Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook462 pages4 hours
American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War: The Meuse Argonne 1918: Breaking the Line
By Maarten Otte
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Although the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began in late September 1918 and continued through to the Armistice, was not the first major action fought by the AEF, it was the greatest in which it engaged in the Great War. Indeed, the casualty count in the fighting at the Meuse-Argonne makes it the bloodiest battle in American military history.
The Argonne was an area that had been heavily fought over, particularly in the early part of the war; its eastern part, towards the Meuse, then became enveloped in the first great attritional battle of the war, Verdun. The area is marked by extensive woodlands and rolling countryside; however, unlike the Somme, it is interspersed with numerous waterways, deep ravines and higher ridges, along with significant hills, such as at Montfaucon.
To be frank, the opening stages of the Offensive were marked by considerable unforced difficulties for the Americans, who after all were facing a far from strong enemy opposition (however formidable the defensive line might have been). Errors were made, logistical problems multiplied, command was often less than satisfactory. In many respects this should not have come as a surprise: this was an army that was relatively new to the Western Front, which was being reinforced at an awesome rate (approximately 300,000 men a month by July) and whose senior commanders had never before faced the challenges of modern warfare, themselves evolving at a dizzying rate.
Maarten Otte gives a background narrative to events before the opening of the Offensive and its development. Taking each of the US corps in turn, he then provides tours that will help the visitor to understand the fighting and the problems that were faced. This opening book on the Meuse-Argonne takes the reader, more or less, to the date when General Pershing handed over command of the US First Army to Major General Liggard in mid October, a change in command that marked a significant improvement in the American performance as they pushed the Germans ever backwards.
The Great War battlefield of the Argonne is marked by numerous physical remains of the war, some fine (some might argue over grandiose) monuments and by the stunning American cemetery at Romagne, the second largest in the world administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. There is much to see in a battlefield that has been largely neglected in the decades since the Second World War.
The Argonne was an area that had been heavily fought over, particularly in the early part of the war; its eastern part, towards the Meuse, then became enveloped in the first great attritional battle of the war, Verdun. The area is marked by extensive woodlands and rolling countryside; however, unlike the Somme, it is interspersed with numerous waterways, deep ravines and higher ridges, along with significant hills, such as at Montfaucon.
To be frank, the opening stages of the Offensive were marked by considerable unforced difficulties for the Americans, who after all were facing a far from strong enemy opposition (however formidable the defensive line might have been). Errors were made, logistical problems multiplied, command was often less than satisfactory. In many respects this should not have come as a surprise: this was an army that was relatively new to the Western Front, which was being reinforced at an awesome rate (approximately 300,000 men a month by July) and whose senior commanders had never before faced the challenges of modern warfare, themselves evolving at a dizzying rate.
Maarten Otte gives a background narrative to events before the opening of the Offensive and its development. Taking each of the US corps in turn, he then provides tours that will help the visitor to understand the fighting and the problems that were faced. This opening book on the Meuse-Argonne takes the reader, more or less, to the date when General Pershing handed over command of the US First Army to Major General Liggard in mid October, a change in command that marked a significant improvement in the American performance as they pushed the Germans ever backwards.
The Great War battlefield of the Argonne is marked by numerous physical remains of the war, some fine (some might argue over grandiose) monuments and by the stunning American cemetery at Romagne, the second largest in the world administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. There is much to see in a battlefield that has been largely neglected in the decades since the Second World War.
Unavailable
Author
Maarten Otte
Maarten Otte is a long time resident of the Argonne. Growing up in the Netherlands with a fascination with the Great War, particularly the role of the United States. He has published books on Nantillois in 1918 and on US Medal of Honor winners.
Read more from Maarten Otte
The American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War: Meuse Argonne 1918: Breaking the Line Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meuse Heights to the Armistice: The American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe St. Mihiel Offensive: 12 to 16 September 1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Expeditionary Forces in WWI, Meuse-Argonne: Montfaucon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Franco-Prussian War, 1870–1871: Touring the Sedan Campaign Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBelleau Wood and Vaux: 1 to 26 June & July 1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War
Related ebooks
Frankforce and the Defence of Arras 1940 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Somme 1916: Touring the French Sector Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of the Lys, 1918: South: Objective Ypres Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe French on the Somme: From Serre to the River Somme: August 1914 – 30 June 1916: Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of the Lys, 1918: South: Objective Hazebrouck Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilfred Owen: On the Trail of the Poets of the Great War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gold Beach: Inland from King, June 1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anzac: Sari Bair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canal Line: France and Flanders Campaign 1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dunkirk Perimeter and Evacuation 1940: France and Flanders Campaign Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFort Douaumont: Revised Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Somme 1916—The Butte de Warlencourt: Martinpuich & Le Sars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYpres 1914: The Menin Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOperation Goodwood: Attack by Three British Armoured Divisions - July 1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walking Gallipoli Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVillers-Bretonneux: Somme Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Battle for the Escaut, 1940: The France and Flanders Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aisne 1914 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ypres 1914: Langemarck Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ypres 1914: Messines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vimy Ridge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking In the Footsteps of the Fallen: Verdun 1916 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRorke's Drift: Zulu War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Retreat of I Corps 1914 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking Ypres Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPozieres Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Krithia: Gallipoli Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNijmegen: US 82nd Airborne & Guards Armoured Division Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBruneval Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Pursuit of Hitler: A Battlefield Guide to the Seventh (US) Army Drive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews