The Meuse-Argonne Offensive

 
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Maas-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of 11 November 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, and was one of a series of Allied attacks known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which brought the war to an end. The battle cost 28,000 German lives and 26,277 American lives, making it the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which was commanded by General John J. Pershing. American losses were exacerbated by the inexperience of many of the troops and tactics used during the early phases of the operation.
The Meuse-Argonne was the principal engagement of the AEF during World War I. In an interview, Paul von Hindenburg, German commanding officer, stated, “…I must really say that the British food blockade and the American blow in the Argonne decided the war for the allies” and that “… without the American troops and despite a food blockade… the war could have ended in a sort of stalemate.” Seldes, George, You Can’t Print That, Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1929, p.5.
 
Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame wrote a song about the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It is critical of the generals who made decisions that led to massive deaths. The Battle of the Argonne Forest, Garrison Keillor and Heather Masse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAExXhnDLfg. (transcribed from YouTube)
 
There was a war long years ago
All gone, all gone away
Our men shipped out to meet the dreadful foe
All gone away
Fresh uniforms, the guns all shined and new
All gone away, all gone away my boys
They marched away from the red, white and blue
All gone away
They shipped to France and fought at St. Michel
All gone away, all gone away my boys
To be baptized by cannon shell
All gone away
A million strong, they marched to the forest of Argonne
All gone away, all gone away my boys
The column stretched a good eight miles long
All gone away
General Pershing sat in headquarters far behind
And gave the order to charge the German line
All gone, all gone away
The Generals blundered and they gave the word
To charge the guns and our men were massacred
All gone away
And 26,000 men fall one fall day
All gone away, all gone away my boys
26,000 men on the cold ground lay
All gone away
It was treason to ask why good men should die
All gone away
And so the people bought a dreadful lie
All gone away
The senseless war does not grow noble with the years
Instead of flowers, we should leave our tears
All gone, all gone away.
 
One of the major stories of American combat in WWI involved “The Lost Battalion” during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Lost Battalion is the name given to nine companies of the United States 77th Division, roughly 554 men, isolated by German forces in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. Roughly 197 were killed in action and approximately 150 missing or taken prisoner before the 194 remaining men were rescued.
They were led by Major Charles White Whittlesey. On 2 October, the division quickly advanced into the Argonne, under the belief that French forces were supporting their left flank and two American units including the 92nd Division were supporting the right flank. Unknown to Whittlesey’s unit, the French advance had been stalled. Without this knowledge, the Americans had moved beyond the rest of the Allied line and found themselves completely cut off and surrounded by German forces. For the next six days, suffering heavy losses, the men of the division were forced to fight off several attacks by the Germans, who saw the small American units as a threat to their whole line.
The battalion suffered many hardships. Food was short, and water was available only by crawling under fire to a nearby stream. Ammunition ran low. Communications were also a problem, and at times they would be bombarded by shells from their own artillery. As every runner dispatched by Whittlesey either became lost or ran into German patrols, carrier pigeons became the only method of communicating with headquarters. In an infamous incident on 4 October, inaccurate coordinates were delivered by one of the pigeons and the unit was subjected to “friendly fire”. The unit was saved by another pigeon, Cher Ami, delivering the following message:
WE ARE ALONG THE ROAD PARALELL (sic) 276.4. OUR ARTILLERY IS DROPPING A BARRAGE DIRECTLY ON US. FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT.
Despite this, they held their ground and caused enough of a distraction for other Allied units to break through the German lines, which forced the Germans to retreat.
 
“The Lost Battalion”, sung by SABATON , written by Joakim Broden and Paer Sundstroem, honors the bravery and exploits of those American soldiers. https://youtu.be/7jTgkTEDDog
Far from their land as they made their stand
They stood strong and the legend still lives on
1918 the great war rages on
A battalion is lost in Argonne
Under fire there’s nothing they can do
There’s no way they can get a message through
Suffer heavy losses as the battle carries on
Liberty division standing strong
Far from their land as they made their stand
A disregarded demand
It’s surrender or die and the stakes are high
They live or they die, there’s no time for goodbye
Weapon in hand, they made their stand
Still disregarding demand
They would never comply, they would rather die
Broke through the blockade, they were finally saved
Friendly fire munitions running low
The supplies, they were dropped upon their foe
1918 the war still rages on
The battalion still trapped in the Argonne
Chose not to surrender, they chose victory or defeat
 
Fallen brothers resting by their feet
Far from their land as they made their stand
A disregarded demand
It’s surrender or die and the stakes are high
They live or they die, there’s no time for goodbye
Weapon in hand, they made their stand
Still disregarding demand
They would never comply, they would rather die
 
Broke through the blockade, they were finally saved
Far from their land as they made their stand
A disregarded demand
It’s surrender or die and the stakes are high
Live or die, who can tell there’s no goodbye
With weapon in hand, they made their stand
Still disregarding demand
They would never comply, they would rather die
 
They stood strong and the legend still lives on
Suffered heavy losses through the great war they stood strong
But the memory of the fallen still lives on
Far from their land as they made their stand
A disregarded demand
It’s surrender or die and the stakes are high
They live or they die, there’s no time for goodbye
Weapon in hand, they made their stand
Still disregarding demand
They would never comply, they would rather die
Broke through the blockade, they were finally saved
Alvin York, one of the most notable members of the AEF, took part of the Battle of Argonne Forest. York, a corporal, was part of a small squad of 16 that was ordered to try to eliminate German machine guns that were tying down larger American units that were launching an offensive. The squad snuck behind the Germans and attacked them from the rear. Initially, they captured the German command post and took prisoners, including the comanding officer, a major. Leaving some of the squad to guard the prisoners, York and others proceeded to attack the machine guns. Six Americans were killed and several wounded during the assault on the machine guns. York was the only American left in fighting condition. He, single-handedly, captured several machine gun units. All in all, York and his mates killed 28 Germans, captured 35 machine guns and took more than 130 prisoners. Although others contributed to success of the battle and, indeed were awarded medals, Alvin York received the most notoriety. He was promoted to sergeant and received the Medal of Honor for his deeds of October 8. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre and several other medals. In 1941, Hollywood made a movie of York’s exploits starring Gary Cooper as York. Cooper received the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. (http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/1900s/p/World-War-I-Sergeant-Alvin-C-York.htm; http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/sgtayork.htm; http://www.military.com/HomePage/TitleHistories/1,10982,100053%7C968351,00.html)