World War I: The AEF Battles --The Meuse-Argonne Offensive (September 26 - November 11, 1918)
Figure 1.--The Meuse River is a major system in northrrn Europe est of the Rhine. Breaking through the Meuse barrier at Sedan brought Germany victory in 1870 and 1940. Crossing the Meuse at Liege abd Nomur was part of the German Scliffen Plan which very nearly won another quick victory (1914). The Germans failed to reach the Meuse in the Bulge campaign (1944). But it worked both ways and crossing the Meuse was a major Allied objective in 1918. This is the military suituatiom during the Hundred Days Campaign (August-November 1918). The Allies at great cost gained ground along the whole Front, but it was the Anmerican drive in the Argonne Forest that was preparing to turn a general retreat into a catertrosphic defeat. The Americans crosed the Meuse (November 10) and were about to seize the German rail hub at Sedan. On the same day the newly formed American 2nd Army began to attck. And American forces on the far bank of the Meuse significntky chaged the strategic situation. They would cut off German forces defending the Siefried Line east of the river, cut a vital German rail line (the only way to rapidly move men and supplies). It also opened up a route for the Allies to the Rhine without major defendable river barriers.
The major American commitment in World War I came in the Meuse-Argonne, a joint operation with the French. Pershing took control of the 1st for the first and only major American Expeditionary Force (AEF) offensive, but then turned it over Gen Leggitt. It was the Big Show for which the AEF had been created. The earlier American battles were defensive operations to help hold the Allied line. The Meuse-Argonne Campaign was different. It was not only the first, but the only American of the AEF. It was also central to the Allied victory in World War I. The AEF was not yet fully trined and ready. But its time had come. Only a little over 1.2 million men were committed. Some 3 million more men were still training, both in France and America. Americans were arriving in France at a phenomenl rate--10,000 men a day. And the objective assigned the Americans in the midle of the French sector wa the Meuse River. In between the Americans and the Meuse was the Argonne Forrest. The weakened French Army was not going to attack through it. Not only was it rugged, but the Germans had 4 years to fortify it and turn it into an important part of the Siegfried Line. The Americans plunged into the Argonne Forest (September 26). It would be the bloodiest single battle in American history and the major American contribution to the Allied victory on the Western Front.
The AEF played an important role in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive that won the War. The Allies struck all along the entire Western Front which meant that the Germns were unable to shift forces from quiet sectors. The heaviest fighting was in the British and American sectors. When the German Spring 1918 Western offensive ground to a halt the Allies initiated their offensive. This was largely an Anglo-American operation. The French Army since 1917 was largely restricted to defensive operations. The British in 1914 had only a small professional force. By 1918 they had built a large conscript army. The army had learned a great deal on the Somme (1916) and with a new tank force was ready to assault the Hindenburg Line. The Americans when they entered the War in 1917 also had only a small professional army. America rapidly built a large conscript army and by mid-1918 that army was ready to assault the Germans. The Allies wanted the Americans to be used as replacement troops in British and French units. Pershing insisted on fielding an American army--the AEF. Having help stop the German offensive, the Americans along with the British went on the offensive. The Allied Hundred Days Offensive proved to be the war-winning offensive of World War I. The Allies struck (August 8). The German Spring-Summer offensive had severely bleed the German Army. Under the powerful Allied onslaught, the Germans finally began to crack and large numbers of soldiers began to surrender and desert. The Allies forced the Germans to retreat.
Learing Curve
Some Americans fought at Bellau Woods using the insane tactics of 1914 (June 1914). American commanders were beginning to learn. Gen. Pershing was still committed to the attack.
German Forces
Much of the German force in the Argonne Forest had been formed from what was left of the German 2nd Armny which had launched the war as part of the invasion of neutral Belgium. The 2nd Army was part of the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium (August 1914). Itvwas commanded by General Karl von Bülow. The 2nd Army's mission had been to support the 1st Army's sweep through Belgium around the left flank of the French Army to encircle Paris, forcing a quick end to the war. The 2nd Army laid siege to, and took the Belgian fortresses around Namur. They fought General Charles Lanrezac's French 5th Army at the Battle of Charleroi (August 23-24) and again at St. Quentin on August 29–30). The German 2nd Army bore the brunt of the Britih attack in the Battle of the Somme (1916). It had grown so large tht the Germans decided divide it into two still-powerful armies. One part became 1st Army (July 1916) from the right (northern) wing of the 2nd Army. The former commander of 2nd Army, General der Infanterie Fritz von Below, took command of 1st Army and 2nd Army got a new commander General der Artillerie Max von Gallwitz. Von Gallwitz was also installed as commander of Heeresgruppe Gallwitz – Somme to co-ordinate the actions of both Geman armies on the Somme (1916). A subatanis proportion of the 2nd Army was destroyed during the joint Anglo-French offensive on the Somme. At the end of the war it was serving as part of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht where it faced the Americans in the Argonne Forest. Some 40 German divisions from the Army Groups of the Crown Prince and General Max Carl von Gallwitz opposed the Americans and French in the Argonne Forest. Many bof these divisions ny the time of the Meuse-Argonne offensive were not at full strength. The largest unit was Fifth Army of Group Gallwitz commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz.
Allied Forces
U.S. First Army was the primry force committed to combat in the Meuse-Argonne. It was commanded by General John J. Pershing himself. The First Army was turned over to Lt. General Hunter Liggett (October 16). The newly activted Second U.S. Army was also committed. The Fourth and Fifth French Armies along with a Siamese Expeditionary Force also participated. The two French Armies had American division, including segregated African-American divisions. The United States had over 2 million men in Europe, mostly in France. And another 2 million more were being trained in America had they been needed. Many of the AEF men who reached France were never committed because the Germans requested an armistice before they were trained and needed. When the 1st U.S. Army advnbced slowed, the 2nd U.S. was thrown into the battle. This is what the Germans faced. At the time of the Armistice, 10,000 Americans were arriving in French ports daily. The numbers were overwealming to a Germany that had been bled dry by 4 years of war. The AEF completely undid the expected benefit of knocking Russia out of the War and now having one major front on which it could focus. Had the Germans not asked for an armistace in November. They would have faced rather than a 1-million man AEF, but a 4 million-man, increasingly experienced AEF. The NAZIs after the War managed to covince many if not most Germans that their country had not been defeated on the battlefiekd, but stabbed in the back by traitorous Jews and Socialists.
The Argonne Forest
The Argonne Forest was located in the Verdun Sector, immediately north and northwest of the town of Verdun where the greatest battle of the war unmtil 1918 was fought. The Forest consisted of rough, hilly terrain that the Germns had worked into the Siegfried Line. And they had 4 years to fortify it. The Argonne Forest was of not particular imptance, except that it stood between the Allies abd the Meuse River which was of great strategic importance.
The Meuse River
The Meuse River is a major system in northrrn Europe east of the Rhine. The River Meuse flows north over a distance of 950 km, through Haute-Marne, Vosges, Meuse, Ardennes, Belgium and the Netherlands before reaching the North Sea. Much of it has been canalised the north of Ardennes but, in Meuse, it is a wild, winding waterway covering some 200 km. It flows through peaceful country side, but its history hs been far from peceful. Although the Rhine since ancient times has been seen as he major barrier in northern Europe. It is along the Neuse that major battles have beemn fought, in both eastern Belgium and French Lorraine. Moving west it is the inly major barrier to drives tiward the Channel. Moving east, it is theonly impotyant barrier in druves toward the Rhine. As a result, it was along the Meuse at Verdun that theFrench built their great fiert complex--Verdun. And here the most protracted Western Fronr battle was fought during World War I. Nearby was Saint-Mihiel (another fortified town) and the Argonne Forest. Breaking through the Meuse barrier at Sedan brought Germany victory in 1870 and 1940. Crossing the Meuse at Liege abd Nomur was part of the German Scliffen Plan which very nearly won another quick victory (1914). The Germans failed to reach the Meuse in the Bulge campaign (1944). But it worked both ways and crossing the Meuse was a major Allied objective in 1918.
Gen. Leggitt
The U.S. Army before entering the war had military observers on both sides of the trenches. Pershing appears to have learned nothing from their reports. Disaster was averted by the competence of his staff (including George Marshal) and divisional commanders and dogged determination of the American infantry. [Roberts, pp. 64-65.] Te man most resoinibkle for the American success in the Meuse Argonne was Gen. Hunter Liggett (1857–1935), a career Army officer with ervice extending back to the Indian campaigns on the Great Plains. He was promoted to major general and given command of the just forming 41st Division (April 1917). The division served in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force. The division was disestablished and used to build up other divisions. Liggett was given command I Corps. Under Liggett's command, I Corps participated in the Second Battle of the Marne and in the reduction of the Saint-Mihiel salient. He commanded the U.S. First Army for most the all-important Meuse-Argonne offensive.
St. Mihiel Salient (September )
Though not as importnt as the nearby fortress complex of Verdun, Saint-Mihiel was for cenbturies one of the fortified towns guarding the strategic line of the Meuse River on the approach to Paris from the east. The Americans struck first at St Mihiel (September). The German St. Mihiel salient had been formed as a result of the German offensive at the onset of the War. The salient into the Allied line had impeded French rail traffic between Paris and the eastern areas of the Allied front for 4 years. The AEF First Army headquarters was established in the St. Mihiel area at the beginning of the Hundrd Days campsign (August 13). The AEF began to concentrate forces there with orders to reduce the German salient. It was the first AEF offensive operation and combat en masse. The Amerians attacked (Septembr 12). They still lacked some of the tactical skills French and British had learned over 4 years of battle. Even so, the U.S. 1st Army reduced the salient through determination and willingness to take casualties. The battle was also noteworthy as the first important use of American ground support air operations. Air operations were led by William 'Billy' Mitchell. (Ironcally the U.S. Army Air Corps had no ground support doctrine at the beginning of World War II having focused on stratehivc bombing during the inter-war era.) Also notable was aggressive tank attacks led by a young George Patton. Patton on his own iniative focused on tanks an entirely new weapon system. And he boldly led his his French tanks from the front rather than the rear unlike many tank commanders. The American assault was conducted by two 'super' corps consisting of three divisions each in attack and one in reserve. Two smaller French corps provided support on the western flank of the salient facing Paris. German General Erich von Ludendorff facing manpower shortages and with no repacemenbts available had decided to withdraw from the salient straigten the German frint line. A shorter straight line was more easily defended. The 1st Army attacked just as the Germans were withdrawing. The German artillery had been pulled back so the troops were vulnerable. This lead to a relatively ease victory--a rare event on the Wstern Front. With reports of sucessful advances reaching Pershing, he issued orders to speed up the advance. Lead elements of the U.S. 1st Army linked up with Allied troops advancing from the west (Sepoteber 13). The salient was in American hands 3 days later (September 16). Pershing now dispatched his forces westward to take part in the forthcoming Meuse-Argonne offensive--the Big Show. The 1st Army reported 7,000 casualties. The Germans suffered at least 17,500 loses, including 10,000 men captured..
The Battle in the Argonne Forest (October-November)
After St. Mihiel, the AEF was moved into the Argone Forest (October). This was easier said than done. The bulk of the AEF force for the Meuse Argonne Offensive had to be transferred from the St. Mihiel Salient. They had assaulted St. Mihiel only 2 weeks earlier. This meant they had to move to a new jump off line located north and northwest of Verdun. It was a section of the front with a 30 mile front. Moving the 400,000 mmn of the AEF First Army into place in o short a time is considered one of the great logistical accomplishments of the War. It will come as no great surprise tht the mastermine was by gifteed staff office at Pershing's headquarters--Col. George C. Marshall. It would be Marshall of course that would mastermind the American World War II war effort, including a miracle of logistics.
The Meuse-Argonne still ranks as the bloodiest single battle in American history. (Civil War battles where casualties on both sides are included into the bloodiest days, but because they were so debilitating only lasted 1-2 days. Gettysburg lasted 3 days.) It was a highly complex operation involving a majority of the AEF ground forces. The orders were to fight northward through the Argonne Forest and break through a heavily-fortified network of German defenses running 15 miles deep. The objective was the German rail hub at Sedan which would break Germany main rail supplying German forces in France and Flanders and force a withdrawal from the occupied territories. Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch ordered General John J. Pershing to personally command the offensive. He had 37 American and French divisions. The Meuse-Argonne offensive began (September 26). By this time Gen. Leggitt had become a master of combt support and planned the preliminary bombardment in detail. It consiste of 800 mustard gas and phosgene shells, killed 278 German soldiers and incapacitated more than 10,000. The AEF went 'over the top' the next morning. They were supported commanded by none other thn George C. Patton and some 500 aircraft from the U.S. Air Service. On the first day American captured more than 23,000 Germans and on the second day they had 10,000 more . They advnced 6 miles into the Forest. The Germans resisted fiercely and behind well constructed defense inflicted grevious losses on the Americans. Rainy weather and the resulting mud slowed the advnce, giving the Germans time to regroup. The American advance north slowed.
The rugged, unpredictable, heavily forested terrain contributed to massive American casualties.
The fighting was not trencg warfare in which the soldiers had some cover. The German strongpoints provided cover, but the attackin meruicanbs had little cover. The attacking Americans were exposed. Artillery was the major killer in World War I, something like 60 percent of battlfield deaths. And artillery was all over the place in the rgione Forest. The number of artillery pieces used by both sides was staggering.
Patton's tank brigade was moved to support I Corps in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (September 26). He continued to lead from thecfront. He was personally leading tanks through thick fog as they advanced 5 miles (8 km) into German lines. Patton was wounded in the moening while leading six men and a tank in an attack on German machine guns near the town of Cheppy. He as nearly killed, but recuperated in a hospital. Given whio he ws, he back at the front after oly a month despite the seriouness of the injury, but the Germans surrendered before he saw any further combat.
Pershing with American troops arriving in consuiderable numbers and to support the 1st Army' hard slog, activated the 2nd Army He selected Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard to command the 2nd Army (October 10). He had Pershing's confidence as an aggressive commander, after leading the 1st Infantry Division during the battle of Cantigny, delivering the first American victory of the War. Bullard’s initil orderws was to orders for Second Army were to hold the line on a portion of the St. Mihiel sector along the Lorraine front. Then Pershing ordered Bullard to advance toward Metz in support of the 1st Army. Bullard conducted aggresive attacks against the Germans (November 1). The 7th, 28th, 33rd, and 92nd divisions the attacked. The Germans put up a stiff resisabce, but the Second Army moved a considerable distance recovering a total of approximately 25 square miles of French territory in only one day.
Crossing the Meuse (November 10)
The initial objective asigned the Americn 1st Army was to cross the Meuse and seize the German rail hub at Sedan. The Allied High Commnd believed this would force the Germans to withdraw from Flanders and northern Framce. But as the battle played out, the AEF crossed the Meuse (Nobember 10). The German 2nd Army was still defending areas of the Siefgried Line. This meant that the AEF had achieved what the Allies had been trying to do for 4 yers, not only breaking through the German Lines, but cuttiing off a large part of the German Army still west of the Meuse and heavily committed to battle, making withdrawl difficult. The AEF could have bagged much of what was left of the German 2nd Army. It would have been a disater of epic proprtions had the Germans not agreed to the Allied terms for the Armistice. A Marine captain describes crossing the Meuse, "At 8 p.m. on November 10th, we moved to the little valley just north of Bois de l’Hospice preparatory to forcing our way across the Meuse River. Our location was soon discovered by the enemy and then began one of the heaviest bombardments we ever received. The night was black and the fog so heavy that the enemy’s many flares were useless. This was a saving factor for us. Thus exposed to the bombardment and the withering machine gun fire, we remained until about 12 pm, finally crossing the river on the 1st Battalion’s floating foot bridge, our own being destroyed. The enemy held the hillside in force, firing on us with machine guns at very close range. Using the river bank as protection, we worked north, destroying or capturing a number of these guns." [Dunbeck]
Armistice Process
The Armistice process was begun by the Germans as the Allied Hundred Day Offensive rolled on. The Germans directed peace feelers towards the U.S. government led by President Wilson hoping for terms based on the President's Fourteen Points (October 4). It is impirtant that the Germans did not offer anything likevthe Fourteen Points to the countries they defeated and occupied. Wilson was willing to conclude a peace based upon his Fourteen Points to secure a future peace and stability. Too many opeople toiday just assume that would have worked. Other Allied war leaders were vnot at all fviravly disposed toward the Fourteen Points. The Germans might have been able to secure a peace based ion the Fourteenb POints had they responded to Wildon's peace initives after his reelection (Novembr 1916). But they had gambled on a military sollition and victory in 1917-18. Now a very different peace was on offer. The other Allied Governments raised objections to the Fourteen Points. Britain's Lloyd George opposed a ban on a policy of blockades. France was intent on imposing reparations to finance the recovery of the huge area of France devestated by the Germans. Wilson compromised, accepting both objections, but threatening to negotiate a separate peace with Germany. The Allies has to accept Wilson's basic vision, at least outwardly. The Supreme War Council sent a proposed settlement to the Germans (November 5). It did not include the Armistice conditions which were military matters. A major impediment to an armistice was President Wilson's insistence upon Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicating. This was finally overcome by German Chancellor Max von Baden's ecision to announce the reluctant Wilhelm's abdication to the public (November 9). He did this without securing the Kaiser's accent. Only later did the Kaiser who fled to the Nethrlands officilly abdicate (November 28).
German General Staff
The German General Staff hoped that the Seigfried Line would if not hold the Allies out of Germany, at least exact such a toll of casualties that the Allies would agree to a negiotiated peace. The Germans had alreadt secured a great victory in the East, if a costly one. Even if they could not secure a total victory in the West, a stalemate in the West would have been highly beneficial for Germany with all the gains in the East. It would have left any future Alklied blockade meaningless and Germany the domiant country in Europe, much better situated to launch another war. The German High Commnd hoped that the Seigfried Line defenses would be just too costly for the Allies to overcome. The Hundreds Days campaign began with the Battle of Amiens (August 8-12), a British-French. It was a major Allied victory with German soldiers surrendeing in mass. Gen. Luudendiorff described the first day
"the black day of the German Army". The Allies slowly pushed the Germans back although at great cost. The Germans were prepated in depth. Finally British and American made huge progress in pushing the Germans back, unlike anything achieved in the previous 4 years of combat. The American actioin in the Argonne Fotest was especiallu important because they were approaching the Meuse. This unerved the German High Command. Wuth 10,000 Americans arriving in France daily, and no reserves left, the General Staff realised they would have to seak an armistice adn requested one (Septemnber 29). They informed the Kaiser thst the miitary situstion was hopeless. The Germans hoped that they would be offered an armistice based on President' Wilson's Fourteen Points. The Allies were, howevr, intent on more honerous conditions, although there was not yet buniform agreement anong the governments involved. This was not acceptable to either the Kaiser or the General Staff, but the situation began to spinout of control for the High Commnd. The sailors' revolt began in Wilhelmshaven (Novmber 29). And began to spread. The Kiel High Seas mutiny occured (November 3). The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. A republic was proclaimed and the new repoublican authorities announced the abdication of the Kaiser (November 9). Soldiers began challenging the authority of their officers. In some areas Soldiers' Councils were established, much like the process during the Russian Revolution. The Brussels Soldiers' Council was set up by revolutionary soldiers (November 9). And Max von Baden handed over the office of Chancellor to Friedrich Ebert, a Social Democrat (November 9).
Compiègne (November 8-11)
With the situation deteriorating on the front line and at home the Germans were desperate achieve a ceasefire.
Matthias Erzberger (1875-1921), a member of the Catholic Center Party wjo had opposed the War headed the delegation. (He would pay for it with his life. He was murdered in 1921). The German delegation crossed the front line in five cars late at night (November 7). They were escorted by Allied respresenatuves 10 hours across the devastated war torn area of Northern France. Germany was largely untouched by the War. They arriving in the morning (November 8). They were then taken to the secret destination aboard Allied Supreme Commanbder Marshall Ferdinand Foch's private train parked in a railway siding in the forest of Compiègne. Foch appeared on the first day to ask the German delegation what they wanted. There would be no negoitiation. When the Germans asked Marshall Foch he had an Allied offer, Foch responded, “I have no proposals to make.” His instructions from the Allied governments were to simply present a prepared an as-is deal. French General Maxime Weygand then read the terms that the Allies had decided upon to the Germans. The terms were largely written by the Allied Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch. We are not sure to what extent he cleared the terms with the Allied Governments. The terms included the cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of German forces to behind the Rhine, Allied occupation of the Rhineland and bridgeheads further east, the preservation of infrastructure, the surrender of aircraft, warships, and military material, the release of Allied prisoners of war and interned civilians, and eventual reparations. Foch left. These were military matters, but they were emormously significant because they meant that a demilitarized Germany would have to acceopt whatever the Allies demanded at the upcoming peace treaty. The Allies gave the Germans 72 hours to agree or the war would continue. The German delegation discussed the demands with British and French officers. American General Pershing was not invited. The Allies basically denmanded German demilitarization. The Allies offered nothing in return except a ceasefire which given the military situatiin was a real concession. The Allied naval blockade on Germny was not lifted until a final peace treaty was concluded. The Allies were unwilling to negotite. The Germans were only able to correct a few impossible demands, such as decommissioning more U-boats than the Kriegsmarine had. The schedule for the withdrawal from the occupied areas (Belgium, Luemnburg, and northern France) was extended slightly. The German delegation registered a formal protest at what they saw as the harshness of Allied terms. They did not say why the harshness was unfair when they had imposed even harsher conditions on Belgium, Serbia, Romania, and Russia. Clearly the Germans did not object to harsh peace terms, but only did not like them imposed on Germany. It is possible they could have refused, but the situation was even worse in the day since they deoparted Germany. Allied officers showed them Paris newspapers informing them that the Kaiser had abdicated (November 10). One te sanme day elements of the American First Armny crossed the Meuse and a whole new Amnerican Amy, the 2nd Army, began attacks supporting the American 1st Army. Chncellor Ebert instructed Erzberger to sign. The new repubkican cabinet had received a message from Hindenburg, requesting that the armistice be signed immediately even if the Allies were unwilling to negotiate.
The Götterdämmerung begun as the Allies began to crack open the vaunted Hindenburg Line. Allied offensives on the Western Front cracked the German front forcing them back toward Germany. The German Navy mutined. Riots broke out in Germany cities. A German Government was hastily formed and asked for an armistice based on President Wilson's 14 Points. After determining that the request came from a civilian German Government and not the Kaiser or German military, the Allies accepted the German offer. The gun fell silent after 4 years of vicious fighting at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (November 11, 1918). There had been over 8.5 million soldiers killed and 21.2 million wounded. The General staff informed the Kaiser that they could no longer guarantee his saftey. He abdicated and fled to the neutral Netherlands (November 28).
Casualties
The AEF sustained 264,000 casualties which including nearly 51,000 killed in action and an additional 25,000 who died as a result of disease. While the numbers were low by European standards, this was largely because the AEF only fought intensley for 3 months. Adjusted for the time engaged, American casualties were very high, in part because Pershing believed in the rifle and bayonet.
African Americans
Over 10 percent of the AEF were segregated black units. They were mostly used in non-combat roles. About 40,000 were trained as combat soldies and were were assigned to fight with French units. They thus participated in the Meuse-Argonne, bu as part of french operations. Pershing despite his Frontier expereience with Buffalo Soldiers and insistance on the AEF fighting under the American flag and commanders was satified with this arrangement. The French were glad to have them and impressed with their fighting skill. They returned to America with a host of French battle medals.
Sources
Dunbeck, Cpt. Charley. "Farewell letter to the men of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, on the eve of their demobilization, with particular attention paid to the final days of the war, and the crossing of the Meuse" (April 15, 1919).
