The St Mihiel Offensive I have added this post as the 100th anniversary of the beginning of this battle is this Wednesday, September 12th. In an August 26th post, if you look back, you will find a short video about the Battle of St. Mihiel.
The U.S. Army Center of Military History is running a great series of writings on World War I. Any of us can download PFDs of each of the series for FREE. This week is about the Battle of St Mihiel, considered the first modern battle for our doughboys. Below is the Center's Facebook post and link to the free PDF. Enjoy! My uncle was in this battle. Perhaps one of your relative were also. Comment below if you have discovered his or her service at St Mihiel. After this battle the 347th Machine Gun Battalion pushed on to Gesnes, France where Josh's lieutenant, H.W. Price, was injured while attacking the village.
"ST. MIHIEL, 12-16 SEPTEMBER 1918
Called by some historians it “America’s first truly great modern battle”. The St. Mihiel Offensive, 12-16 September 1918 demonstrated that the Americans were capable of operating as an independent command. This pamphlet is the seventh installment of the U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I series,
For your copy: https://history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/77/77-7.html "
Here is a nibble, the first paragraph:
"Early in the morning of 12 September 1918, nearly half a million American soldiers crouched in forward trench lines along a sixty- five-kilometer section of the Western Front, waiting for the signal to advance. The target of the American-planned and American- executed operation was a massive salient that had bedeviled the Allies since late 1914. Until this point in the World War, members of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) had not fought in a formation larger than a corps, and then only under French or British leadership. Now, as part of the newly formed American First Army under the command of General John J. Pershing, they prepared to launch an operation that was, according to one historian, “America’s first truly great modern battle.” The four-day offensive would not only serve as a baptism of fire for the First Army but also demonstrate to the Allies and the Germans alike that the Americans were capable of operating as an independent command. The action showed how far the U.S. Army had progressed in its evolution from a frontier constabulary to a modern combined arms maneuver force, and it helped set the stage for the grand Allied offensive that would seize the initiative all along the Western Front and blaze a path toward ultimate victory in the war."
The U.S. Army Center of Military History is running a great series of writings on World War I. Any of us can download PFDs of each of the series for FREE. This week is about the Battle of St Mihiel, considered the first modern battle for our doughboys. Below is the Center's Facebook post and link to the free PDF. Enjoy! My uncle was in this battle. Perhaps one of your relative were also. Comment below if you have discovered his or her service at St Mihiel. After this battle the 347th Machine Gun Battalion pushed on to Gesnes, France where Josh's lieutenant, H.W. Price, was injured while attacking the village.
"ST. MIHIEL, 12-16 SEPTEMBER 1918
Called by some historians it “America’s first truly great modern battle”. The St. Mihiel Offensive, 12-16 September 1918 demonstrated that the Americans were capable of operating as an independent command. This pamphlet is the seventh installment of the U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I series,
For your copy: https://history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/77/77-7.html "
Here is a nibble, the first paragraph:
"Early in the morning of 12 September 1918, nearly half a million American soldiers crouched in forward trench lines along a sixty- five-kilometer section of the Western Front, waiting for the signal to advance. The target of the American-planned and American- executed operation was a massive salient that had bedeviled the Allies since late 1914. Until this point in the World War, members of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) had not fought in a formation larger than a corps, and then only under French or British leadership. Now, as part of the newly formed American First Army under the command of General John J. Pershing, they prepared to launch an operation that was, according to one historian, “America’s first truly great modern battle.” The four-day offensive would not only serve as a baptism of fire for the First Army but also demonstrate to the Allies and the Germans alike that the Americans were capable of operating as an independent command. The action showed how far the U.S. Army had progressed in its evolution from a frontier constabulary to a modern combined arms maneuver force, and it helped set the stage for the grand Allied offensive that would seize the initiative all along the Western Front and blaze a path toward ultimate victory in the war."
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