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We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of the start of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Posted on 9/12/18 at 1:41 am
Posted on 9/12/18 at 1:41 am
I stumbled across a video on YouTube from the channel We Are the Mighty called, "Top 10 Most Intense Battles in US History." The video has gotten nearly 160,000 views and yet fails to rank what was probably THE most intense battle in US history: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 1918.
Aside from the fact that it was the bloodiest battle our nation has ever fought (over 120,000 American casualties with nearly 27,000 of those being KIA), its intensity is notable as it lasted for less than two months. I had two great-grandfathers fight in the battle, with one of them coming out of the fight permanently debilitated thanks to a German gas attack.
The centennial of the start of the battle is officially September 26, but at about this time 100 years ago, American forces were gearing up for what was the largest offensive ever undertaken by our boys up to that point in time.
An American machine gun position in the Argonne Forest (1918)
Aside from the fact that it was the bloodiest battle our nation has ever fought (over 120,000 American casualties with nearly 27,000 of those being KIA), its intensity is notable as it lasted for less than two months. I had two great-grandfathers fight in the battle, with one of them coming out of the fight permanently debilitated thanks to a German gas attack.
The centennial of the start of the battle is officially September 26, but at about this time 100 years ago, American forces were gearing up for what was the largest offensive ever undertaken by our boys up to that point in time.
An American machine gun position in the Argonne Forest (1918)
5
Posted on 9/12/18 at 2:27 am to RollTide1987
The casualty numbers sustained by combatants during WW1 seem unbelievable in modern times. On July 1, 1916 the British lost 57000 men on the first day of The Somme offensive. Over the next several months until November when the battle ended the number of casualties on both sides was over 1,000,000.
This post was edited on 9/12/18 at 2:28 am
Posted on 9/12/18 at 5:03 am to RollTide1987
Sabaton-Lost Battalion
This post was edited on 9/12/18 at 5:09 am
Posted on 9/12/18 at 9:36 am to fr33manator
The A&E movie about The Lost Battalion is still one of my favorite war movies. It came out in 2001 and starred Rick Schroeder.
Posted on 9/12/18 at 10:40 am to RollTide1987
The French and British were shocked at how fast the American Soldiers threw themselves into battle. That said, they lost huge amounts of Soldiers themselves in gigantic campaigns like the Sommes and Verdun. I believe more British Soldiers were killed in the Sommes than all American fatalities (Union/Confederate combined) in the entire US Civil War. Unbelievable.
Given the previous experience of the US Military, WWI was a huge deal. The war didn't have as much overt social/political impact as WWII, but its significance is very much overlooked by most treatments of American history.
Given the previous experience of the US Military, WWI was a huge deal. The war didn't have as much overt social/political impact as WWII, but its significance is very much overlooked by most treatments of American history.
Posted on 9/12/18 at 11:13 am to RollTide1987
My great-grandfather was an artillery gunner in the 65th Coastal Artillery Regiment. He arrived in France on June 4, 1918. He was in the Battle of St. Mihiel in August and September 1918, and in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive from September - November 1918. I was fortunate enough to have inherited his Victory Medal and the slide rule he used to measure distance/angle/range for the artillery.
quote:
The casualty numbers sustained by combatants during WW1 seem unbelievable in modern times. On July 1, 1916 the British lost 57000 men on the first day of The Somme offensive. Over the next several months until November when the battle ended the number of casualties on both sides was over 1,000,000.
One of my wife's (no pics) great-great uncles was killed on September 27, 1916 at the Somme. He was in the West Yorkshire Regiment of the British Army and is buried in France.
[/img]This post was edited on 9/12/18 at 11:23 am
Posted on 9/12/18 at 11:27 am to tigahbruh
quote:
The French and British were shocked at how fast the American Soldiers threw themselves into battle.
The Americans hadn’t learned the lessons yet that the French and British had over a couple of years of battle. Namely that running into artillery and machine gun fire is just suicide.
Posted on 9/12/18 at 11:32 am to RollTide1987
Harry Truman fought in this offensive.
This post was edited on 9/12/18 at 11:32 am
Posted on 9/12/18 at 11:48 am to tigahbruh
quote:
Given the previous experience of the US Military, WWI was a huge deal. The war didn't have as much overt social/political impact as WWII, but its significance is very much overlooked by most treatments of American history.
It reunited the country after the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Posted on 9/12/18 at 11:56 am to gorillacoco
"Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" Sgt Dan Daly, USMC, two time Medal of Honor recipient.
Posted on 9/12/18 at 12:03 pm to Jim Rockford
For the most part, that was already achieved, but they did use a lot of symbolic methods to reinforce that fact.
Hence: Camp Beauregard and other bases named after Confederate generals. Also the 42nd Division- called the Rainbow Division because "it covered the nation like a rainbow" by combining National Guard units from North, South, and West.
Hence: Camp Beauregard and other bases named after Confederate generals. Also the 42nd Division- called the Rainbow Division because "it covered the nation like a rainbow" by combining National Guard units from North, South, and West.
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