Throughout the years we have heard stories of the Meuse Argonne Offense and all the casualties it created, but it has never been specific facts of the events that happen. There were approximate 600,000 troops for the offense. That is without counting the artillery part which it was an extra 3,980 personnel. This was part of the movement towards the offense that was implemented by General Pershing. Meanwhile they were in route and arrive to the offense General Pershing was not counting in the weather, which it started raining and the soldiers walked the route implemented which it was about 60 miles of mud that did not help the movement to Meuse Argonne and made them an easier target because of their limited mobility and their lack of knowledge of the area (Clodfelter, 2007). The York battalion joins the battle to help with General Pershing’s plan. The Argonne was a valley flanked by thick forest to one side and the Meuse River on the other. This terrain provided an excellent defensive position for five divisions from General Pershing. Flush with victory, Pershing's objectives for the first day of the attack were extremely optimistic and called for his men to break through two major defensive lines dubbed Giselher and Kreimhilde by the Germans. In addition, American forces were hampered by the fact that the majority of the soldiers that were about to participate in the battle had not yet seen combat.
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Attacking at 5:30 AM on September 26 after a prolonged bombardment by 2,700 guns, the final goal of the offensive was the capture of Sedan which would cripple the German rail network. The initial assault made so...
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... Expeditionary Force. American losses were exacerbated by the inexperience of many of the troops and tactics used during the early phases of the operation. Germans losses numbered 28,000 killed and 92,250 wounded. Coupled with British and French offensives elsewhere on the
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Western Front, the assault through the Argonne was critical in breaking German resistance and bringing World War I to an end (Clodfelter, 2007).
Throughout this period it makes me thing that the start of a new era of tactics started like METT-TC and similar types of methods use now day for the advantage of battle. Implementing those TTP’s will had help with the Argonne battle and would help midi gate with the amount of casualties that this battle created.
Planning is one of the, if not the most, important element of war. This is why the hard-work Canadian military forces put into planning for the attack on Vimy Ridge earned the nation much deserved respect in the eyes of other countries around the world. Germany captured Vimy Ridge early in the war and made it into a strong defensive position, consisting of a huge system of tunnels and trenches manned by soldiers with machine guns and artillery pieces. Previous Allied attacks on Vimy Ridge in 1914 and 1915 had cost the British and French hundreds of thousands of casualties and had been mostly unsuccessful.The planning and preparations for the attack were extensive, and time consuming. The Canadians were trained rigorously. Models of...
In order to receive a victory in the Battle of the Bulge, General Patton used Mission Command Analysis in order to understand how he can be successful for this mission. The first thing of understanding t...
(1). The Battle of Arracourt took place in Arracourt, Lorraine Province, France. The Province of Lorraine was along the shortest route from Normandy to Germany through France. Arracourt was a small town located on the Mosselle River on the French and German border. The principle adversaries in the Battle of Arracourt were General George S. Patton’s 3rd U.S. Army led by the 4th Armored Division. The 3rd Army had more than 160,000 Soldier, 1,500 Artillery pieces, and 930 Sherman...
World War I is marked by its extraordinary brutality and violence due to the technological advancement in the late 18th century and early 19th century that made killing easier, more methodical and inhumane. It was a war that saw a transition from traditional warfare to a “modern” warfare. Calvary charges were replaced with tanks; swords were replaced with machine guns; strategic and decisive battles were r...
The purpose of this speech for the class is to gain better knowledge of one of the most tragic and devastating battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge.
By December 1914 the First World War had reached a dilemma on the western front that neither the triple entente nor the triple alliance had expected. The war had reached a stalemate, a state where both sides are so evenly balanced that neither can breakthrough against the enemy. The advances in Technology played a big role in creating the stalemate through strong defensive weaponry such as Machine Guns and Artillery, this caused ‘trench warfare’ (BOOK 48). Trench war is when troops from both sides are protected from the enemy’s firepower through trenches. Many advances in technology also attempted to break the stalemate throughout the war with tanks, gas and aircraft, these however failed. Eventually the stalemate was broken through a combination of improved technology, new strategies and the blockading of the German ports.
Keegan chooses the three well documented campaigns of Agincourt in 1415, Waterloo in 1815, and Somme in 1916 to answer the question of his thesis: To find out how men who are faced with the threat of single-missile and multiple-missile weapons control their fears, fix their wounds, and face their death. In his words he is seeking “to catch a glimpse of the face of battle.”
The Operation Overlord, the D-Day in 06 June 1944, was an allied invasion against the German forces occupying France through the joint and combined efforts of the British, Canadian and American forces. The invasion was considered “the greatest amphibious invasion force in history involving nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in occupied France.” (US History, 2014) It was claimed that the allied forces have successfully made through with their primary plan objective of seizing and securing the beachheads of Normandy despite the huge casualties and damages. In that regard, this study will try to review and reexamine the events or activities that had contributed substantially
...6 wounded. The Battle Okinawa lost two of the highest ranking officers to die during WWII, with both Commanding officers dying in the Battle. The battle of Okinawa was an example of applying lessons learned and TTP’s in previous battles along with sound leadership and effective training that ultimately led to the Americans victory. Even without normal intelligence assets the Americans adapted their own TTP’s and used other assets to cover missing intelligence gaps on the battle field.
Trench warfare was going on the whole of WWI, yet the the bigger battles only occurred at specific times. In the book, Trench Warfare 1914-1918, Ashworth focuses on trench warfare since he believes that it is “the larger part of the total war experience” (p. 2).
It is far easier for us in the present than it was for those at Gettysburg, to look back and determine the path that the leaders should have taken. As students, studying battles such as this, we have the advantage of hindsight, knowing the outcome. Nonetheless, we can still learn valuable lessons from it. To do so, this analysis will explore some of the decisions of the leaders at Gettysburg, and how they were affected by the operational variables. This essay will scrutinize some of the leaders at Gettysburg, and the impact of their actions. The outcome of this analysis will show that what was true in 1863 is still true today. While many variables are vital to a successful army on the battlefield, none should be neglected. Each variable discussed in this examination will prove to be important, but the information battle will be paramount in the battle of Gettysburg.
In the spring of 1940 Europe was enveloped in war. The German military machine had already conquered Poland, Denmark, and Norway. However, not content with northern and eastern expansion, Adolf Hitler wanted to control the western countries in Europe. Hitler had long been obsessed with attacking and controlling France. After their defeat in World War I, the German people, government, and military were humiliated by the enormous post war sanctions leveraged against them from the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to defeat and humiliate the French people in the same way that his country had to experience. For him, revenge was necessary. The German plan was to swing into France using a new tactic know as Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War”. Blitzkrieg used speed and surprise along with highly concentrated tank corps, supported by mechanized infantry and airplanes.
The largest airborne operation ever organized, Market-Garden cost the Allies between 15,130 and 17,200 killed, wounded, and captured. The bulk of these occurred in the British 1st Airborne Division which began the battle with 10,600 men and saw 1,485 killed and 6,414 captured. German losses numbered between 7,500 and 10,000. Having failed to capture the bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, the operation was deemed a failure as the subsequent offensive into Germany could not proceed. The failure of Market-Garden has been attributed to a multitude of factors ranging from intelligence failures, overly optimistic planning, poor weather, and the lack of tactical initiative on the part of commanders. Despite its failure, Montgomery remained an advocate of the plan calling it "90% successful."
they led to the success of the Allied forces. It will also discuss how the
Samuel B. Griffith’s translation of “Sun Tzu: The Art of War” is an inside look at military practices of today. I did not find one technique that is not or would not be utilized in modern military maneuver, leadership, or training. The most astounding fact is that the Art of War was written well over two thousand years ago, even at the most conservative date. Although most of the techniques in this text are already in practice today, the value of “The Art of War” is a never-ending treasure chest of knowledge, and it deserves a place as a required reading for anyone seeking knowledge about war fighting or the history of war.