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IR 169 spent an uncomfortable night in fields around Limey. Early the next morning, the regiment was ordered take Hill 305, just to the southwest of Limey. The regiment moved out by 6:00 am, and soon passed a recently abandoned French bivouac area. The official history of Baden Troops in WW I tell how many of the more tidy Germans were aghast by the filthy conditions of the French campsite. The Germans continued their advance as they drove a few French patrols back as they entered the dark and thorny Forest de la Voisogne. The woods were so thick that the troops had to crash their way through the underbrush in single files. After much effort, Regiment 169 emerged from the southern edge of the forest and into a brilliant sunlight.

The Baden history described this moment in vivid terms, as it characterized a deeply symbolic and defining moment in the course of World War I – the end of maneuver warfare on the Western Front. Coming out of the forest, the Germans were presented with a huge panoramic view of open fields that led towards the city of Toul, 16 miles to the south. The sight was as dispiriting as it was dramatic, as French troops filled the horizon as far as the eye could see. In the distance, long blue and red clad French columns were snaking towards them on a number of roads. Midway, a number of battalions were pulling off the roads and into battle formations. More ominously, and less than two miles away, at the twin villages of Berncourt and Noviant, were yet more French troops; furiously digging in the start of a new trench line.

The German commanders faced a conundrum. Orders were such that a retreat was not an option. Certainly, initiating an attack against this enormous host of oncoming French troops was a reckless move. Worse still, holding in place would give the French infantry digging in at Berncourt and Noviant a significant defensive advantage that bought time for their reinforcements to come up.

French artillery would soon have the Germans targeted in ground that left them completely exposed. The German junior officers and soldiers had enough combat experience at this point to realize the punishment that they were in for. Shovels and picks were pulled out and the digging began. At noon, a few French shells whistled over the forest. The next rounds grazed the tips of trees. The French were finding their range. In minutes, IR 169 was engulfed in a fearful barrage. The men in the front worked on their entrenchments with a renewed vigor, feverishly digging in a task that began with such initial reluctance. The barrage was even worse for several of the rifle companies that were being held in reserve in the woods as the forest was torn apart with bursting shells and flying splinters. The shelling continued until nightfall.

By 25 September 25, Army Detachment Strantz had pushed as far as it could and the German offensive had reached its limit. Trenches were dug deeper and IR 169 remained in line there through 3 October, 1914. IR 169’s casualties for this series of actions were 16 officers (with 8 killed) and 482 enlisted men.

For the next four years, this area would mark a portion of the southern border of the St. Mihiel Salient. The course of the war would take a particularly hard toll on a number of towns and villages fought over in this area; Fay, Regnieville, and Remenauville were forever blasted off the face of the earth. The ground taken by Army Detachment Strantz from September 20-22, 1914 came to play a large role as the war progressed. The bulge of the St. Mihiel gave the Germans their only permanent bridgehead across the Meuse River, the most important water obstacle on the Western Front. The French requirement to contain the salient would cause them endless trouble throughout the war. The Battle of Verdun, one of World War I’s most costly struggles, came partly as a result of the German Army’s 1916 effort to expand it. The St. Mihiel Salient again came into to prominence at the very end of the war when the American Army reduced the position in September 1918.