First Phase
September 26 – October 4, 1918
As the first of three phases of the offensive, the Allied forces marched through the Argonne Forest towards the Meuse River on September 26, 1918.
At roughly 5:30 am under light rain and fog, the American infantry advanced first with the 157th and 158th brigades. With “only light contact ahead of the first German line,” the initial attack was quick, allowing Germans to fire heavy artillery four hours later. Pre-targeted by German defenses, the low ground of the terrain was turned into a “killing zone,” momentarily halting American advance altogether. Despite formidable resistance, the American forces penetrated defense lines the following day. While General Pershing’s army fully seized the hill mass of Montfaucon, casualties rates worsened overtime, units were disorganized, “out of support and sustenance.” As a result, AEF headquarters began the mobilization of veteran divisions from St. Mihiel into the battlefield in preparation for the next phase [1]. |
Sources:
- Chambers and Anderson, The Oxford Companion to American Military History, 431.