Battle of Cantigny

The Battle of Cantigny was a WW1 military engagement between the US Army's 1st Infantry Division and the German 82nd Division (18th Army), on May 28, 1918. Cantigny was a town in northern France, situated several miles south of Amiens. The result of the battle was a clear American victory as the US forces managed to take and secure that town and the German positions beyond it.

The German 18th Army, under Oskar von Hutier, had taken part in Operation Michael, during the German Spring Offensive, which had begun in March 1918. However, it ran out of steam as the Imperial German Army units were stopped by the Allied stiff resistance and counterattacks. The German 270th, 272nd, and 271st Regiment (from 82nd Division, 18th Army) were able to hold and keep the town of Cantigny and the area around it, which constituted a large bulge in the front line that slighty protruded into the Allied-held land. The commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, John Pershing, and his French counterpart drew a plan to reduce it by a surprise assault on the German positions.

Summary of the battle

Supported by French tanks and aircraft, the AEF's 28th Infantry Regiment (of the 1st Infantry Division, led by Robert Lee Bullard) launched an assault on the positions of the German 272nd Infantry Regiment (82nd Division), at the Montdidier salient, right outside of Cantigny, at 06:45 hours, on May 28, 1918. The US offensive was coordinated with the American and French creeping artillery barrage that landed ahead of the advancing troops.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalion of the US 28th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, attacked on the German line at daybreak. This vicious and surprise assault was supported by tanks and flamethrowers that tore out gaps in the enemy line. At about 13:00 hours on the same day, Cantigny fell in American hands. In the afternoon, the German would launch two counterattacks, but they were successfully repelled as the US forces managed to hold the town and the territory beyond it.

Below, a map shows the location of the French town of Cantigny and the opposing forces positions, with the front line separating them.

Below, two US 1st Infantry Division soldiers a few days before the battle

Attack on Cantigny (real WW1 footage)