September 26, 1918 – Beginning of Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I

The single battle in U.S. military history that killed more Americans than any other was a 47-day battle in World War I — the Battle of the Argonne Forest, also called the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It involved 2.1 million American soldiers, claimed 26,277 American lives, and left 95,786 wounded. These are astronomical figures compared with battles today. (Germans suffered similarly staggering losses, with some 28,000 killed and 92,250 wounded.)

This largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was commanded by General John J. Pershing. U.S. losses were exacerbated by the inexperience of many of the troops, which is precisely why Churchill argued during World War II against an early attack on France by raw American troops.

American soldiers fire a 37mm machine gun while advancing in the Argonne Forest.
Source: NARA

The objective of the Meuse-Argonne attack was to capture the German railroad networks concentrated near Sedan, north of the American trenches.  These networks were the principle lines of supply and movement for the German Army in northeast France. The Allied forces reasoned that if these railroad networks were severed, the Germans would have been forced to retreat out of France and Belgium and back into Germany.

Overall, 15 US divisions were assigned to the task. But as an online “Story Maps” history about the offensive argues:

‘The Meuse-Argonne, a hilly region of forest and farms rimmed by stretches of battle-scarred wilderness, provided its German occupiers with some of the best defensive terrain on the Western Front,’ Edward Lengel wrote in his Meuse-Argonne book, To Conquer Hell.”

American troops during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, 1918. (Library of Congress)

The Germans fought ferociously, but ultimately the Allied Forces prevailed despite early setbacks.

As the Story Maps site poignantly phrases it:

After five more weeks of combat, all would again be quiet on the Western Front when the Armistice took effect on November 11, 1918.”

The Meuse-Argonne attack was notable for a number of things besides the high body count.

It was during this battle that Corporal Alvin York, famously and almost single-handedly forced 132 Germans to surrender, for which York won the Medal of Honor.

In addition, as the Story Maps site points out, the Meuse-Argonne was also a shared experience and proving ground for several of America’s top military and political leaders in the decades to follow:

• Brigadier General Douglas McArthur, who led US forces to victory in the Pacific in World War II and United Nations forces during the Korean War, was a brigade commander for the 42nd Infantry Division.
• Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, commander of the new US Army Air Service, revolutionized American military airpower and predicted the Pearl Harbor attack decades before World War II.
• Colonel George Marshall, the logistics master who orchestrated the battlefield movements for the American Expeditionary Force during the battle, was chief of staff to President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II. As secretary of state for President Harry Truman, he pioneered the Marshall Plan.
• Lieutenant Colonel George Patton led tanks into battle for the first time years before he championed armored warfare during World War II.
Captain Harry Truman was a courageous artillery officer decades before he became America’s 33rd president.”

While award-winning movies teach audiences about Dunkirk and Normandy, this significant battle is barely remembered. (It seems to take a blockbuster movie to make the difference.)

You can access an excellent online history of the battle by Richard S. Faulkner from the U.S. Army Center of Military History, with many maps and photos, here.