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 ...
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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 ...
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First Army was ready.
At nightfall on September 11, infantrymen along with tanks and all other equipment, began to make their way to the front line. Once arrived, the Americans noticed no visible sign of life from the German trenches. 0100 hours, the sky was lit by friendly artillery fire, with the intent to soften the area, and make the advance as easy as possible. The shelling lasted until 0500 hours, at which time the IV Corps stormed Montsec (see Map 2).
While making their way forward, American troops were forced to maneuver over and around what was left of any remaining obstacles. What was left was quickly cut, climbed, or at some points jumped over. “Americans were well ...
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"Offensive At St. Mihiel." Essayworld.com. February 25, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Offensive-At-St-Mihiel/60885.
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