U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I

ST. MIHIEL, 12�16 SEPTEMBER 1918

ST. MIHIEL, 12-16 SEPTEMBER 1918

Donald A. Carter

U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I
CMH Pub 77-7, Paper
2018; 61 pages, illustrations, maps, further readings

GPO S/N: 008-029-00635-9

Meuse-Argonne: 26 September�11 November 1918 is the eighth installment of the U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I series, covering the American Expeditionary Forces� (AEF) participation in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive�the most vital American military contribution to the Allied effort during the war. On 26 September 1918, the American First Army launched a massive attack between the Argonne Forest and the Meuse River northwest of the French town of Verdun. The narrative of this volume spans the forty-seven days of the AEF�s key role in the Grand Allied Offensive on the Western Front, designed to stretch the German Army past its breaking point. From the outset, the inexperienced Americans faced a determined enemy on daunting terrain, with both natural and manmade fortifications that would challenge the First Army�s ambitious operational plan. Although heavy casualties, troop exhaustion, and tangled logistics slowed the AEF�s initial momentum, the doughboys capitalized on the strength of their manpower and firepower, as well as their newfound combat experience, to press forward and turn the Germans out of their defenses. By the time that the Armistice was signed on 11 November, the U.S. Army had been tested in the fire and proved itself capable of waging a modern industrialized war. Moreover, through its tenacity and sacrifices, it had secured a major role for the United States in crafting the peace that followed.

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