Saint-Mihiel, 12–16 September 1918
From 12 to 16 September 1918 the US First Army under General John J. Pershing, with French support, attacked the Saint-Mihiel salient south-east of Verdun — the first offensive planned and led by an American army. Striking from the south and west as the Germans were already withdrawing, the Americans met at Vigneulles on the morning of the 13th, took some 15,000 prisoners and freed the salient in two days, then halted to move north for the Meuse-Argonne.
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The battle, stage by stage
- 11 September 1918, night
The salient
Since 1914 the Germans have held a 200-square-mile bulge in the French line, its point at Saint-Mihiel on the Meuse, cutting the Paris–Nancy railway and covering the fortress of Metz. Pershing's newly formed US First Army — 550,000 Americans and 110,000 French — is to pinch it off in the first major operation planned and run by an American army. The main blow will fall on the south face, a supporting attack on the west face along the Meuse heights, while the French hold the point. Unknown to the Allies at first, Army Detachment C has already begun pulling back to the Michel Line across the base.
- 12 September, 1 AM – evening
Over the top
At 1 AM some 2,900 guns open a four-hour bombardment. At 5 AM, in rain and fog, I and IV Corps go over the top behind a rolling barrage, cutting through the wire with wire-cutters, bangalore torpedoes and sheer numbers; Patton's Renault light tanks bog down in the mud but keep up. The 2nd Division takes Thiaucourt before noon; the 42nd and 89th reach Pannes, Essey and Euvezin; the 1st takes Nonsard. At 8 AM V Corps attacks from the west face. By evening most second-day objectives are already taken.
- 12–13 September, night
Race for Vigneulles
Learning that the Germans are streaming out of the salient, Pershing orders the 1st and 26th Divisions to close the trap at Vigneulles that night. A regiment of the 26th marches through the dark along the Grande Tranchée de Calonne, past Hattonchâtel, and enters Vigneulles at about 2:15 AM; patrols of the 1st Division's 28th Infantry arrive from the south a few hours later. The jaws have met.
- 13 September
The trap closes
With the roads cut, German units left inside the salient surrender in thousands. The French II Colonial Corps presses in on the point; IV and V Corps join hands along the line Vigneulles–Hattonchâtel. In two days the salient has been wiped out.
- 14–16 September
Halt before the Michel Line
The French enter Saint-Mihiel, liberated after four years. American patrols probe the Michel Line and some officers believe Metz itself could be taken, but Pershing halts as agreed: in ten days his army must be in place for the far bigger Meuse-Argonne offensive. The operation has cost about 7,000 American casualties; the Germans lost about 2,000 killed, 5,500 wounded and 15,000 prisoners, with 450 guns. Billy Mitchell's 1,481 Allied aircraft made it the largest air operation of the war.
Paintings and photographs
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