Meuse-Argonne 26 September-11 November 1918

Author / Creator

Faulkner, Richard Shawn, author

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Online

Physical

Summary

On 26 September 1918, the American First Army launched a massive attack between the Argonne Forest (Forêt d'Argonne) and the Meuse River northwest of the storied French town of Verdun. By the time ...

On 26 September 1918, the American First Army launched a massive attack between the Argonne Forest (Forêt d'Argonne) and the Meuse River northwest of the storied French town of Verdun. By the time that the Germans agreed to an armistice forty-seven days later, the Meuse-Argonne Campaign would gain the distinction of being the largest and most costly military operation in American history. Over a million American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, as well as 135,000 French soldiers, participated in the offensive. Although the First Army had committed to this battle long before most of its doughboys had mastered the skills required to fight a mass industrialized war, the Americans persevered and gradually ground down the German units opposing them. Unfortunately, this approach came at a high price: 26,277 men killed and another 95,786 wounded as the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) learned how to wage a modern war against a skilled opponent.

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