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The Meuse Argonne Offensive

In this week in military history, we look at one of the largest offensives in American Military History – that of the Meuse–Argonne campaign. The Meuse-Argonne offensive began on September 26, 1918 and lasted until Armistice Day (November 11, 1918) and was one of the final conflicts of the Western Front during WWI. The ambitious campaign featured 37 French and American divisions. The goal was to cut off the German second Army, intercepting communication and disrupting supplies to the German forces. General John J. Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force (also known as the A-E-F) were the main ground attack forces, making this the largest American-lead offensive of World War I. Over one million American soldiers participated in this campaign. Using tanks, aircraft, mustard gas and phosgene shells, the Allies had to fight through hills and woods that the German forces had fortified for years. They fought through a rain, mud, wired traps, machine gun stations and a German army unwilling to surrender. The AEF was also inexperienced, with many divisions unable to work effectively. Yet the Allies had the advantage of new and fresh AEF troops while the German army was exhausted from four years of brutal combat. Pershing reorganized his men, and after heavy fighting, the Argonne forest was cleared by the third week of October. By then, the AEF was a well-trained and well-organized machine, and their advance was unstoppable. By November 4, they had taken the Meuse River. One week later the Armistice was signed, and World War I was over. This campaign however came at a horrific cost . The Meuse-Argonne offensive resulted in over 350,000 killed and wounded including 28,000 Germans, 26,277 Americans and an unknown number of French lives. Thousand more were wounded and many became ill from the onset of the "Spanish flu," the global influenza outbreak. More than half of those who died lay in rest at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in eastern France. Join us next time for another segment of This Week in Military History with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library!.