OFFENSIVE AT ST. MIHIEL The St. Mihiel Offensive began on September 12, 1918. It was the first operation of World War I performed and commanded solely by an American Army. The whole idea of the operation was to reduce the size of the German salient, a part of their battle line that jutted out towards allied territories. Though delayed at first by other occurring battles, the operation began on August 10, 1918 when the American First Army headquarters was set up. August 30, 1918, the First Army, under the direction of General Pershing took command of the battle front between Port sur Sielle and Verdun (see Map 1). The battle line ran from East of Verdun, South to St. Mihiel and turned West to Port sur Sielle (see Map 1). The Area itself was mostly made up of plains with some spots of woods here and there. It was all fairly low ground with large ponds and swampy areas. Holding the salient was a German force known as Army Detachment “C”, commanded by General Fuchs. Which was composed of eight divisions and two brigades, with five divisions in reserve. In the Southern most part of the salient, the Germans occupied two hills: Loupmont and Montsec, (see map 2), which made excellent defensive positions for them, and gave the Germans the high ground. The reason the salient was so important to the Germans was that it interrupted the Paris-Nancy Railroad and completely cut off the Verdun-Toul Railroad. Which gave the Germans complete control of any supplies coming into the area. The final plan for the operation called for a main drive against the Southern face of the salient, a second drive from the west and then holding attacks and raids at the tip. The I and IV Corps were going to be the main attack forces. I Corps, commanded by Major-General H. Liggett, included the 82nd, 90th, 5th and 2nd Divisions was set up on the Southern side of the salient, with the 78th, 18th and 33rd Division in reserve (see Map 2). The IV Corps, lead by Major-General Dickman was set up right along side and to the West of I Corps and contained the 89th, 42nd and 1st Divisions with the 3rd Division in reserve (see Map2). The V Corps was to be the secondary attack, set up on the west side of the salient, commanded by Major-General Cameron. It contained the 4th and 26th (Yankee) Divisions, with the 80th Division in reserve (see Map 2). Along with the American forces, the French II Colonial C... ... middle of paper ... ...also being used. 1st Division had done well supporting the troops by making ease of the passing of impassable obstacles. Though by the end of the first day, what tanks did not bog down in German trenches were now out of gas. At this point, American forces were far enough forward to see the defenses of Michel Stellung, which the Germans were still attempting to construct. The troops were halted, because of other plans which had already been made which called for them to move to a different battle. The battle of St. Mihiel ended on September 13, 1918 and because of this battle it was shown that the American Army and it’s commanders, were very much capable to handle an operation on their own. The St. Mihiel Salient which had stood for four years was now non-existent. The German front line had been drastically reduced. 15,000 Germans were captured along with 450 weapons. 7,000 Americans lost their lives, but this was deemed acceptable compared to the standards of this war. In any case, this battle showed that the American Army could handle any operation. It allowed the American Army to now take on large scale assignments and successfully fight the upcoming battles of Argone and after.
The purpose of this paper is to perform a mission command analysis of the Battle of Gettysburg, honing in on Pickett’s Charge. The Battle of Gettysburg took place on July 1st through July 3rd in 1863 in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The belligerents were the Army of the Potomac, led by MG George G. Meade and the Army of Northern Virginia, led by GEN Robert E. Lee. The goal is to analyze the decisions of GEN Lee using the six mission command principles described in the Army Doctrine Publication 6-0 and then assess the outcome of those decisions.
the 2nd phase or the mid -day phase took place at Sunken road where the Union attacked 5 times , and each time retreating. After that Finally the Confeds. Collapsed and the Union took advantage. The Union then charged down the sunken
Germany knew that an allied invasion of France was imminent. For months, allied spies and intelligence sought to leverage the knowledge gained through the invasion of Sicily and against weaknesses in the German defense of France. General Eisenhower knew that an attack on the coast would not be sufficient to invade because Germany had reserve troops and escape routes. The 101st Airborne division’s task was to seize four causeway exits because it was expected that VII Corps would have difficulty moving inland. The 101st and the 82nd were to jump in 5 hours before the landings on Omaha and Utah beach. The Pathfinders mission was crafted thr...
The positions that were held by the Americans were enviable, the line between the two Axis forces; von Arnim’s army in the north and Rommel’s in the south-central, were stretched thin and weak. The center of the Allied Forces with a significant strike would be able to pierce the defenses on the coastlines and separate them all the way to Sfax. The joint forces manned the line from the northern parts of the country to the south, with the British military undoubtedly the most prepared of the joint forces. The American military marched along with the joint forces all the way through the country of Algeria to gain control and hold strategic battle positions on the eastern part of Tunisia Dorsal Mountains. The American Army had never before engaged in any major encounters with the Germans, who would later be nicknamed “the first team”. The lack of experience will prevail once Von Angrnim’s army in the north attacks the center of the Allied Forces. A line that was enforced by the French and the American Forces failed to come to the aid of the French. The Joint Forces were not impressed by the lack of actions and effort the American Forces had shown, which created doubts within the British and French forces about their Allies of the New World. The lack of training on the maneuver and tactical side of the operations, not only left the American Forces
Life on the Western Front During World War One A dispassionate look at the numbers of the horrendous casualties sustained by the armies of the Allies and the Central Powers on the Western Front in WW1, clearly indicate that these casualties figures are far inferior to what might be anticipated if, indeed, total war had reigned in every location, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and along all the 475 miles of trenches that extended from the North Sea to Switzerland. A couple of simple examples will readily make the case. Imagine two front-line trenches separated by only 20 to 30 yards of ‘No Man’s Land’ (in some extraordinary situations, distances were even less). A determined and prolonged effort by a few hand-grenade bombers on either side could make any hope of a sustained tenancy quite impossible. Again, given the accuracy and rapidity which trench mortars could be deployed against routinely manned trenches (one battalion per 1,000 yards) and their associated dug-outs, a quite short, but determined, and mutually hostile, barrage could readily reduce both trench systems to total ruin.
The Canadians decisively defeated the Germans at Vimy Ridge. Led by Arthur Currie, a former real estate dealer who served as a commander for the 50th Highlanders and Sir Julian Byng, the two leaders were setup with a task no one accomplished. The task was to take over the northern part of Arras which was a strong area for the German defense. What the area provided was a great amount of vision that could detect potential attack and allowed the Germans to view the positioning of the Entente troops. Previously the British and French attempted to take over the heavily fortified area, but failed. To attack the controlled area would be a difficult challenge, but there was a possible way to win: careful planning. Julian Byng luckily had four divisions that were trained and could work in a unified force. The plan Byng had was to attack the German stronghold, otherwise known as the “Pimple”, within 24 hours of when the assault began. When Arthur Currie returned from a conference at Verdun, he brought along some plans to be part of the training for Vimy Ridge.
The Campaign was divided into three phases. Phase one was gaining control of southern Okinawa and the small islands nearby to develop their area of operations. During phase two, US forces had to move north of Okinawa and the island of Ie Shima to expand their control and ability to conduct attacks. Lastly, during phase three, US Forces needed to exploit enemy bases and gain control of the remaining islands in the Ryukus. Admiral Turner and General Buckner, the most experienced officers when it came to amphibious operations, were given the task to plan the mission. Unfortunately, the mission didn't work at the time, place because the 10th Army had plans to assault the western coast of Okinawa and the Hagushi beaches. After months of planning the Amphibious Commanders and the Expeditionary Forces reached all requirements, and the plan was put in place on January 6, 1945, that take over the Hagushi beaches. There were six divisions assigned to this battle; the Marines 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 96th and 77th divisions. The divisions had vast experience and had participated in recent
There were many hardships that the troops faced in and out of combat. The U.S. forces were dug in holding off the Germans, but were stuck there with disease and little food and supplies. During the winter, heavy snow storms pelted both the Germans and U.S. forces, this caused many guns, artillery, and equipment to freeze or jam and have to be thawed out. The weather in the region was supporting the Germans, while the U.S. were in thick forests and fog, so air support couldn’t be used.
Over the course of the 41 day conflict, General Patton’s Third U.S Army provided the main Allied counter attack against the German offensive. General Patton, who could be summed up by one of his own quotes, “The only way you can win a war is to attack and keep on attacking, and after you have done that, keep attacking some more,” was the brainchild behind the Allied counteroffensive. Even for Patton, the achievement of cancelling his current attack into the Saar, turning 90 degrees, and driving 100 miles North, all in 48 hours was impressive, let alone striking the ripe underbelly of the Germans flank. During the course of Patton’s assault on the German lines, he relieved Bastogne, worked with remnants of General Hodges First U.S Army and defeated Hitler’s offensive. Consequently, by the end of the Battle of the Bugle, Patton's Third Army would move farther and faster and engage more enemy divisions in less time than any other army in the history of the United States. Therefore, it can be justifiably argued that Patton’s third army provided the spearhead of Allied counter offence in the Battle of the Bulge, solidifying the Allies success in cutting off the Germans in the Ardennes, and defeating Hitlers last major offensive of the
The 77th division under the command of major Whittlesey had inexperienced soldiers put into their ranks. Major Whittlesey was given an order to advance into the argonne forest and capture the Charlevaux mill up on hill 193 hill ,and after taking casualties wished to fall back to receive supplies and reinforcements but were told that under no circumstances were they to give up ground to the germans "WE ARE NOT GOING BACK BUT FORWARD!" –General Alexander. They continued the advance into the Argonne while sustaining heavy losses to snipers and fortified german gun positions. The attack was successful and caught the germans off guard which was fortunate for them due to all the inexperienced soldiers. The battle fractured the individual units of their divisions and took the commanders a few days to regroup them back into their divisions. When they were back in their divisions the AEF attacked deep in the Argonne forest which proved to be an obstacle and caused the advance to be slow due to exhaustion, bad weather, combat stress and the constant resistance
The Allied forces spent years planning one of the battles that would eventually win France back from Nazi Germany. The landing involved 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and 150,000 service men. The service men were prepared to ride the boats across the English Channel, jump off the ramps, swim, cross the beach, and climb up the cliffs. This would be extremely dangerous because the beach offered zero protection from the small arms fire and artillery. More than 4,000 service members died during the invasion. [12] The main strategy for this invasion was the planning that was done. Even with mass casualties the Allies were still able to conquer the coast and were able to advance their invasion into France. This battle would consist of mostly American, British, and Canadian soldiers but is known as an international batter because it also included Australian, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, French, Greek, New Zealand, Norwegian, Rhodesian and Polish soldiers.
Valera states, "Eventually, more than 1,000,000 men fought for this important forest and its moral implications..." (Valera, 34). The Germans, hoping to push the Americans away from Germany, attempted a mix of a strategy of "encirclement" and a "spearhead". Encirclement was a strategy which two or more armies or detachments would go around the enemy forces, provided they were not secured on either flank, and force the enemy to fight on three or more fronts, eventually overwhelming the enemy and winning the battle. The German Armies had used this strategy multiple times, as well as the Allied forces. The most notable uses of this strategy were Stalingrad, against the Germans, the Invasion of France by Germany, and the Siege of Leningrad. Unfortunately for the Germans, the encirclement strategy failed, as the Americans had the opportunity to have supplies airdropped when the weather had calmed down. "Taking advantage of the foggy weather and of the total surprise of the Allies, the Germans penetrated deep into Belgium, creating a dent, or "bulge," in the Allied lines and threatening to break through to the N Belgian plain and seize Antwerp."(Columbia, 2017) The Germans had successfully implemented a spearhead, but had not captured the American lines to their flanks, and allowed the
forest in an attempt to cut the Allies’ armies in half. This way, the Germans would have an easier
On December 20th, 1944 in the small city of Bastogne, American forces surrounded by the enemy. A surprise and final offensive initiated the German force’s to guarantee the outcome of war. The allied forces denied the German force’s success despite having low supplies and being outnumbered. The outcome of the battle came at a large price on both sides. Luckily the they demonstrated what it means to be American Soldier and were victorious in the Siege of Bastogne. With the help of the field artillery came the victory of The Battle of the Bulge.
French Soldier Thomas has died bravely fighting for the French army. I hope I can return his journaling to his family as soon as possible. But to conclude,The Battle of the Marne saw the German attempt to win the war against the British and French in a month, failed. Instead, the German Army was forced to fall back to the line of the Aisne River, the line between the opposing sides. The British Expeditionary Force occupied positions to the north of the Marne River. The Cavalry Division lay around Lucy le Bocage on the right, the most advanced of the British formations. 5th Cavalry Brigade lay at La Baudière, just west of the Cavalry Division. All though both sides suffered many casualties, the Allies managed to conquer their