A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign

A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign explores the single largest and bloodiest battle in American military history, including its many controversies, in historiographical essays that reflect the current state of the field.

• Presents original essays on the French and German participation in ‒ and perspectives on ‒ this important event
• Makes use of original archival research from the United States, France, and Germany
• Contributors include WWI scholars from France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom
• Essays examine the military, social, and political consequences of the  Meuse-Argonne and points the way for future scholarship in this area

Edward G. Lengel is Professor and Editor in Chief of the Papers of George Washington documentary editing project at the University of Virginia, and has edited several volumes of the Washington Papers. He is the author of six books, including World War I Memories: An Annotated Bibliography of Personal Accounts Published in English Since 1919 (2004), To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918 (2008), This Glorious Struggle: George Washington’s Revolutionary War Letters (2008), and Inventing George Washington: America’s Founder in Myth and Memory (2011). He is editor of A Companion to George Washington (2012, Wiley-Blackwell).

Notes on Contributors viii

Introduction 1
Edward G. Lengel

Part I The Big Picture 5

1 Background to the Meuse-Argonne 7
Edward G. Lengel with James Lacey

2 Preparations 21
Brian F. Neumann

Part II Combat 37

3 The Chance of a Miracle at Montfaucon 39
William T. Walker, Jr.

4 The Battle of Blanc Mont 59
Christopher A. Shaw

5 The Lost Battalion 74
Kevin Mulberger and Edward G. Lengel

6 Clearing the Argonne 85
Edward A. Gutiérrez

7 Cracking the Kriemhilde Stellung: The Combined Actions of the 5th, 32d, and 42d Divisions 103
Nathan A. Jones

8 Storming the Heights of the Meuse: The 29th and 33d Divisions Fight for Control of the High Ground, 8–16 October 121
James S. Price

9 Breakthrough and Pursuit 140
Lon Strauss

10 African Americans in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive 159
Chad Williams

11 Heroes of the Meuse-Argonne 179
James Carl Nelson

12 “Oh, she’s a rather rough war, boys, but she’s better than no war at all”: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Diarists of the Rainbow Division 194
E. Bruce Geelhoed

Part III France and Germany in the Meuse-Argonne 213

13 The French Fourth Army in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign 215
Elizabeth Greenhalgh

14 The 111th (German) Infanterie-Regiment by Exermont 232
Randal S. Gaulke

15 The 459th (German) Infanterie-Regiment on the Hindenburg Line 248
Randal S. Gaulke

16 The German High Command during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive: 26 September−31 October 1918 266
Markus Klauer

Part IV Perspectives 285

17 “There is a limit to human endurance”: The Challenges to Morale in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign 287
Richard S. Faulkner

18 Airpower during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive: 26 September–11 November 1918 309
Thomas Withington

19 French Armored Support during the First Phase of the Campaign 325
Patrick R. Osborn

20 Artillery in the Meuse-Argonne 340
Justin G. Prince

21 Infantry Tactics in the Meuse-Argonne 357
Jeffrey LaMonica

22 Medical Support for the Meuse-Argonne 374
Sanders Marble

23 Meuse-Argonne Logistics: Barely Enough, Just in Time, Just Long Enough 390
Larry A. Grant

24 Communications in World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Campaign of 1918 410
William P. McEvoy

25 We Can Kill Them but We Cannot Stop Them: Evaluating the Meuse-Argonne Campaign 425
John D. Beatty

Part V Lessons 441

26 Changing Views on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive 443
Douglas Mastriano

27 Lessons Learned 457
Michael S. Neiberg

28 Remembering and Forgetting Meuse-Argonne: The Shifting Sands and Partitioned Perspectives of Memory 472
Kathy Warnes

29 The Greatest Battle Ever Forgotten: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive and American Memory 496
Steven Trout

Index 515

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