Meuse-Argonne Offensive

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American soldiers burying their dead at Bois de Consenvoye, 1918-11-08

Date	September 26 –November 11, 1918
Location	Argonne Forest, France
Result	American victory

Combatants

United States

German Empire

Commanders

John J. Pershing

Georg von der Marwitz

Strength

American Expeditionary Force

German Fifth Army

Casualties

26,277 killed
95,786 wounded
122,066 total

28,000 killed
92,250 wounded
120,250 total

Hundred Days Offensive
Amiens – 2nd Somme – Arras – Havrincourt – St.-Mihiel – Epéhy – Hindenburg Line – Meuse-Argonne – Courtai – Selle – 2nd Sambre

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the final offensive of World War I. It was the biggest operation and victory of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in that war. The offensive took place in the Verdun Sector, immediately north and northwest of the town of Verdun, between September 26 - November 11, 1918. It was launched as part of Maréchal Ferdinand Foch's Grand Offensive, comprising attacks by the AEF and French Fourth Army on September 26, the British Fourth Army from September 27 and the British and Belgians at Ypres from September 28. These operations led to a general advance along most of the Western Front, resulting in the German Army's final defeat and the signing of an armistice on November 11 to bring hostilities between the Allies and Central Powers to an end.

1 Opposing forces
2 Objectives
3 First phase: September 26 to October 3
4 Second phase: October 4 to October 28
5 Third phase: October 28 to November 11
6 Casualties and comments

[edit] Opposing forces

U.S. Forces consisted of ten divisions of the U.S. First Army commanded by General John J. Pershing until October 16 and then by Lt. General Hunter Liggett. The logistics were planned and directed by Col. George Marshall. German forces consisted of approximately forty German divisions from the Army Groups of the Crown Prince and General Max Carl von Gallwitz, with the largest force the Fifth Army of Group Gallwitz commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz.

[edit] Objectives

The objective of the offensive was the railway hub at Sedan, which provided supply support for the German armies in the southeastern sector of the Western Front.

[edit] First phase: September 26 to October 3

The American attack began at 5:30 a.m. on September 26, and progressed 11 kilometers in two days. Montfaucon d'Argonne was captured on the first day. On September 29, six new German divisions were deployed to oppose the American attack, and in the words of General Pershing, "We were no longer engaged in a maneuver for the pinching out of a salient, but were necessarily committed, generally speaking, to a direct frontal attack against strong, hostile positions fully manned by a determined enemy."

[edit] Second phase: October 4 to October 28

The attack was renewed on October 4 against 20 German line and reserve divisions. Casualties and exhaustion were such that General Pershing required 90,000 replacements, but could obtain only 45,000 until November 1. He discussed the situation with the Allied commander-in-chief, Marshal Foch, who urged the attacks to continue, since they were aimed at the chief German line of retreat. By October 14, American units had reached and crossed portions of the Hindenburg Line.

Exploits of the US Army's 77th Division, 308th Battalion from October 2, 1918 in the Argonne Forest are immortalized in the movie The Lost Battalion (2001). Without food, water or reserve ammunition and cut off from supply and communication lines, and subjected to constant assaults and bombardments, they managed to hold the enemy until they were finally rescued after five days of desperate action.

[edit] Third phase: October 28 to November 11

The American forces reorganized into two armies. The First led by General Ligett, would continue to move to the Carignan-Sedan-Mezieres Railroad. The Second Army led by Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard, was directed to move eastward towards Metz. The two armies faced 31 German divisions.

The American offensive became part of a general directive by Marshal Foch to continue pressure along the entire front. The lines of responsibility were shifted to allow the French, who had lost Sedan in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War, to recapture the city.

Both sides used military aircraft extensively during this phase of the offensive, including daylight bombing of the enemy forces.

The offensive stopped when the armistice ending hostilities went into effect at 11:00 AM on November 11.

[edit] Casualties and comments

26,277 AEF troops were killed and 95,786 were wounded; the Germans suffered 126,000 casualties in total.

This operation was the largest set up by the US Army in 1918. The strategic goal was sound; cutting the Germans from their main supply line. However, this was a failure. The two main explanations were the difficult landscape, with few roads in a hilly and forested area and the lack of experience of the US Army at all levels.

Overall, training was good, but many officers, for lack of effective experience, repeated the same mistakes that French and British learnt to avoid during the four preceding years. On the front, coordination suffered. The "Lost Battalion" is a good example of failure: on the attack, it was cut off from its base and surrounded. Casualties far exceeded French and English ones for similar operations, as US troops took more risks and made beginners' mistakes. Behind the front, traffic jams clogged roads and supply suffered.