Osprey Publishing - With their bare hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the battle for Montfaucon

Dedicated to the memory of Sergeant Oscar Lubchansky (later, Lobe) 18961958

Company G, 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Division, American Expeditionary Forces

It seems to me proven that the Infantry of the 79th Division attacked the strong German machine gun positions with very little artillery support, and to this fact is due its disorganization and failure to take its objectives.... To recapitulate, the infantry of the 79th Division attempted to capture the German positions with their bare hands.

Colonel C.F. Crain, 79th Division Field Notes, May 16, 1919

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Osprey Publishing,

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2017 Gene Fax

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ISBN: 978-1-4728-1923-9 (HB)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1925-3 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1924-6 (ePDF)

Maps drawn by Dan Mooney, Harwich Port, MA, based on originals from the American Battlefield

Monuments Commission.

Quoted materials from Donald Smythe, Pershing: General of the Armies (Indiana University Press, 1986) reprinted with permission of Indiana University Press.

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Front Cover: Company G, 313th Infantry, in the Troyon sector. (AHEC)

Translation of Hebrew verse on final page: This book is complete and done, Praise to God the

Eternal Lord. And with gratitude to my parents, my teachers and my wife; I am Elyakim Getzel ben David Tzvi.

The following will help in converting measurements:

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Friends, family, historians, librarians, and archivists have been unfailingly helpful and encouraging throughout the twenty-year process of writing this book. Christina Holstein, Shreedhar Kanetkar, Neil Grauer, John Claussen, Teo Dagi, David Diamond, Philip Fishman, and my brother Chuck read all or portions of the book and offered valuable comments and criticism. Chuck, Ingrid Ferrand, and Rob de Soete walked the battlefield with me. Robert Ferrell, professor of history emeritus at Indiana University; Douglas V. Johnson II, formerly of the US Army War College; and Jonathan Sarna, professor of history at Brandeis University gave of their knowledge and enthusiasm. I owe a special debt to Brigadier General (ret.) Robert A. Doughty, formerly of the US Military Academy, who introduced me to then-Lieutenant Colonel Frdric Guelton of the Service Historique de lArme de Terre (now the Service Historique de la Dfense). Colonel Guelton in turn gave me access to the files of that formidable institution. Other archivists who helped me unstintingly were Richard J. Sommers and David Keogh of the Military History Institute (now the US Army Heritage and Education Center); Susan Lintelmann of the US Military Academy; Tim Nenninger and Mitchell Yockelson of the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park; and the indefatigable staff of the NARA reading room. Mitch, Robert Doughty, and Dennis Showalter, professor of history at Colorado College read the manuscript, for which much thanks. Emmanuel Dumas obtained from the Bibliothque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine relevant portions of the histories of over twenty German regiments; Julie Allen and Neil Berkowitz translated the blackletter text into English. The research staff of the Newton (Massachusetts) Free Library never failed to locate a document I requested, however obscure. Others who supplied me with materials were the late Hannah Zeidlik, who told me the whereabouts of General Kuhns papers, and Betty K. Boothe, who sent me materials on Tenney Ross, her great-great-uncle. Therry Schwartz, the late Len Shurtleff of the Western Front Association, and the late Sydney Wise of Carleton University inspired me early in the process. The book has benefited immensely from the scrutiny of my agent, Leila Campoli of Stonesong, and of Kate Moore and Laura Callaghan of Osprey Publishing. Errors of fact or judgment are my own. My great appreciation goes as well to the 3M Company, inventors of Post-It Notes; how were books written before they existed?

Finally, I cannot thank enough my wife Ruth, who inspired me to undertake this project in the first place, who read several versions of the manuscript, and whose love and patienceand occasional impatiencewere crucial to its completion.

MAPS

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

Times

From September 16, 1918, through October 5, French and German clocks showed the same time. From October 6 through November 11, German clocks were ahead by one hour; i.e., when French clocks showed noon, German clocks showed 1:00 p.m. Times herein have been adjusted where necessary to conform to French clocks.

In World War I the United States Army had not yet standardized its notation for clock time. A given time might be recorded in war diaries, field messages, and operations reports as 6:15 p.m., 18 H 15, 18:15, or variations on all of them. To accommodate the lay reader, this work expresses times (except in direct quotations) using the conventional 12-hour clock.

Distances

The AEF used both English and metric units in designating distances. I use English units (yards, miles) for distances over the ground, such as the width of a front or the depth of an advance. I use metric units (meters, kilometers) for distances that are specified in orders, such as artillery firing ranges or intervals between units, or that are contained in direct quotes.