mincao

On September 12, 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces under commander in chief General John J. Pershing launched their first major offensive in Europe as an independent army. General Pershing had placed the first American troops to land in Europe completely at the disposal of Marshall Ferdinand Foch, commander in chief of the French forces. Foch required immediate reinforcement of his troops in the Aisne-Marne region to halt the German Army's move towards Paris.

The Town Square of St. Mihiel, France

The American troops fought in the trenches alongside the fatigued French forces at the Battle of Belleau Wood and the Second Battle of the Marne. Once the allied French and American forces had succeeded in halting the German advance in the Aisne-Marne area, Foch and Pershing agreed that the First U.S. Army would establish a headquarters in the Saint-Mihiel sector. The German Army had occupied the area in fall 1914, and fortified the triangular wedge between Verdun and Nancy known as the Saint-Mihiel salient, effectively preventing rail transport between Paris and the Eastern Front.

<td valign="center" align="middle" width="150">

</td>

On August 13, 1918, the U.S. First Army established a separate front facing the Saint-Mihiel salient to prepare for the long-planned assault, intending to make a push through Metz across the Rhine River into Germany. Pershing hoped to bring the war to an end in 1919, but he did not expect to defeat the German Army as early as November.
In planning the assault, the United States military had a new weapon, the armored tank. General Pershing created the U.S. Tank Corps, committed for use in support of the Infantry, under the command of the brilliant and aggressive young lieutenant, George S. Patton. Patton had been training the tank brigades throughout the summer of 1918. In the St. Mihiel offensive, the American Expeditionary Forces utilized with resounding success the armored fighting tank brigades as a substitute for the cavalry.

Tank Ploughing Its Way Through a Trench and Starting Toward the German Line,
During World War I, Near Saint Michel, France, 1918.

On September 12, 1918, the tanks began to move forward, ploughing over the trenches, with the infantry close behind. The bad weather which followed in the next few days proved a more formidable enemy than the German Army. Torrents of rain turned the fields to mud and the trenches to water-filled ditches. A number of tanks were stuck.

The Germans turned the situation to their advantage by creating more "water tank traps" to stop the advance. In spite of these adverse conditions, the First Army's attack on both faces of the salient succeeded. By September 16, 1918, this area of France was liberated from German occupation.

Following the successful purging of the Saint-Mihiel salient, the American forces shifted to a new front to participate in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, again using the U.S. Tank Corps. The combined Allied offensive successfully forced the German retreat. By October, the defeat of the German Army was certain. The "Great War" came to an end with the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918.

Fresnes-en-Woevre, in the St. Mihiel Sector Where Terrific Fighting Took Place

The Americans who participated in the liberation of France were deeply shocked to see the devastation suffered by the French civilians, who had lost their homes, their livelihood, and their lives during the war. The compassion of the soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces for the French people generated many popular songs such as the example shown below, "The Tale the Church Bell Told."

In the shattered part of France,
In the very heart of France,
A soldier from a Yankee shore,
Lay dreaming by an old church door,
From the belfry in the sky,
He thought he heard the old bell sigh:

I was lonely in the steeple,
How I missed the birds of spring,
Looking down upon my people,
It just broke my heart to ring,
Through the din of cannon thunder,
I could hear the cries of young and old,
Someone will answer for this violence,
Answer for my silence,
That's the tale the church bell tolled.