Battle of Saint-Mihiel

The Battle of Saint-Mihiel took place at the end of World War I. It was fought between the American Expeditionary Force, reinforced with French troops, and the German 5th Army, near the town of Saint-Mihiel, between the Meuse and the Moselle River, France, from September 12 to September 15, 1918. The US and French forces were commanded by General John J. Pershing, and the 5th Army by Georg von der Marwitz. The US Army Air Service also participated in this battle, which resulted in an American victory. The American Expeditionary Force had been beefed up with two tank battalions, which were equipped with 144 French-built FT-17 tanks, under the command of Colonel George S Patton.

Saint-Mihiel was a Western Front salient in the lines which jutted out into the American-held sector. Defended by 10 infantry divisions of the German 5th Army, Saint-Mihiel was strategically important for the Anglo-American-French allies. In order to continue with the Hundred Days Offensive, which had been launched on August 8, 1918, by French General Ferdinand Foch, the Americans had to attack and reduce the bulge in the lines. Before the American Expeditionary Force's operation began, the Germans set up a series of trenches protected with barbed wire and machine-gun nests. The battlefield terrain included the nearby buildings and houses of three villages: Vigneulles, Thiaucourt, and Hannonville-sous-les-Cotes, lying between aforementioned rivers. Their capture was important, too, because it would accelerate the envelopment of the German divisions near Saint-Mihiel. The US forces planned to breach the trenches and then advance along the enemy’s logistical road network.

Summary

The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was initiated on the morning of September 12, 1918, with a three spearheads assault on the salient. The main attack was carried out against by two American corps against the German positions on the south. On the right was the I Corps, which was deployed from right to left in the following order: the 82d, 90th, 5th, and 2d Divisions in line with the 78th in reserve. It covered a front from Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle westward to Limey. On the left, the IV Corps (from right to left the 89th, 42d, and 1st Divisions in line with the 3rd in reserve) extending along a front from Limey westward to Marvoisin.

The third thrust was diversionary and it was carried out against the west side, along the heights of the Meuse, from Mouilly north to Haudimont, by the V Corps (from right to left the 26th Division, the French 15th Colonial Division, and the 8th Brigade, 4th Division in line with the rest of the 4th in reserve). A holding attack against the apex, to keep the enemy in the salient, was made by the French II Colonial Corps (from right to left the French 39th Colonial Division, the French 26th Division, and the French 2d Cavalry Division in line). In First Army reserve were the American 35th, 80th, and 91st Divisions.

Under the command of Georg von der Marwitz, 10 German divisions from Army Detachment C, 5th Army, defended the salient. By this time in the war, the Germans were exhausted and desperately short of manpower, and they began a step-by-step withdrawal from the salient only the day before the offensive began. The attack went so well on September 12 that Pershing ordered a speedup in the offensive. By the morning of September 13, the 1st Division, advancing from the east, joined hands with the 26th Division, moving in from the west, and before evening all objectives in the salient had been captured. At this point Pershing halted further advances so that American units could be withdrawn for the coming offensive in the Meuse-Argonne sector.

Below, map of the battle field in the Meuse-Moselle region. The town of Saint-Mihiel, which is inside the salient on the German side of the front, is clearly marked.

Colonel George S. Patton, commander of the FT-17 tank unit, which played an important role in breaching the German lines.