Photo Credit: Bayonets glinting in the sun, greatcoat-wearing American troops advance near the Somme in September 1918 at the beginning of the massive Meuse-Argonne offensive.

Pershing’s Hammer: The Meuse–Argonne Offensive

Following the success of the lightning American assault on the St. Mihiel salient, AEF commander John J. Pershing launched an even larger attack through the heavily forested Meuse-Argonne section of northeastern France.

This article appears in: Winter 2011

By William Stroock At 0100 hours on September 12, 1918, German positions in the St. Mihiel salient on the Western Front were lit up by a massive artillery barrage. In all, more than 3,000 Allied guns of all sizes and calibers bombarded the previously quiet position. To the Germans’ surprise, the barrage ceased after only four hours, and American troops on the north and south sides of the salient emerged from their positions and started the perilous trek across no-man’s-land. The Germans wer