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Offensive At St. Mihiel

OFFENSIVE AT ST. MIHIEL
The St. Mihiel Offensive began on September 12, 1918. It was the first operation of World War I performed and commanded solely by an American Army. The whole idea of the operation was to reduce the size of the German salient, a part of their battle line that jutted out towards allied territories. Though delayed at first by other occurring battles, the operation began on August 10, 1918 when the American First Army headquarters was set up.
August 30, 1918, the First Army, under the direction of General Pershing took command of the battle front between Port sur Sielle and Verdun (see Map 1). The battle line ran from East of Verdun, South to St. Mihiel and turned West to Port sur Sielle (see Map 1). The Area itself was mostly made up of plains with some spots of woods here and there. It was all fairly low ground with large ponds and swampy areas.
Holding the salient was a German force known as Army Detachment "C", commanded by General Fuchs. Which was composed of eight divisions and two brigades, with five divisions in reserve. In the Southern most part of the salient, the Germans occupied two hills: Loupmont and Montsec, (see map 2), which made excellent defensive positions for them, and gave the Germans the high ground. The reason the salient was so important to the Germans was that it interrupted the Paris-Nancy Railroad and completely cut off the Verdun-Toul Railroad. Which gave the Germans complete control of any supplies coming into the area.
The final plan for the operation called for a main drive against the Southern face of the salient, a second drive from the west and then holding attacks and raids at the tip. The I and IV Corps were going to be the main attack forces. I Corps, commanded by Major-General H. Liggett, included the 82nd, 90th, 5th and 2nd Divisions was set up on the Southern side of the salient, with the 78th, 18th and 33rd Division in reserve (see Map 2). The IV Corps, lead by Major-General...