The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, lasting from 26 September 1918 through the end of World War I on 11 November 1918, was part of the grand Hundred Days Offensive that broke the back of German resistance on the Western Front and led to armistice negotiations. Planned by Colonel George C. Marshall, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, like the Battle of St, Mihiel before it, would be a joint Franco-American operation, with the fifteen over-sized American divisions of the American Expeditionary Force attacking along with the thirty-one smaller divisions of the French Fourth and Fifth armies. In support of these forty-six divisions, the Allies provided almost 2800 artillery pieces, 380 tanks, and 840 aircraft. The opposing Germans, on the other hand, were a mixed bag of units under Gallwitz' Fifth Army; while a total of forty-four divisions were encountered by the Allies, many of these were severely understrength, with the best units at only 50% of their paper strength. Morale was also wildly variable, with units recently arrived from the Eastern Front in high spirits and veteran units that had been in the west since 1914 having very poor morale. Marshall's plan called for the AEF to attack up the left bank of the Meuse into the Argonne forest with I, III and V Corps while across the river the French XVII Corps and the AEF's IV and VI Corps would feint to keep the Germans in those zones pinned in place. On the left flank of the Americans, Gouraud's French Fourth Army would attack across the more open ground along the line Monthais - Vouziers - Chemery - Sedan.
In the first phase, which lasted from 26 September though 3 October, results were initially mixed; while I Corps and III Corps took all of their first-day objectives, V Corps had much tougher going. The [37th Infantry Division|37th} and 79th Infantry Divisions failed to take Montfaucon, the 28th Infantry Division made no progress against furious German resistance, and the 91st Infantry Division was ejected from Epinonville by a German counterattack. The next day even less progress was made; although the 79th finally took Montfaucon and the 35th the village of Baulny, the latter was savagely counterattacked by the German 5th Guards and 52nd Divisions. The 35th having run out of food and ammunition, it was shattered by the German attack and only saved from complete annihilation by a scratch force consisting of its engineer regiment, divisional machine gun battalion, and a battery of artillery led by Captain Harry S. Truman. After this debacle, the 35th was pulled out of the line and did not return to battle, although elements of the division did see further action. Meanwhile, the French under Gouraud, spearheaded by two regiments of black troops of the 93rd Infantry Division who had been rejected by the AEF and attached to the French 157th "Red Hand" Division. The 371st and 372nd regiments struck deep into the German lines, penetrating the defnses to a depth of nine miles, taking 1100 casualties while inflicting heavy losses on the defending Germans. Hundreds of prisoners, machine guns and mortars were seized, along with vast quantities of engineering supplies, an ammunition depot, and dozens of artillery pieces.
The second phase (4-28 October) began with the withdrawal of the original assault divisions (the 35th, 37th, 79th and 91st) and their replacement with the 1st, 3rd, and 32nd divisions. The Big Red One created a gap in the lines when it outraced its flank units by a mile and a half while engaging three German divisions; it was during this attack that the episode of the Lost Battalion occurred as well as the battalion's rescue by the 28th and 82nd Divisions on October 7th after those divisions had moved into the gap created by the 1st. The AEF then engaged in a series of bloody frontal assaults on 14-17 October that broke the Hindenburg Line and allowed the Americans to clear the Argonne forest by the end of the month. Sergeant Alvin Cullium York of the 82nd won the Congressional Medal of Honor on October 8, having captured 132 German soldiers in the process of attacking a group of machine gun nests that had stopped the advance of his regiment cold. Meanwhile, the French had reached the Aisne River.
In the final phase (26 October - 11 November) the AEF reorganized into two armies: the First under General Hunter Liggett and the Second under General Robert Bullard. The First would continue the advance toward Sedan, supporting the French drive on that city, while the Second advanced east toward Metz. The First drew first blood, breaking the German defenses at Buzancy and enabling the French to cross the Aisne and capture Le Chesne. The French would take Sedan on 8 November while the AEF captured the surrounding hills; fighting stopped on 11 November when word of the Armistice reached the front.
The Meuse-Argonne was noted as the bloodiest single battle in United States military history to that point; it is also significant as being the first battle of the Browning Automatic Rifle, which replaced the notoriously unreliable French Chauchat. There is an American cemetery outside Romagne-sous-Montfaucon that holds over fourteen thousand American World War I dead, mostly from this battle, including air ace Frank Luke and Corporal Freddie Stowers of the 371st Infantry, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1991 for his courage and leadership under fire on Hill 188.
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