In 1918, on the Western Front of World War I, the bodies of American soldiers and warhorses killed by the German army were scattered across the sunken road of the Aulx River, which crosses the Seine-et-Marne department of France, in the Battle of the Aulx.

In 1918, on the Western Front of World War I, the bodies of American soldiers and their horses were scattered across the sunken road at Barcy, where they had been killed by the German army in the Battle of the Aisne River, which crosses the Seine-et-Marne department of France.

Late in the afternoon of July 26, 1918, troops from the 42nd Rainbow Division of the U.S. Army attacked a heavily defended German position at the La Croix Rouge farm, south of the Ourcq River. As the Germans retreated to their fortifications north of the river, the Rainbow Division took up positions on the front line just 2.74 km south of the Ourcq River. They crossed the Ouluk River on July 28th amidst continuous German machine gun and artillery fire. In the fierce battle that lasted for six days, the American forces captured a key stronghold. The American Rainbow Division, including attached units, suffered a total of 6,459 casualties, with 1,410 killed and 5,049 wounded.

In the Battle of the Ouluk River, the Germans deployed a large number of five-man machine guns and set up a strong defense. About 25 of the captured machine guns later fired 10,000 bullets per minute and hit targets up to about 0.91 km away. The German troops, deployed in camouflaged and fortified positions, covered the tree-lined avenues and paths, and the interlocking fields of fire were measured and mapped. The trees were marked with red paint for aiming, and snipers were positioned.

The German attack was fierce, and it caused heavy casualties among the soldiers of the US Army's Rainbow Division. A fierce battle unfolded on the wooded slopes around the La Croix Rouge farm. The US Army fought hand-to-hand combat with grenades, rifles and bayonets against the German army, which had concentrated its battalion on the farm grounds, and attacked and occupied the La Croix Rouge farm. The American soldiers who crossed the Croix Rouge farm and headed for the Ourcq River struggled to cross the torrent, staining the stream red with their blood. The Rainbow Division suffered casualties of 184 officers and 5,469 soldiers, about a quarter of its total strength, in the defense of Champagne and the attack on the Ourcq River.