeth and Prince George attack strong Dardanelles forts, they blow up one and damage two; allied landing party suffers loss; Asia Minor ports are being shelled; one-third of the Dardanelles reported clear of Turkish mines; concentration of Turkish fleet reported; Germans state that a submarine, reported by the Captain of British merchantman Thordis to have been sunk by his vessel, escaped; German Embassy at Washington expresses regret over torpedo attack on British hospital ship Asturias in February, stating that the attack, which did no harm, was due to mistake.

March 7--Queen Elizabeth and other ships continue bombardment of Dardanelles forts.

March 8--Allied fleet forces its way further into Dardanelles, British ships opening direct fire on main Turkish positions; more forts are silenced; most of the Allies' ships are hit, but little damage is done; effective fire at 21,000 yards against batteries on the Asiatic side; seaplanes are being much used for locating concealed guns; it is reported from Petrograd that when the allied fleets began the forcing of the Dardanelles a Russian ship was invited to head the column, and did so; ports on the Black Sea are destroyed by Russians; British Admiralty announces that prisoners from U-8 will be segregated under special restrictions, and they may be put on trial after the war because of German submarine methods; British collier Bengrove sunk in Bristol Channel by torpedo or mine.

March 9--German submarines sink three British merchantmen, thirty-seven men going down with one ship; Military Governor of Smyrna says that British have bombarded unfortified villages; another British superdreadnought joins allied fleet at Dardanelles; French transports are on way with troops; Turks lose coal supply by Russian bombardment of Zunguldiak; report from Berlin that German submarine U-16 has sunk five merchantmen; British Admiralty states that German submarines, from Jan. 21 to March 3, sank fifteen British steamships out of a total of 8,734 vessels above 300 tons arriving at or departing from British ports in that period; more mines planted near Denmark.

March 10--German auxiliary cruiser Prince Eitel Friedrich anchors at Newport News for repairs and supplies; she brings passengers and crews of eleven merchant ships sunk by her in a cruise of 30,000 miles, including crew of American sailing ship William P. Frye, bound from Seattle to Queenstown with wheat, sunk on Jan. 28, despite protests of the Frye's Captain; more Dardanelles forts are reduced; batteries on Eren-Keui Heights silenced; British sink German submarine U-12; British collier Beethoven sunk.

March 11--President Wilson states that there will be "a most searching inquiry" into the sinking of the William P. Frye by the Prinz Eitel Friedrich, "and whatever action is taken will be based on the result of that inquiry"; Commander Thierichens of the Eitel defends sinking of the Frye, claiming her cargo was contraband; British warships are ordered to the entrance to the Capes of the Chesapeake to prevent escape of the Eitel; Eitel goes into drydock for repairs; more Dardanelles forts are damaged; mine sweeping is being conducted by the Allies at night; allied fleet before Smyrna gives Turkish commander twenty-four hours to surrender, otherwise bombardment will go on; it is reported from The Hague that twelve German submarines are missing; Germans talk of reprisals if British do not treat submarine crews as prisoners of war.

March 12--Dardanus batteries on the Dardanelles are silenced; Germans are fortifying Constantinople; Allies' Consuls demand establishment of a neutral zone at Smyrna; British auxiliary cruiser Bayano sunk off coast of Scotland, probably by a submarine, with loss of 200; it is learned that British bark Conway Castle was sunk on Feb. 27 off the Chilean coast by the German cruiser Dresden; it is learned that French steamer Guadeloupe has been sunk off Brazil by the German auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm; it is reported from Berlin that Germans have sunk 111 merchant steamships, with tonnage of 400,000, since war began; British cotton ship Indian Prince is reported sunk.

March 13--England has lost 90 merchant ships and 47 fishing vessels, sunk or captured, since the war began; Vice Admiral Carden is stated to have predicted the forcing of the Dardanelles by Easter; fog delays Allies' operations in Dardanelles; five British warships wait for Eitel off Virginia Capes.

March 14--Three British cruisers sink German cruiser Dresden near Juan Fernandez Island; no damage to British ships; French steamer Auguste Conseil sunk by German submarine; German submarine U-29 is reported to have sunk five British merchantmen in the last few days; citizen of Leipsic offers reward to crew of submarine that sinks a British transport.

March 15--It is reported from Rio Janeiro that Kronprinz Wilhelm has sunk thirteen ships since she began her attack on Allies' commerce.

March 16--Officers of the Dresden at Valparaiso say their ship was sunk in neutral waters; British say she was sunk ten miles off shore; German liner Macedonia, interned at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, slips out of port; British cruiser Amethyst is reported to have made a dash to the further end of the Dardanelles and back; a mine sweeper of the Allies is blown up; Vice Admiral Carden, "incapacitated by illness," in words of British Admiralty, is succeeded in chief command in the Dardanelles by Vice Admiral De Robeck; Germany protests to England against promised harsh treatment of submarine crews; British and French warships again appear off coast of Belgium.

March 17--It is reported from Denmark that the German cruiser Karlsruhe has been sunk; it is reported from Spain that the Macedonia has been captured by a British cruiser; two British steamers are sunk and one is damaged by German submarines; German steamer Sierra Cordoba, which aided the Dresden, is detained by Peruvian authorities until end of the war; British lose three mine sweepers and one sailing vessel in the Dardanelles.

March 18--British battleships Irresistible and Ocean and French battleship Bouvet are sunk by floating mines in the Dardanelles while bombarding forts; 600 men lost with the Bouvet, but almost all of the British escape; British battle-cruiser Inflexible and French battleship Gaulois are badly damaged by shells from the forts; most of the forts suffer severely from the fleet fire; French submarine is sunk in the Dardanelles; there is a lull in bombardment of Dardanelles and of Smyrna; German submarine sinks British steamer Glenartney in English Channel; Copenhagen report says a German sea Captain states that the Karlsruhe was sunk in December.

March 19--Negotiations are being carried on, with American Embassy at Constantinople as intermediary, to try to avert shelling of Pera when allied fleet forces the Dardanelles; British steamers Hyndford and Bluejacket torpedoed in English Channel.

March 20--One French and two British battleships are on their way to Dardanelles to take place of vessels sunk; new attack is planned by Allies, with Russia co-operating; Turks say that the ships sunk on March 18 were torpedoed; Chilean seamen say Dresden was sunk in Chilean waters; Smyrna garrison is reinforced; dummy war fleet, composed of disguised merchantmen, is reported to be ready in England for use in strategy against the Germans.

March 21--German submarine sinks British collier Cairntorr off Beachy Head.

March 22--British steamer Concord is torpedoed by a German submarine, but is stated not to have been sunk.

March 23--Dutch steamer is fired on by a German trawler; Turks send reinforcements to Dardanelles forts.

March 24--German vessels shell Russian positions near Memel; allied fleet resumes bombardment of Dardanelles forts; Allies land troops on Gallipoli Peninsula to help in a general attack on the forts which is planned on arrival of more British and French ships; many Europeans are leaving Constantinople.

March 27--U.S. battleship Alabama is ordered to proceed to Norfolk at once to guard American neutrality should Prinz Eitel Friedrich leave port.

March 28--British African liner Falaba is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine in St. George's Channel; she carried 160 passengers and crew of 90, of which total 140 were saved; many were killed by the torpedo explosion; British steamer Aguila is sunk by German submarine U-28 off Pembrokeshire coast; she carried three passengers and crew of forty-two, all passengers and twenty-three of crew being lost; Russian Black Sea fleet attacks Bosporus forts; Dardanelles forts again bombarded; German Government, in official statement, says that Dresden was sunk in neutral Chilean waters.

March 29--Dutch steamer Amstel is blown up by a mine; Russians renew Bosporus attack; allied fleet shells Dardanelles forts at long range; reinforced Russian fleet is showing activity in the Baltic; German Baltic fleet is out.

March 31--London reports that three fleets and three armies will combine in attack on Dardanelles forts; the forts are again bombarded; British steamers Flaminian and Crown of Castile are sunk by German submarines; Prinz Eitel Friedrich coals under guard of American sailors and soldiers; Germans shell Libau.

NAVAL RECORD--EMBARGO AND WAR ZONE.

March 1--Premier Asquith announces in the House of Commons the purpose of England and France to cut Germany off from all trade with the rest of the world; "the British and French Governments will, therefore, hold themselves free to detain and take into port ships carrying goods of presumed enemy destination, ownership, or origin"; officials in Washington think this attitude of the Allies disregards American rights.

March 3--Germany alters relief ship rules; vessels may pass through the English Channel unmolested, but because of mines Germany cannot grant safe conduct for relief ships to and from England.

March 4--Secretary Bryan makes public the text of German reply to American note suggesting modifications of war zone decree; Germany expresses willingness to make modifications if England will allow foodstuffs and raw materials to go to German civilians, and if England will make other modifications in her sea policy; German reply is forwarded to Ambassador Page to be submitted to the British Foreign Office for information of English Government; American State Department makes public part of a recent dispatch from Ambassador Gerard stating that German Government refuses to accept responsibility for routes followed by neutral steamers outside German waters; Henry van Dyke, American Minister at The Hague, advises the State Department that Germany is anxious to give every possible support to the work of American Relief Commission for Belgium, and will facilitate the passage of ships as much as possible.

March 5--Holland-America Line steamer Noorderdijk, bound for New York, returns to Rotterdam badly disabled, it being reported that she was torpedoed in English Channel.

March 6--Passenger service from Holland to England is to be extended.

March 8--Germany includes in the war zone the waters surrounding the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but navigation on both sides of the Faroe Islands is not endangered.

March 9--It is announced at Washington that identical notes of inquiry have been sent to the British and French Governments asking for particulars as to how embargo on shipments to and from Germany is to be enforced.

March 18--Submarine blows up Swedish steamer Hanna, flying her own flag, off east coast of England; six of crew lost.