Battle Of The Bulge Research Paper

Since the beginning of the humanity, human nature revealed man himself has an internal instinct to protect their immediate surroundings and fellow man from harm. Conflict and deceit dates back to the first man and woman sitting in a garden under an apple tree. It is important to understand that conflict breeds war and war breeds death. This paper will provide an understanding of historical precedents contributing to the evolution of field artillery. From the first fire mission, to an informative narrative from the Battle of the Bulge, to include emerged implications playing a major role in today's modern battlefield. To this day, field artillery Soldiers remain King of Battle, now follow me.

Beginning in colonial times, American artillery

has served as coastal artillery to defend the coasts, siege artillery to bombard fortifications, garrison artillery to defend land fortifications, and field artillery to support infantry and cavalry. (Army Combat Branches: Artillery).

During the beginning stages of the American field artillery's, the branch traveled in tandem with the infantry onto the linear battlefield. In the eighteenth century, field artillery’s primary mission when called upon was to soften the front lines of an opposing force with massing of direct fires, since the infantry muskets of early years could only range 50 to 100 yards somewhat accurately. According to McKenney (2007), “The maximum range of field artillery cannons, depending upon size, was from 1,200 to over 2,000 yards; however, with untrained Soldiers and imperfect weapons, the effective range was actually about 400 yards” (p.12).. This ensured that the cannons could provide mass fires on enemy lines without putting the cannons or their crew in danger from enemy fire, but that was about to change.

The 1850s brought with it the introduction of a new battlefield weapon, the rifled musket, with greater effective ranges than the smooth bore musket. Early into the Civil War, the field artillerymen learned the hard way that they could not position their cannons within range of the enemy. This transformed the role of the field artillery from an offensive to a defensive role, and that too was about to change.

The field artillery needed a breakthrough, anything to get out of the defensive role, and back onto the offensive, while maintaining safety of their equipment and Soldiers. With developments of rifled cannon bores, recoil systems, breech‐loading systems, cartridge ammunition, and high explosives, all which dramatically enhanced the range and lethality of rounds sent down range. Just like that, the field artillery again, is back on the offensive, but nothing has transformed the artillery more so than SGT Milton W. Humphreys.

An 18 year old, Confederate SGT, SGT Milton W. Humphreys known locally in Fayetteville, West Virginia for being somewhat of child genius, credited with the innovation of indirect firing. On May 16, 1863 while under attack at the Federal Fort of Fayetteville, SGT Humphreys decided he would put his theory to the test. According to Walls (2017), Humphreys wrote:

“The term 'indirect fire' is firing upon a point or place (A) from a point (B) which is not visible to people at (A). It is necessary, of course that the trajectory or path of the projectile should pass above the top of the 'mask' or intervening object. I claim no credit for the 'invention'; the thing is so obvious. In fact, if I invented it, I did not do it at Fayetteville, but in my day-dreams when I was about 8 years old”. (p.1).

SGT Humphreys contribution to the field artillery revolutionized the way artillery batteries fought in every conflict since the inception of indirect fire. Many conflicts commenced since, with many Soldiers paying the ultimate sacrifice in battle. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne division, screaming eagles, led by Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, unlike no others, gave their all for what many may call the “Ardennes Offensive” the largest battle the United States Army has ever fought, most commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge.

Early on the cold and bitter winter morning of December 16, 1944 at 0530 hours, more than 200,000 German troops and close to a 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last-ditch effort to reverse the way the war was going, which began when Allied troops landed in France on D-Day. According to Battle of the Bulge (n.d.) Adolf Hitler was:

Seeking to drive to the coast of the English Channel and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a 75-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four divisions that had not seen battle; mixed with those that were fatigued from fighting and recovering. (p.1).

The German offensive opened with a heavy barrage on the 6th Panzer Army's front. German forces were pushing forward conducting an all-out assault against American positions, located along the Elsenborn Ridge and Losheim Gap attempting to break through to the city of Liège. The Americans fired roughly 11,500 defensive artillery rounds from Elsenborn Ridge. The Germans pushed through the Allied front line, which created a “Bulge”. Meeting heavy resistance from the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions, the Germans had to commit their tanks into battle. In the center of the bulge, German troops opened a gap through the 28th and 106th Infantry Divisions. They captured two U.S. regiments in the process; increasing pressure on the town of St. Vith.

The Germans created a special task force of Soldiers to impersonate American Soldiers, in an attempt to aid their advancing units. The special task force salvaged U.S. uniforms from the dead and captured, while driving captured U.S. or German vehicles modified to look like U.S. ones. Most, if not all the Soldiers selected for this special task force spoke English. Their mission was to forward through any holes created in the Allied line, capturing key terrain, crossroads, bridges, and to cut or destroy any communication lines or equipment they came across.

Therefore, only a handful of these fake U.S. troops actually accomplished their mission by penetrating the Allied lines, but word of their existence quickly spread. The U.S. Soldiers started to combat this tactic by questioning any unfamiliar person in an U.S. uniform, to confirm if the men were actually American Soldiers or German spies. The unfamiliar personnel had to prove that they are American Soldiers by answering detailed questions about American movie stars or baseball players. Most Germans would not be able to answer those questions correctly or understand the questions, even if their comprehension of the English language was sound. This approach at times was counterproductive, as not all American Soldiers retained knowledge or interest in these two categories.

In the north, the German Sixth S.S. Panzer Army element encountered fierce American resistance and did not advance anywhere near their mission objective. However, the southernmost German forces, the Seventh Army, made very slow progress due to the small number of tanks. Only the central German Force, the Fifth Panzer Army succeeded in making a breakthrough in the Allied line, after a successful blitzkrieg-style attack racing west towards the city of Bastogne. The German advance, assisted by bad weather kept Allied airplanes from being able to launch attacks.

On December 17, “Eisenhower and his commanders concluded that the attack was an all-out offensive rather than a local assault and began rushing reinforcements to the area”. (Hickman 2017). The overall Commander of the glorious 101st Airborne division, Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, ordered his paratroopers to hold the crossroads of Bastogne at all cost. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne division arrived and occupied Bastogne just ahead of the Germans on 19 December, allowing minimal but ample time for the paratroopers to dig in, and begin emplacing a defensive perimeter around the town.

Consequently, the Germans were not able to penetrate from the east, resulting in the Germans being redirected around Bastogne. By 21 December, Germans forces completely surrounded Bastogne. The following morning the Germans decided to send forward a message to General McAuliffe, saying they have surrounded his division and the situation at hand was pointless, demanding the screaming eagles surrender. General McAuliffe’s reply was “Nuts!”, nevertheless his position at Bastogne, now surrounded; they were crazy to think that the 101st Airborne Division would surrender.

While the siege of Bastogne was under way, the German panzer divisions continued west toward the Meuse River, which was their final objective. Due to the unwavering dedication and refusal to relinquish an inch of ground to the German Soldiers, their tanks began to run out of fuel. A break in the weather on December 23rd allowed the American aircraft to start bombing German tanks and infantry, this day proved to be a vital turning point during the Battle of the Bulge.

The last German attack against Bastogne took place on 4 January 1945.

That same day the German Command ordered the attempts to capture the city come to a halt, ordering a retreat. Instantaneously, the German Soldiers quickly withdraw from their remaining positions surrounding the Bulge. On 16 January 1945, Allied troops attacking from the north edge of the Bulge, linked up with those coming from the south edge, when those two elements crossed paths, the battle was over. The successful defense of Bastogne was one of the main reasons the German forces failed to break out of the “Bulge” to accomplish their main objective. During the Battle of the Bulge, the field artillery was the decisive factor, since troops could not receive air support. These Redlegs fired over 1,255,000 rounds from 4,155 guns over a 31-day

campaign.

Conclusion

This paper discussed the history of exceptionally brave and strong-willed Soldiers for their contributions and sacrifice to the field artillery branch.

From the first fire mission tactics and techniques, with the emphasis relying heavily on volume of fires over accuracy, to today's emphasis that relies mainly on accuracy and safety with the implementation usage of precision guided munitions. Identifying lessons learned from a complete in-depth synopsis within the Battle of the Bulge, played a key role in developmentally reshaping the field artillery branch as a whole going forward. The field artillery branch continues to maintain and develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for today’s and future field artillery Soldiers, never relinquishing the crown as deemed to be, King of Battle, now follow them.

References

Army Combat Branches: Artillery. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2017, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/army-combat-branches-artillery

Battle of the Bulge. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2017, from https://www.army.mil/botb/

Hickman, K. (n.d.). Battle of the Bulge: Germany's Last Major Offensive of World War II. Retrieved April 23, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/battle-of-the-bulge-2361488

McKenney, J. E. (2007). The organizational history of field artillery 1775-2003. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army.

Walls, K. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2017, from

http://www.americanroads.net/civil_war_trail_spring2014.htm