Maarten Otte

Although the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began in late September 1918 and continued through to the Armistice, was not the first major action fought by the AEF, it was the greatest in which it engaged in the Great War. Indeed, the casualty count in the fighting at the Meuse-Argonne makes it the bloodiest battle in American military history. The Argonne was an area that had been heavily fought over, particularly in the early part of the war; its...

Any visitor to the site of the bloodiest battle in the history of the United States will be drawn to Montfaucon, for it is here that General Pershing, the Commander in Chief, determined that the major memorial to the American Expeditionary Forces would be sited. The impressive classical column, erected on the summit of Montfaucon Hill, can be seen from many parts of the battlefield of the Meuse-Argonne 1918. The village of Montfaucon, perched on and...

The Americans had considerable initial success when they launched their huge offensive against the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne in the last days of September 1918. However, not everything went smoothly and the attack became bogged down, held up by the several lines of the Hindenburg System and logistical challenges. A major additional obstacle was the presence of batteries of German artillery on the high ground on the right bank of the Meuse, almost...