AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

WORLD WAR I BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

WWW.ABMC.GOV
AEF INSIGNIA

These are the insignia of American armies, corps, divisions, 

headquarters, and special units serving in Europe during World War I. 

In World War I, Americans found the British Army with numerous unit 

and special troop insignia, and adopted their example. The first may 

have been the 81st “Wildcat” Division. Frequently ABMC cemeteries 

and monuments incorporate these insignia in their design to indicate the 

participation of specific units in a campaign or battle.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

AMERICAN BATTLE

MONUMENTS COMMISSION

WWW.ABMC.GOV

The American Battle Monuments Commission, guardian of America’s overseas 

commemorative cemeteries and memorials, honors the service, achievements and 

sacrifice of the United States armed forces. Since 1923, ABMC has performed this duty 

in three ways.

 Building and maintaining suitable memorial shrines, in the United States when 

authorized by Congress, and where U.S. forces have served overseas since April 6, 1917.

 Designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining permanent American military 

cemeteries in foreign countries.

 Supervising the design and construction on foreign soil of American military 

memorials, monuments, and markers by other American citizens and organizations, 

both public and private, and encouraging their maintenence.

In performance of its mission, the ABMC administers, operates, and maintains 26 

permanent American military cemeteries and 29 federal memorials, monuments, and 

markers. Three memorials are located in the United States. The remaining memorials and 

all of the ABMC cemeteries are located in 15 foreign countries, the U.S. Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the British dependency of Gibraltar.

The World War I and World War II cemeteries, together with the three memorials on 

U.S. soil, also commemorate by name those U.S. service members who were missing in 

action, or lost or buried at sea during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and 

the Vietnam War. More than 200,000 U.S. war dead from World War I and World War II 

are commemorated at ABMC sites; this includes nearly 31,000 interments and more than 

4,400 memorializations for World War I, and more than 93,000 interments and nearly 

79,000 memorializations for World War II.

 Introduction

 1918: 

The American Expeditionary Forces Go To War

 Cantigny:

Baptism of Fire

 Chateau-Thierry & Belleau Wood: 

Defense of the Marne

 The Aisne-Marne Offensive: 

Going on the Attack 

 St. Mihiel Salient: 

The American First Army Tested

 The Somme: 

Breaking the Hindenburg Line 

 American Expeditionary Forces in Belgium: 

Operations in Flanders

 Willing Patriots: 

Soldiers of Color in the American Expeditionary Forces 

 Meuse-Argonne Offensive I: 

H-Hour to Montfaucon 

 Meuse-Argonne Offensive II: Montfaucon to Romagne

 Heroes of the Argonne Forest: 

The Lost Battalion; 368th Infantry; Sergeant York

 American Expeditionary Forces Farther Afield:

Operations in Italy and Russia

 Sustaining the American Expeditionary Forces:

Support for the Fight

 Paris: 

City of Light

 American Women in the Great War:

They Also Served

 Remembering Their Sacrifices:

The AEF Memorial in Pershing Park

CONTENTS

Introduction

Acknowledgments 

This guide was produced by ABMC Deputy Secretary Robert Dalessandro and ABMC Chief Operations 

Officer John Wessels, with the assistance of ABMC staff members Alec Bennett, John Brown, Mike Conley, 

Edwin Fountain, Sarah Herrmann, Michael Knapp, and Eric Marr. The guide was materially enhanced 

by additional contributions from Mike Hanlon and Catch Graphics. Further support of this project from 

ABMC staff members Manon Bart, Jessica Cawley, Astrid Gaudefroy, Amy Kalajainen, Alec Rosati-Hohensee, 

Andrew Santora, Michael Shipman, and Jason Thompson was essential to the finished product.

St. Mihiel Salient Aisne-Marne Offensive & Belleau Wood Chateau-Thierry Cantigny 1918: The AEF Go To War Introduction
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Montfaucon American Monument

INTRODUCTION

In this centennial year of victory in World War I, the American Battle 

Monuments Commission is dedicated to commemorating the service, 

achievement and sacrifice of the American armed forces, and the armed 

forces and citizens of the Allied nations, through memorial programs and 

commemorations at American cemeteries and monuments in Europe. 

ABMC’s founding Chairman, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, 

defined our mission with the words, “Time will not dim the glory of their 

deeds.” His vision has been followed now for nearly a century, with the 

creation and maintenance of monuments and cemeteries that mark the 

achievements of American men and women in protecting our nation, and 

that serve as fitting reverent memorials to the fallen.

We are equally committed to contributing to the written history of these 

events. General Pershing guided our agency in drafting the history of 

American forces in World War I, making it accessible and affordable for 

common Americans. First among these publications, American Armies and 

Battlefields in Europe, published in 1927 with a second edition in 1938, serves 

as both a comprehensive history and as a travel guide, directing visitors to 

historic sites, battlefields, monuments, and cemeteries of World War I.

This World War I Battlefield Companion follows the agency’s tradition of 

telling the story of the American Expeditionary Forces of World War I. This 

centennial year will witness commemorations and memorial ceremonies at 

American historical sites throughout Europe.

Using this battlefield companion as a guide, travelers will be able to find 

their way to key American battle sites and cemeteries. It will give them a 

better understanding of the history behind the monuments and memorials.

Today, 100 years later, we can proudly say, time has not dimmed the glory 

of their deeds.

William M. Matz

Secretary

American Battle Monuments Commission

Introduction Introduction
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Paris

Bern

Brussels

London

FRANCE

SWITZERLAND

ITALY

SP

MEDITERRANEAN

 SEA

ATLANTIC 

OCEAN

E N G L I S H C HA N N E L

BELGIUM

NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

U.K.

Western Front as of 

March 20, 1918

By early 1918, Europe had been at war 

for over three years, but the United States 

had yet to make a significant contribution 

to the Allied cause against Germany. The 

United States had entered the war less than 

a year before, provoked by German U-Boat 

operations on merchant vessels en-route 

to Britain that led to American loss of 

life. Americans were also angered by the 

Zimmermann Telegram, a secret German 

diplomatic note that proposed a military 

alliance with Mexico if the United States 

entered World War I. In return, Germany 

would help Mexico recover its lost territory 

from the nineteenth century MexicanAmerican War which became the states of 

Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The United States declared war on April 

6, 1917. That summer, a small force of 

American soldiers was sent to Europe. 

Training camps throughout the United 

States were rapidly filling out with 

volunteers and draftees. By the fall, 

divisions of newly trained soldiers began 

leaving the camps, headed for ships to 

transport them across the Atlantic. As 

winter progressed, ever increasing numbers 

of soldiers were heading “over there” for 

further training. 

In January 1918, the Germans doubted 

American intervention would be decisive 

in the next year. At the time there were 

only six partial U.S. divisions in France. 

While hundreds of thousands of men were 

in training in the United States, many 

doubted they would arrive and deploy to 

the front in enough strength to matter. 

There was not enough equipment to outfit 

or transport them. The Germans were 

still hopeful that their submarines would 

effectively interdict transatlantic troop 

transports.

The Yanks Are Coming!

General John J. Pershing, commander of 

the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) 

planned to send soldiers to Europe with 

minimal equipment. American production 

of weapons was limited, although 

increasing. Its production of heavy 

weapons was almost non-existent. Without 

such heavy weapons aboard, transport 

ships were able to carry more troops. The 

French arms industry provided most of the 

1918: THE AMERICAN 

EXPEDITIONARY FORCES GO TO WAR

General John J. Pershing, commander of the 

American Expeditionary Forces.

1918: The AEF 

Go To War St. Mihiel Salient Aisne-Marne Offensive & Belleau Wood Chateau-Thierry Cantigny 1918: The AEF Go To War
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

artillery, machine guns, mortars, tanks and 

aircraft used by the AEF. Notable examples 

included the Chauchat light machine gun, 

the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun, and 

the quick-firing 75 mm field gun famously 

known as the “French 75.” Most American 

tanks were French-made Renault FT17s armed with either the Hotchkiss 

machine gun or a 37 mm cannon. The 37 

mm cannon was also used as an infantry 

support weapon against pillboxes and 

fixed positions. American troops attached 

to British forces made use of Lewis light 

machine guns and Vickers heavy machine 

guns. Some American tank units used 

the British Mk 4 and Mk 5 heavy tanks. 

American flyers trained and fought in 

French and British aircraft. 

It took time for the AEF to equip and train 

divisions sufficient to take over significant 

sectors of the Western Front. Pershing’s 

goal was to have the AEF take over a major 

sector in Lorraine. To sustain the necessary 

buildup, Americans improved French 

western ports, rail lines and road links 

supporting the chosen sector. Pershing 

initially planned to take over an area from 

south of Verdun on the Meuse River to 

Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle River. He 

husbanded his troops to assume control of 

that sector, and was reluctant to commit 

divisions to major Allied operations during 

his buildup.

AEF Training and Supply

Once in France, American troops ideally 

underwent comprehensive and progressive 

training. More than 60 specialized schools 

and camps for artillery, infantry, and other 

arms and services were established. Here 

British and French instructors, increasingly 

replaced by Americans as time went on, 

drilled details with respect to weapons and 

tactics. When basic and small unit training 

was complete, battalions went into the 

AEF scout planes at an airfield in France.

American flyers trained 

and fought in French and 

British aircraft. 

line with Allied units in quiet sectors for 

operational seasoning. After serving up to 

a month in the trenches, these battalions 

returned to their divisions to further train 

as combined arms teams and in division 

maneuvers. This reflected Pershing’s 

emphasis on open warfare. He believed the 

war could only be won if the enemy was 

forced out of his defenses and defeated in 

battles of maneuver.

Ideally the average American combat 

soldier had six months of training in the 

United States, two months of training in 

France, and one month of experience at 

the front before being committed with 

his division to combat. Training in new 

technology was even more intense for the 

U.S. Air Services and the Army’s Tank 

Corps. The Services of Supply developed 

as an independent major command. This 

was an enormous logistical organization 

that handled all aspects of transportation 

and supply. One third of AEF soldiers were 

in its support services, in addition to over 

20,000 American civilians.

Advanced artillery and chemical warfare 

created the need for specialized individual 

protective equipment. By the time America 

joined the war, frontline troops were 

provided with helmets and gas masks. 

The AEF chose the British M-1916 Brodie 

pattern shrapnel helmet as its principal 

headgear. This marked the first time that 

a helmet was standard equipment for 

the U.S. Army. The distinctive wide brim 

provided improved protection against 

shrapnel. This pattern, slightly modified, 

remained in American use until the early 

1940s.

Most American troops were issued a 

version of the British Small Box Respirator, 

or SBR. This consisted of a filter canister 

attached by a flexible hose to a rubberized 

cotton mask. The mask fully covered 

the face and had glass eye pieces. The 

SBR proved effective against the types of 

gas used during the war, but was prone 

to fogging up quickly, making vision 

difficult. It also required the wearer to 

keep a mouthpiece in his mouth, making 

communication difficult. American 

industry improved upon the SBR with 

American artilleryman serves a French-built howitzer.

1918: The AEF 

Go To War Introduction 1918: The AEF Go To War
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

a larger facemask and slightly improved 

mechanics. Additionally, some American 

soldiers were issued the French M2 gas 

mask. This did not have a filter, but was a 

cotton mask with glass eyepieces. A lighter 

mask, it was often used against smoke and 

tear gas when the wearer did not want to 

be encumbered with the larger SBR. It too 

was prone to fogging, and became hard 

to use after several hours of wear. British 

and French veterans taught Americans 

how to use gas masks and survive chemical 

warfare. 

American civilian volunteers used gas 

masks and helmets of the same designs as 

those of the soldiers. American Red Cross 

workers and Salvation Army members 

were issued Brodie helmets and gas masks 

if they worked at or near the front.

The Imperial German Army

By early 1918 the Imperial German Army, 

the principal adversary of the AEF, had 

experienced more than three years of 

arduous combat. Thwarted in its invasions 

of France, it had repulsed recurrent Allied 

attacks on the Western Front and won 

striking victories in Russia, the Balkans 

and Italy. It aspired to win the war before 

the Americans could effectively intervene, 

and its morale remained high. Over time 

the German Army had evolved methods 

and tactics, both offensive and defensive, to 

become a truly formidable foe. 

After defeating Russia in 1917 and 

negotiating a peace with its subsequent 

revolutionary government, the Germans 

quickly transferred 50 divisions to the 

Western Front. By March 1918, the 

German Army could concentrate 194 

combat divisions against the Allies. 

Germany knew that this advantage in 

troops – hundreds of thousands more than 

the western Allies – would not last. The 

Germans prepared a series of offensives 

to force the Allies to sue for peace before 

the ever-growing AEF tipped the balance 

against Germany. They initially intended 

to defeat the British Army first, so that the 

French would be left to fight alone.

Friedenstrum: The Peace 

Offensive

The German Army applied a newly 

developed offensive doctrine in 1918. 

Traditionally, the Army sought to crush 

enemy defenses with lengthy artillery 

bombardments followed by waves of 

infantry. These waves generally could not 

penetrate deep enough to seize vital targets 

before being counterattacked by alerted 

enemy reserves. The new doctrine was 

centered upon innovative assault units 

called Sturmtruppen with special training 

and weapons. These battalions attacked 

on narrow paths through the defenses 

that bypassed strongpoints. They sought 

to disrupt resistance by striking rear area 

command, artillery, and reinforcements 

before the enemy could react. Regular 

infantry units trailed the specialized 

assault battalions, mopping up fractured 

defenses and expanding the breakthrough. 

The new doctrine was 

centered upon innovative 

assault units called 

Sturmtruppen with special 

training and weapons.

The Russian and French armies had 

experimented with variations of this 

approach as well. 

To achieve surprise, the new offensive 

method concentrated independent 

heavy artillery batteries for brief but 

unexpectedly heavy bombardments. 

Without preliminary ranging fire, massed 

batteries fired from carefully surveyed sites 

against accurately mapped targets. The 

concentrated artillery fire could deliver 

millions of shells in a few hours’ time. 

Subsequently the assault battalions would 

attack the targets. When the offensive was 

over, the assault battalions and batteries 

could be withdrawn to refit and then attack 

in another sector.

These new so-called “Hutier” tactics were 

first used against the Russians at Riga 

on September 3, 1917, and then against 

the Italians in the Battle of Caporetto 

on October 21, 1917. Small, fast moving 

assault groups attacked after a short 

bombardment with high explosives, poison 

gas, and smoke. Priority targets included 

selected communications, reserves and 

supply points in the rear. The swift tempo 

of the attacks inflicted heavy casualties 

and quickly broke up the Russian and 

Italian defenses. German casualties were 

significant, but about one-fifth of Allied 

losses.

An American soldier wears the British Small Box 

Respirator gas mask.

American troops in steel helmets. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Spring “Peace” 

Offensive

On March 21, 1918, the German Army 

unleashed the new offensive methods 

in the British sector. After a 5-hour 

bombardment of over one million shells, 

German assault units penetrated 65 

kilometers into the British lines near 

Saint-Quentin, France. They virtually 

destroyed the British Fifth Army, capturing 

more than 80,000 men, 975 artillery 

pieces, and key bridges over the Somme 

River. The advance created a deep salient, 

extending from Arras through the high 

ground at Cantigny and then back to 

Barisis. British General Sir Douglas Haig 

informed the Allies that he needed urgent 

reinforcements to secure the ports along 

the English Channel.

The Germans consolidated their gains, 

moved their heavy artillery, and rotated 

in fresh forces for a new attack. In the 

Lys Offensive, beginning on April 9, the 

German Army attacked in the British 

sector, from Ypres in Belgium to Givenchy 

in Northern France. The British fell back, 

but their resistance stiffened. Haig issued 

a statement to troops saying they were 

fighting with their “backs to the wall,” 

and must hold at all costs. The Germans 

advanced 21 kilometers by April 29.

Haig called for a meeting of Allied leaders 

to discuss the crisis. Adding to the drama, 

the so-called “Paris Gun” began shelling 

that city in March, eventually inflicting 

over 800 casualties. General Ferdinand 

Foch was named Commander-in-Chief 

of the Allied Armies to more effectively 

coordinate the common effort. Despite the 

Allies being on the defensive at the time, 

Foch was committed to an eventual grand 

offensive. The British rushed 75,000 men 

from reserves in England. 

German heavy artillery emplacement. The French Model 1916 rapid-fire 37 mm Infantry canon.

Haig issued a statement 

to troops saying they were 

fighting with their “backs 

to the wall,” and must hold 

at all costs. 

During this crisis the British and French 

repeated their request that American 

troops or small units be made available 

for service within their armies. Pershing 

detached the 93rd Division’s four infantry 

regiments to the French Army; they were 

welcomed enthusiastically. The 93rd 

Division was a segregated unit composed 

of African-American soldiers. Arguably 

the most famous of the four regiments was 

the 369th Infantry, known as the “Harlem 

Hellfighters”or “Rattlers”, from the New 

York National Guard. These AfricanAmerican regiments used French weapons 

and wore the French “Adrian” combat 

helmet. The “Harlem Hellfighters” band, 

led by Lt. James Reese Europe, became 

famous in France, and is generally credited 

with introducing jazz to Europeans. The 

French Army had a high regard for these 

regiments, awarding individual soldiers 

and even whole units the Croix de Guerre.

The German Drive in the 

South

The Germans redeployed forces to attack 

again. Forty-one divisions, including 

assault units, secretly massed with 

over 1,000 heavy artillery pieces south 

of Laon. These augmented German 

forces already on the front line between 

Reims and Soissons in anticipation of 

a major offensive in the French zone. 

The intent was to draw off and reduce 

the French Army’s reserves, rendering 

them unavailable to assist the British in 

future offensives. On May 27, 1918, the 

attack opened with an intense barrage by 

4,000 German artillery pieces. This was 

closely followed by assault units using the 

new offensive tactics. The French Sixth 

Army was concentrated well forward in 

a static defense, and was shattered by the 

offensive. Assault units penetrated through 

The “Harlem Hellfighters” Band entertains wounded French and American troops at a Base Hospital.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

their front lines as artillery methodically 

pounded support positions up to 19 

kilometers behind the front. Disruption 

was complete, and the Germans made 

startling advances.

Send in the AEF

The crisis caused by the attack accelerated 

the AEF’s commitment to combat. On 

May 28, American Generals Pershing and 

Tasker H. Bliss offered Foch the immediate 

use of American troops. That same day 

the American 1st Division recaptured the 

strategic village of Cantigny with French 

tank and artillery support. On May 29 the 

German offensive took Soissons, around 80 

kilometers from Paris. This caused panic 

and almost led the French government 

to withdraw to Bordeaux. The offensive 

reached Chateau-Thierry on the Marne 

River by June 1. There the American 3rd 

Division’s 7th Machine Gun Battalion 

reinforced French forces in their successful 

defense of the river crossings. Further west, 

remnants of the French Sixth Army were 

retiring into advancing Allied reserves, 

including the American 2nd Division. 

Together these forces stopped the German 

advance at Lucy-le-Bocage, Les Mares 

Farm, Torcy-en-Valois and west of Vaux 

on the Route de Paris. The 2nd Division 

then counterattacked with French support, 

taking the village of Bouresches. This 

began the famous and prolonged struggle 

for Belleau Wood. 

On June 9, the Germans launched another 

offensive between Montdidier and Noyon 

to draw troops from Flanders, threaten 

Paris, expand the Chateau-Thierry salient, 

and protect the Soissons railway. The 

French fell back but did not break, and 

then counterattacked. By June 13, this 

smaller German offensive had failed with 

heavy German casualties.

Foch believed that the German advances 

had planted the seeds of their own defeat. 

The Chateau-Thierry salient consumed 

The first 155 mm supplied to the American Expeditionary Forces by the French.

reserves needed for a subsequent attack on 

the British in Flanders. German casualties 

had been considerable, and were much 

harder to replace than those of the Allies, 

given the arriving Americans. Third-rate 

“defensive divisions” had come forward to 

occupy far weaker positions than those of 

their primary defensive line – called the 

“Hindenburg Line.” The German offensives 

in the salient had outrun the heavy artillery 

support and supply lines they relied on, 

causing delays in bringing up men and 

material. Only one rail line, running 

through Soissons, supported their forward 

forces. Allied commanders looked for 

opportunities to counterattack.

Champagne-Marne 

Offensive

On July 15, the Germans launched yet 

another offensive near Chateau-Thierry, 

this one was targeted east and west of 

Reims. Their plan was to draw Allied forces 

away from Flanders prior to a major, and 

hopefully decisive, offensive there. The 

French gained advance knowledge of the 

attack along the Marne River and readied 

French and American units in its path. 

Before the German troops attacked, they 

were hammered by massed American 

and French artillery fire. Their attacks 

were further disrupted by flexible and 

well-sited American and French defenses. 

East of Chateau-Thierry the 38th Infantry 

Regiment of the U.S. 3rd Division defended 

along the Marne against the German 

10th Infantry Division, a highly regarded 

assault unit. Even though its flanks were 

exposed the American regiment held 

out, inflicting heavy casualties on its 

assailants. This earned the 3rd Division 

the nickname it proudly bears to this 

day, “Rock of the Marne.” As the German 

drive stalled, Foch launched a major 

counter-offensive into the Chateau-Thierry 

salient on 18 July. His main attack struck 

weaker German divisions on the west 

side of the salient between Soissons and 

Chateau-Thierry. Forty-four French and 

eight American divisions took part in the 

offensive to reclaim the Chateau-Thierry 

salient. Between July 18 and August 6, 

the Germans retreated 35 kilometers to 

the Vesle River. On July 20, the Germans 

cancelled their planned offensive against 

the British in Flanders. The initiative 

passed to the Allies, who would now take 

advantage of the situation to go on the 

offensive. 

This earned the 3rd 

Division the nickname it 

proudly bears to this day, 

“Rock of the Marne.”

The initiative passed to 

the Allies, who would 

now take advantage of 

the situation to go on the 

offensive.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

German Defenses and the 

Hindenburg Line

On July 24, Foch met with Haig and 

Pershing and solidified plans for a series of 

Allied offensives. The German forces were 

now depleted by casualties, low on morale, 

and over-extended. In many places, they 

were forward of their formidable defensive 

line, and stressed with respect to logistics. 

The burgeoning Allied forces, with ever 

increasing numbers of tanks, aircraft and 

men, would attack the weakened enemy 

in concert. By pressing multiple nearsimultaneous attacks, they would deny 

the Germans the ability to concentrate 

against any one of the attacks. They would 

also force the Germans to consume their 

reserves. On August 8, British, French 

and some American forces launched a 

major offensive near Amiens supported by 

almost 1,700 aircraft and over 500 tanks. 

The Germans were badly defeated, losing 

100,000 men killed, wounded or captured.

As the Allies advanced they would 

be challenged by a defensive doctrine 

implemented by Germany in 1917, to best 

economize on resources. Earlier defenses 

along the Western Front featured the 

strong static defense of frontline trenches 

and a “hold at all costs” mentality towards 

secondary lines. The new German doctrine 

emphasized defense in depth through three 

successive battle zones. It was a flexible 

scheme that could absorb attacks, reduce 

exposure to artillery concentrations, react 

as circumstances required, and avoid 

penetration.

Known to the Allies as the “Hindenberg 

Line,” the German defense zone featured 

multiple belts of heavy-gauge barbed wire 

thick enough to withstand artillery fire. 

From an outpost line amidst the barbed 

wire belts, sentinels warned of attacks and 

harassed attackers while withdrawing. 

Local reserves would assail the attackers, 

assisted by machine guns, mortars, and 

forward artillery observers, who would 

withdraw before becoming decisively 

engaged.

The second defense zone included 

strongpoints featuring machine gun 

pillboxes that covered infantry approaches 

with interlocking fields of fire. Bunkers 

in the strongpoints sheltered troops so 

that they could survive artillery barrages 

and then resurface to counterattack. A 

third battle zone had reserves of infantry, 

machine guns, and artillery to counter a 

threatened breakthroughs. These reserves 

were out of the range of enemy artillery, 

and committed as attacks began to weaken. 

The system was based on careful study of 

previous Allied penetrations. Defensive 

zones were often 8-10 kilometers deep. 

Crucially, defenses were sited for 

concealment from enemy artillery while 

assuring webs of overlapping defensive 

fires. Substantial new defenses were built 

well behind the current front. This allowed 

optimal use of terrain while avoiding 

enemy observation or interruption of 

Known to the Allies as 

the “Hindenberg Line,” 

the German defense zone 

featured multiple belts of 

heavy-gauge barbed wire 

thick enough to withstand 

artillery fire. 

the massive construction work involved. 

Incautious Allied troops would be 

surprised when German units retreated to 

new positions even more formidable than 

those they had left.

American First Army 

Activated

The U.S. First Army was established on 

August 10. It would initially attack to 

reduce the St. Mihiel salient southeast of 

Verdun and then attack in the Meuse–

Argonne sector two weeks later. A U.S. 

Second and then Third Army were to be 

activated and deployed in due course.

On September 12, 1918, the First Army 

attacked the St. Mihiel salient. After an 

intense four-hour bombardment nine 

American and three French colonial 

divisions cleared the salient within 

36 hours. They advanced along an 80 

kilometer front and captured thousands 

of German soldiers and vast stores of 

munitions. Col. William “Billy” Mitchell’s 

ad hoc air force of 600 planes, flown by 

pilots from five Allied countries, executed 

successful air support operations. 

The secret movement, 

planned by Col. George C. 

Marshall and using three 

roads in poor weather and 

under cover of darkness, 

succeeded brilliantly.

This Hindenburg Line pillbox was a typical 

German defense during the war.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The U.S. 1st Provisional Tank Brigade, 

fighting in French Renault tanks, attacked 

under the command of Lt. Col. George S. 

Patton. Even before the attack ended, the 

challenging redeployment of more than 

a half-million soldiers and thousands 

of artillery pieces from St. Mihiel to the 

Meuse-Argonne had begun. This secret 

movement, planned by Col. George C. 

Marshall and using three roads in poor 

weather under the cover of darkness, 

succeeded brilliantly. 

On September 20, the American Second 

Army was activated and secured the newly 

established St. Mihiel front line. This 

gave the AEF responsibility for a sector 

approximately 130 kilometers wide. It 

faced rough terrain around Verdun and 

the Argonne Forest, and a German Army 

deployed along a fortified and flexible 

defense system.

The Allied Drive

Marshal Foch ordered attacks along the 

entire Allied front. Concerted offensives 

would throw the Germans off balance. The 

objectives chosen would deny the enemy 

the use of the railroad centers at Aulnoye 

and Mézières, about 50 km behind the 

German lines. Without these junctions 

and their associated rail spurs, the German 

armies in France could not be sustained. 

On September 26, the U.S First Army 

launched its Meuse-Argonne Offensive. 

From September 27- 29 other Allied forces 

launched offensives extending from the 

Argonne to the Ypres Salient. The Germans 

were forced to retreat, and by October 

3, senior leaders among them pressed 

for peace negotiations. The Germans 

nevertheless retired their armies slowly, 

kept them intact, and inflicted heavy 

casualties on the advancing Allies. 

Lt. Col. George Patton and a Renault light tank.

On October 12, Prince Maximilian of 

Baden delivered a message to the U.S. 

government that the German high 

command wanted to negotiate. By October 

18, the AEF broke through the Hindenburg 

Line and cleared the Argonne Forest. A 

British attack in the north took Le Cateau 

and headed towards Aulnoye. Ludendorff 

resigned on October 27, and much of the 

German navy mutinied on October 28. 

On November 1, the American First Army 

launched yet another major push, and soon 

was on the Meuse at the gates of Sedan.

The Allied Supreme War Council 

formulated the language of an armistice 

agreement that was presented to the 

Germans on November 4. On November 

6 around midnight, Foch was informed 

that German delegates had appeared at 

the Allied lines. A German republic was 

proclaimed on November 9. On November 

10, the American Second Army broke 

through in its sector south of the Meuse, 

and the Kaiser abdicated. The end was in 

sight. 

Silence

Armistice negotiations centered on the 

cessation of hostilities, rather than on a 

fully negotiated end to the war. Because of 

doubt that the arrangements would hold 

until a formal peace was settled, hostilities 

continued until the mutually agreed day 

and time, 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918. 

With guns roaring up to the last second, 

soldiers held their breath until the 11th 

hour. When it came the guns fell silent, and 

troops leapt out of trenches in celebration. 

November 1918 saw the end of the combat 

for American soldiers and airmen fighting 

in Italy as well. In Northern Russia, the 

Allies continued their operation to secure 

supplies around Archangel and Murmansk 

during the Russian Civil War, in what 

American soldiers called “The Polar Bear 

Expedition.” A similar operation continued 

in the Russian Far East. This included the 

“AEF Siberia” and the American Russian 

Railway Service Corps. For American 

civilians serving overseas, years of medical 

and relief work continued in Western 

Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East. 

On the Western Front the Allies dug in 

and waited until November 17, when Foch 

issued orders to advance and reoccupy all 

territory once held by the enemy. This was 

completed on November 30. Allied troops 

crossed the Rhine, occupying bridgeheads 

in Germany on December 1. The original 

Armistice terms lasted until formal 

negotiations culminated in the Versailles 

Treaty, and eight other international 

treaties, that formally ended the war.

Helmet emblazoned with the insignia of the 

American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Cantigny American Monument.

In spring 1918, the German Army began a 

series of Western Front offensives. Russia 

leaving the war freed many German troops 

for service in the west. The Germans 

employed new tactics, specially trained 

assault troops and artillery breached 

Allied defenses for additional troops to 

follow through. Their intent was to force 

Allied negotiation before American forces 

joined the war. Under the stress, the Allies 

urgently asked for American troops in 

training to be committed to battle. 

The American infantry division was a 

combined-arms force of almost 19,000 

soldiers. There were nearly 11,000 

infantry in two brigades, and over 

4,500 artillerymen. Divisional staff and 

engineers, along with signal, transport, 

supply, and medical troops made up 

the rest of the division. By comparison 

German and Allied divisions had half the 

number of men, but a proportionally larger 

amount of artillery. 

The first American divisional attack of 

the war took place at Cantigny, a village 

5 km northwest of Montdidier in the 

Somme region. It had fallen to the German 

Eighteenth Army during the first spring 

offensive in March. 

The first American 

divisional attack of 

the war took place 

at Cantigny...

The 1st Division, including campaigntested regiments from the Mexican border 

operations, had been the earliest American 

combat troops in France in May 1917. Their 

training included individual regiments 

fighting separately in French or British 

divisions. Nearly a year after their arrival, 

the 1st was sent to the front line opposite the 

heavily fortified village of Cantigny. 

CANTIGNY: 

BAPTISM OF FIRE

Waves of 1st Division soldiers advance on 

Cantigny while shrapnel explodes overhead.

Cantigny St. Mihiel Salient Aisne-Marne Offensive & Belleau Wood Chateau-Thierry Cantigny
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Germans spent most of May 1918 

bombarding the division with high 

explosive and gas. After enduring this 

prolonged shelling, the 1st was ordered to 

take Cantigny. The town was captured on 

the first day of the assault, May 28, with 

the division’s 28th Infantry Regiment in the 

lead. After taking over 200 prisoners, the 

Americans withstood a series of strong 

counterattacks over the next two days.

The 1st suffered 1,603 casualties, including 

199 killed, taking Cantigny. Although a 

local operation, it boosted Allied morale 

to see the American Expeditionary Forces 

taking the offensive. With this small 

victory, and the deployment of the 2nd and 

3rd Divisions to defend Chateau-Thierry, 

the German high command realized that 

the long feared American infusion of 

manpower was now a reality.

American troops advance on Cantigny with French tanks.

After taking over 200 

prisoners, the Americans 

withstood a series of 

strong counterattacks 

over the next two days.

Early 1st Division shoulder sleeve insignia. 

Start Tour 

American troops in the ruins of Cantigny after the battle. 

Above: Maj. Gen. Robert Lee Bullard commanded the 

1st Division at Cantigny. Left: Pvt. Joseph R. Smith 

of Idaho lost his life in the Battle of Cantigny. He is 

buried in Somme American Cemetery. 

Cantigny Introduction 1918: The AEF Go To War Cantigny
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION Cantigny Courtenmanche

Direction to Montdidier

Mesnil-Saint-Georges

Villers-Tournelle

BELLE ASSISE

SOMME

OISE

FRAMICOURT

D26

D26

D26

D26

D155

D109

D188

D188

D930

D930

D930

D155

1

2

3

4

5

6

Observation & Orientation

Just over 2.4 km to the northeast is the 

town of Cantigny. From this knoll you can 

see how Cantigny has a commanding view 

of the surrounding countryside, and how 

it hides the valley behind it from view. The 

many small forests were used to conceal 

movement of troops from observers on 

the ground and in the air. Just over 1.5 km 

away is Villers-Tournelle, an important 

American forward post in this area.

The many small forests 

were used to conceal 

movement of troops from 

observers on the ground 

and in the air.

Getting to Stop 1: 

From the center of Montdidier drive west on the D930. Turn right 

on D188 toward Villers-Tournelle. If it is safe, pull off the road 

carefully at the silos on the left. If there is traffic at the site there are Stop 1 a few turnouts on farm roads just up the road.

Artistic rendering by George Matthews Harding shows the night after the taking of Cantigny. The French 

and Americans sheltered in lamp-lit basements.

Stop 2 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

A view of Cantigny from the American jump-off point. Cantigny is at right among the shattered trees. 

The Villers-Tournelle Cemetery

Look east from here. Again you see 

Cantigny on the hill across the valley 

2 km away. The little wood to your left was 

called the Bois Texas on American maps. 

From where you are standing a trench 

line ran to your right across 

the east side of the town. 

The two frontline trenches 

ran about a 1.5 km east of 

here. Casualties could only 

be brought out of the front 

line aide stations to VillersTournelle in darkness. 

To the east you can see the 

southern end of a broken 

line of woods that run north. 

Further to your right you can 

see roofs of farm buildings directly east. 

The line of advance toward Cantigny ran 

from the far side of those woods to a point 

east of the farm buildings.

Getting to Stop 2: 

Continue north on D188 into Villers-Tournelle. Go through the 

middle of town, passing a park on the right and bearing right at 

the crossroads. Pass the monument on the left, and a church on 

the right. Take the next right after the church, and pull over just Stop 2 past the town cemetery on the right.

American troops northeast of Villers-Tournelle fire a machine gun 

across no man’s land. 

Stop 3 

Wounded removed at night, 

“The Flare” by Harvey Thomas Dunn.

From where you are 

standing a trench 

line ran to your 

right across the east 

side of the town.

A view of the countryside with the town of 

Cantigny in the distance.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Villers-Tournelle

This town was under frequent artillery 

fire, including poison gas, and air attack 

and the town was heavily damaged in the 

war. After the war, the church was rebuilt 

and the masonry of the tower in the field 

across the street still shows scars of battle. 

A regimental medical station with two 

Ford ambulances was concealed here, and 

aide stations were further forward in the 

trenches. Ambulance drivers sometimes 

braved the artillery fire, speeding west on 

roads to bring out the desperately wounded. 

From Villers-Tournelle the American 

and French staff could communicate by 

telephone to Rocquencourt 1.5 km to the 

west. There the massed artillery of the 1st

Division and that of the French X Corps, 

over 200 guns, waited to support the attack.

Even ambulances were in danger close to the front.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Carefully return to Villers-Tournelle bearing down the road 

between the park and the Church. Find a place to park on the Stop 3 left for a moment.

A typical American dressing station.

Ambulance drivers 

sometimes braved the 

artillery fire, speeding west 

on roads to bring out the 

desperately wounded.

Rebuilt church at Villers-Tournelle, July 2018.

Ruins of the church at Villers-Tournelle, May 1918.

Stop 4 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Cantigny American Monument 

The Cantigny American Monument commemorates 

the attack on Cantigny, on May 28, 1918, by the 

1st Division, led by the 28th Infantry Regiment. 

The attack rolled quickly through the town to the 

eastern field where the 1st Engineers improved the 

defenses. Many German defenders were captured. 

There are two other monuments in the park in 

Cantigny. One is to the 28th Infantry Regiment, the 

other is to the 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery Regiment 

that supported the attack.

The Cantigny American Monument commemorates the first attack by an American division in World War I. 

Above: 1st Division’s 28th Infantry Regiment Monument. Inset: 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery Regiment Marker. 

Getting to Stop 4: 

Bear to the left of the monument in the park. At the next 

intersection bear left toward Cantigny on Rue Saint-Jacques. 

At the edge of town bear left at the fork on Rue du 28 Mai 

1918. Drive up to the park with monuments in the middle of Stop 4 town. Find safe parking, and proceed to the monument.

The road between Villers-Tournelle 

and Cantigny was on the south side 

of the attack. The leading companies 

of the 28th moved forward in the dark 

to occupy the woods and trenches 

600 yards in front of Cantigny. An 

hour later a rolling barrage began 

and the reinforced 28th went forward 

with French tanks and flamethrower 

teams. The center battalions moved 

swiftly through the town while the 

flanking battalions pushed around 

its edges, seizing German trenches 

and taking many prisoners. Support 

troops installed telephone wire to 

American and French observation posts 

taking advantage of the new position. 

Engineers followed the assault troops 

to improve defenses east of the town, 

ambulances now came forward to the 

western slope of Cantigny to evacuate 

casualties unobserved by the enemy.

French flamethrower troops and Americans capture 

Germans leaving their shelters in the shattered town.

French tanks similar to those used in the attack. Stop 5 

Support troops installed 

telephone wire forward 

to American and French 

observation posts taking 

advantage of the new 

position.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Cantigny Cemetery

From in front of the cemetery you can 

look west beyond the water tower to 

see the woods where the north flank of 

the American attack started on May 28. 

After the attack the American position 

straddled the road about 300 yards north 

of here. From there it ran 400 yards into 

the fields east of Cantigny. There the 1st

Engineers and the 28th Regiment reworked 

German trenches to ward off seven strong 

counterattacks in the following days. 

The cemetery was made into a defensive 

strongpoint.

The Germans attacked the American 

position from those woods, the Bois de 

Framicourt, multiple times on the evening 

of May 28. The final German attack was 

from the Laval Wood northeast across the 

fields at 5:30 a.m. on May 30. American 

infantry stopped the attack with artillery 

support. Beyond the Framicourt and Laval 

woods the ground falls away to the valley 

of the Rivier des Trois Doms.

American soldiers can be seen digging in by an old German trench north of Cantigny.

Getting to Stop 5: 

Drive to the north side of town to the intersection of the D26 

and the D109 by the church and bear right on the D26. Pull Stop 5 off by the town cemetery on the right.

American infantry 

stopped the attack with 

artillery support. Top: Wounded soldier after receiving first aid.

Bottom: 1st division soldiers watching artillery fire on Cantigny before the American advance.

Stop 6 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

1st Division 

Cantigny Monument

The 1st Division Cantigny Monument is 

a square pillar surmounted by a perched 

eagle. The eagle’s drooped wings shield 

an artillery shell bearing the 1st Division 

insignia inside a laurel wreath. The sides 

of the pillar bear bronze panels with 

the names of 1,138 members of the 1st

Division lost during their 73 days in the 

front line.

The bronze plaque on the monument. 

Detail of the 1st Division insignia on the 

monument.

Getting to Stop 6: 

From the Cantigny Cemetery return toward Cantigny 100 m 

and take the first left. After the turn go 200 m and bear right. 

Park in the pull out immediately ahead on the right. Put your 

hazard lights on and walk carefully to the monument on the 

grassy triangle inside the intersection.

- End of tour -

Drive South on Rue de la Mairie. At the stop sign turn left onto Rue 

Saint-Aignan (D26) to the D930. Turn left on the D930 into Montdidier.

Stop 6

The 1st Division Monument at Cantigny.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Headstones at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.

By the spring of 1918, many American 

troops were training in France. French and 

British commanders wanted the Americans 

committed to battle as soon as possible. 

Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the 

American Expeditionary Forces, withheld 

his troops from combat. He believed that 

they needed additional training before they 

engaged in combat. Pershing wanted his 

troops to engage the enemy at the front 

as an independent field army. A series of 

offensives by the German army that spring 

changed the situation.

The Germans recognized that the weight 

of American reinforcements might break 

the stalemate on the Western Front that 

had endured for more than three years. 

In March 1918, they launched a series of 

attacks intended to bring the Allies to the 

negotiation table before the Americans 

arrived in force. The German spring 

offensives were a shock to the French 

and British command, who renewed 

their pressure for the early deployment of 

American divisions. When the German 

advance threatened to cross the Marne 

River northeast of Paris, Pershing relented.

The third German spring offensive began 

with the secret concentration of the 

German Seventh and First Armies behind 

the front line in the hills between the cities 

of Soissons and Laon. This was a much 

contested area known as the Chemin des 

Dames. The Germans, with reserves of 

divisions freed from service on the Eastern 

Front after Russia left the war, reorganized 

CHATEAU-THIERRY & BELLEAU WOOD: 

DEFENSE OF THE MARNE

A German howitzer in action.

Some American soldiers were 

trained by the British. 

& Belleau Wood

Chateau-Thierry St. Mihiel Salient Aisne-Marne Offensive & Belleau Wood Chateau-Thierry 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

their forces into assault divisions, line 

divisions, and divisions primarily for 

defense. In addition, reserves of heavy 

artillery were organized for decisive use in 

critical operations. Behind the front, the 

critical north-south rail line brought the 

guns and men to the Chemin des Dames. 

The French Sixth Army was concentrated 

in forward positions to hold ground 

recaptured in 1917. 

On the morning of May 27, 1918 more 

than 4,000 German artillery pieces 

opened a bombardment on the densely 

concentrated French army. Then 17 elite 

assault divisions drove deeply into the 

French lines, breaking up the defense. 

Allied lines broke on a 40 km front. They 

lost some 50,000 men, and 800 artillery 

pieces were captured. The Germans 

advanced more than 16 km in the first day 

across the Aisne River to the valley of the 

Vesle River. By June 4, they had driven 

almost 50 km to the town of ChateauThierry on the Marne River, 80 km from 

Paris. Responding to urgent pleas from the 

French, Pershing ordered the American 

2nd and 3rd Divisions into the line in 

relief of the French Sixth Army. These 

divisions were made up of Regular Army 

regiments, as well as a brigade of Marines 

in the 2nd. When questioned by the French 

commander about the readiness of the 

American troops, Col. Preston Brown, 2nd

Division Chief of Staff, responded: 

“General, these are American 

regulars. In 150 years they have 

never been beaten. They will hold.”

American Marines were trained with grenades in trench warfare.

Army Brigadier General James G. Harbord 

commanded the 2nd Division’s 4th Infantry 

(Marine) Brigade at Belleau Wood. In this 1923 

portrait, Major General Harbord sits resplendent 

before the battle-damaged Belleau Hunting 

Lodge.

Start Tour 

On June 1, the 2nd Division took up 

positions northwest of Chateau-Thierry 

from around Lucy-le-Bocage and 

Belleau Wood extending south to the 

area west of Vaux. The 3rd Division had 

stalled the German attack at ChateauThierry. A French officer retiring with 

his troops through the 2nd Battalion, 5th

Marine Regiment suggested to Capt. 

Lloyd Williams that the Marines should 

also retire. Williams replied, 

“Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” 

The Germans were consolidating 

positions from Hill 142 through 

Torcy-en-Valois to Belleau Wood and 

Bouresches and south to Monneaux with 

mortars, light artillery and machine guns.

On June 4, Germans attacked the Marines 

around Lucy-le-Bocage and Les Mares 

Farm and were repulsed with heavy losses. 

The French XXI Corps ordered the 2nd to 

retake Belleau Wood on June 6. The 2nd

Division’s Marine Brigade attacked on a 

front from Hill 142 to Bouresches south of 

Belleau Wood suffering heavy casualties. 

The Marines took Hill 142 overlooking 

Belleau Wood from the west and held it 

against counterattacks. They assaulted 

Belleau Wood across a wheat field under 

German machine gun fire. The Marines 

attacked and took Bouresches, and dug 

in there against German counterattacks. 

Following this, a back-and-forth battle 

ensued for days. Subjected to poison 

gas and artillery fire, both sides fought 

stubbornly.

On June 9, Americans withdrew from 

Belleau Wood for a heavy American 

and French artillery bombardment. The 

shelling stripped the hunting preserve of 

its foliage, leaving a tangle of fallen trees. 

On June 11, following the bombardment, 

Marines pressed hard into the wood 

capturing the southern two-thirds. 

From June 16-20, the Army’s 7th Infantry 

Regiment relieved the exhausted Marine 

brigade. On June 23, the Marines launched 

a major attack, but were unable to gain 

ground. Suffering staggering losses, 

they required over 200 ambulances to 

evacuate the wounded. Two days later, 

Belleau Wood was subjected to a 14-hour 

bombardment by French artillery. After 

that the Marines were finally able to clear 

the wood. On June 26, after defeating some 

early morning German counterattacks, 

Maj. Maurice Shearer reported: 

“Woods now entirely–U.S. Marine 

Corps.”

A wartime view of Chateau-Thierry.

Chateau-Thierry 

& Belleau Wood Introduction 1918: The AEF Go To War Cantigny Chateau-Thierry & Belleau Wood
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSIOND830

D967

D1003

D1003

D1003

D1003 D1003

D1390

D1390

D1390

D871

D871

D803

D112

D84

D82

D87

D87

D1

D1

D1

D1

D4

D9

D9

D9

A4

A4

A4

A4

D10

Torcy-en-Valois Belleau

Coupru

Bussiares

Courchamps

Licy-Clignon

Monthiers

Étrépilly

Lucy-le-Bocage

Bouresches

Brasles

Chierry

Verdilly

Épaux-Bézu

Château-Thierry

Essômes-sur-Marne

Étampes-sur-Marne

Bézu-Saint-Germain

Belleau Wood

American 

Monument

1 2 3

4

5

Getting to Stop 1: 

From the Autoroute de l’Est, E50, take the Soissons/Château-Thierry 

exit. Past the toll booths, follow the traffic circle sign to go south 

toward Château-Thierry on the D1. At the second traffic circle, take 

the first exit to the D10 toward Blanchard, the Avenue de Soissons. At 

the third traffic circle, take the second exit toward Centre Ville. At the 

traffic circle at the river, take the first exit. You will pass a monument 

on the right. Turn into public parking just beyond it.

Note: this is a good place to get out for a walk. A block east, just back from the river road, 

is a tourist office in a brown, red, and brick building. There you can find exhibits and local Stop 1 historical information.

Château-Thierry

The monument next to the parking lot is that 

of the American 3rd Division that stopped 

the German advance here on the banks of 

the Marne River. The original monument, 

destroyed during WWII, was just east of the 

tourist office in the traffic circle by the bridge. 

After passing the monument, go to the 

riverside at a crosswalk. 

On June 1, 1918, when German troops 

reached the town, it was defended by a 

force of the French 10th Colonial Infantry 

Division and Company A, 7th Machine Gun 

Battalion, 3rd Division. Outnumbered, they 

were pushed back to the riverbank. One 

German patrol rushed the bridge. When 

they were repulsed at a barricade, French 

engineers blew half the bridge into the 

river. The 7th Machine Gun Battalion fired 

from the alleyways and gardens on the 

south bank, covering American and French 

troops who swam the Marne or crossed the 

rail bridge upstream. Other elements of the 3rd arrived with French reinforcements to 

reestablish the front line on the south bank. 

Down river to the west you can see the 

Chateau-Thierry American Monument. 

The monument sits on Hill 204, which was 

the next objective of the German drive.

Stop 2 

American troops crossing the Marne near 

the destroyed bridge at Chateau-Thierry.

The 3rd Division Monument 

in Chateau Thierry.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Château-Thierry 

American Monument

The Chateau-Thierry American Monument 

commemorates the service of those 

Americans and French who fought in 

this region. It is a lasting symbol of the 

bonds of friendship and cooperation 

between French and American forces. The 

monumental double colonnade on a high 

terrace is decorated with large sculptures 

and inscriptions. The names of American 

battles in this region are engraved above 

the columns. Facing east is an American 

eagle with a shield and the inscription 

“Time Will Not Dim the Glory of Their 

Deeds,” flanked by insignia of American 

corps and divisions that fought here. Below 

the eagle is a map of regional American 

campaigns. On the terrace a masonry 

compass points to historic features in the 

surrounding terrain. On the west face are 

large sculptures symbolizing the unity of 

France and the United States, flanked by 

dedicatory inscriptions in their respective 

languages. Within the colonnade there 

are inscriptions describing the American 

campaign in this region. The monument 

Getting to Stop 2: 

From the parking lot, drive west along the river. At the first 

traffic circle, take the second exit. At the second traffic circle, 

take the second exit up the hill. At the third traffic circle, take 

the second exit uphill toward the “Monument Americain” 

on the Avenue de Paris. You will see a sign. Be prepared for a 

sharp left turn. At the next opportunity, turn left through the 

entrance of the American monument. Drive up the road to the 

parking lot, and go around to the entrance at the right end of Stop 2 the monument. If you have binoculars bring them along here.

A battery of American “French 75s” firing on Hill 204, by Walter Jack Duncan.

houses a visitor center that tells the story of 

the American experience in World War I. 

This commanding height became the 

focus of action after the Marne River 

bridges were destroyed. From June 1 to 

July 9, 1918 the hill was contested for its 

excellent observation of the surrounding 

country. From the monument, you can see 

the Marne crossings. Trenches beyond the 

woods behind the monument looked down 

on sloping vineyards to the southwest. 

The height dominates Chateau-Thierry 

to the east and Vaux to the west. You 

will notice vineyards below its southern 

slopes. Belleau Wood is 7 km over the 

hills to the northwest. By holding Hill 204 

and Chateau-Thierry, the German army 

cut the main route from Paris to Reims 

and beyond to Verdun. Parts of the hill 

exchanged hands many times until it was 

finally retaken by the French 39th Division 

in mid-July.

The Chateau-Thierry 

American Monument ... 

a lasting symbol of the 

bonds of friendship and 

cooperation between French 

and American forces.

Stop 3 

Chateau-Thierry American Monument.

The visitor center at the monument.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Vaux

Be very careful here. Look back across the 

valley to Hill 204. It dominates the local 

terrain. German artillery spotters could 

easily target an exposed area like this stop. 

Before the first American attack on Hill 204, 

they seized the village of Vaux - the closest 

the German offensive came to Paris on 

this road. Vaux is a classic wine producing 

village of the region with strong stone 

structures and ample storage cellars. To the 

left of the town is the Bois de la Roche. The 

American 2nd Division attacked Vaux down 

the axis of this road on July 1, 1918. 

American Intelligence interviewed refugees 

of Vaux for details on every house and wine 

cellar. Famous American photographer Maj. 

Edward Steichen provided aerial images 

to map the town accurately. Twenty one 

American and French artillery batteries 

bombarded the town methodically for a 

day before the attack at 6 p.m. on July 1. 

The artillery put down two barrages to 

suppress defenders and conceal the attack. 

A standing barrage fell behind Vaux and 

the Bois de la Roche to cut off German 

reinforcements. Immediately east of this 

stop a rolling barrage fell, moving about 

90 meters eastward every two minutes. 

American infantry and engineers followed 

behind it closely. They attacked Vaux’s 

Getting to Stop 3: 

Return down the entrance drive to the Avenue de Paris and 

turn left. Go for about 1.5 km through the town of Vaux. If it 

is safe, pull out left onto a paved shoulder of the road about 

1.5 km from the Hill 204 entrance. If it is not safe here, there 

is also an entrance to a winery about 0.8 km further up on the 

Stop 3 left. Put on your hazard lights.

Maj. Edward Steichen, center front, in a flying suit along with the 14th Photo Section.

strongpoints and cellars with explosives 

before the Germans could react. The left 

flank attacked and occupied the Bois de la 

Roche. The shattered town was captured 

by Americans in an hour, along with many 

machine guns and dazed German soldiers. 

American reinforcements arrived promptly. 

They refortified the eastern edges of the 

ruins of Vaux and the Bois de la Roche 

immediately. The new defenses withstood a 

German counterattack on July 2.

The shattered town was 

captured by Americans in 

an hour, along with many 

machine guns and dazed 

German soldiers.

Stop 4 

The town of Vaux after the attack. Credited to Major Edward Steichen.

Signalmen repairing a telephone line during a 

gas attack.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Belleau Wood 

and Lucy-le-Bocage 

The forest to your east is the south end 

of Belleau Wood. On June 4, 1918 the 

Germans attacked Lucy-le-Bocage across 

these fields from the north and east. They 

were repulsed by the rifle fire of Marines of 

the American 2nd Division in Lucy and Les 

Mares Farm. 

On June 6, Marines attacked Belleau Wood 

from Lucy-le-Bocage; some crossed these 

fields to the southern wood and others 

down this road toward the northern wood. 

Repulsed from the northern wood, they 

took positions west of the road in the 

Bois de Bruyeres. At the same time, other 

Marines advanced east from Lucy-le-Bocage 

to secure the south side of Belleau Wood by 

capturing the village of Bouresches.

Getting to Stop 4: 

Carefully pull out to continue west on D1003, the Route de 

Paris past Le Thiolet. Turn right at the four-way intersection 

on D82, toward Lucy-le-Bocage. Pass through Lucy-leBocage. At the top of the rise out of town, pull off to the right Stop 4 carefully onto a dirt lane.

The shell-scarred town of Bouresches just south of Belleau Wood after the fighting in 1918.

Stop 5 

American soldiers in rifle pits near Chateau-Thierry are armed with a machine gun 

and grenades captured from the Germans.

U.S. Marine Monument in Belleau Wood. Trenches and rifle pits in Belleau Wood.

75th Anniversary Stamp depicting the Battle of 

Belleau Wood.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Aisne-Marne American 

Cemetery & Belleau Wood

The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery 

rests at the foot of slopes that rise into 

Belleau Wood. Approaching the chapel, the 

two large plots of the cemetery come in to 

view curving away left and right around 

the hill. There are nearly 2,300 Americans 

buried here, most of whom were casualties 

of the fighting in this region in the summer 

of 1918. Among those interred are more 

than 200 whose identity is unknown. On 

the Walls of the Missing in the chapel are 

the names of more than 1,000 missing. 

A rosette next to a name indicates the 

remains of the service member have been 

recovered and identified.

Getting to Stop 5: 

Continue north on D82 to the four-way intersection and turn 

right onto D9. Drive down D9 0.8 km to the entrance of the 

Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. Go up the driveway to the 

parking lot on the right. There is a reception room and office 

in the building beside the parking lot, which provides printed 

guides to the cemetery and other related local sites, and a Stop 5 walking tour map for Belleau Wood.

Chapel approach at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. 

A rosette next to a name 

indicates the remains of the 

service member have been 

recovered and identified.

The chapel was completed with features 

that recall those on local churches and the 

Reims cathedral. The stained glass window 

in the alcove to the left bears the coats 

of arms of the Allied nations, while the 

window on the right bears the Great Seal 

of the United States and the insignia of 

Army divisions and corps that fought here. 

These insignia are also carved in the stone 

of the tower. The altar in Italian marble 

bears, among many carved figures, an owl 

for wisdom, and a crusader whose shield 

bears a lion and the scales for fortitude 

and justice. Dedicatory and memorial 

inscriptions are in French and English, and 

the stained glass windows bear the images 

of saints. Damage on the exterior of the 

chapel dates from World War II, when the 

forested height behind the chapel was used 

as a defensive position by the French Army.

The Marine memorial is in the middle of 

Belleau Wood surrounded by the remains 

of German artillery of the era. To get to the 

memorial in Belleau Wood, ask the office for 

directions and then drive from the cemetery.

Belleau Wood is perhaps the most famous 

battle in the history of the U.S. Marine 

Corps. The 5th and 6th Marine Regiments 

and the Marine’s 6th Machine Gun 

Battalion took a central part in the fighting 

as a brigade of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Division. 

Walking in Belleau Wood, it is best to 

Above: Column capitals on the outside of 

the chapel show carved soldiers. Main: The 

chapel includes the Walls of the Missing. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

reflect that this was a heavily wooded 

hunting reserve before World War I. The 

damaged stone tower was a lodge from 

which hunters shot passing game through 

second story windows. Heavy fighting in 

Belleau Wood lasted from June 6-26, 1918. 

In the forested area, maneuvering was 

difficult and vision was restricted at ground 

level after shelling shattered the trees. Both 

German and Allied artillery made frequent 

use of poison gas. American soldiers and 

Marines fought in the heat of summer 

in gas masks, buttoned up in uniform to 

avoid burns from mustard gas. The history 

and traditions of the site are found in the 

walking tour map, which is available in the 

visitor building at the cemetery.

The town center of Belleau, just north of Belleau 

Wood, suffered heavy damage during the war.

Hunting lodge. 

Inset: Plaque above door.

Marine machine gunners in the vicinity of 

Belleau Wood.

- End of tour -

From the entrance to the cemetery drive across the road into Belleau on D1390. The road 

curves left, then right. At the fork by the cemetery, bear right. Stay on the 1390. At the 

intersection in Épaux-Bézu, bear right toward the church, then turn right just past the 

church on D87. Stay on the D87 until you come to the D1. Turn right (south) on the D1. 

In about 1.6 km you will return to the D1 toll road entrance where you started.

Staff at the visitor building can also provide 

information about other sites of interest 

near the cemetery. These include the 

village of Belleau with the 26th Division 

church, the Pennsylvania Fountain, and the 

“Bulldog Fountain” favored in the lore of 

the U.S. Marine Corps. The fountain is on 

private property, so check about access.

Following the relief of the Marine Brigade, 

the 26th Division captured Belleau in 1918, 

shelling the old church in the attack. The 

division’s veterans paid to rebuild the 

church as a memorial to comrades who 

fell in France. The Pennsylvania Fountain 

was offered by the state in memory of 

Pennsylvanians who fell in Belleau Wood.

Headstones at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery. By the end of May 1918, the third German 

spring offensive had established a salient 

extending from a point west of Soissons 

south to Chateau-Thierry, and then 

northeast to the outskirts of Reims. An 

attack pushed west from Soissons in June 

fell short of German expectations. Another 

was planned to encircle Reims and cross 

the Marne River east of Chateau-Thierry 

in mid-July. French intelligence uncovered 

the plan. Their response was a prepared 

defense and a strategic counterattack to 

collapse the Chateau-Thierry salient.

An attack pushed west 

from Soissons in June 

fell short of German 

expectations.

The attacks between July 15 and 17 were 

countered by prepared defenses. French 

and American artillery east of ChateauThierry fired on the masses of German 

infantry waiting in forward positions. It 

was here that the American 3rd Division 

earned its name, “The Rock of the Marne”, 

in defensive battles on the south bank of 

the Marne. The 42nd Division fought with 

French forces east of Reims near Navarin 

Farm in the Champagne region.

With the German offensive balance 

thrown toward Reims, the second part 

of the French plan was to attack the 

salient from the west, southwest, and east 

with three French armies supported by 

British, Italian, and American divisions. 

To the west the French Tenth and Sixth 

Armies, including the U.S. 1st, 2nd, 4th and 

26th Divisions, surprised German units 

south of Soissons on July 18. On July 19 

Maj. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., was gassed 

and wounded leading his battalion of the 

26th Infantry, 1st Division. 

THE AISNE-MARNE OFFENSIVE: 

GOING ON THE ATTACK

A soldier of the 3rd Division poses for a portrait. 

Aisne-Marne 

Offensive St. Mihiel Salient Aisne-Marne Offensive
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The French determined that the better 

German troops had already been used. 

Second rate “defensive” units held the west 

face of the salient.

The predawn French-led attack on July 18 

was a complete surprise to the Germans. 

There was no preparatory bombardment. 

The French Tenth Army’s 1,500 artillery 

pieces only fired a heavy rolling barrage 

ahead of the assault. Behind the artillery 

fire came tanks followed by infantry. The 

American 2nd Division led the others 

advancing 8 km. Twenty thousand German 

soldiers were taken prisoner. An American 

liaison officer with the French High 

Command was congratulated by French 

officers saying: 

“Without the Americans this would 

never have been possible.” 

For American Expeditionary Forces’ units 

in the French Sixth and Ninth Armies, 

pursuit began with the 26th Division 

attacking between Vaux and Belleau, and 

the 3rd Division crossing the Marne east of 

Chateau-Thierry.

Twenty thousand German 

soldiers were taken prisoner.

The Germans reacted and began a 

methodical withdrawal from the salient 

covered by reinforcements of ground and 

air forces. The reinforcements were assault 

units preparing for an August 1 offensive 

against the British in Flanders. The attack 

was canceled, saving the British from 

another dangerous battle.

42nd Division snipers fighting in the town of Villers-Sur-Fere.

Start Tour 

Allied forces pressed the Germans steadily 

out of the salient. American divisions 

fought under Allied command in French 

corps and armies. Most of the campaign 

was fought in “open warfare” conditions 

across land without strong entrenchments 

and fortifications. American divisions 

distinguished themselves in the rolling 

fields and dense woods of the region. In 

his memoirs, Gen. Ludendorff wrote of 

this campaign: 

“This was the first great setback for 

Germany. There now developed 

the very situation which I had 

endeavored to prevent. The initiative 

passed to the enemy. Germany’s 

position was extremely serious. It 

was no longer possible to win the 

war in a military sense.”

The campaign was the first clear Allied 

victory in 1918 on the Western Front. 

Germany would not mount another 

offensive or have another victory. The 

Allied counteroffensive lasted until early 

September. Before the Oise-Aisne campaign 

ended, the advantage passed to the Allies 

on the Western Front. Ludendorff was 

compelled to cancel plans to attack the 

British Army in Flanders. German morale 

sagged. The opportunity had passed for 

Ludendorff to force the Allies to negotiate 

before the American Expeditionary Forces 

could tip the balance. Gen. Pershing’s 

First Army began its first offensive as an 

independent force at St. Mihiel.

Soldiers en route to the front cross a pontoon bridge across the Marne.

Aisne-Marne 

Offensive Introduction 1918: The AEF Go To War Cantigny Chateau-Thierry & Belleau Wood Aisne-Marne Offensive
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION D229 D967

D406

D980

D967

D310

D80 D80

D80

D79

D2

D6

D6

D1

D3

A4

Direction to Antorout del’Est

Fresnes-en-Tardenois

Artois

Beuvardes

Le Charmel

Jaulgonne

Ronchères

Avize

Verneuil

Champvoisy

Goussancourt

Reddy

Coulonges-Cohan

Sergy

Cierges

Seringes-et-Nesles

Épieds

Coincy

Bruyères-sur-Fère

Villeneuve-sur-Fère

Fère-en-Tardenois

1

2

3 4

Getting to Stop 1: 

From the Autoroute de l’Est, E50, exit to the D1 north toward Soissons 

and Fère-en-Tardenois. Go north almost 3 km and turn onto the D4 

toward Bezu-St-Germain. At the stop sign in town, turn right toward 

Epieds. At the traffic circle, continue straight on the D967 toward 

Memorial de la 42e division U.S. At the fork, bear left. At the next fork 

by the white memorial, bear right. Continue toward Beuvardes on 

D967 straight through the crossroad in La Croisette and Beuvardes. 

After Beuvardes, turn right on the D80. When you come to the fourway intersection, turn right on the D3. Pull out on the paved parking Stop 1 area on the right by the ruined walls of Croix Rouge Farm and statue.

Croix Rouge Farm

The 42nd Division was made up of National 

Guard units from 26 states. The press 

nicknamed this division “The Rainbow 

Division.” On July 24, 1918 the 42nd

Division passed through the Forêt de Fère, 

south of Beuvardes. Patrols encountered 

German defensive positions at Beuvardes 

and Croix Rouge Farm. 

The American units were trained, but did 

not have significant battle experience. 

The Germans were in the fortified farm 

buildings, the remains of which you see 

by the monument. The fields around the 

farm were as broad as you see them now, 

with a summer’s growth. Concealed in 

the fields were trenches on the sides of 

the road running north and south. A 

v-shaped trench ran around the farm 

buildings pointing toward the wood line. 

The Germans had made colored blazes in 

the wood line to assist their shooting. They 

were armed with several dozen machine 

guns. To the east, more Germans were 

stationed in the woods beyond the fields. 

The fields are 915 meters wide, half the 

effective range of their machine guns. 

The area had been surveyed by German 

artillery observers for accurate fire from 

distant guns.

The area had been surveyed 

by German artillery 

observers for accurate fire 

from distant guns.

The 1st Battalion, 167th Infantry, an 

Alabama National Guard regiment, 

attacked the farm without artillery 

support at 4:50 p.m. From a position 460 

meters in the woods the men advanced 

in skirmish line in cool rainy weather. 

The Croix Rouge memorial.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The regiment’s 3rd Battalion, covering the 

right flank, advanced to pass south of the 

farm buildings. Advancing in line through 

the woods, both battalions encountered 

German snipers and machine gun teams 

who fired and fell back. High explosive and 

poison gas shells from German artillery 

began to fall in the wood. Approaching 

the field, the 167th came under fire from 

the farm buildings and field positions. The 

attack of the 1st Battalion became pinned 

down in front and to the north of the farm. 

At 6 p.m., reserve companies came up 

and renewed the attack with survivors of 

the first wave. About 100 men assaulted 

the roadside trench, north of the farm. 

From the woods to the east, a German 

counterattack advanced. The Alabama 

National Guardsmen turned them back at 

bayonet point. Casualties were very heavy. 

On the right flank, the 3rd Battalion 

encountered dense woods approaching the 

fields, which protected them from longrange fire, but brought them into close 

contact with German skirmishers. Enemy 

fire checked the assault at the wood line 

briefly. The assault then carried into the 

field trenches in hand-to-hand combat. 

A 3rd Battalion mortar section began to 

bombard the farm from the woods. Five 

hundred fifty meters south of the farm, two 

companies of the 167th cleared the enemy 

from the south edge of the fields. The 3rd

Battalion’s commander and three of his 

company commanders were casualties. 

Assault organization was breaking down, 

but officers and men reformed and pressed 

the attack across the road to the east of the 

farm houses.

Assault organization 

was breaking down, but 

officers and men reformed 

and pressed the attack 

across the road to the east 

of the farm houses.

Two hours into the attack, casualties were 

severe. The 167th had isolated the farm 

house from enemy reinforcements. The 3rd

Battalion’s attack had veered toward the 

farm buildings, with the 168th Infantry, an 

Iowa regiment. To the north by the road, 

1st Battalion fired on the buildings and 

the eastern woods. The roadside trenches 

provided cover to approach and attack the 

farm buildings. About 7 p.m., lieutenants 

from the 1st and 3rd Battalions led separate 

attacks on the farm buildings and cleared 

the roadside ditches, carrying Croix Rouge 

Farm. German artillery fire had fallen in 

42nd Division Commander Maj. Gen. Charles T.

Menoher, far right, stands with other officers including 

Division Chief of Staff Col. Douglas MacArthur, at left.

Stop 2 

the woods and around the farm during 

the attack, and continued through the 

night. In the field east of the farm, men 

of different units of the 42nd Division 

organized a defense and repelled a German 

counterattack. 

Throughout the rainy night, the regiment 

recovered its dead and evacuated the 

wounded. One hundred sixty two officers 

and men of the 167th Regiment were killed 

in the fighting at Croix Rouge Farm. 

The 1st Battalion had 65 percent killed 

or wounded. On the morning of July 27, 

word came that the Germans had retreated 

across the Ourcq River.

On July 26 Col. Douglas MacArthur, chief 

of staff of the Rainbow Division, praised 

the 167th and 168th Regiments that:

“...captured the Croix Rouge Farm 

in a manner which for its gallantry I 

do not believe has been surpassed in 

military history.”

Croix Rouge Farm from the south.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Attack on Grimpettes Wood

On the morning of July 28, 1918 the 28th

Division, a National Guard division from 

Pennsylvania, replaced French forces 

here, facing northeast around the town 

of Courmont. The 42nd Division covered 

their left flank 1 km to the northwest. To 

the right, just across the road from the 

soccer field, the 3rd Division stretched to the 

southeast. Two infantry regiments of the 

28th Division were held in reserve near Croix 

Rouge Farm 5 km to the rear. The clash here 

was part of the Battle of the Ourcq.

Courmont is in the valley of the Ourcq 

River which flows along the line of trees 

you see down the road. Beyond, crowning 

the ridge opposite Courmont is Grimpettes 

Wood. In wet July weather, the Germans 

had been slowly retreating north, taking 

advantage of good defensive positions. The 

28th Division and elements of the French 

Sixth Army had been pursuing them in 

force, not knowing when they would fight. 

Getting to Stop 2: 

Return north on the D80 to the four-way intersection and 

turn right. Go around the church in Fresnes-en-Tardenois 

toward Courmont. By the church in Courmont, turn left on 

D14 toward Ronchères. Leaving the town, pull off carefully Stop 2 onto the road just past the soccer field trees.

The temporary American cemetery at Courmont, Nov. 1918.

On July 28 a reinforced regiment of the 

28th Division, about 4,500 men, descended 

the hill toward the Ourcq to press the 

Germans. Occasional machine gun and 

artillery fire fell on the men in the fields 

here. The enemy had made a stand across 

the little river, and the regiment went to 

ground in the river bed. On the right, the 

3rd Division advanced beyond the river 

toward Grimpettes Wood but was driven 

back. German artillery fire increased and 

the advance was halted. The Ourcq River, 

then as now, forms a natural trench some 

2.5 meters wide and deep with only 0.3 

meters of water in its bed.

On the second day, the 28th Division 

attacked again before dawn with a brief 

artillery bombardment. The leading troops 

made it to Grimpettes Wood by 6 a.m., 

but were forced back by heavy fire three 

hours later. The attack only gained the 

lower slope of the hill. To the right, the 3rd

Division made an attack mid-afternoon, 

but made little progress. The Germans still 

held Grimpettes Wood and the ridgeline to 

the left of it. German artillery and machine 

guns harassed the American line. Orders 

were issued to attack again in the morning 

on July 30. Engineers built wooden bridges 

across the Ourcq. The 28th Division’s 

objective was the Grimpettes Wood and 

the ridge to the left. Through the day and 

into the night, one brigade of the 28th

Division prepared to attack before dawn. 

French artillery had arrived and set up for 

the next day’s attack.

At 3:40 a.m. on July 30, the 28th Division 

attacked again. In the dark, a brief but 

heavy bombardment struck the German 

positions. The soldiers of the 28th Division 

made it to the crest and to the edge of 

Grimpettes Wood. In the early afternoon, 

French artillery bombarded the woods and 

then laid a rolling barrage in front of the 

28th Division. The line of explosions hid 

the American soldiers from the enemy, 

then rolled forward through the wood. 

The soldiers of the 28th Division followed 

the confusion of the barrage through the 

wood, often bypassing Germans. Beyond 

the wood, they secured a line above the 

town of Ceigres out of site beyond the 

ridge. Two reserve companies of the 

attacking regiment went slowly through 

Grimpettes Wood, mopping up the 

enemy, then reinforcing the new line. In 

the evening, the 28th Division held off a 

German counterattack from the Ceigres 

Wood on their right. The next day, the 28th

Division was relieved by the 32nd Division, 

made up of Michigan and Wisconsin 

National Guardsmen. In only a few days 

of fighting here, the 28th Division suffered 

1,400 men killed and wounded.

Stop 3 

American artillery observers were crucial to assure 

effective artillery support.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Lt. Quentin Roosevelt 

and Chamery

When indoor water taps were uncommon, 

most of the village came here for their 

drinking water. This fountain was 

presented to the town in memory of Lt. 

Quentin Roosevelt by his family.

In July 1918, Chamery was behind German 

lines. When the Allies attacked, the Germans 

sent reinforcements, including aviation 

units. Military aviation had become more 

important, and as the value of reconnaissance 

and bombing aircraft increased, so did the 

need to counter them with fighters. Flying 

swift, maneuverable, and well-armed aircraft, 

fighter pilots were much admired by the 

public, as their single combat in colorful 

biplanes drew parallels with chivalric knights.

On July 14, Quentin Roosevelt, the 

youngest son of former U.S. President 

Theodore Roosevelt, was killed in action 

flying a Nieuport 28 fighter. Quentin had 

grown up in the White House and was a 

favorite of the American people. Aged 20, 

he had only been flying in combat for nine 

days. This was the tragically typical life 

expectancy for a World War I pilot.

The crash site was in the field 915 meters east 

of the fountain. Quentin was buried with 

honors by the German Army at the site of his 

crash, in a well-attended funeral. After they 

took Chamery, Allied soldiers flocked to the 

gravesite. In 1955, Quentin’s remains were 

moved to the Normandy American Cemetery 

to lie by those of his brother, Brig. Gen. 

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Five days after his 

brother’s death, Theodore was wounded near 

Soissons. He would later die in World War II 

during the Normandy campaign in July 1944.

Quentin was buried with 

honors by the German 

Army at the site of his crash, 

in a well-attended funeral.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Drive down the D14 toward the Ourcq River and continue 

on D14 north. At the fork in Cierges, bear left at the fork on 

D14 toward Coulonges-Cohan. Stay on D14 into Chamery. 

On the right, notice the sign “Fontaine a la Memoire du 

Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt”. The white stone fountain is Stop 3 ahead under a low tree on the right.

Lt. Quentin 

Roosevelt.

Above: The Quentin Roosevelt Memorial Fountain. 

Left: The grave of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt in 1918. Below: 

The Alert Nieuports, by Harry Townsend, depicts the 

Nieuport 28, the type of plane flown by Roosevelt.

Stop 4 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Oise-Aisne 

American Cemetery 

This is the second largest American World 

War I cemetery. It lies on land seized from 

the German army by the 42nd Division 

between July 31 and August 2, 1918. In the 

course of an ongoing attack on July 31, the 

division advanced behind a heavy barrage 

of high explosive and thermite incendiaries 

that broke the local German defense. On 

August 2, the division advanced again 

in pursuit over the ground where the 

cemetery stands and through the Forêt 

de Nesles to the north. The 42nd Division 

suffered almost 6,500 casualties in this 

campaign. The poet Joyce Kilmer, author 

of “Trees”, is interred here. As a member 

of the regimental intelligence section, he 

volunteered for a hazardous patrol, and 

was killed by a sniper on July 30.

This is the second 

largest American World 

War I cemetery.

Getting to Stop 4: 

Go north on the D14 that turns right, then left. At the fourway intersection, turn left on the D2. Continue on the D2 Stop 4 6 km to the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery.

Headstones at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery.

The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery memorial.

Stylized great seal eagle on chapel exterior. Sgt. Joyce Kilmer.

The cemetery in 1921, with wooden markers.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The 42nd Division established this cemetery 

as a resting place for its fallen in 1918. It 

was confirmed as a permanent site in 1921. 

Most of those interred here were casualties 

of the Aisne-Marne and Oise-Aisne 

Offensives. The cemetery is the resting 

place of more than 6,000 Americans, nearly 

600 of whom are unknown. The names of 

nearly 250 missing Americans, who died in 

this region, are honored on the Walls of the 

Missing in the chapel. 

The cemetery is the resting 

place of more than 6,000 

Americans, nearly 600 of 

whom are unknown.

The cemetery is divided by a central grassy 

mall with the entrance at one end and a 

curved, colonnaded, peristyle memorial 

at the far end. The memorial consists of 

a stepped terrace supporting an altar of 

carved polished Rocheret Jaune marble 

that complements the surrounding walls 

of Gres de Vosges sandstone. At either end 

of the peristyle is a small commemorative 

room, and memorial chapel. The OiseAisne and Aisne-Marne Offensives are 

recalled with carved stone maps and 

symbols of participating formations. The 

chapel is highly decorated and includes the 

names of the missing, and is illuminated by 

windows of translucent Algerian Onyx. The 

four grave plots are divided by the mall and 

transverse paths that meet in the center at 

a flagstaff.

Flags on display at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery. Campaign of Aisne-Marne region.

Chapel inscriptions.

- End of tour -

From the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, drive west on D2 to the intersection of the 

D967 and turn left (south) toward Beuvardes. Continue south to Beuvardes, and on to 

Epieds. Bear right at the fork in Epieds toward Bezu-St-Germain, and go straight at the 

traffic circle, the first exit. At the “T” intersection in Bezu-St-Germain, turn left on D4 

toward Chateau-Thierry. At the intersection, turn left toward Chateau-Thierry. In 2.8 km 

you will find the entrance to the Autoroute de l’Est.

Above: The chapel at the cemetery and the Walls of the Missing. 

Below: Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in summer.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Montsec American Monument.

For the American Expeditionary Forces, 

the Battle of St. Mihiel was an important 

victory for strategic and psychological 

reasons. When the battle took place in 

mid-September 1918, many soldiers in 

the American Expeditionary Forces had 

already experienced a baptism of fire in the 

war. In addition, a vast supply networkthe Service of Supply (SOS)-brought 

men, supplies, and material to American 

Expeditionary Forces and Allied armies 

from ports in western France. Allied fliers 

and Americans of the U.S. Air Service 

manned nearly 1,500 aircraft under Gen. 

Billy Mitchell. The Americans took the lead 

in this battle, supported by the French and 

British, and demonstrated that they were 

every bit as capable as their allies. 

...the Battle of St. Mihiel 

was an important 

victory, for strategic and 

psychological reasons.

American divisions had previously fought 

within the command structures of the 

French and British in the sectors controlled 

by those armies. To move under its own 

command structure, the American First 

Army was organized on August 10, 1918, 

under command of Gen. John J. Pershing. It 

contained the I, IV, and V American Corps, 

and the French II Colonial Corps. Many 

American support troops were attached to 

the First Army, as were numerous French 

and American artillery and aviation units. 

The chosen target of this force was the 

St. Mihiel salient, a rough triangle jutting 

into Allied lines 56 km wide, and 32 km 

deep, with the small city of St. Mihiel on 

the Meuse River south of Verdun at its 

southwestern point.

The St. Mihiel Salient was created by 

German units supporting attacks on 

Verdun. One side of the salient faced west 

from Haudiomont to St. Mihiel. From 

there it faced south to the Moselle River 

above Pont-à-Mousson. The new position 

complicated the supply to French forces 

at Verdun, and further south threatened 

ST. MIHIEL SALIENT: 

THE AMERICAN FIRST ARMY TESTED

A Machine Gun Nest, by Samuel Johnson Woolf.

St. Mihiel Salient St. Mihiel Salient
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

the Paris to Nancy rail line. A stalemate 

ensued around the salient. By fall of 1918, 

the German Army planned to retreat from 

the salient to a shorter defensible line 

between Pont-à-Mousson and Haudimont. 

The American attack was scheduled for the 

morning of September 12, 1918. The day 

before the attack, the Germans had begun a 

controlled, methodical withdrawal. 

The American First Army would attack all 

around the salient. On the south side the 

American I and IV Corps, with several 

divisions each, faced a 24 km front from 

the Moselle River to west of the town of 

Seicherprey. From there the front ran 

west past Apremont to the Meuse River, 

and then curved around St. Mihiel to 

the northeast by the town of Mouilly. 

This area was covered by the French II 

Colonial Corps serving with the American 

First Army. The American V Corps’ 

front ran from Mouilly northeast for 

almost 5 km and then curved northwest 

to Haudiomont. The 1st Division and the 

26th Division were to drive hard for the 

town of Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel in the 

center of the salient. Above the battlefield 

the largest operational concentration of 

combat aircraft would drive off German 

aircraft, perform reconnaissance, and 

attack German ground forces.

Curious AEF soldiers watch a group of 

German POWs captured in the Battle 

of St. Mihiel.

The Americans took 

the lead in this battle, 

supported by the 

French and British, and 

demonstrated that they 

were every bit as capable 

as their allies.

Start Tour 

American crew firing 75 mm gun during the Battle of St. Mihiel. 

1st Lieut. Eddie Rickenbacker standing up in his aircraft. 

St. Mihiel Salient Introduction 1918: The AEF Go To War Cantigny Chateau-Thierry & Belleau Wood Aisne-Marne Offensive St. Mihiel Salient
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel Beney-en-WoëvreThiaucourt-Regniéville Essey-et-Maizerais Fey-en-Haye Pont-à-Mousson

Varnéville Seicheprey Flirey

Manonville

Bouconville-sur-Madt

Jauly

Chaillon

Montsec

Buxières-sous-les-Côtes

Heudicourt-sous-les-Côtes Vilcey-sur-Trey

Pagny-sur-Moselle

Parc naturel 

régional de 

Lorraine

Lac de Madine

D901

D133

D904

D904

D904

D904

D958

D106

D100

D657

D958

D908 D12

D33

D28

D28

D89

D3

1

2

3

4

5

6

Getting to Stop 1: 

The Place Duroc in Pont-à-Mousson is on the south side of the D657, 

in the part of town on the west side of the Moselle River. There are Stop 1 amazing vistas on this tour. Be sure to bring along your binoculars.

Pont-à-Mousson

Begin in Pont-à-Mousson at the Place 

Duroc, a large public square with a 

memorial fountain honoring the American 

Field Service (AFS). Beginning in April 

1915, American expatriates volunteered 

to drive the wounded from the front 

to hospitals in the rear. The actions of 

these Americans encouraged others to 

volunteer and many notable Americans 

served with the AFS or similar ambulance 

organizations. Many AFS units and 

individuals earned the Croix de Guerre and 

other decorations for their heroic actions. 

The fountain was dedicated in 1931.

The AFS Memorial Fountain 

and inscription on the 

fountain. 

Stop 2 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Flirey

There are two monuments here. On the 

south side of the road, a monument 

commemorates the American divisions 

that recaptured the St. Mihiel Salient and 

freed French citizens held under German 

occupation since 1914. In front of the 

church is a monument to France’s 163rd

Infantry Regiment.

Flirey was the right flank of IV Corps. On 

the night of September 11, 1918 the 89th

Division was massed here facing north. 

The typical three regiments of artillery 

were doubled for this attack. To the right 

was the 2nd Division, with its Marine 

brigade. To the west were the veteran 1st

and 42nd Divisions.

Getting to Stop 2: 

Go west on the D657, the Rue Victor Hugo. The street curves 

left and then right. Just over the railroad, turn right on the 

D958, which you will follow west through several turns. 

Pass through Limey on this road. At the village of Flirey go Stop 2 through the intersection at the church and find parking.

Damaged bridge at Flirey. Note traffic jam of trucks in the foreground. 

Stop 3 

The German barbed wire, 

laid down years before, 

had become brittle and 

susceptible to the barrage.

At 1 a.m. on September 12 the attack began 

with a 4-hour artillery bombardment. At 

5 a.m. the infantry moved forward behind 

a rolling barrage. In the first days the 89th

advanced an astonishing 8 km through 

well-prepared positions. The German 

forces had already begun their withdrawal, 

and the barbed wire, laid down years 

before, had become brittle and susceptible 

to the barrage.

Monument to the French 163rd Infantry Regiment.

Monument to the American divisions who served in this sector. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Seicheprey

Seicheprey was the dividing line between 

the 1st and 42nd Divisions. The fountain 

adjacent to the playground is a monument 

to troops from Connecticut who previously 

fought here. This fountain became the 

daily source of household water for many 

villagers and a daily reminder of the 

American Expeditionary Forces.

As you move north from Seicheprey 

notice how the broad slightly rolling 

country is dominated by the hills ahead 

of you, the heights of the Meuse River. 

You will see a lone hill straight ahead, 

Montsec, your next stop.

This fountain became 

the daily source of 

household water for many 

villagers and a daily 

reminder of the American 

Expeditionary Forces.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Continue southwest on the D958 and look out on the right to 

take a right on the D28A. Continue into Seicheprey and at the 

“T” intersection turn right toward the church. There is some Stop 3 parking on the road behind the church.

Overview and detail of the 102nd 

Infantry Memorial Fountain. 

Stop 4 

A machine gun team in the damaged cemetery of Seicheprey in 1918, by Harvey Dunn.

The ruins of Seicheprey on September 16, 1918. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Montsec 

American Monument 

The Montsec American Monument is a 

white, circular, open-topped colonnade. 

In the center on a raised platform is a 

bronze relief map of the St. Mihiel Salient. 

Arrows in the floor between the columns 

point to important sites. The monument 

commemorates the Battle of St. Mihiel 

and American actions further south 

and east in this region. Southeast of the 

monument you can see the road leading 

away from Montsec toward Richecourt 

and Seicheprey. 

1st Lieut. Eddie Rickenbacker visited 

Montsec and said observers could view 

aircraft above his airfield at Toul 16 km 

southeast. The crest of Montsec and the 

south slope held numerous observation 

posts. The north side of the hill had many 

dugout shelters for German defenders. 

Getting to Stop 4: 

Return to the road in front of the church, and turn southeast. 

You will see a bus stop on the right, take the next right. Stay right 

on the main road at the fork. Continue straight toward Butte de 

Montsec. Beyond Richecourt take the left fork by the cemetery. 

In the town of Montsec, at the crossroads turn left on D12 toward Stop 4 Butte de Montsec. Bear right up the Butte de Montsec at the fork.

American Soldiers advance in St. Mihiel. 

The Butte de Montsec is in the distance. 

Stop 5 

Trench lines and barbed wire were laid for 

an all-around defense. On September 12 

and 13, Allied artillery blanketed Montsec 

with a smoke screen obscuring observation.

The 1st and 42nd Divisions advanced from 

Seicheprey, passing Montsec, heading 

north. The lakes to your front were smaller 

then and did not impede the advance. 

Looking north you can see the end of a 

ridgeline above Heudicourt-sous-les-Côtes. 

The 1st Division advanced as far as the 

forests to the east on the first day in line 

with the 42nd and 89th Divisions to their 

right. The final objective of the 1st was 

Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel, on the second 

distant ridgeline.

The crest of Montsec, and the 

south slope held numerous 

observation posts.

Left: Montsec American 

Monument. Below: Butte 

de Montsec and St. Mihiel 

in 2018.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel

This monument commemorates the 

fallen of the 1st Division in the Battle 

of St. Mihiel, and its meeting with the 

26th Division that cut off the salient on 

September 13, 1918. Both roads to the 

tip of the salient met in Vigneulles. The 

two divisions cut off and captured many 

retreating Germans. To the west of here 

are the hills of the Côtes de Meuse, which 

give way to flatlands of the Woëvre plain 

stretching east.

You can see Montsec directly south. 

Seicheprey is just beyond and to the left 

12 km away. Look north and you will see a 

ridge and the village of Hattonchâtel. 

Getting to Stop 5: 

Return down the hill to the D12 and turn left into Montsec 

village. At the crossroads turn left onto the D119 and follow 

that to Woinville. Turn right (north) on D908 toward 

Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel. Go right at the traffic circle and 

take the first exit onto D901. At the next traffic circle take the 

third exit and then take the first left into the parking lot. Park Stop 5 and walk to the monument facing the D901.

American soldiers stand ready on the Woëvre Plain.

Changing the name of a Vigneullles street sign 

from "Hindenburg Strasse" to "Wilson, U.S.A."

Stop 6 

On the morning of September 13, 

American fighter pilots of the 27th and 95th

Squadrons flew beneath bad weather to 

observe soldiers of the 26th Division waving 

from the ridge and in the streets of these 

towns. The 26th had advanced over 12 km 

in a little more than a day. The 1st and 42nd

Divisions overran the road east of here 

capturing German troops and material 

and cutting off their retreat. Further east, 

American and Allied aircraft converged on 

the road to attack the retreating enemy.

The advance of the American divisions 

was remarkable in a war measuring 

success in hundreds of meters. Their 

dash was complimented by increasing 

professionalism. Germans reported that 

American artillery was accurate, quick to 

respond to the needs of American infantry, 

and efficient in preliminary bombardment. 

The German attempt to withdraw was 

upset by the rapid advance of the American 

Expeditionary Forces. The Germans 

lost 16,000 men, 443 guns, and valuable 

munitions stores.

The advance of the 

American divisions was 

remarkable in a war 

measuring success in 

hundreds of meters.

First Division Memorial.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

St. Mihiel 

American Cemetery

This site became a cemetery in September 

1918. Today, St. Mihiel American 

Cemetery contains the graves of more than 

4,100 Americans. Of these, the identities 

of more than 100 are unknown. Most of 

those interred fell in the St. Mihiel Salient. 

Tablets in the chapel bear the names of 

more than 280 missing Americans who 

died in the area. A rosette on the Tablets 

of the Missing indicates the individual was 

later recovered and identified.

The cemetery is divided into four plots by 

paths and Linden trees. At the center is an 

American eagle surmounting a sundial 

inscribed with ”Time Will Not Dim the 

Glory of Their Deeds”. At the east is a 

sculpture that includes a commemorative 

vase. To the west is a statue of a soldier 

framed by a cross, donated in memory 

of a fallen doughboy. At the south axis of 

the path is a peristyle of columns with a 

sculpted urn at its center. To the left is the 

chapel, and to the right is a commemorative 

room where names of the missing are 

carved and gilded in marble. Opposite the 

door is a map of the Battle of St. Mihiel. 

Montsec can be seen in the distance

When you leave the cemetery you will pass 

through Thiaucourt, captured on September 

12 by the 2nd Division. Thiaucourt became a 

center of medical services.

Getting to Stop 6: 

Return to the road and go east on D901. In St. Benoit turn 

right at the intersection onto D67and go 6 km to the St. Stop 6 Mihiel American Cemetery on the right of the road.

The eagle sundial at St. Mihiel 

American Cemetery.

Above: An American bugler 

at a temporary cemetery in 

the St. Mihiel salient. Right: 

AEF medical services in a 

forward area. Below: American 

soldiers in Thiaucourt being 

photographed and filmed by a 

Signal Corps team.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Above left: Statue of a wartime soldier framed by a cross. Above right: Headstone of a Medal of Honor 

recipient. Below: Names of missing are carved and gilded in marble.

To the west is a statue 

of a soldier framed by a 

cross, donated in memory 

of a fallen doughboy.

- End of tour -

Turn southeast (right) and continue through Thiaucourt. Cross the bridge at the small river 

and turn immediately right, and then left under the rail line. At the “T” intersection in the 

fields by the woods turn right onto D3. Turn left on the D958 to return to Pont-à-Mousson.

St. Mihiel American Cemetery.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Nearly 2,000 Americans are buried in Somme American Cemetery in France.

Gen. John J. Pershing had two goals for 

the American Expeditionary Forces in the 

war: he wanted his troops to be prepared 

for battle, and he wanted an independent 

American Army. When the Germans began 

a series of major offensives in spring 1918, 

Pershing relented and allowed American 

soldiers to serve in the British sector under 

a limited, but formal, arrangement. 

The II Corps of the American 

Expeditionary Forces was a composite 

British and American organization. 

Among the American units in II Corps 

were the 27th and 30th Divisions, composed 

of men from New York, Tennessee, and 

the Carolinas. Both were formed from 

National Guard units. They trained in 

British camps and trench lines in Northern 

France, using British weapons. Their 

artillery brigades remained with other 

American units. The II Corps relied on 

British artillery for support. From late 

September to early October 1918, these 

divisions fought alongside Australian units 

assigned to the British Fourth Army.

THE SOMME: 

BREAKING THE HINDENBURG LINE

American soldiers armed with British Enfield

rifles, 1918.

American soldiers training on British Vickers machine guns.

The Somme The Somme AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Meuse-Argonne Offensive II Heroes of the Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Hindenburg Line at 

the St. Quentin Canal

The II Corps played an important role 

in the British Army’s Hundred Days 

Offensive. The operation to break the 

German positions along the Somme 

River began on August 21, 1918. Three 

British armies carried out attacks in 

mid-September, which secured positions 

for an offensive on the Hindenburg Line 

between Cambrai and St. Quentin. The St. 

Quentin Canal was incorporated into the 

defenses. Steep banks led down to the canal 

that formed a moat running through the 

middle of the fortified zone. For the British 

Army, depending on tanks in assault, it was 

a daunting obstacle.

The II Corps led the attack on the line 

around the towns of Bony, Bellicourt, 

and Riqueval. The main heavy line of 

the German defense was in front of the 

towns, in a set of three interconnected 

and heavily-wired trenches. Forward of 

these positions was the outpost line with 

thick belts of wire. Defenses were carefully 

sited to take advantage of the softly rolling 

terrain. Communication trenches in the 

folds of ground hid routes between the 

lines. Here the outpost line incorporated 

stone-walled farms and strongpoints dug 

into low ridgelines.

American soldiers supported by a British Mk V tank. 

British heavy artillery firing near Bony.

Start Tour 

Between Bony and Riqueval the St. 

Quentin Canal passed under high ground 

through the 5.6 km-long Riqueval Tunnel, 

completed in 1810 under Napoleon. In 

World War I, German military engineers 

pierced the tunnel and ventilation shaft 

walls creating underground quarters and 

facilities with hidden exits to defense 

lines above. Barges moored in the tunnel 

provided protected accommodation 

for troops. About 30 meters inside the 

tunnel entrances were concrete walls 

with machine gun positions. The tunnel 

complex was an ideal shelter for reserves 

waiting in safety to counter enemy attacks. 

The British decided to attack here using 

tanks, including the American 301st Heavy 

Tank Battalion, to break through the wire 

and trenches. The attack was planned for 

September 29. The Germans knew they 

were vulnerable to tanks at Bellicourt. They 

placed field guns in main defenses and used 

artillery shells as improvised tank mines.

As part of the British Fourth Army 

offensive, the II Corps would lead the 

attack on the north end of the line at the 

tunnel sector. The attack was preceded by a 

bombardment by 1,000 field pieces and 600 

heavy artillery pieces firing for 30 hours. 

The bombardment began with eight hours 

of mustard gas shells.

At 5:50 a.m. on September 29, the British 

Fourth Army advanced on a 19 km front. 

Its right-hand corps quickly crossed the 

St.-Quentin Canal, and by evening had 

taken the canal line. In the center, the 30th

Division attacked the Hindenburg Line 

at Bellicourt. The 27th continued to attack 

toward the Hindenburg Line defenses 

around Bony.

A chaplain talks to a wounded 27th Division 

soldier near Ronssoy.

The Somme The Somme
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Le Catelet

Villeret

Templeux- Bellicourt

le-Guérard

Ronssoy

Hargicourt

Vendhuile

Bony

Gouy

Lempire

AISNE 

SOMME

D57

D93

D71

A26

A57

A26

D57

D58

D6

D28

D16

D572

D331

D412

D932

D1044

D1044

Direction 

to Cambrai

1

2

3

45

6

Getting to Stop 1: 

From Cambrai, take the D664 (Avenue de Paris) south. Pass over 

the Escaut River and St. Quentin Canal that run side by side in 

Masnières. Bear left at the fork, still on D664. In about 6 km, turn 

right onto D16. Take the second left onto D57, toward Vendhuile. 

In Vendhuile, turn right on the D28 and follow it out of town 

to the west. Just before the highway, turn left into the highway Stop 1 maintenance road and stop with your hazard lights on.

Left Flank of the 

27th Division

The 27th Division arrived in the line on 

September 25, 1918. The division’s left flank 

faced east here on September 27. The farm 

on the road you just passed, Le Tomboise, 

was heavily fortified. German trenches 

and belts of barbed wire stretched back 

from Le Tomboise to high ground known 

as “The Knoll” northeast of the fortified 

Guillemont and Quennemont farms. The 

British 18th Division had failed to take 

these outpost line positions, and the newly 

arrived 27th was told to attack them on 

September 27. They assaulted the outpost 

line at 5:30 a.m. with 12 tanks of the 301st

Tank Battalion. The troops moved forward 

quickly. Tanks came up and harassed 

“The Knoll” and Guillemont Farm to 

little effect. On the right side of the attack 

tanks failed to arrive in support. German 

reinforcements appeared from behind the 

high ground and forced the division back. 

A number of Americans were captured. 

Isolated pockets held out in shell holes and 

foxholes between the lines. The hurried 

attack weakened the 27th before the main 

push on September 29, with only slight 

advances on the flanks.

German reinforcements 

appeared from behind the 

high ground and forced 

the division back.

A tank supporting the 27th

Division destroyed by a 

German mine near 

Ronssoy.

Stop 2 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Right Flank of the 

27th Division

You are now standing on the point which 

was the middle of the German outpost 

position on the morning of September 29. 

Down the line of trees to your right was 

another German strongpoint, Quennemont 

Farm. From here, you can see how the 

ground falls away to the east to rise again 

to the main Hindenburg Line. The low 

area allowed the Germans to reinforce the 

outpost line under cover.

On September 29, the 27th Division 

attacked again through the mist at 5:30 

a.m. with tank support. The British began 

a rolling barrage far forward beyond the 

outpost line. The German strongpoints 

were intact and waiting for the attack. 

The outpost line here was captured with 

the help of the Australian 3rd Division 

which arrived around 11 a.m. Casualties 

were heavy among the tanks and the 

infantry. Many Americans continued 

forward among the Australians. Together 

they attacked toward Bony and beyond 

for about 1.6 km on the right. On the 

left of the 27th, fighting was fierce and 

confused; at 3 p.m. the Australians arrived. 

American and Australian units fought 

together intermingled against the German 

strongpoints. The Americans joined the 

Australians, and continued the advance on 

September 30. In these attacks and in the 

subsequent consolidation of the position, 

the 27th Division suffered 4,264 casualties. 

The 301st Tank Battalion alone lost 105 

killed, wounded and missing.

American and Australian 

units fought together 

intermingled against the 

German strongpoints.

Getting to Stop 2: 

Drive west under the highway and past Unicorn Cemetery 

to Lempire. At the “T” intersection, turn left onto D58. Go 

south until you come to a 4-way intersection and turn left on 

D57. Go under the highway and drive east to a line of trees 

on a rise where there is a turnout on either side into a field Stop 2 road, and park with hazard lights on.

An American soldier escorts German prisoners 

near Bellicourt. 

Stop 3 

American soldiers advance with tanks near Bellicourt on September 29, 1918. The frames atop the tanks 

are for dropping in trenches to aid crossing.

Wounded at a dressing station.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The 30th Division’s Advance 

on September 29

The American 30th Division replaced the 

Australian 1st Division here on the night of 

September 24, 1918. The Australians had 

succeeded in seizing the outpost positions 

of the Hindenburg Line. On September 25 

they repulsed a German trench raid.

Look south at the further of the two small 

woods, known as Quarry Wood. The 30th

attacked and took it on September 26. The 

nearer wood remained in German hands 

and had a communication trench running 

east to where the Hindenburg Line 

defenses began. Unlike the 27th Division, 

they had five days to prepare and improve 

their position for an attack along a 3 km 

front with artillery and tank support.

...they had five days to 

prepare, and improve their 

position, for an attack on 

a 3 km front with artillery 

and tank support.

The 30th objective for September 29 was to 

capture the line of the canal at Bellicourt, 

then push beyond and to the southeast 

behind the canal. The Australian 5th

Division planned to overtake and relieve 

them. Heavy artillery preparation with a 

rolling barrage and smoke screen preceded 

the attack. At 5:30 a.m. the attack began. 

Low cloud, mist and smoke screen limited 

visibility. Though coordination with tanks 

broke down, the murky conditions also 

hindered German artillery and machine 

guns. Fighting in Bellicourt went on from 7 

a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Driving toward Bellicourt the main 

Hindenburg Line trenches began where the 

embankment rises on the left side of the 

road, there is a pullout on the right. Between 

there and Bellicourt there were three belts of 

barbed wire and three trench lines.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Return east on D57 by passing under the highway. Turn left on 

the D332 and follow it south curving back over the highway. 

You will pass a farm on the left. At about 275 m past the farm, Stop 3 there is a field pullout on the right parallel to the road.

German prisoners bringing in the wounded pass a 

British tank in a smoke screen.

The town of Bellicourt was almost completely destroyed during the fighting. 

Stop 4 

British heavy artillery support II Corps in the attack on the Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Riqueval Tunnel Entrance

Here you can see a museum and the 

southern entrance to the St. Quentin 

Canal. The entrance was fortified, and 

footbridges lay across the canal. By 

7:30 a.m. on September 29, the 30th

Division took the north side of Bellicourt 

and pushed into the last trench of the 

Hindenburg Line, northeast of town. By 

9:30 a.m., the south side of Bellicourt was 

in American hands. After the 30th passed 

over the canal tunnel, a regiment fanned 

out south and east for 1.5 km, securing the 

flank. The British 46th Division’s infantry 

waded the canal further south. British 

tanks came north, making a U-turn around 

the Riqueval Tunnel entrance. In the early 

afternoon, the mist and smoke of battle 

began to lift, and German artillery took a 

greater toll on the tanks. The Australian 

5th Division arrived to take over the attack, 

and many soldiers of the 30th joined 

them. Together, the British Army and 

the American Expeditionary Forces had 

achieved a major objective by piercing the 

Hindenburg Line. 

There is a Tennessee State monument to the 

30th Division outside by the canal boat display.

Getting to Stop 4: 

Continue east on D331. Entering Bellicourt, you will pass 

a British cemetery on the left. At the four-way intersection, 

turn right on the D1044. Go south out of Bellicourt and take 

the first right turn toward Hammeau de Riqueval. Pull into Stop 4 the parking lot a short way down the side road on the left.

Close-up of the Riqueval Tunnel mouth.

The Riqueval Tunnel entrance, 2018. Stop 5 

The 30th Division monument. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Bellicourt American 

Monument

The monument provides a good view 

of the battlefield. It sits on the dividing 

line between the 27th and 30th Division 

lines of advance and directly over the St. 

Quentin Canal Tunnel. At the back of 

the monument is a map of the area with 

an orientation table to identify historical 

points in the terrain. 

The Bellicourt American Monument 

commemorates 90,000 Americans who 

served in combat with British armies in 

France. The insignia of the II Corps, the 

27th, 30th, 33rd, and 80th Divisions, and the 

6th and 11th Engineers are carved in stone. 

The monument is engraved with names 

of notable actions of these and other 

units. On the face of the monument is an 

American eagle on a pedestal of stars and 

stripes, flanked by figures representing 

victory and remembrance.

During the night of September 30, 1918, the 

II Corps was withdrawn from the line for 

rest and re-deployed north of St. Quentin on 

Getting to Stop 5: 

Leaving the parking lot on the west side of the canal, turn left 

(south). This leads over a bridge, back to the D1044. Turn left 

(north) on the D1044. Drive north on the D1044 for 3.25 km 

Stop 5 and look for the Bellicourt American Monument on the left.

The Germans honeycombed the ground around the tunnel with shelters equipped with lights and small tram rails.

Stop 6 

October 6. On October 7 the 30th Division 

attacked from around Montbrehain and 

advanced 16 km in four days. They reached 

the Selle River and were relieved by the 27th. 

On October 17 the entire II Corps attacked 

across the Selle advancing 5,500 meters. The 

II Corps captured nearly 4,000 prisoners 

during this operation. In their attacks on the 

Hindenburg Line, the II Corps suffered over 

17,000 men killed, wounded or captured.

On the face of the 

monument is an American 

eagle on a pedestal of stars 

and stripes, flanked by 

figures representing victory 

and remembrance.

The front of the 

Bellicourt American 

Monument.

The orientation table at the back of the monument. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Somme American Cemetery

Somme American Cemetery was first 

established as a temporary battlefield 

cemetery in 1918. It is named for the Somme 

region of France. The cemetery holds the 

graves of nearly 1,900 Americans. The names 

of more than 300 are engraved on the Walls 

of the Missing within the chapel. 

From the visitor building, a path lined 

with linden trees leads to a white stone 

wall surrounding the cemetery, which is 

divided by walking paths into four plots. 

At the intersection of the paths is a flagpole 

whose base is surrounded by bronze World 

War I helmets surmounting laurel wreaths. 

The memorial chapel is in the center of 

the southeast side of the cemetery. It is 

built with white Vaurion stone with carved 

motifs that include eagles, artillery rounds, 

Getting to Stop 6: 

Continue north on the D1044 for 1.6 km, and turn left on D442 

toward Bony and Somme American Cemetery. Pass straight 

through Bony. Leaving Bony you will see the Somme American 

Cemetery ahead on the right. Drive past the chapel on the corner to 

the entrance on the right. It is flanked by curved white stone walls 

and stone gateposts bearing the union shield from the great seal of Stop 6 the United States. Go up the drive and park by the visitor building.

Walls of the Missing in the Chapel. 

His Majesty King George V of Britain visits the 

temporary American cemetery near the St.-

Quentin Canal in 1918.

Medal of Honor headstones such as this one are 

inscribed with gold leaf.

The town of Bony can be seen from the cemetery. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Top: Chapel. Left: Detail of Bronze chapel door. 

Right: The American flag flies over the cemetery.

- End of tour -

Return east through Bony to the D1044. From here you may either drive north to return to 

Cambrai, or turn south to drive directly to St. Quentin. To get to a main highway go north on 

the D1044 to the intersection with the D917 in Banteux. At the traffic circle, take the second exit 

toward Peronne. Drive southwest to the interchange with the Autoroute des Anglais, the A26.

French tanks and artillery pieces, and rifles 

with fixed bayonets. The exterior bears 

dedications in English and French to those 

who died for their country. The interior 

floor is marble with a plaque bearing 48 

stars for the number of states at the time. 

There is an altar and mounts for flagstaffs. 

On the walls are the names of those whose 

resting place is unknown. Rosettes on these 

walls indicate service members whose 

remains have been since identified.

The memorial chapel... is 

built with white Vaurion 

stone with carved motifs 

that include eagles, artillery 

rounds, French tanks and 

artillery pieces, and rifles 

with fixed bayonets.

Detail photograph with artillery piece and shells in relief on the chapel walls.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The chapel at Flanders Field American Cemetery.

Since the onset of World War I, the 

Flanders region of Belgium saw nearly 

continuous combat. Belgian, British, and 

French forces fought the German Army in 

massive, terrible clashes around the cities 

of Ypres and Passchendaele. 

In this bloody and cruel landscape, John 

McCrae, a Canadian doctor serving 

under British Command, wrote perhaps 

the most famous poem of the war, In 

Flanders Fields. In just a handful of stanzas, 

McCrae captured the wartime feelings of 

melancholy, sacrifice and determination 

that continues to characterize World War I 

commemoration to this day. McCrae wrote 

his poem in 1915, in a site near Ypres, years 

before the United States entered the war. 

After the United States entered 

the war in 1917, General John J. 

Pershing, commander of the American 

Expeditionary Forces (AEF), reflected the 

position of his government in insisting 

that an independent United States Army 

would rise to fight alongside the Allies in a 

sector of its own. Pershing’s vision required 

intensive training, but the realities of war 

intervened. German offensives launched 

between March and July 1918 in Northern 

France created a crisis for the Allies, and 

forced the commitment of American 

divisions to British or French Operational 

control. In the face of battle, American 

divisions made a name for themselves. 

They proved to be invaluable and adapted 

to the ways of their new partners as well as 

the harsh realities of military life. 

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN 

BELGIUM: OPERATIONS IN FLANDERS

The imagery of crosses and poppies in the poem In Flanders Fields was used in American Liberty Loan 

drives during the war. 

In just a handful of stanzas, 

McCrae captured the wartime 

feelings of melancholy, sacrifice 

and determination that continues 

to characterize World War I 

commemoration to this day. 

AEF in Belgium AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Meuse-Argonne Offensive II Heroes of the Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

By July 1918, the Allies had the initiative. 

American troops were quickly proving vital 

to the Allied war effort. Approximately 

10,000 American soldiers were arriving in 

France daily, to be trained and equipped 

by the British and French. As part of the 

overall Allied plan to attack across the 

front, the British Army would carry out 

offensive operations in Belgium. Four 

American infantry divisions would fight in 

this offensive. 

The 27th Division, New York National 

Guard, was commanded by General 

John O’Ryan. Its insignia was a stylized 

monogram of the letters “NY”, with 

the constellation Orion superimposed, 

as a tribute to the division’s popular 

commander. Only soldiers deemed fully 

competent by the division commander 

were allowed to wear this insignia. Other 

American units in Flanders included the 

30th “Old Hickory” Division, made up of 

national guardsman from the Carolinas, 

Georgia, and Tennessee, and the 37th 

“Buckeye” Division came from Ohio. 

Draftees from states along the Pacific Coast 

and Mountain West made up the 91st 

“Wild West” Division. 

The 27th and 30th had served alongside 

British forces since their arrival in Europe 

in May 1918. By the time they reached 

Flanders in August, a brutal war of attrition 

had long been underway, with Allied and 

German forces facing off across a war-torn 

battlefield. American soldiers adjusted to 

the cruel realities of modern warfare. They 

encountered seemingly endless artillery 

barrages, machine gun fire, and horrific 

chemical gas attacks from a determined 

German Army dug in along fortified 

networks of trenches and bunkers. German 

forces had captured much of the area 

during their recent offensives in the spring 

of 1918. 

South of Ypres, the 30th Division occupied 

a sector facing Voormezeele, while the 

27th faced Vierstraat. The Germans were 

dangerously exposed in a salient along 

the Lys River. Allied attacks intended to 

reduce this salient if the Germans failed to 

withdraw. The strongest positions to the 

German rear constituted the formidable 

defenses of the “Hindenburg Line.”

The German Army suffered heavy losses 

during Allied offensives launched near 

Amiens on August 8. Foch and other 

members of the Allied leadership rightly 

surmised that the Germans would attempt 

to withdraw back to the “Hindenburg 

Line.” In Belgium, British and Belgian 

armies pushed into the Lys Salient in midAugust to preclude an orderly German 

withdrawal. The Germans were not yet 

committed to a general retreat, and gave 

ground grudgingly. This led to fierce battles 

and determined rear guard actions.

The 27th Division shoulder sleeve insignia. 

Elsie Janis, the “Sweetheart of the AEF,” performs for soldiers in Belgium. 

Fearing a major Allied attack, German 

troops began withdrawing just days after 

the Americans reached the front lines. 

From August 29 to September 4, 1918, 

the two US divisions pushed forward and 

captured over 1,500 meters to liberate 

Vierstraat Ridge and Vormezeele. 

To the south, German troops occupied 

Mount Kemmel, one of the highest points 

above the Flanders plain. American 

soldiers advanced eastward across open 

stretches of “No Man’s Land” devastated 

by years of concentrated artillery fire. 

Beyond this desolation waited a network 

of complicated concrete fortifications. 

Serving with the British, the American 

forces helped break through these 

formidable obstacles. 

The 27th Division attacked and seized 

Vierstraat on August 31. Advancing 

beyond the town they weathered fierce 

counter-attacks and heavy machine gun 

fire, but nevertheless pushed on another 

thousand yards to secure the trench on the 

slopes of Wytschaete Ridge. 

AEF in Belgium The Somme AEF in Belgium
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The 30th Division serving with the British 

II Corps attacked and seized Voormezeele 

on September 1, and repulsed a German 

counterattack near Lankhof Farm on 

September 2. The German withdrawal was 

skillful, integrating artillery fire, booby 

traps, machine gun fire and snipers to 

delay the Allied advance. A particularly 

pernicious German tactic was the 

widespread use of mustard gas, which 

penetrated wool clothing, caused horrific 

burning, and could remain active for weeks 

in trenches, shell holes, and low ground. 

The momentum of the attack was to be 

sustained by a rotation of units, and on 

September 4 British divisions replaced the 

27th and 30th. By the time the divisions 

were relieved, the 27th had suffered 1,300 

casualties, and the 30th about 800. 

Battered by recurrent Allied attacks across 

a broad front, the Germans committed 

to a general withdrawal to the formidable 

defenses of the Hindenburg Line. The Allies 

pursued, but were hindered by logistical 

difficulties when bringing supplies and 

ammunition forward across battle damaged 

terrain they had recently captured. 

With synchronized Allied offensives in 

France already under way, the Allied 

Armies of Flanders resumed the attack 

on September 28 after a brief but intense 

artillery barrage. The British and Belgian 

Armies advanced rapidly at first, but the 

advance stalled by October 5, delayed 

by rainy weather, mud, badly damaged 

transportation infrastructure, and 

skillful German resistance. Artillery and 

supplies proved particularly difficult 

to move forward in the saturated 

terrain. Delays allowed the Germans 

to rush in reinforcements from their 

dwindling reserves. The Allies paused 

to bring forward artillery, supplies 

and reinforcements, repair damaged 

infrastructure, and reorganize. At this 

time, at the request of Foch, the 37th 

Division, composed of Ohio and West 

Virginia Natioinal Guardsmen, and 91st 

Division, a draftee division made up of 

men from California, Idaho, Montana, 

Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and 

Wyoming, which had been fighting in the 

Meuse-Argonne Offensive near Verdun, 

were repositioned in Flanders. 

37th Division soldiers cross the Scheldt River. 

Now commanded by King Albert I of 

Belgium, the Allied Armies in Flanders 

renewed the offensive on October 14. By 

October 20 progress in Belgium had again 

stalled, again victim to battle damaged 

bridges and roads, weather, and skillful 

German resistance. King Albert again 

reorganized to sustain momentum, and to 

this end removed depleted French forces 

off the line, to be replaced by the 37th and 

91st. 

On October 30, the 37th and 91st took over 

a front line sector at Wareghem. The attack 

began in the early hours of October 31, 

and featured a brief preparatory artillery 

assault, followed by intense moving 

barrages timed to correspond with the 

advance of the troops. The 37th captured 

Cruyshautem, fought its way to the 

Scheldt between Heuvel and Eyne, forced 

a crossing of the river, threw footbridges 

across it, and defended their bridgehead 

against a German counterattack. The 

91st attacked past Waereghem, cleared 

the dense wooded area known as Spitaals 

Bosschen, and fought its way to the Scheldt 

at Audenarde. On November 4, the 37th 

and 91st were relieved from their positions, 

and withdrew to prepare for another phase 

of renewed assaults. The Allies once again 

paused to bring up supplies, reinforcements 

and artillery. But by November 8 it 

became apparent that the Germans were 

withdrawing from the line. The American 

divisions resumed their advances east of the 

Scheldt. By November 11 the 37th reached 

Dickele and Zwartenbroek, and the 91st 

reached Elst and Boucle-St. Blaise. At 11:00 

that day, the campaign and war came to an 

end when an Armistice agreed to by the 

Allies and Germans at Compiegne went 

into effect.

Start Tour 

The 37th captured 

Cruyshautem, fought its way 

to the Scheldt between Heuvel 

and Eyne, forced a crossing 

of the river, threw footbridges 

across it, and defended their 

bridgehead against a German 

counterattack. 

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae, 1872 - 1918 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place, and in the sky, 

The larks, still bravely singing, fly, 

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the dead; short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe! 

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high! 

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

N38

N37

N345

N332

N336

N336

N365

N331

N304

N375

N375

N38

N308

N8

N8

N313

Ypres

Hallebast

1

2

3

Getting to Stop 1: 

The Cloth Hall is located in the center of Ypres, on the Market 

Square (Grote Markt). Stop 1

Stop 2 

Ypres Cloth Hall 

You are standing in front of the 

Ypres Cloth Hall. Constructed in the 

Middle Ages as a commercial hub 

for the flourishing regional textile 

industry, the building was destroyed 

by artillery fire during World War I. 

After the war, it was painstakingly 

reconstructed. Today, the building 

is home to the In Flanders Field 

Museum, which tells the story of 

World War I in the area, including 

the American involvement. The 

belfry affords a spectacular view 

of the city and the surrounding 

battlefields. There is also a tourist 

office here. The entrance to the In Flanders Fields Museum.

27th Division Soldiers in front of the ruins of the Cloth Hall in 1918. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Getting to Stop 2: 

Drive down Grote Markt in the direction of the Menin Gate. After 200 

m merge left onto Korte Torhoutstraat. In 200 m turn left onto Lange 

Torhoutstraat. There will be a roundabout in 300m; take the third exit 

onto Hoge Wieltjesgracht. In 300 m turn right onto Stoffelstraat. In 200 m 

turn left onto Brugseweg. Continue for 150 m and make another left onto 

Diksmuidseweg. After 500 km, enter the roundabout and take the first exit 

to stay onto Diksmuidseweg. After 1.5 km, there will be a cemetery on your 

right with a small area to park. The John McCrae site is next to the cemetery.

Stop 2

Site of John McCrae 

Dressing Station

A native of Ontario, Lieutenant Colonel 

John McCrae, MD, entered the service 

of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 

soon after the outbreak of World War I in 

August 1914. While stationed at this site 

in the spring of 1915, tending to masses 

of wounded during the Second Battle 

of Ypres, McCrae wrote the evocative 

poem “In Flanders Fields.” Published in 

December of that year, the poem gained 

widespread attention and immediately 

resonated with public sentiments regarding 

wartime sacrifice. His evocative words 

were the inspiration for the name of the 

only American World War I cemetery in 

Belgium, which is part of tour 2. 

McCrae himself never saw the full impact 

of his words. He succumbed to illness 

on January 28, 1918. He is buried in a 

Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in 

Wimereux, Northern France, not far from 

where he wrote his famous poem.

Lt. Col. John McCrae. 

A British dressing station on the Western Front. 

The memorial at the John McCrae site. 

Bunkers at the John McCrae site. 

Stop 3 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Getting to Stop 3: 

Get back onto Diksmuidseweg in the direction of Ypres. After 150 km, turn 

right onto the ramp to Noorderring (N38). Continue for 3.5 km. After a sign 

for Voormezele, there will be a stoplight. Take a left here onto Rodenbachstraat. 

This road will turn into Krommenelststraat. After 3 km, enter the roundabout 

and continue straight onto Ruuschaartstraat. In 1 km, enter the roundabout 

and take the first exit onto Kemmelseweg. After three miles, there will be a 

small parking area on your right. The monument is located across the road. Stop 3

Kemmel American 

Monument

This monument is located on a slight rise, 

to give visitors a prospective view of the 

battlefield. It is dedicated to the 27th and 

30th Divisions, that fought in this area. 

The monument includes bayonets carved 

in relief, along with an American World 

War I helmet set upon a wreath. ABMC 

dedicated the monument in 1937. 

There is a small interpretive sign here with 

a map to help you orient yourself. Looking 

north, the small village of Vierstraat was 

one of the objectives of the 27th during 

the Ypres-Lys Offensive. The road that 

runs east-west through Vierstraat was the 

dividing line between the constituent units 

of the 27th; the 105th and 106th Infantry 

Regiments. Each regiment was restricted 

to attack in its particular zone, to prevent 

friendly-fire incidents. 

The 27th occupied Vierstraat on August 

31, 1918, and set up a front line directly to 

the east. The following day, after a 31⁄2 hour 

artillery bombardment, the 27th attacked 

in the direction of Wyschaete. After 

capturing a series of machine-gun nests, 

the offensive stalled in the face of fierce 

German counterattacks. 

30th Division soldiers march through St. Martin Au Laert, Belgium, on their way to the front. 

Kemmel American Monument. 

Looking back towards Vierstraat, to the 

right you may be able to see the church 

steeple of Voormezeele through the trees. 

This town was captured by the 30th on 

September 1, 1918. 

This region experienced years of combat 

prior to the Ypres-Lys offensive. There are 

multiple British and French cemeteries in 

this area. The reconstructed Bayernwald 

German trenches are about a five minute 

drive to the east.

A 30th Division soldier mans a Lewis 

machine gun in Belgium. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

27th Division infantrymen in training in Belgium. 

A panorama of the battlefield from 

the monument. 

- End of part I -

To return to Ypres, turn around and drive north on Kemmelstraat for 5 km. Turn left 

onto Rijselseweg and continue for 500 km. At the roundabout, take the third exit onto 

Oudstrijderslaan. In 1 km, turn right onto Stationstraat, and you will be in the center of town. Part II 

The insignia of the 27th and 30th Divisions are carved in relief at the rear of the monument. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION 

7 N437 R35 E17 N382

N382

N36

N494

N453

N8

N8

N457

N60

N60

N459

N494

N46

N441

N494

1

2

3

Getting to Stop 1: 

From Kortrijk, take the E17 highway east. Take exit 5, Waregem, and 

merge right onto the Expresweg/N382. After 500 m turn left onto 

Flanders-Fieldweg. In 800 m, cross Wortegemseweg and pull into the Stop 1 cemetery parking lot on your right.

Flanders Field American 

Cemetery

Over the course of the war, more than 

108,000 Americans fought in Belgium. The 

four divisions that fought here suffered 

over 4,700 casualties. 

Originally a temporary battlefield 

burial ground, Flanders Field American 

Cemetery later became the only permanent 

American World War I cemetery in 

Belgium. The grounds hold the remains of 

368 individuals, most of whom died during 

the Ypres-Lys Offensive in 1918. The Walls 

of the Missing commemorate 43 missing 

and unaccounted for service members. 

John McCrae’s haunting poem In Flanders 

Fields, which resonated with Americans 

as it did worldwide, captured the sense of 

sacrifice and loss the of the war. As the only 

American cemetery in Belgium, the title 

of the poem was selected as the name of 

the cemetery with its evocative ties to this 

campaign.

The chapel was designed by FrancoAmerican Architect Paul Cret, who 

served as the consulting architect to 

the ABMC. A visitor’s center in the 

cemetery administration building features 

photographs, personal stories, and a film, 

which tell the story of the AEF in Belgium. 

Attendance is free, and no tickets or 

reservations are required. 

Flanders Field American Cemetery.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Headstones in Flanders Field American Cemetery in April 2018. 

ABMC commissioners at Flanders Field American Cemetery in 1925.

The visitors center at the cemetery. Stop 2 

An urn with flower plantings. 

Detail of the Walls of the Missing in the cemetery chapel. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Audenarde American 

Monument

The Allies attacked Germany’s last major 

defensive line in Belgium in late October 

1918. Led by the King of Belgium, Allied 

forces launched a campaign to drive the 

Germans beyond the Scheldt River. The 

US 37th and 91st divisions redeployed 

from the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to 

reinforce the French Army on the Flanders 

front.

East of Waregem, the 91st Division turned 

the enemy out of the densely wooded 

Spitaals Bosschen, before advancing east. 

On November 2, 1918, the 91st Division 

captured Audenarde. 

After the war, ABMC constructed this 

monument to honor the American 

divisions that fought in this area. It is 

also the only monument constructed by 

ABMC which also honors a military unit 

smaller than a division - the 53rd Field 

Artillery Brigade. This brigade, made up 

of soldiers from Pennsylvania, fought with 

the 91st Division. After the war the State 

of Pennsylvania intended to construct 

a memorial dedicated to the 53rd, but 

instead worked with ABMC to ensure that 

the unit would be honored on the ABMC 

memorial.

Getting to Stop 6: 

Take a left out of the cemetery parking lot; there will be a stop sign. Take 

another left onto Wortegemseweg. Continue for 5 km. In Wortegem, at a T 

intersection, take a left onto Oudenaardseweg. After 6 km, you will come to a 

T intersection next to a monument of a World War I soldier. Turn right onto 

Beverestraat. After 600 m, this road turns into Tacambaroplein. Continue 

for another 100 m and you will see a parking lot on your left. Take a left onto 

Wijngaardstraat, and another immediate left back onto Tacambaroplein in 

the opposite direction. Continue for another 50 m and then take a left into Stop 2 the lot. The monument is in a public park next to the parking lot. 

The damaged Oudenaarde city hall, 1918. The repaired city hall in 2018. 

Stop 3 Audenarde American Monument.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

37th Division Bridge

You are walking on the Ohiostraat, 

following in the footsteps of the 37th 

Division, which consisted of National Guard 

troops from Ohio and West Virginia. In fall 

1918, the 37th Division advanced alongside 

the 91st in this part of Belgium. The 37th 

captured Cruyshautem on November 1. The 

following day, the Germans had retreated 

across the Scheldt. The 37th “forced” the 

Scheldt River here at Eyne by constructing a 

footbridge. The Americans were advancing 

virtually unopposed when Germany signed 

the Armistice on November 11, 1918, that 

ended the war. 

Many American monuments were built 

as bridges, so that in addition to honoring 

the service of the AEF, they would be 

functional. After the war, the 37th Division 

Association built a bridge at this location, 

designed by the Cleveland architectural 

firm of Walker and Weeks. The abutments 

at each end of the bridge were adorned 

with concrete American bison. 

The original bridge was destroyed in World 

War II. In the 1950s, it was reconstructed 

and remained in use for decades, until 

it was replaced by the current bridge, in 

1982, to accommodate an increase in river 

barge traffic. The buffalo remain on either 

side of the bridge, along with plaques 

and American flags. The bridge was 

rededicated in 2014, at the centennial of 

the outset of World War I.

Getting to Stop 6: 

Take a left out of the parking lot and continue on Tacambaroplein 

back to Beverestraat. After 400 m, take a right on Gentstraat. 

Continue for 3.5 km until you come to the intersection with 

Ohiostraat. Take a right, and after 200 m take a left onto Misweg. 

Park your car in the lot on your right, and walk about 100 m 

further on the Ohiostraat until you come to a Buffalo sculpture. Stop 3

The buffalo sculpture was preserved from the 

original bridge.

The original 37th Division bridge. 

- End of tour -

To return to the E17, exit the parking lot and take a right to get back onto Ohiostraat. In 200 m continue 

straight onto Graaf van Landaststraat. After 1 km, enter the roundabout and take the first exit onto 

Gentsesteenweg. Continue for 6 km, and then turn left onto Deinze Baan/Steenweg Deinze. After 5 km, 

enter the roundabout and take the first exit to continue straight. The entrance to the E17 will be in 600 m. 

Troops of the 91st Division cross the 

temporary bridge at this site in 1918.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

An African American medic with the 93rd 

Division walks through Rocroi, France.

When the United States declared war in 

April of 1917 there were four regiments of 

African-American troops in the regular 

Army that had been created following the 

Civil War: the 24th and 25th Infantry and 

the 9th and 10th Cavalry. The decision 

was made by the War Department not to 

include these units in the expeditionary 

forces being sent to France, instead leaving 

them in place to serve in the American 

west and the occupation of the Philippines. 

The Selective Service Act of 1917 

expanded the pre-war military to wartime 

military and subjected all males within 

pre-determined age brackets to military 

service, regardless of race. This posed 

a conundrum for both the Jim Crowera military and the African-American 

community. Within the Government and 

the military, there was a distinct fear of the 

ramifications of providing military training 

and arming the thousands of AfricanAmericans who would be subject to the 

draft. In the African-American community, 

there was considerable disagreement about 

fighting for a country that denied them full 

citizenship.

In response to increasing pressure from 

activists such as Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and 

organizations including the National 

Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP), Secretary of 

War Newton Baker was persuaded to state 

“ ... There is a need for both white and 

colored men alike ... some must fight in 

the trenches, while others must serve in 

other capacities behind the firing lines.” 

Du Bois advised African-American men 

to “swallow their bitterness and enlist in 

the military.” The Crisis, the newspaper of 

the NAACP succinctly advised “first your 

Country, then your Rights!”

In the end, the War Department assented 

to organization of two African-American 

infantry divisions under the command 

of white general officers. Although the 

NAACP advocated strongly for the ranking 

African-American officer, Colonel Charles 

A. Young, to be promoted to brigadier 

general and assigned as deputy commander 

to one of the divisions, his health and 

fitness for continued service blocked their 

effort. The War Department decision to 

sideline Young remains controversial today. 

WILLING PATRIOTS: SOLDIERS OF COLOR 

IN THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES

Col. Charles A. Young.

Willing Patriots Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Meuse-Argonne Offensive II Heroes of the Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

In another concession to the Civil Rights 

movement, the War Department agreed to 

commission African-Americans as officers. 

The department created a separate school 

for these potential officers at Fort Des 

Moines, Iowa. The school would produce 

company grade officers (lieutenants and 

captains) destined to serve in AfricanAmerican units. 

Although the majority of volunteer and 

draftee African-Americans would serve in 

non-combat units in labor functions, some 

would see combat under both French and 

American command.

In this chapter, when referencing these 

units, we have chosen to use the original 

language of the period, which the modern 

reader may find offensive, but we feel that 

changing the World War I period text so 

as not to offend the modern reader would 

be a disservice to these patriotic soldiers 

whose service and sacrifice was made 

under these prejudicial designations.

The 92nd Division (Colored)

Authorized in October 1917, the 92nd 

Division was raised from draftees. This 

division was fully formed with divisional 

artillery and support elements. Between 

June and July of 1918 the division arrived 

in France, where it went into training.

On September 25, the division, less the 

368th Infantry and the artillery brigade, 

constituted the reserve of the I Army 

Corps in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, 

and was assembled in the woods northwest 

92nd Division Soldiers in gas mask training in France. 

A soldier in the Advanced Section, Services of 

Supply. 

of Clermont. The American First Army 

placed the remainder of the 92nd Division, 

less its artillery, engineers and 183rd 

Brigade, at the disposal of the French 

XXXVIII Corps on September 29. The 

corps reduced the width of the zone of 

action of the 368th at that time and the 

regiment spent most of the day rearranging 

and reorganizing its units.

The 368th Infantry Regiment 

The 368th Infantry formed a part of the 

combat liaison between the French 4th 

Army and the American First Army from 

September 26 to October 4, 1918. These 

units went into the line on September 25. 

The next day, part of the 368th advanced 

about one mile, but with the exception of 

one company, which spent the night about 

200 yards in front of its starting point, the 

rest of the units retired during the evening 

to behind their jump-off positions. 

On September 27, the 368th moved 

forward an average distance of one mile, 

encountering little opposition. The next 

day, reinforced by two companies of the 

351st Machine Gun Battalion of the 92nd 

Division, French artillery units and a 

squadron of the French 10th Dragoons, 

the 368th attacked in the direction 

of Binarville. Although considerable 

movement backward and forward took 

place during the day, the total ground 

gained was quite small. (see the Heroes of 

the Argonne chapter)

On September 30, a French regiment, the 9th 

Cuirassiers-à-pied, was directed to capture 

Binarville. Seeing this unit advancing, and 

having failed to receive the orders to stand 

fast, elements of the 368th Infantry Regiment 

attacked with the French. Binarville was 

captured and the front line was established 

beyond it. During the morning of October 

1 the regiment was relieved from the front 

line, and it passed into reserve with other 

organizations of the 92nd. The division was 

returned to the control of the American First 

Army on October 4 and was assigned to the 

IV American Corps, where it proceeded to 

the vicinity of Toul. On October 9 it relieved 

the 69th French Division in the Marbache 

Sector. It then passed from the IV Corps to 

the VI Corps on October 25. The division 

participated in the attack of the Second 

American Army on November 10-11, 

operating west of the Seille River along the 

heights on both banks of the Moselle River in 

the direction of Corny. The regiment suffered 

270 casualties during their operations.

368th machine gunners in a communication 

trench. 

Willing Patriots The Somme AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The 93rd Division (Colored)

The second African-American division 

was the 93rd. It was formed from National 

Guard units from across the United States 

as they were federalized. They drew men 

from segregated African-American units in 

several states that were formed before the 

war. These were the 8th Illinois Regiment, 

the 15th New York Regiment, the 1st 

Separate Battalion of Washington D.C., 

the 1st Separate Company of Maryland, 

the 9th Ohio Battalion, the 1st Separate 

Company of Connecticut, Company L of 

the Massachusetts National Guard, and 

Company G of the Tennessee National 

Guard. These units and draftees filled out 

the division. 

The 93rd Division was never fully 

constituted and consisted of only the two 

infantry brigades, the 185th and the 186th; 

the newly designated 369th and 370th 

Infantry Regiments; and the 371st and 

372nd Infantry Regiments.

An illustration of the dramatic engagement for which Pvt. Henry Johnson would eventually receive the 

Medal of Honor. 

Pvt. Henry Johnson with the Croix de Guerre.

The 369th Infantry Regiment “Harlem Hellfighters” or “Rattlers” 

One of the first American units to arrive 

in France, the 369th Infantry Regiment 

landed at Brest on December 26, 1917. 

They were quickly assigned to the French 

Fourth Army for instruction and training 

and placed in a front line sector north 

of Sainte-Menehould in the Champagne 

sector, where they participated in defensive 

and offensive operations.

It was here on May 15, 1918, that Privates 

Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts 

were attacked by a German raiding party 

of 24 men. Although both were severely 

wounded, they successfully fought off the 

raiding party. During the engagement, 

Johnson rescued Roberts as he was being 

dragged away by the Germans. For this 

action, they were both awarded the 

French Croix de Guerre, the first AfricanAmerican soldiers to be so honored. 

Johnson would eventually receive the 

Medal of Honor posthumously for his 

actions, in 2015.

The regiment held the sector near SainteMenehould until July 5 when it was moved 

and participated in both the ChampagneMarne Defense and the Aisne-Marne 

Offensive. 

When the French Fourth Army advanced 

northward in the Champagne region on 

September 26, three infantry regiments of 

the American 93rd Division were serving 

in that Army as part of the French IX 

Corps, which attacked from a position 

lying a few miles to the west of the 

Argonne Forest.

Reassigned to the French 161st Division, 

the 369th was in support when the MeuseArgonne offensive began on September 26. 

On that day, the regiment entered a gap in 

the line, took the town of Ripont, captured 

a number of prisoners and several pieces 

of artillery, then continued forward in the 

following days, when the regiment gained a 

foothold on the side of the Bellevue Signal 

Ridge after a stubborn fight. On September 

29 they captured the town of Séchault.

An illustration of a 369th soldier in France, 1918.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

On October 14, the regiment, as part of the 

French 161st Division, proceeded to the 

Alsace, where it took over sections of the 

front line in the Vosges and held it until 

November 11. After the Armistice, the 

regiment became part of the French Army 

of Occupation.

370th Infantry Regiment 

“Black Devils”

This regiment was organized from the 

8th Illinois (National Guard). It arrived 

in France in April 1918, and trained with 

various French divisions until August 

31. During this period detachments of 

the regiment were in front line positions. 

On September 15, the regiment, as 

a part of the French 59th Division, 

went into line in the Vauxaillon Area 

northeast of Soissons and participated 

in the Oise-Aisne Offensive, September 

17 to October 12, and October 24 to 

November 11. 

371st Infantry Regiment 

“Red Hand”

The regiment arrived in France in April 

1918 and was assigned to the XIII French 

Army Corps. They were in training from 

April 26 to June 6, in the vicinity of Barle-Duc. The regiment joined the French 

68th Division on June 13, in the vicinity of 

Verdun, remaining in support of this unit 

until June 22. From June 23 to September 

14, the regiment was in line in the Verdun 

Sector. It participated in the offensive 

operations of the Fourth French Army 

on the Champagne front September 27 to 

October 6. On September 28, the 371st, 

along with the 372nd Infantry Regiment 

entered the line as part of the French 157th 

Division, advancing about 600 yards against 

A detail of the Victory Monument in Chicago, 

dedicated to members of the 370th. 

An unidentified officer of the 372nd Infantry 

whose decorations include the District of 

Columbia World War I service medal.

machine-gun resistance. During the morning 

of September 29, the 371st Infantry captured 

Ardeuil and Montfauxelles. It was here that 

Corporal Freddie Stowers of C Company, 

371st Infantry Regiment distinguished 

himself, leading his men to capture Hill 188 

before being mortally wounded. He was 

recommended for the Medal of Honor for 

this action, but the recommendation was 

misplaced. In 1991, he was posthumously 

awarded the medal, making him the first 

African-American to be so honored for 

World War I. The regiment was withdrawn 

on October 6th and proceeded to the Vosges 

where they remained until the Armistice.

372nd Infantry Regiment 

“Red Hand”

This regiment arrived at Saint Nazaire in April 

1918, and proceeded to the training center 

in the vicinity of Givry-en-Argonne for duty 

with the French Army. From June 6 to July 

14, and from July 26 to September 9, the 

regiment was in line in the Argonne Sector. 

It participated in the offensive operations of 

the Fourth French Army on the Champagne 

front from September 26 to October 7, 

operating with the 371st Infantry Regiment. 

On October 1, the 372nd Infantry Regiment 

relieved the 371st and on October 2 advanced 

about 3/4 mile to a point south of Monthois, 

where it was subjected to enfilading fire from 

the high ground to the southwest of that 

town. The regiment repulsed a strong enemy 

counterattack and held its position about 1/2 

mile south of the village of Monthois until 

it was relieved on October 7. The regiment 

proceeded to the Vosges on October 11 and 

remained there until the Armistice. 

The casualties of the four infantry regiments of 

the 93rd Division totaled 591 soldiers killed in 

action or died of wounds and 2,943 wounded 

in action. All four regiments won the praise of 

the French authorities for their conduct. 

Although nearly 200,000 African-Americans 

would serve in the Army during World War I 

and many would lose their lives in support 

of promises for equal rights, their sacrifice 

to the Nation would be largely unanswered. 

Ironically, many African-Americans who 

perished would be buried in Federal 

cemeteries in segregated sections, and 

would only see equal treatment in overseas 

American cemeteries, later administered 

by the American Battle Monuments 

Commission, where they would be buried 

without regard to race. Their struggle for 

equal rights would take another fifty years to 

begin to bear fruit, though their sacrifice will 

never be forgotten.

Start Tour 

The 371st and 372nd Regiments took their “Red 

Hand” nickname from the flag of the French 157th 

Division. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION ARDENNES MARNE D977 D306 D982 D21

D6

D6

D23

D320

D20

Séchault

Challerange

Monthois

Liry

Aure

Manre

Gratreuil

Sommepy-Tohure Bouconville

1

2

3

4

5

Getting to Stop 1: 

From Verdun, drive west on the A4 until you get to exit 29, in the direction 

of Sainte-Menehould. Go through the toll booth and then take a left at the 

T intersection onto D982E2. After 1 km take a right on the D3. Stay 

on the D3 for 750 m, and then take a left onto D982 in the direction of 

Chaudefontaine. Drive for 19 km. At Cernay-en-Dormois, bear right to 

stay on D982. After 5 km you will approach an intersection with the D6. 

Take a left, and then take an immediate right into the parking lot next to the 

monument. Stop 1

369th Infantry Regiment 

Monument at Sechault

On September 26, 1918, the 369th Infantry 

Regiment captured Ripont, a small village 

about 6 km southwest of here. After Ripont, 

the regiment attacked towards Sechault, 

entering the village on September 29. 

In the face of intense machine gun fire, 

the regiment was temporarily forced to 

withdraw, before moving back into the 

village later that day. The 369th would 

continue to advance northeast. It was 

withdrawn from the front line on October 1. 

This black granite obelisk was erected in 

1997, and features the coiled rattlesnake 

insignia of the regiment. In 2006, an 

identical memorial was erected in New 

York City, to honor the regiment in the 

city of its predecessor National Guard unit 

– the 15th New York (Colored) Infantry 

Regiment.

To the west you should see a crest of a hill 

about 2 kilometers away. This is the next 

stop on the tour. 

This unidentified member of the 369th Infantry 

Regiment proudly wears the French Croix de 

Guerre awarded for bravery and the rattlesnake 

patch. The star on his left sleeve denotes him as an 

early enlistee in the AEF.

The shoulder sleeve insignia of the 369th Infantry 

Regiment featured a striking rattlesnake.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The 369th Infantry Regiment 

Monument at Sechault. 

Inset: A detail of the 369th 

Monument with the inscribed 

regimental insignia.

Stop 2 

Above: The 369th with the colors on display. Right: 

369th band, led by Lt. James Reese Europe, performs 

at a base hospital. Below: Troops of the 369th 

outside of a sentry box near Maffrecourt, France.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

371st Infantry Regiment 

Monument 

On September 28, 1918, the 371st 

Regiment, Company C, attacked German 

positions near this location. Soon after, 

German soldiers held their fire, and 

climbed up to the top of their trenches 

to surrender. This was a trap. As the 

Americans came out of defensive positions, 

the enemy jumped back into their trenches 

and fired machine guns and mortars, 

causing severe casualties. Corporal 

Freddie Stowers, a farmhand from South 

Carolina, took charge of his men, and 

crawled towards a machine gun nest while 

under heavy fire. After destroying the nest 

Stowers continued the attack against a 

second trench line before he was mortally 

wounded. 

Getting to Stop 2: 

Drive west on D6 in the direction of Ardeuil. After about 

1200 m, turn left on the small paved road, and drive about 

100 m. Walk up the unpaved road to a gate on the right. 

Enter at the gate and walk uphill to the monument. Stop 2

Front and 3/4 view of the 371st Infantry Regiment Monument. Stop 3 

Cpl. Stowers is buried in the MeuseArgonne American Cemetery, about 

40 minutes east of here. After the war 

he was recommended for the Medal of 

Honor – the military’s highest award for 

valor – but it would take decades before he 

posthumously received the award. 

The 371st would continue to advance 

north, taking Ardeuil and Trieres Farm, 

before it was relieved. 

The gray granite monument is dedicated 

to those soldiers of the 371st who fell in 

combat near here. It was erected after 

World War I; during World War II, the 

monument was heavily damaged.

Sign at the monument Grave marker of Cpl. Freddie Stowers.

describing its wartime damage.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

372nd Infantry Regiment Monument near 

Monthois

On October 1, the 372nd entered 

the front line near Trieres farm and 

moved north. The next day, while 

moving through the area where 

you now stand, the regiment came 

under fire from German positions 

south of Monthois. The fire came “in 

enfilade” – meaning that the flank 

of the advance bore the brunt of the 

attack. The regiment bore down. On 

October 5, the regiment held off a 

determined German attack, before it 

was relieved two days later. 

This gray-granite monument, 

which honors the members of the 

372nd who lost their lives in this 

area, features the 93rd Division 

insignia – the “Blue Helmet.” It is 

also inscribed with the French 157th 

Division, which was the operational 

command for the 372nd.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Drive back to the D6 and take a left. After entering the town 

of Ardeuil, take the first right, on the D121 in the direction of 

Challerange. Stay on this road for 2 km. At the intersection 

with the D982, take a left in the direction of Monthois. After 

2 km, you will see the 372nd Infantry Monument on the right 

side of the road. Pull over to the side of the road and put on Stop 3 your hazard lights.

Two soldiers of the 372nd Infantry Regiment. 

Stop 4 

The 372nd Infantry Regiment Monument with details in insets. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Getting to Stop 4: 

Continue north on the D982 until you enter Monthois. Turn left 

onto the D306 in the direction of Marvaux. After 9 km, near the 

village of Sommepy, enter the roundabout and take the second 

exit, following the sign labeled “Memorial American.” Continue 

for 500 m and take a right at the next sign labeled “American 

Monument.” After 500 m, turn left onto the D320. Continue for 

4 km until you see a copse of trees on your right. There will be a 

parking lot on your right. The memorial is a short walk down the 

path.

Sommepy American Monument

This memorial, on the crest of Blanc Mont 

Ridge, is located on ground captured by the 

2nd Division in October 1918. There is an 

outstanding view of the surrounding battlefields 

from this location. Vestiges of World War I 

trenches are nearby. 

After the war, this monument was erected by 

ABMC to honor the American divisions that 

fought in the Champagne region, including 

the 93rd. The “Blue Helmet” insignia is carved 

in relief upon this monument, along with the 

names of important battlefield objectives.

Stop 4

A view of the battlefield from the top 

of the monument. 

The 93rd Division insgnia, along with its 

significant battlefield objectives. 

Stop 5 

Sommepy American Monument.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Getting to Stop 5: 

Turn left out of the parking lot and drive on the D320 back 

towards Sommepy. After 4 km, take a right on the D977 in 

the direction of Châlons-en-Champagne. Go 400 m and enter 

the roundabout. Take the second exit and continue on the 

D977. There are the concrete ruins of World War I pillboxes 

on this road. After 4 km, pull into the parking lot just before Stop 5 the Navarin Ossuary.

Navarin Ossuary

The Navarin Ossuary honors the service 

of the Allied soldiers who fought in 

Champagne. The 93rd Division is 

commemorated here, along with other 

US divisions that fought under command 

of the French. In addition, French 

colonial soldiers, along with Russian and 

Czechoslovakian soldiers, are honored. 

This memorial holds the remains of 

approximately 10,000 French soldiers who 

lost their lives in this area. After World War 

I, many French soldiers were laid to rest in 

ossuaries such as this. It is located on the 

Navarin farm site, which was completely 

devastated during the battle. 

The 93rd Division fought under the 

command of General Henri Gouraud, 

leader of the French Fourth Army, who 

dedicated the monument in 1924, and who 

is buried in a marked grave within this 

ossuary. 

There are three figures on the monument. 

The soldier to the right is based upon 

Quentin Roosevelt, son of President 

Theodore Roosevelt, who lost his life 

near this location (see the Aisne-Marne 

Offensive chapter). The figure is somewhat 

incongruous, as Roosevelt was a pilot, 

while the figure is of an infantryman.

Navarin Ossuary.

- End of tour -

To return to the A4, continue on the D977 in the direction of Châlons-en-Champagne. 

After 10 km, in the town of Suippes take a right to continue on the D977 in the direction of 

Châlons-en-Champagne. After 11 km, enter the roundabout and take the second exit in the 

direction of Châlons-en-Champagne. Continue for two km until you enter a roundabout. 

The second exit leads to a toll booth and the entrance to the A4. 

The sculptural figures on the top of the monument. 

Note the inscription to the 93rd Division. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Outside the chapel at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. 

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was 

the greatest American battle to date in 

numbers of combatants and casualties. The 

First and Second Armies of the American 

Expeditionary Forces, with a force of 1.2 

million men, suffered more than 120,000 

casualties in sustained fighting from 

September 26, 1918 up until the Armistice 

on November 11, 1918. The greatest share 

of the fighting fell to the First Army, 

advancing between the Meuse River and 

the Argonne Forest. 

The Supreme Allied Commander, French 

Marshal Ferdinand Foch, convened a 

conference of Allied commanders in 

late July. Foch foresaw that an orderly 

withdrawal of German forces in the face 

of increasing Allied strength could help 

Germany prolong the war. 

The German High Command, recognizing 

the same reality, were also faced with 

a dilemma. A slow withdrawal would 

increase their combat losses, while a 

swift withdrawal would mean the loss 

of irreplaceable supplies near the front. 

The Germans chose the swift withdrawal 

option, in early September at St. Mihiel, 

prompting the comment from Foch: 

“The man could still escape if he did not 

mind leaving his luggage behind him.”

Based on the information available, the 

Allied command chose the area of the front 

between the Meuse River and the Argonne 

Forest for the American Expeditionary 

Forces’ great offensive because it was the 

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE I: 

H-HOUR TO MONTFAUCON

World War I Supreme Allied Commander Marshal 

Ferdinand Foch.

Artistic rendering by Harry Townsend shows 

captured German artillery.

Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive I

Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive I

Meuse-Argonne

Offensive II

Heroes of the 

Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

sector Germany could least afford to lose. 

The Germans were heavily dependent on 

two rail lines with junctions in the vicinity 

of Sedan, 56 km behind the frontline. 

Losing either of these rail junctions 

would greatly complicate withdrawal or 

resupply of German forces in Belgium 

and Northern France. Foch intended to 

drive toward both. This would break direct 

communication between German forces 

east and west of the Meuse River and make 

it difficult to shift reserves and supplies to 

meet Allied attacks. The Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive was intended to drive through 

the Hindenburg Line defenses toward 

Sedan, cross the Meuse there, and capture 

the rail junctions. To blunt the German 

reaction to the offensive the French and 

British would commit to simultaneous 

attacks elsewhere on the Western Front 

to draw off or delay the arrival of German 

reserves to counter the American attack. 

The success of the American Expeditionary 

Forces in the earlier St. Mihiel Offensive 

convinced Foch to employ the American 

Expeditionary Forces in the MeuseArgonne Offensive. In advance of the 

American attack in the Meuse-Argonne, 

220,000 French soldiers holding the front 

would have to be replaced by around 

600,000 Americans brought in for the 

attack. This entire movement would have 

to be concealed from the Germans. 

The task of planning this redeployment fell 

to Col. George C. Marshall. The movement 

began while the U.S. First Army was still 

reducing the St. Mihiel Salient 80 km to the 

east. The troop movement was concealed 

at night, using three roads, over a twoweek period. Marshall demonstrated the 

military genius that served the Americans 

so well in World War II. Artillery moved 

first, then six reserve divisions followed by 

the nine assault divisions. American troops 

and materiel were moved into position for 

attack on September 25-26, 1918. French 

and American motorized and horse drawn 

transport units were key to success. On 

most of the front, French soldiers remained 

Col. George C. Marshall.

Camouflaged American trucks and ambulances.

in the outpost positions until the very last 

moment, to keep the enemy from learning 

of the large American concentration.

The U.S. Army I Corps would advance 

through the Argonne Forest and the Aire 

River Valley; the V Corps would attack 

through the east side of the Aire Valley 

and the adjacent high ground, including 

Montfaucon; finally, the III Corps would 

drive over the ridges and bottom land 

adjacent to the Meuse River. The massed 

French and American artillery amounted 

to almost 4,000 pieces, from 3-inch 

“French 75s” to 14-inch railroad guns, 

which provided one gun for every eight 

meters of the frontline.

The Argonne Forest covers steep hills 

that provided observation and cover for 

infantry positions and artillery. Its wooded 

ridgelines stretch east into the valley of 

the Aire River, which runs north toward 

Sedan. It is interrupted by the valley 

around Grandpré. Tributaries to the Aire 

cut a number of long ravines into the 

valley’s eastern slopes, rising to a rolling 

plateau of farmland. Toward the Meuse 

River, it is increasingly interrupted by 

wooded high ground. The nature of the 

Meuse-Argonne terrain made it ideal for 

defense.

To protect this vitally important area, the 

enemy had established almost continuous 

defensive positions for a depth of up to 20 

km behind the front lines. Vauquois Hill 

and Montfaucon were dominating heights 

that were well defended and important for 

distant observation. Behind the southern 

German front line were three stronger 

defense lines. Every village and nearly every 

forest was lined with prepared positions. 

German artillery observers in the Heights 

of the Meuse and the Argonne Forest could 

direct frequent artillery bombardments and 

Coast Artillery Corps soldiers were deployed to France to man railway guns.

Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive I The Somme AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

harassing fire on the American advance. 

Most roads were poor and the broken 

ground was not well suited to the 190 light 

Renault tanks in use by the Americans.

Following a 3-hour bombardment, where 

the Army fired more ammunition than 

was fired during the entire U.S. Civil 

War, the First Army jumped off at 5:30 

a.m. on September 26. On the left, I 

Corps penetrated the Argonne forest and 

advanced along the valley of the Aire 

River. In the center, V Corps attacked at 

Montfaucon. It was held up temporarily 

in front of the hill. On the right, III 

Corps moved north past the east side of 

Montfaucon. The crest was in American 

hands by noon of the second day, as the 

advance continued north in the other 

corps areas. Though complete surprise 

was achieved, the enemy was stubbornly 

contesting every foot of terrain. Profiting 

from the temporary holdup in front 

of Montfaucon, the Germans brought 

forward reinforcements. By September 30, 

the U.S. First Army had driven the enemy 

back 10 km in some places. The advance 

bogged down due to inexperienced units 

and commanders, poor logistics and roads, 

as well as lack of coordination between 

artillery and infantry.

The opening days of the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive had succeeded. Key terrain was 

taken in a surprise attack. The American 

Expeditionary Forces were not as effective 

in the middle phase of the campaign. The 

month of October would prove to be the 

worst of times for Gen. John J. Pershing’s 

troops. This was especially true for the 

period October 8–18, when the First Army 

was attacking the highly defensible heights 

of the central Argonne. On the right flank 

of the sector the 33rd and 29th Divisions, 

Soldiers of the 33rd Division at Forges-sur-Meuse look toward the heights across the Meuse River they are 

about to cross.

operating under the French XVII Corps, 

made a forced crossing of the Meuse 

River on bridges constructed by the 108th

Engineers. Attacking the heights of the 

Meuse north of Verdun reduced German 

observation of the offensive west of the river. 

The Americans suffered high casualties 

during the opening days of the offensive. By 

October 8, fighting had become severe for 

the First Army across a 37 km front. Across 

the front, thousands of American soldiers 

fought resolutely against the unbroken 

German Army. Daily, multiple American 

soldiers performed courageous acts.

The Army Air Service made important 

contributions to the operations of 

American Expeditionary Forces ground 

forces in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. 

The First Army had to learn how to operate 

as a combined force while continuing the 

attack. This made German ground forces 

fearful of any Allied aircraft appearing; 

plus, the sight of aircraft attacking the 

enemy encouraged American soldiers. 

Pursuit aircraft in large numbers 

aggressively attacked enemy artillery 

observation balloons on both sides of the 

Meuse River. This restricted German ability 

to fully use their artillery to attack the full 

depth of Americans on the frontlines or 

the supply routes. The American Pursuit 

Groups made daily low altitude sweeps 

with all available squadrons. Their sheer 

numbers overwhelmed enemy anti-aircraft 

fire and German aircraft flying in defense 

of their balloons.

Pershing brought in experienced divisions 

and more combat engineers. He relieved 

officers who were not performing, and 

focused attention on traffic control for 

the limited roads bringing supplies and 

reinforcement and evacuating casualties. He 

appointed his best senior general, Hunter 

Liggett, to command the First Army. 

A column of tanks going into action in the Argonne Forest. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The final phase of the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive began at daybreak on November 1. 

It was one of the most important and 

successful American operations of the war. A 

2-hour artillery preparation began with more 

American artillery than ever had previously 

assembled. Mobility and supply organization 

was improved to support a rapid advance. 

The lessons of the earlier battles had been 

absorbed and previous errors corrected. The 

attack exceeded all expectations.

By early afternoon of November 1, the last 

formidable Hindenburg Line position on 

Barricourt Heights had been captured, 

ensuring success of the whole operation. 

That night the German Army issued 

orders to withdraw across the Meuse River. 

Their retreat became a rout. American 

Expeditionary Forces’ units racing north 

overtook broken German units. By 

November 4, after an additional Meuse 

crossing by the First Army, the enemy 

was in full retreat on both sides of the 

river. Three days later, the First Army was 

on the heights above Sedan, dominating 

the critical railroad supply junctions. The 

German High Command could no longer 

sustain the Western Front.

The American Expeditionary Forces’ 

attention shifted to another strategic 

objective, the city of Metz east of Verdun. 

The First Army began shifting its axis 

of operations in that direction. The 

Second Army was renewing action on 

the St. Mihiel sector northeast of Pont-aMousson. The Armistice halted further 

offensive operations. 

The final phase of the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive was the most influential 

operation for the American military. 

It convinced future American military 

leaders that taking objectives with 

minimal casualties required overwhelming 

firepower, while employing high mobility 

to maintain momentum. The legacy 

continued beyond World War II. It became 

an essential part of the American way of 

war. Historian John Eisenhower wrote that 

his father “thought Operation Overlord 

undoable without the experience the Army 

gained in the Argonne.”

An American soldier prepares to fire his weapon. 

Historian John Eisenhower 

wrote that his father 

“thought Operation 

Overlord undoable without 

the experience the Army 

gained in the Argonne.”

- Tour Note -

This tour will be covered in three stages. The first two stages will cover the 

progress from Vauquois Hill and Montfaucon, respectively. A third short 

section will cover famous incidents in the Argonne Forest – including the 

stand of the Lost Battalion and the exploits of Sgt. Alvin York. Go to the 

tabbed section named Heroes of the Argonne Forest to take this tour.

A French-built Breguet bomber of the American 96th Aero 

Squadron as used in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Start Tour 

Battle Scene by Samuel Johnson Woolf.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

1

2

3

Bantheville

Cheppy

Charpentry

Vauquois

Neuvilly-en-Argonne

Clermont-en-Argonne

Montfaucon-d'Argonne

Gesnes-en-Argonne

Romagne-sous-Montfaucon

Exermont

Les Islettes

Le Claon Aubréville

Lachalade

Florent-en-Argonne

Marcq

D946

D242

D998

D104

D142

D946

D946

D998

D603

D603

D115

D38

D85

D38

D19

D67

D15

D15

D4

D2

D3

A4 A4

Varennes-en-Argonne 4

5

6

Optional Side Tour - 

Heroes of the Argonne

Vauquois Hill

From the observation terrace by the large 

monument on Vauquois Hill, you can 

see that this was a commanding height 

with a sweeping view. The slopes were 

bare of trees by war’s end. In 1918, the 

German line was on the north side of the 

main line of craters. The craters are from 

subterranean mining by the French and 

Germans between 1914 and 1918 that 

completely destroyed the town that once 

sat atop the hill. World War I trenches are 

preserved here, and beneath the surface are 

the remains of mining galleries that can be 

toured with guides.

The 35th Division captured Vauquois Hill 

on the first day of the offensive, September 

26, 1918. The 35th was a Kansas and 

Missouri National Guard division. To 

hide the presence of the 35th Division, the 

French remained in the front line until 

hours before the attack. Artillery struck the 

German defenses for three hours before 

the 5:30 a.m. assault and laid smoke and 

poison gas on the hill. The main attack 

went around both sides of the hill in thick 

fog, preceded by a rolling barrage from 

artillery and machine guns. The 35th sent a 

brigade forward reinforced with engineers, 

machine guns and light artillery. The first 

elements bypassed the hill to the left and 

headed for the second line of defense. Two 

following battalions split to mop up the hill 

from the flanks.

The crushing bombardment had torn 

apart much of the frontline defenses. 

Enemy batteries were bombarded with 

high explosive and poison gas. Divisional 

artillery laid rolling barrages to protect the 

attack waves, which were also concealed 

by the thick fog. The lead units of the 35th

continued north, overrunning trenches 

almost 1 km behind the front. They 

stopped to reorganize 1.5 km further on 

near the villages of Cheppy and Varennes.

Getting to Stop 1: 

From the A4 Autoroute de l’Est, take the Clermont-en-Argonne exit and 

turn north on the D998. Stay on the D998 into Clermont-en-Argonne. 

Go straight across the intersection, continuing north on the D998 toward 

Champ de Batailes 14-18 Argonnes. At the end of a long straightaway, 

the road turns right over the Aire River into Neuvilly-en-Argonne. Bear 

left at the square with the church onto D946 to Boureuilles, where you 

will turn right on D212 toward Butte de Vauquois at an intersection by a 

church. In the village of Vauquois, turn left up the hill before you get to Stop 1 the church. Park in the parking lot in the woods.

Stop 2 

An aerial view of Vauqouis Hill, pockmarked 

with craters.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Cheppy and the 

Missouri Memorial

Designed by Nancy Coonsman Hahn to 

honor all the Missourians who died in 

France during World War I, it was the first 

overseas American monument designed 

by a woman. From the platform, you can 

get a good sense of fighting here. Cheppy 

was part of the forward positions of the 

Hindenburg Line.

Around 9 a.m. the fog began to lift. 

Soldiers reported an increase in German 

machine gun fire from the front and from 

bypassed pockets of resistance. The rolling 

barrage had stopped on the flat behind the 

monument an hour earlier just as the 35th

Division arrived. Across the valley to the 

north was the village of Cheppy, an outpost 

of the Hindenburg Line with concrete pill 

boxes. From a strongpoint just past the 

bridge, a trench ran west up to the high 

ground across the road. The high ground 

to the right held another. Despite earlier 

bombardment by 155 mm howitzers of the 

130th Field Artillery and the French 317th

Colonial Heavy Artillery, the defenses were 

coming back to life. 

Under machine gun fire, the 35th

reorganized for an assault. The light tanks 

of the American 304th Tank Brigade caught 

up with the infantry at this point. These 

were small, two-man, French Renault 

tanks armed with a machine gun or small 

Getting to Stop 2: 

Return down the hill to the D212 and turn left (east) and bear 

left at the fork in the road. Bear left again at the second fork, 

heading north. Turn left on D38 and take the next hard right 

on the D19 toward Cheppy. Pull off the road on the right just Stop 2 beyond the memorial.

The Missouri Memorial at Cheppy.

Stop 3 

cannon. The brigade commander of the 

304th, Lt. Col. George S. Patton, arrived 

and directed the tanks on foot. He was 

soon wounded. Multiple other officers 

and men were killed and wounded leading 

others through the wire and trenches into 

the town, which fell by 12:30 p.m. To the 

east and west, other units of the division 

were penetrating Cheppy Woods and the 

town of Varennes. Many prisoners of the 

Prussian Guard were captured in Cheppy, 

along with numerous machine guns and 

antitank rifles.

Many prisoners of the 

Prussian Guard were 

captured in Cheppy, along 

with numerous machine 

guns and antitank rifles.

Left: The town of Cheppy included a medical station. After the town was secured it became an important 

point for support of the American attack. Right: A French-built Renault FT-17 crosses a trench.

The ruins of Cheppy after the battle.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Varennes Pennsylvania 

Monument

The Pennsylvania Monument honors all 

Pennsylvanians who served in World 

War I. The street approaching the monument 

is rue Louis XVI. Down the hill from the 

Pennsylvania Monument is the tower where 

Louis XVI was arrested during his attempt to 

flee Revolutionary France.

The part of Varennes on the east side of 

the Aire River was captured by the 35th

Division about the same time that it seized 

Cheppy. Troops entered this town, a part 

of the Hindenburg Line, around 11:30 a.m. 

Getting to Stop 3: 

Drive north into Cheppy and turn left at the first intersection on 

D19c. At the next intersection, turn left on the Rue de Varennes, 

D946. Continue straight by the church in Cheppy and the church 

in Varennes. Bear left at the fork, past the bridge over the Aire River, 

toward the clock tower. About 140 m beyond the clock tower, look 

for a large monument on the right, and turn into the lane next to the Stop 3 monument. Find a place to park around the monument.

A wounded German prisoner stands under guard. 

Light Renault tanks in Varennes.

Stop 4 

and cleared the town with the 

assistance of tanks that had 

arrived late because of smoke 

and fog. A number of Germans 

surrendered to the leading 

tanks whose crews turned them 

over to the infantry.

The part of Varennes on the 

west bank of the Aire River was 

captured by the 28th Division, a 

National Guard Division from 

Pennsylvania. The 28th began 

the attack west of Vauquois 

Hill, with two battalions of the 

110th Infantry Regiment making assaults 

and passing through each other in turn. 

They attacked Varennes together. Mopping 

up resistance took until 2 p.m., though the 

rest of the division was slowed down by 

the wooded broken terrain of the Argonne 

Forest on their left. 

Go to the north overlook of the monument. 

From Varennes, the 110th pushed forward 

further north, crossing the Aire River bend 

twice and climbing to the plateau beyond. 

The 110th was stopped there by machine 

gun fire from the town of Montblaineville 

beyond the ridge.

The Varennes Pennsylvania Monument.

Soldiers advance through Varennes.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Capt. Harry Truman 

At 6 p.m. on September 27, 1918, the 

35th Division continued its advance from 

Cheppy. Capt. Harry Truman, commanding 

“D” Battery 129th Field Artillery, was on the 

west side of the road between here and the 

fork to Charpentry. His observation post 

was in the open under a camouflage net 

strung to a hedge. West across the valley, 

Truman’s observers noticed an American 

aircraft dropping a flare over a German 

battery on the near side of Montblainville. 

To avoid casualties from friendly fire, 

Truman’s unit was not supposed to engage 

targets in the adjacent division’s lane. 

Contrary to these orders, Truman called 

for fire that destroyed the enemy guns. On 

the next morning, west across the valley, 

the 28th Division’s lead regiment was in 

Montblainville, but the remainder of the 

division lagged behind. Truman observed 

a German observation post over 3 km 

northwest near Chene-Tondu, and again 

broke the rules and called for fire on the 

observers who retreated quickly. Shortly 

after, they observed a German battery 

setting up close to the previous target. Fortythree rounds hit the enemy battery. Six field 

guns were later found abandoned on the 

site. Batteries A and B fired similar missions 

later in the day. Though admonished for this 

action, Truman never regretted his work 

along this road, even after he attained the 

U.S. presidency.

Getting to Stop 4: 

Leaving the monument turn left and return down the hill into 

Varennes, cross the bridge, and go straight to the edge of town where 

the road (D946) curves left up the hill. At the fork, continue straight 

toward Apremont. If it is safe, pull off to the right into the paved field Stop 4 road just past the grain elevators. Turn on your hazard lights.

Capt. Harry Truman in uniform.

- Optional Side Tour -

Go to the tabbed section named Heroes of the Argonne Forest to take the 

optional side tour about the Lost Battalion, the 368th Infantry, and Sgt. Alvin York. Stop 5 

An artillery observer with a tripod periscope and telephone lines to his artillery battery. The observer was 

essential to accurate artillery fire.

Artillerymen wearing gas masks in action during the MeuseArgonne Offensive. 

To avoid casualties 

from friendly fire, 

Truman’s unit was 

not supposed to 

engage targets in 

the adjacent 

division’s lane.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Exermont

Look back to the southeast. On the skyline 

you can see the Montfaucon Monument. 

The forested hills to the northeast are the 

heights of Romagne which concealed lines 

of fortifications with steel and concrete 

shelters and pillboxes. From there and 

from the northern Argonne Forest to the 

west, artillery could strike Americans 

in these fields. The forward position of 

the 35th Division on September 28, 1918, 

was the wooded hill immediately to the 

southwest of Montrebeau. On September 

29, the division advanced 1.2 km north 

toward the heights of Romagne under 

heavy fire, supported by a few tanks and 

a light artillery barrage. The division had 

fought tenaciously through the German 

lines, advancing 10 km in three days. 

The infantry of the 35th Division was 

reorganized into two provisional brigades 

that incorporated division machine 

gunners and engineers.

Getting to Stop 5: 

Continue down the D946 to the northwest for 4.8 km. You 

will pass the turn off for Chatel-Chéhéry and an agricultural 

equipment garage on the left. Ahead on a slight downgrade 

turn off carefully on the right into the local highway gravel Stop 5 yard. Turn on your hazard lights.

A “dangerous corner” in Exermont, October 1918.

The division had fought 

tenaciously through the 

German lines, advancing 

10 km in three days.

The Germans waited in force around 

Exermont, a village hidden in the folds 

of the forest to the northeast. German 

artillery concentrated on the American 

tanks forcing them back. After some initial 

gains, the 35th was forced to withdraw 

to Montrebeau. There it held out against 

two days of German shelling and infantry 

attacks. On October 1, the 35th was 

withdrawn from the line except for its 

artillery brigade. It was replaced by the 

1st Division, which renewed the attack on 

October 4.

The “dangerous corner” in Exermont, 2018.

After taking Exermont, American soldiers 

replaced the Germans in billets in the church 

there. Here American troops use the church organ.

Stop 6 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Meuse-Argonne 

American Cemetery

This is the largest American World War I 

cemetery, and lies on land captured from 

German forces by the 5th and 32nd Divisions. 

A temporary cemetery was established 

here in mid-October of 1918. There are 

more than 14,000 Americans interred here, 

including more than 450 whose identities 

are unknown. Nearly 1,000 names are 

recorded on the Tablets of the Missing. 

Among the tablets are names of the missing 

of the American Expeditionary Forces’ 

Services of Supply, and the missing from 

American operations in Northern Russia. 

There more than 14,000 

Americans interred here, 

including more than 

450 whose identities are 

unknown.

The best way to begin the visit is with a stop 

in the visitor center. Newly renovated in 

2016, the building includes exhibits, films 

and digital interactives that help tell the story 

of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Entrance is 

free and reservations are not required.

Getting to Stop 6: 

Continue down the D946. Turn right just over the bridge on D142. 

Bear right at the church in Exermont toward Romagne. Continue 

on D142/D2211 through Gesnes-en-Argonne where you bear to 

the right of the church. At the “T” intersection, turn left toward 

Romagne on D998. At the intersection by the church in Romagne, 

turn right toward the American cemetery on D123. At the next 

intersection, turn left toward the American cemetery. The MeuseArgonne American Cemetery is 0.5 km ahead. Drive through the Stop 6 gate and bear left up the hill toward the visitor center.

More than 14,000 Americans are buried in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

- End of tour -

Return through Romagne to the D998, and turn south. In Charpentry, the road bends 

left then right. Where the D998 meets the D946 turn south on D946 toward Varennes. In 

Neuvilly-en-Argonne at the intersection by the church, turn right just past the monument on 

D998. Stay on the D998 until you come to the Autoroute de l’Est in Auzéville-en-Argonne.

A Meuse-Argonne regional battle map outside the 

chapel at the cemetery. 

Stained glass windows with divisional insignia 

inside the chapel at the cemetery. 

Allied flags inside the chapel at the cemetery. 

Poppies grow near 

the entrance to 

Meuse-Argonne 

American Cemetery.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE II: 

MONTFAUCON TO ROMAGNE

Bantheville

Cheppy

Charpentry

Vauquois

Neuvilly-en-Argonne

Dombasle-en-Argonne

Avocourt

Malancourt

Brieulles-sur-Meuse

Varennes-en-Argonne

Clermont-en-Argonne

Montfaucon-d'Argonne

Nantillois

Gesnes-en-Argonne

Romagne-sous

-Montfaucon

Exermont

Les Islettes

Le Claon Aubréville

Lachalade

Marcq

D946

D160

D242

D998

D104

D142

D946

D946

D998

D603

D603

D115

D38

D85

D18

D38

D19

D15

D15

D4

D2

D3

A4 A4

1

2

4 3

5

Montfaucon Monument

The hill of Montfaucon was an important 

observation post for the Germans, and 

was a key objective of the first day of the 

campaign. The Montfaucon Monument 

faces toward the American start line for 

the Meuse-Argonne Offensive 6.5 km to 

the south. From the observation platform, 

much of the Meuse-Argonne battlefield is 

visible. The monument is in the form of a 

Doric column. The names on the face of 

the platform are the strategic objectives 

of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The 

participating divisions of the First Army 

are named on the terrace along with their 

most important engagements. Inside 

the base are inscriptions in French and 

English with a map of the campaign. A 

staircase leads to the observation platform. 

The parapet around the platform is 

inscribed with names and directional 

arrows indicating important sites and 

features in the surrounding terrain. 

Adjacent to the monument are ruins of 

the town of Montfaucon, which was never 

reoccupied after the war. The Germans 

Getting to Stop 1: 

From the A4 Autoroute de l’Est, take the Clermont-en-Argonne exit and 

turn north on the D998. Stay on the D998 into Clermont-en-Argonne. 

Go straight across the intersection continuing north on the D998 toward 

Champ de Bataille 14-18 Argonnes. At the end of a long straight-away, 

the road turns right over the Aire River into Neuvilly-en-Argonne. At 

the intersection by the church, monument and town hall, turn left onto 

D946 toward Varennes. In Varennes, bear right toward the Monument 

Americain. You will pass the Pennsylvania Monument on your left and 

then turn right over the bridge at the bottom of the hill. Take the first right 

after the bridge on D38. At the fork, bear left toward Montfaucon (the 

sign reads Mémorial Americain on D19). At the four-way intersection, 

go straight. In a moment you will see the monument ahead. At the “T” Stop 1 intersection, turn left toward Butte de Montfaucon. You can park here.

Montfaucon Monument from front with ruins behind.

Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive II

Meuse-Argonne

Offensive II

Heroes of the 

Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

hid fortifications in the ruins of the town, 

using stone from the church to make an 

observation post that still remains.

The Germans hid 

fortifications in the ruins 

of the town, using stone 

from the church to make 

an observation post that 

still remains. 

The American attack on September 26, 

1918 at 5:30 a.m. involved three divisions. 

The 4th Division of the regular Army, and 

the 37th Division made up of Ohio and 

West Virginia National Guard units, were 

to push through the flanks of the peak to 

isolate it. Both divisions had to cross ground 

with numerous trench lines and barbed 

wire, all covered by the fortified villages of 

Malancourt and Montfaucon. The morning 

Campaign map inside the base of Montfaucon 

Monument.

American reserves move up through barbed wire.

Stop 2 

was foggy and a smoke screen added to the 

murky atmosphere. The 4th advanced on 

the east flank and the 37th on the west flank. 

Directly to the south the 79th Division made 

the main assault toward Montfaucon. They 

took Malancourt by 7:30 a.m. and pushed 

on. In some areas the ground was a muddy 

moonscape of craters from years of shelling, 

and the preparatory bombardment had 

failed to cut the wire. The attacks bogged 

down half way to Montfaucon. Units 

advancing behind the assault battalions 

cleared the pockets of resistance after the 

fog lifted. The 37th and 79th were held up, 

but the 4th pushed north most of the way to 

Nantillois, halting in the Bois de Septsarges.

On the second day of the attack the 79th

was already advancing at 4 a.m. They 

bypassed strongpoints and headed for 

the crest. They reached the base of the 

Montfaucon by 9:30 a.m. The 313th Infantry 

Regiment made the final assault with three 

battalions. One came straight up the hill 

while the other two enveloped the town 

from east and west. The Germans began 

to retreat. Montfaucon was in American 

hands by noon on September 27.

The entrance to the Montfaucon Monument 

includes a description of the significance of the site.

Top of 

Montfaucon 

Monument.

Church ruins adjacent to Montfaucon.

Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive II The Somme AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Meuse-Argonne Offensive II
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Madeleine Farm

The Madeleine Farm consists of the farm 

buildings to the north of you. The farm was 

fortified with communication trenches leading 

into the woods behind it, the Bois de Cunel. 

The Bois de Cunel hid concrete Hindenburg 

Line defenses and concealed the approach of 

German counterattack battalions. 

The 4th and 79th Divisions stormed into the 

area on the second day of the offensive, but 

stalled here in hard fighting. The divisions 

attacked the farm with tank support starting 

on September 28, 1918, but had to retreat. 

The forest to the south and east of the road 

is the Bois des Ogons, which traded hands 

between Germans and the two American 

divisions on September 28 and 29. The 

wooded hill to the southwest of the clearing 

is Hill 250, which was taken by the 79th on 

September 28, but lost to counterattack. 

Getting to Stop 2: 

Leave the west side of the parking lot toward Nantillois on 

D15A, take the next left. At the intersection in town by the 

bus stop, turn right toward Nantillois. Stay on D15 as it bends 

to the three-way crossroad, and turn left (north) on D15. Go 

straight at the crossroad in Nantillois on D15. Around 2.4 km 

north of Nantillois you will come to a broad farm meadow 

with woods around it. The farm buildings at the far end are 

Madeleine Farm. You can pull off into the field roads, or the Stop 2 road just before the farm that leads to a German cemetery.

Ruins of Madeleine Farm after the battle.

On the night of October 5, Hill 250 was 

retaken by the 3rd Division in heavy 

fighting. The Bois des Ogons was finally 

consolidated by the 80th Division on 

October 6. The north-south road was the 

divisional boundary for the 3rd Division on 

the left, and the 80th Division. On October 

9, both divisions attacked and seized 

the Bois de Cunel. Heavy artillery had 

bombarded the farm and Hindenburg Line 

positions for several days. The 3rd Division 

crossed the road to take the farm. Both 

divisions moved north beyond the woods 

toward Cunel and the Madeleine Farm 

became 3rd Division Headquarters.

View of Madeleine Farm, 2018. Stop 3 

Hindenburg Line defenses in the 

Meuse‐Argonne area included concrete 

pillboxes like this.

Trenches finished with concrete and 

masonry were typical of German 

Hindenburg Line defenses.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Cunel Overlook

The town to the north is Cunel. It was 

attacked at different times by three American 

divisions – the 80th, 3rd, and 5th – beginning 

on October 9, 1918. The wooded hill behind 

it concealed a fortified German strongpoint, 

Bois de la Pultiere. From there, German 

counterattacks retook Cunel several times. 

Cunel and the Bois de la Pultiere were finally 

taken by the 5th on October 14. After the war, 

several divisions left a series of markers in 

the path of their advance. Behind you, down 

the road about 45 meters toward Madeleine 

Farm, is a marker of the 5th Division under 

a tree on the west side of the road. While 

traveling to the next stop, you may wish 

to visit the church in Cunel which has a 

memorial to “Three American Citizens who 

died for Liberty.”

The wooded hill ... 

concealed a fortified 

German strongpoint, 

Bois de la Pultiere.

Getting to Stop 3: 

Continue 1.6 km north on the D15 from Madeleine Farm. 

There is a field road to pull off into on the left across from 

some woods. Park with hazards on and walk out on the road Stop 3 a little to the west.

Soldiers passing through Cunel, October 1918.

Stop 4 

The church in Cunel with the American memorial at the lower left.

The 5th Division monument.

The memorial is dedicated to three Americans from Boston 

who lost their lives in the fighting here.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Bantheville 

Immediately next to your car is a small 

obelisk for the 5th Division, marking its 

position from here through the woods which 

ran east toward the Meuse River. The town in 

the valley beyond the woods to the northeast 

is Aincreville. The town at the bottom of 

the hill is Bantheville, and the wooded hill 

beyond is the Bois de Bantheville. 

With the town covered on 

three sides, they prepared 

a complex attack.

Getting to Stop 4: 

Continue north on D15 into Cunel and turn right (north) at the 

intersection by the church on D15. Passing over the ridge, you will 

see a large grain elevator ahead. Pull off to the right at the field road Stop 4 entrance just before the drive to the silo. Turn on your hazards.

The 5th Division monument at 

Bantheville.

Road from Cunel to Bantheville, with Bois 

des Rappes in distance, November 1918.

Stop 5 

The 5th was a Regular Army unit. A brigade 

of the division with reinforced artillery 

support seized the Bois des Rappes 

on October 21, 1918 and fought off a 

counterattack from Aincreville. The other 

brigade of the division then attempted to 

take Bantheville, but was driven off. On 

the night of October 21, this was the sentry 

line of the division’s right wing-the limit 

of its advance. Patrols headed south from 

here to reach the left-hand brigade on the 

south side of Bantheville. That night, the 

5th was replaced on the line by the 90th

Division, part of which took over the Bois 

de Bantheville from the 89th Division. 

With the town covered on three sides, they 

prepared a complex attack.

American machine gunners of the 90th in 

the Bois de Bantheville covered the fields 

north and northwest of the town. Harassing 

artillery fire was laid on suspected positions 

in the fields, and bombardments were laid 

on Aincreville and the woods on the skyline 

to the north. One battalion descended on 

Bantheville from the Bois de Bantheville, 

and another from the south. They took 

the town quickly, and pushed north to a 

line roughly from the north tip of the Bois 

de Bantheville to the tip of the Bois des 

Rappes to the northeast. For the next few 

days, patrols and local attacks occupied the 

division.

At this time the American First Army 

had completed its first part of the MeuseArgonne Offensive by establishing a line 

from several kilometers east of here on 

the Meuse River to a link-up with French 

forces at Grandpre at the north end of the 

Argonne Forest. On November 1 and 4, the 

90th made sweeping attacks that marched 

5 km north of the Bois de Bantheville in 

the west, to the far side of the forest beyond 

Aincreville. From there they overlooked 

the Meuse River. The division went on to 

cross the Meuse in several places before the 

Armistice on November 11.

The 5th Division monument is dedicated to 

Maj. James Rivet who lost his life in fighting near 

here.

Maj. Rivet is buried in 

Meuse‐Argonne American Cemetery.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Meuse-Argonne 

American Cemetery

This is the largest American World War 

I cemetery, and lies on land captured 

from German forces by the 5th and 32nd

Divisions. A temporary cemetery was 

established here in mid-October of 1918. 

There are more than 14,000 Americans 

interred here, including more than 450 

whose identities are unknown. Nearly 

1,000 names are recorded on the Tablets 

of the Missing. Among the tablets are 

names of the missing of the American 

Expeditionary Forces’ Services of Supply, 

and the missing from American operations 

in Northern Russia. 

This is the largest American 

World War I cemetery, and 

lies on land captured from 

German forces...

The best way to begin the visit is with a stop 

in the visitor center. Newly renovated in 

2016, the building includes exhibits, films 

and digital interactives that help tell the story 

of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Entrance is 

free and reservations are not required.

Getting to Stop 5: 

Drive down the hill into Bantheville and turn left toward 

Romagne and the sign that reads American Cemetery at 

the intersection with D998. Turn left just past the church 

in Romagne toward the American cemetery. At the next 

intersection, turn left toward the Meuse-Argonne American 

Cemetery, which is 0.4 km ahead. Drive through the gate and Stop 5 bear left up the hill toward the visitor center.

Visitor Center.

- End of tour -

Return through Romagne to the D998, and turn south. In Charpentry the road bends left then 

right. Where the D998 meets the D946, turn south on D946 toward Varennes. In Neuvilly-enArgonne at the intersection by the church, turn right just past the monument on D998. Stay on 

the D998 until you come to the Autoroute de l’Est in Auzéville-en-Argonne (A4).

Top: More than 14,000 Americans are interred at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. Bottom left: Over 

900 names are inscribed upon the Walls of the Missing in the chapel. Bottom right: The visitor center 

includes World War I artifacts along with a battlefield experience film. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION D4 D4 D4 D4 D142

D442

D442

D946

D946

D242

D42

D42

D66

ARDENNES

MARNE

ARDENNES

MARNE

ARDENNES

MEUSE

Apremont

Chatel-Chéhéry

2

3

1

HEROES OF THE ARGONNE FOREST: 

THE LOST BATTALION, 

368TH INFANTRY, & SERGEANT YORK

Getting to the Lost Battalion: 

From Stop 4 (Captain Harry Truman) on the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive I tour, return south on D946 and take the first right on D242 

toward Apremont on the D142. Turn left at the “T” intersection by 

the bridge toward D946. In about 2.75 km turn right on D242 toward 

Apremont. Go straight through Apremont. At the intersection with 

the small shrine, you will bear right on D442 toward Binarville. In 6.5 

km, you will see a reservoir downhill to your left. At the end of the Stop 1 reservoir, past the bridge, pull off left at the small monument.

The Lost Battalion 

Monument

This monument commemorates soldiers 

of the 307th and 308th Infantry Regiments 

and the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, all 

units of the 77th Division, who fought while 

surrounded by the enemy from October 

2-7, 1918. This “Lost Battalion” of 463 

officers and men was under the command 

of Maj. Charles Whittlesey. They advanced 

on October 2 and dug in near here when 

stopped by enemy fire. They were isolated 

because the other troops of the division failed 

to reach their objectives. For the next five 

days they were surrounded, under constant 

attack, and accidentally shelled by their 

own artillery. They had to take food and 

ammunition from their fallen comrades, and 

their only water source was under constant 

German fire.

For the next five days 

they were surrounded, 

under constant attack, 

and accidentally shelled by 

their own artillery.

The French Lost Battalion Monument, with Cher 

Ami perched atop a Doughboy helmet. 

Heroes of the 

Argonne Forest

Heroes of the 

Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

These elements were dug into a defensive 

position of roughly 320 meters by 70 

meters. Communicating with runners 

became impossible, and they had to 

resort to their limited supply of homing 

pigeons. Two of their three pigeons fell to 

enemy rifle fire. When American artillery 

accidentally started firing on their position, 

they desperately sent this message with the 

last pigeon, Cher Ami: 

“We are along the road paralell 

[sic] to 276.4. Our own artillery is 

dropping a barrage directly on us. 

For heavens sake stop it.”

Cher Ami was hit by fire, but delivered the 

message despite losing an eye and leg.

Cher Ami was hit by fire but 

delivered the message despite 

losing an eye and leg.

When finally reached by American forces 

on October 6, the battalion had suffered 

more than 50 percent casualties. Whittlesey 

and six of his soldiers were awarded the 

Medal of Honor.

The actual site is 0.5 km back the way you 

came. There is a small pull out on the right 

by a short stone pillar with an inscription 

and an arrow pointing down the hill.

Lt. Col. Charles Whittlesey, having been promoted 

for his leadership, receives the Medal of Honor 

from Gen. Clarence Edwards.

ABMC Lost Battalion Marker.

Stop 2 Above: Survivors of the “Lost Battalion.” Below: This landscape shows part of the 

position of the isolated companies of the 77th Division.

Heroes of the 

Argonne Forest The Somme AEF in Belgium Willing Patriots Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Meuse-Argonne Offensive II Heroes of the Argonne Forest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Getting to Binarville: 

From the Lost Battalion Monument, drive up the hill in the 

opposite direction of the reservoir. In 1.5 km there will be 

a monument dedicated to the French 9th Cuirassiers, who 

fought alongside the 368th Infantry. Take a left at the stop sign 

and continue on D63. In 600 m, enter Binarville. A French 

World War I monument will be on the right. Park on the street Stop 2 near the monument. 

368th Regiment at 

Binarville 

At the outset of the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive, the 368th Infantry Regiment, 

92nd Division, served as a liaison unit 

between the American First Army 

and the French Fourth Army. In this 

capacity, the 368th was situated on the 

extreme left flank of the Americans, and 

the extreme right of the French. As with 

other African-American combat units 

of the segregated American Army, the 

368th served under French command 

(see African Americans in the American 

Expeditionary Forces).

On September 26th, 1918, the 368th, 

supported by the 351st Machine Gun 

Battalion, attacked north through the 

Argonne Forest. After four days of 

fighting, the regiment captured the town 

of Binarville. On October 1st the 368th 

was withdrawn from the line. In total 

the 92nd Division suffered 270 casualties 

during the battle. For its role in the 

offensive, the 92nd Division is honored 

at the Montfaucon Monument, which 

is described in the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive II chapter, and is about a 25 

minute drive from here. 

The 368th Infantry marches toward Binarville. Note the camoflage over the road. 

Stop 3 

Traffic on badly shelled roads slowed the advance 

of the 368th.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Sgt. York Trail

It is possible to go to the area of Sgt. Alvin 

York’s action. It is further down this road 

on the left. There is a sign marking the 

entrance to the footpath.

Getting to the Sergeant York Tour at Chatel-Chéhéry: 

Return to Apremont and, at the intersection with the shrine, 

turn left on D42 toward Chatel-Chéhéry. The road curves left 

by the church and town hall. Bear right at the fork by the pines, 

and go straight at the second fork with a shrine and bench on 

the right. At the “T” intersection in Chatel-Chéhéry, turn right 

and look for the town hall (Mairie) on the left. It has a plaque 

in front in dark stone with the name “YORK” on it.

Right: Sgt. Alvin York wearing his Medal of 

Honor, and the French Croix de Guerre. Below: In 

Chatel-Chéhéry, German prisoners are loaded on 

trucks to be taken to the rear.

Stop 3

The Action of Sgt. Alvin York

On October 8, 1918, York, then a corporal 

in the 82nd Division, was with a patrol 

broken up by heavy German fire. Trying to 

outflank a machine gun in dense woods, 

they unknowingly penetrated the German 

frontline. They surprised and captured 

several groups of Germans, including 

some officers eating breakfast. Returning 

with their prisoners, they were attacked 

by machine gunners who killed a number 

of the Americans and captive Germans. 

York and seven men prepared to fight their 

way out. The patrol surprised another 

German officer who surrendered with 

50 men. In multiple fighting encounters, 

York killed more than two dozen of the 

enemy. Prisoners were formed into a 

column carrying the wounded and were 

marched back to American lines through 

German positions. At York’s prompting, the 

captured officers encouraged the surrender 

of more Germans. By the time they 

returned to American lines, York and the 

seven privates had captured 132 Germans, 

including a battalion commander and 

two other officers. York was promoted to 

sergeant and awarded the Medal of Honor.

- Return to Apremont -

Return south on the D4 and turn left on D42 toward Apremont. At the square with the 

church and town hall in Apremont follow the road right. At the intersection with the 

shrine, turn hard left on D242. Follow the D242 to the “T” intersection and turn left 

(north). Resume with “Getting to Stop 5” on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive I Tour.

Two wounded soldiers enjoying refreshments from the Red Cross station at Chatel-Chéhéry.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Monument to the 339th Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears” 

in White Chapel Cemetery, Troy, Michigan.

American Expeditionary 

Forces Italy 

In response to the catastrophe at 

Caporetto, Italy, in October 1917, the 

Italian government requested support from 

the United States; President Wilson asked 

General Pershing to support the request. 

In July 1918, Pershing sent one regiment, 

the 332nd Infantry, from the skeletonized 

83rd Division, with attached medical 

and supply units, to the Italian front. Its 

principal missions were to build up Italian 

morale and to destabilize enemy morale by 

creating the impression that a large force of 

Americans had been committed in support 

of the Italian Army.

The regiment was first stationed near Lake 

Garda, where it trained in methods of 

mountain warfare adapted to the terrain 

that comprised the greater part of the 

Italian theater of operations. Early in 

October, the regiment moved to Treviso, 

behind the Piave River Front, where it was 

assigned to the Italian 31st Division. 

Focused on deceiving the Austrians of the 

size of the American force, the regiment 

staged a series of marches in which each 

battalion, with different articles of uniform 

and equipment, left the city by a separate 

road, circulated during daylight hours in 

exposed positions for both the Italians 

and Austrians to see, and returned after 

nightfall to its station at Treviso in as 

inconspicuous a manner as possible. The 

ruse worked perfectly, and convinced 

the Austrians that several divisions of 

Americans had arrived in Italy.

On October 24, the opening day of the 

Italian Vittorio-Veneto offensive, the Italian 

31st Division, with the 332nd Infantry 

attached, was in reserve. It joined in the 

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES FARTHER AFIELD: 

OPERATIONS IN ITALY AND RUSSIA

Soldiers of the 332nd Infantry Regiment throwing grenades in Italy.

AEF Farther Afield Sustaining the AEF Paris American Women in the Great War Their Sacrifices Remembering AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

pursuit of the fleeing Austrians on October 

29 as part of the British XIV Corps of 

the Italian Tenth Army. On November 

3, after several hard marches, the 332nd 

established contact with an enemy rearguard battalion that was defending the 

crossings of the Tagliamento River near the 

village of Ponte-della-Delizia.

Early on November 4 the 2nd Battalion 

crossed the river on a narrow footbridge, 

and after a brief fight captured the Austrian 

position on the far side. Continuing to 

move forward along the Treviso-Udine 

railroad, the 2nd Battalion occupied the 

town of Codroipo, where it took possession 

of large stores of munitions and supplies.

At 3:00 p.m., November 4, when the 

armistice between Italy and AustriaHungary became effective, the leading 

American elements were at Villorba.

After this Armistice the American troops 

formed part of the Allied forces stationed 

in Austria, along the Dalmatian coast 

and in Montenegro. In March 1919, the 

regiment was assembled in Genoa, and on 

April 3 its last elements embarked from 

that seaport for the United States.

In addition to this American infantry force, 

30 American ambulance sections, a base 

hospital and 54 airplane pilots served with 

the Italian Army.

The American pilots, including New York 

politician Captain Fiorello La Guardia, 

served as members of Italian bombardment 

squadrons, engaged in bombing raids 

behind the Austrian lines, being especially 

active during the progress of the VittorioVeneto offensive.

Troops of the 332nd crossing a pontoon bridge over the Piave River.

Capt. Fiorello La Guardia.

American Expeditionary 

Forces North Russia

Prior to the collapse of the Russian 

Empire in 1917, huge quantities of 

military supplies had been assembled in 

the northern part of Russia at the ports 

of Archangel and Murmansk. The Allied 

Supreme War Council believed that troops 

should be sent to secure these ports for the 

use of the Allies and to save the supplies 

located there. Consequently, an Allied force 

under British command was dispatched 

by sea and on August 3, 1918, seized the 

city of Archangel and drove the Bolshevik 

troops to the south.

The British Government urged American 

participation in the expedition and 

directed the American Expeditionary 

Forces to send three battalions of infantry 

and three companies of engineers to join 

this Allied expedition. The 339th Infantry 

Regiment was designated along with the 

1st Battalion, 310th Engineers, 337th Field 

Hospital and 337th Ambulance Company, 

all from the 85th Division.

The units sailed from England and arrived 

in Northern Russia on September 4. 

Operating under British command, the 

contingent was soon split up in isolated 

detachments protecting, with Allied troops 

and Russian volunteers, the vital points on 

the railroads and rivers that were the main 

avenues of approach to the coast. 

The Americans were spread out over a 

450-mile front and in some places were 

over 200 miles from their main base at 

Archangel.

The American soldiers soon participated in 

the fighting, their first casualties occurring 

on September 16 in the general area to 

the south of Obozerskaya. During their 

service in Russia, the American troops 

conducted many small operations under 

arduous conditions, intensified by the deep 

snow, intense cold, darkness of winter 

in the Arctic Zone, and the long lines of 

communication, which were in constant 

danger of being cut by the enemy.

During January 1919, the Bolsheviks 

launched an offensive northward between 

An outpost of the 339th Infantry in North Russia. 

AEF Farther Afield AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

the Dvina River and the railroad, forcing 

the evacuation of Ust-Padenga, Shenkursk 

and Shegovari after heavy fighting. This 

caused the Allies to establish a new line 

of defense and more widely dispersed 

American forces. 

In March, severe fighting developed 

around Bolshie-Ozerki, and in May a longthreatened attack in the vicinity of the Vaga 

River, 18 miles southeast of the town of 

Bereznik, was repulsed.

During April 1919, the American 167th 

and 168th Railroad Transportation 

Companies joined the expedition, 

operating mainly in the Murmansk region 

in combat support.

The American withdrawal began in 

late May 1919. Units were assembled at 

Archangel and sailed for France, being 

replaced by British troops newly arrived 

from England and Russian soldiers.

On August 5, the headquarters of the 

American force in Northern Russia was 

officially closed.

In the opinion of the senior American 

officer, the expedition was not particularly 

well managed and his troops were 

subjected to needless hardships.

More than 400 casualties were suffered by 

this small American force, most of them 

occurring after the Armistice. In spite of 

this and the trying nature of their service, 

however, the American units performed 

their duties with great fortitude and bravery.

American soldiers in a remote outpost.

The 339th braved extreme elements during the 

“Polar Bear” Expedition.

American Expeditionary 

Forces Siberia

In order to secure the railroad line near 

Vladivostok, relieve the Czechoslovak 

troops guarding railroad stations, and 

secure Allied supplies, General Pershing 

ordered the Regular Army’s 27th and 

31st Infantry Regiments from Hawaii 

and the Philippines respectively. The 

first troops disembarked in Vladivostok 

in mid-August, and they were quickly 

assigned guard duty along segments of the 

railway between Vladivostok and NikolskUssuriski in the north.

General William Graves, the expedition 

commander, believed his mission in 

Siberia was to provide protection for 

American-supplied property and to help 

the Czechoslovak Legion evacuate Russia, 

a mission that did not include fighting 

against the Bolsheviks. Repeatedly calling 

for restraint, Graves often clashed with 

commanders of British, French and 

Japanese forces, who also had troops in the 

region and who wanted him to take a more 

active part in the military intervention in 

Siberia.

Later, in order to operate the Trans-Siberian 

Railroad, the Russian Railway Service Corps 

was formed of U.S. personnel.

The experience in Siberia was miserable. 

Problems with fuel, ammunition, supplies 

and food were widespread. Horses 

accustomed to temperate climates were 

unable to function in sub-zero Russia. 

Water-cooled machine guns froze and 

became useless. 

The last American soldiers left Siberia on 

April 1, 1920. During their 19 months in 

Siberia, 189 soldiers of the force lost their 

lives. 

An American and Russian soldier in front of a 

captured Red Army armored train near Lake 

Baikal, Siberia. 

American forces parading 

through Vladiostok, Siberia.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Newly arrived troops 

debarking at Brest, 

by Walter Jack Duncan.

By the time of the Armistice, more 

than two million American military 

personnel had arrived in Europe to 

serve in the American Expeditionary 

Forces (AEF). Sustaining so large a force 

at such trans-oceanic distances was a 

mammoth undertaking, and historically 

unprecedented. Over 1.2 million 

Americans fought in the Meuse-Argonne 

Offensive, thousands of miles and an 

ocean away from the camps in which 

they had mustered and trained. Seven 

American Battle Monuments Commission 

(ABMC) sites capture major portions of 

this sweeping story: the Naval Monuments 

at Brest and Gibraltar, the American 

Cemeteries at Brookwood and Suresnes, 

the Tours Monument, and the Chaumont 

and Souilly Markers. Other ABMC World 

War I sites reflect the battlefield effects of 

this sustainment at the front end.

When the United States entered World 

War I in April 1917, the Allies were at 

risk of defeat. The Germans had resumed 

unrestricted submarine warfare in the 

expectation that they could win the war 

before the United States could effectively 

intervene. Their calculus included sinking 

vital Allied shipping faster than it could be 

replaced and intercepting convoys carrying 

American troops. British authorities told 

SUSTAINING THE 

AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES:

SUPPORT FOR THE FIGHT

Tours American Monument.

Sustaining the AEF Sustaining the AEF Paris American Women in the Great War Their Sacrifices Remembering
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

American troops passing through London, July 1917.

American Admiral William S. Sims, who 

would soon be the Commander in Chief 

of U.S. Naval Forces in European waters, 

that the Germans were sinking close to one 

million tons of shipping a month. If this 

continued it would be difficult for Britain 

to continue to wage war. 

Sims arranged for the immediate dispatch 

of American destroyers to Europe, 

followed by further destroyers, small 

cruisers, revenue cutters, gunboats and 

even converted yachts. He established 

major U.S. bases at Queenstown, Ireland, 

Brest, France, and Gibraltar. The Allies 

initiated a comprehensive program of 

escorted trans-oceanic convoys in June 

1917. Airplanes and dirigibles assisted 

ships on anti-submarine patrol in coastal 

waters. Shipping losses plummeted, and 

were replaceable, particularly since better 

convoy escort generally resulted in rescued 

crews.

With the German U-Boat threat under 

control, the U.S. Navy’s Cruiser and 

Transport service began shipping 

American troops overseas. The Naval 

Overseas Transportation Service took 

responsibility for shipping their supplies. 

General John J. Pershing, Commanding 

General of the AEF, decided early on that 

Lorraine would be an appropriate sector 

for the independent American army he 

envisioned fielding. Rail lines running east 

from Brest and the Biscay ports and north 

from Marseille could support forces in 

Lorraine, while avoiding the congestion of 

the Channel ports supporting the British 

or the French concentrations around Paris. 

The naval bases at Brest and Gibraltar were 

ideally positioned to protect the maritime 

approaches to these routes.

About half of the American forces sent 

to France sailed in American or Frenchcontrolled ships. The other half sailed in 

British-controlled ships. American and 

French ships generally sailed directly to 

France. British ships generally sailed to 

ports along Great Britain’s west coast, 

such as Liverpool. From there arriving 

American troops and supplies travelled 

by rail to Channel ports, most notably 

Southampton, then re-embarked for 

France. U.S. logistical facilities sprang up 

to support this traffic, in addition to the 

naval forces already based in Great Britain. 

England became the rear support area for 

American forces serving with the British in 

France and Belgium, playing particularly 

important roles with respect to specialized 

training and hospitalization. Over 2,000 

Americans died in the British Isles from 

various causes during World War I. Many 

are buried in the Brookwood American 

Cemetery.

Once American troops and supplies were 

ashore in France, the monumental task of 

moving and sustaining them fell to the AEF 

Services of Supply. This sprawling enterprise 

ultimately numbered over 600,000 military 

and 24,000 civilian personnel. Across 

France it built thousands of barracks and 

hundreds of kilometers of rail lines, and 

supported a massive expenditure of small 

arms and artillery rounds. It supervised an 

expansive network of nine base sections, 

an intermediate section, and an advanced 

section. The headquarters for all of this was 

located in Tours.

Sustaining the AEF Sustaining the AEF AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Paris, the capital of France, attracted 

a concentration of administrative 

and logistical facilities. Many of these 

assisted with operational and logistical 

coordination with French counterparts. 

Others facilitated rest and recreation. Paris 

was particularly noted for its concentration 

of hospitals, to which many of the more 

severely wounded American soldiers were 

evacuated. Of those who died, many 

were buried in the Suresnes American 

Cemetery. For more on Suresnes, see the 

“Paris: City of Light” chapter. 

The Services of Supply, headquartered 

in Tours, coordinated the quartermaster, 

engineer, ordnance, signal, transportation 

and medical branches. It controlled the 

movements of personnel and material 

from the ports to delivery points in 

the forward areas designated by the 

General Headquarters of the AEF. That 

headquarters was in Chaumont, and 

governed the critical interface between the 

largely strategic and industrial activities 

of the Services of Supply and the largely 

operational and tactical activities of the 

forward armies. By November 1918, the 

AEF fielded three armies. The U.S. First 

Army, activated in August 1918, saw the 

most action. Armies are the point at which 

personnel and supplies have reached the 

“front”. The headquarters of the U.S. First 

Army was in Souilly. 

The ABMC sites discussed in this chapter 

reflect a vast sustainment effort flowing 

from the United States to the Western 

Front. Guarded by naval forces based in 

Brest, Gibraltar and elsewhere, convoys 

streamed across the Atlantic Ocean. 

About half of these landed in Great Britain, 

crossed it by rail, and re-embarked to 

cross the Channel. Brookwood American 

Cemetery and Memorial honors those 

who died in route, or in Great Britain for 

other reasons. Once ashore in France, 

personnel and supplies came under the 

control of the expansive Services of Supply, 

headquartered in Tours. They were pushed 

forward into the advanced sector, directly 

controlled by the AEF Headquarters in 

Chaumont, and then into the armies, most 

notably the U.S. First Army headquartered 

in Souilly. If severely wounded, soldiers 

might well be evacuated to hospitals 

around Paris, proximate to a cemetery at 

Suresnes. The geographical scope of these 

sites speaks to the grandeur of the logistical 

achievement.

Brookwood American Cemetery. 

Sustainment Sites 

The Chateau Beaulieu, headquarters of the SOS in Tours.

The General Headquarters of the AEF in Chaumont, with the dedicatory plaque. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Paris

Madrid

Bern

Brussels

FRANCE SWITZERLAND

ITALY

SPAIN MEDITERRANEAN SEA

BA L E A R I C S E A

ATLANTIC 

OCEAN

E N G L I S H C HA N N E L

NORTH SEA

BELGIUM

NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

UNITED 

KINGDOM

London

1

2

3

4 5

6

Site1

Naval Monument at Brest

Brest was the main base in France of the 

United States Navy during World War I, 

and also the principal port of debarkation 

for American troops and supplies. More 

than 700,000 members of the AEF arrived 

through Brest. The westernmost of France’s 

major ports, it was served by rail lines that 

led directly through Tours and Bourges 

into Lorraine. These transportation links 

avoided the congestion around Paris and 

the Channel ports, and proved ideal to 

support such offensives as St. Mihiel and 

the Meuse-Argonne. 

Over 30 U.S. destroyers supported by 

auxiliary craft were based in Brest. These 

were heavily involved in escorting convoys 

to and from French ports. The Naval 

Air Service flew planes and dirigibles 

in support of these surface forces. The 

commitment and focus of the convoy 

escorts proved invaluable. For example, 

during July and August of 1918 over 3 

million tons of shipping was escorted in 

and out of French ports by U.S. vessels 

based in Brest. The loss rate was less than a 

tenth of a percent.

American troops arriving in Brest, April 1918. 

Getting to the Naval Monument at Brest: 

The monument stands 800 meters southwest of the Gare 

de Brest along the Cours Dajot, on ramparts of the city 

overlooking the harbor. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Brest became a major logistical establishment 

in its own right. Base Section 5 of the Services 

of Supply set up extensive depots to handle 

arriving supplies and equipment. Vehicles 

received particular attention, as they were 

reassembled here after shipment before being 

pushed on to serve in forward units or along 

the lines of communication. The Services of 

Supply built billets, including those at Camp 

Pontanezen, the entry and exit point in 

France for tens of thousands of Doughboys. 

During World War II, furious fighting in the 

city destroyed the Naval Monument at Brest. 

ABMC rebuilt the monument according to 

the original specifications in the 1950s. 

The monument itself is a rectangular rosecolored shaft of Brittany granite rising 145 

feet above the terrace upon which it is based. 

Its four sides are ornamented with sculptured 

items of nautical interest. A small but 

attractive park surrounds its base. 

Detail of the inscription on the monument.

Naval hospital in Brest. 

Site 2 

Naval Monument at Brest
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Naval Monument at 

Gibraltar

Gibraltar, over-watching the critical straits 

that connect the Atlantic Ocean to the 

Mediterranean Sea, was a major base for 

both the United State Navy and the British 

Royal Navy during World War I. The 

United States contingent operating from 

Gibraltar included cruisers, destroyers, 

Coast Guard cutters and submarine 

chasers. Its primary responsibility was 

anti-submarine warfare, in particular the 

escort of Allied vessels to and from ports in 

France and Great Britain.

To support its operations in Lorraine, the 

AEF depended heavily on ports along the 

Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean coast 

of France. Marseille was the principal 

French port in the Mediterranean. U.S. 

Navy forces based in Gibraltar played a 

crucial role in protecting this traffic. For 

example, during July and August 1918 they 

escorted twenty-five per cent of all Allied 

convoys to Mediterranean French ports 

and seventy per cent of all convoys from 

the vicinity of Gibraltar to English ports. In 

addition to convoy escort, U.S. Navy forces 

from Brest also conducted independent 

and aggressive anti-submarine operations. 

Site2

A U.S. Navy cruiser in the Mediteranean. 

Getting to the Naval Monument at Gibraltar: 

The Naval Monument at Gibraltar is located on the Line Wall 

Road. 

Site 3 

Gibraltar had long been a critical 

base for Great Britain’s Royal Navy. 

The navies of the United States and 

Great Britain cooperated extensively 

throughout the World War I battles 

for the Atlantic and Mediterranean, 

and heavily depended upon each 

other. The Naval Monument at 

Gibraltar honors the comradeship of 

the American and British navies as 

well as the courage, competence and 

sacrifices of the United States forces 

serving in and around Gibraltar.

The monument itself is a masonry 

archway over a flight of steps 

connecting the historic town of 

Gibraltar with the extensive naval 

facilities located at sea level. It is 

made of stone quarried from the 

nearby Rock of Gibraltar. Large 

bronze seals of the United States and 

the United States Navy Department 

are affixed above the arch. Naval Monument at Gibraltar.

Detail of the monument. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Brookwood American 

Cemetery and Memorial

As the United States entered World War 

I, one of the Allies’ most urgent priorities 

was to secure the Atlantic Ocean for the 

safe movement of troops and supplies. 

The U.S. Navy quickly developed bases 

in the British Isles to facilitate that 

purpose. Queenstown, Ireland became 

a main base with a contingent of over 

thirty U. S. destroyers supported by other 

craft. These escorted a major fraction of 

the tonnage being shipped into British 

harbors. Plymouth became a major subchaser base, Killingholme a naval air base 

supporting surveillance in the North Sea, 

and Berehaven a base for U.S. submarines. 

A contingent of U.S. battleships joined 

their British counterparts at Scapa Flow. 

Inverness, Scotland became the main base 

for U.S. naval mining operations, especially 

the establishment of the expansive North 

Sea mine belt from Scapa Flow to Norway.

About half of the two million AEF troops 

travelled in British-controlled ships, 

which generally sailed to ports on the west 

coasts of Great Britain such as Liverpool. 

American soldiers then travelled by train 

to the English Channel to re-embark for 

France. U.S. logistical facilities sprang 

up to facilitate the movement of troops 

and supplies along this route. A principal 

port and naval base used for U.S. crossChannel traffic was Southampton. Coal 

was a critical fuel for the U.S. Navy and 

the AEF. A naval headquarters at Cardiff, 

Wales, administered the procurement and 

movement of this commodity.

Site3

American Red Cross hospital in Liverpool. 

Getting to Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial: 

The Brookwood American Cemetery is open to the public 

from 9 AM to 5 PM except on December 25 and January 1. It is 

immediately south of the town of Brookwood, Surrey, England, 

about thirty miles southwest of London.

As the war progressed, England became a 

rear area for U.S. forces fighting alongside 

British forces in Belgium and France. The 

U.S. 27th and 30th Divisions, for example, 

served under British command throughout 

their wartime service – and fought with 

distinction. Many of the severely wounded 

and diseased were evacuated back across 

the English Channel to hospitals in 

England. American soldiers also trained in 

facilities scattered throughout the British 

Isles. 

Over 2,000 Americans died in the British 

Isles during World War I. Others were lost 

at sea in the waters around the islands. 

Notable ship losses involving American 

soldiers and sailors included those of the 

SS Tuscania, the USS President Lincoln, the 

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, and the 

HMS Otranto. A particularly deadly strain 

of influenza, the Spanish Flu, broke out in 

1918, and contributed heavily to the losses 

among troops in route to or travelling 

in Great Britain. By the end of the war, 

Americans were buried in 99 separate 

burial grounds throughout the United 

Kingdom. 

The families of 427 Americans who 

died in the British Isles chose to have 

their loved ones remain buried overseas. 

These were gathered into the Brookwood 

American Cemetery. An additional 41 

unknown Americans are buried there as 

well. Another 563 names are inscribed on 

the Walls of the Missing in the cemetery’s 

chapel, grim testimony to the numbers of 

soldiers and sailors lost at sea. Brookwood 

is the only World War I American 

Cemetery in which those on the Walls 

of the Missing outnumber those who are 

buried in the cemetery.

The Brookwood American Cemetery 

and Memorial is located within the 

considerably more expansive Brookwood 

Cemetery. White marble crosses arranged 

in four plots surround a cast bronze 

flagpole. The green lawn is framed by 

masses of rhododendrons, oak, scotch 

pine, azaleas and other plants in the 

manner of an English garden. A small 

Beaux-Arts chapel constructed of Portland 

Stone and illuminated by stained glass 

windows stands at the north end of the 

cemetery. 

Site 4 

Brookwood American 

Cemetery chapel. 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Tours American 

Monument

On July 5, 1917, General John J. Pershing 

established the Line of Communication 

to coordinate the logistics of the AEF. 

This organization would eventually be 

designated as the Services of Supply (SOS), 

and was headquartered in Tours. Over 

the course of the war more than 600,000 

military and 24,000 civilian personnel 

served in the SOS, which administered 

Base Sections near major ports, an 

Intermediate Section with facilities and 

depots, and an Advance Section near the 

front. 

Major functions of the SOS included 

administration, construction, procurement 

and distribution. Administration was 

complicated not only by the size of the 

organization, but also by the diversity of 

its responsibilities. The SOS had to bring 

unskilled and semi-skilled labor from the 

United States since France had suffered 

tremendous manpower losses and was 

short on labor. More than half of the AEF 

personnel were non-combatant skilled 

specialists, or unskilled or semi-skilled 

laborers. These soldiers served in the SOS, 

often in engineer, service, stevedore and labor 

units. Given the segregation and prejudices 

of the time, many of the units fulfilling these 

vital roles were African-American. 

Site4

Shoes worn out by American troops in Tours, 1918.

Getting to Tours American Monument: 

The monument is at the south end of the Pont Wilson, which 

extends the Rue Nationale of Tours over the Loire River. 

Site 5 

The scope of the SOS building program 

was enormous. The SOS erected over 

16,000 barracks in France, and constructed 

vast railhead and regulating stations, 

complete with ample warehousing, 

combining the functions of major depots 

and railway yards. In addition to repairing 

existing rail lines, the SOS constructed 

hundreds of kilometers of railroad track.

From ports and depots the SOS pushed 

troops and supplies forward into the 

Advance Section. Transportation was 

primarily by rail, but where the rail lines 

ended. fleets of trucks and wagons took up 

the load. 

By the end of the war, the AEF had 

expended over 300 million small arms 

rounds and more than 12 million rounds 

of artillery – all supplied by the SOS. 

Moreover, SOS distribution supported 

a massive medical establishment. SOSmanaged hospitals had an overall capacity 

of more than 190,000 beds.

Procurement required American and 

Allied produced items. Shipping was 

constrained, and industrial and agricultural 

bases had different capabilities. Pershing 

recruited Charles Dawes, a prominent 

banker and political leader, to be his 

general purchasing agent. The Americans 

were almost totally dependent upon the 

Allies for such equipment and supplies as 

combat aircraft, tanks, artillery, machine 

guns, and artillery ammunition.

The Tours American Monument 

commemorates the Services of Supply. 

It is an elegant white stone fountain 

featuring a column and two large basins. 

Above the upper basin carved figures 

represent administration, construction, 

procurement and distribution. Between the 

two basins carved coats of arms represent 

the locations of principal SOS installations: 

Bordeaux, Brest, Is-sur-Tille, Le Mans, 

Neufchateau, Nevers, St. Nazaire, and 

Tours. A gilded statue of an American 

Indian holding an eagle surmounts the 

column. 

A guilded statue atop the Tours American 

Monument.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Chaumont Marker

The General Headquarters of the AEF, 

organized by General John J. Pershing on 

July 5, 1917, was a theater headquarters 

responsible for coordinating and 

supporting U.S. forces throughout Europe. 

It did not directly command tactical 

operations, delegating that responsibility 

to its constituent armies. It did control 

the training of U.S. forces, dispersed 

in divisional training areas throughout 

southeast France and schools and other 

facilities throughout Europe. The Services 

of Supply, subordinate to GHQ, was 

responsible for sustaining the AEF. GHQ 

occupied the Damremont Barracks in 

Chaumont beginning September 1, 1917.

By November 30, 1917, close to 130,000 

American military personnel had arrived 

in France. This nearly doubled to 254,000 

by the end of February 1918, more than 

doubled again to 660,000 by May 31, 

and doubled again to over 1.2 million by 

the end of July. More than two million 

American military personnel had arrived 

in France by the time of the Armistice. This 

force was fifteen times as large as the entire 

United States Army had been nineteen 

months earlier. 

Site5

Mechanics repair AEF automobiles in Chaumont.

Getting to the Chaumont Marker: 

To get to the marker from Paris, exit A5 onto N67, turn right onto 

D65, and follow the signs to “Chaumont Nord”. The actual address 

is 1 Avenue du 109eme RI, 52903, Chaumont. 

Pershing aspired to field an independent 

American army in a sector of its own, but 

massive German offensives in the spring 

and early summer of 1918 interrupted his 

plans. U.S. divisions were deployed under 

French operational control to fight in 

such battles as Cantigny, Chateau-Thierry, 

Belleau Wood, and the containment of 

the Champagne-Marne Offensive. Eight 

U.S. Divisions fought under French 

operational control in the Aisne-Marne 

Offensive (July 18- August 6) liberating the 

Chateau-Thierry salient. Even after the U.S. 

First Army stood up on August 10, U.S. 

divisions continued to serve under Allied 

operational command along the Somme, in 

the Oise-Aisne sector, in Champagne, and 

in Belgium. The support and sustainment 

of these widespread forces remained an 

AEF responsibility. 

Pershing was the first commander of the 

U.S. First Army. The AEF added the U.S. 

Second Army under Lieutenant General 

Robert L Bullard in mid-October 1918 

and the U.S. Third Army under Major 

General Joseph T. Dickman on November 7. 

Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett assumed 

command of the U.S. First Army on 

October 16 as Pershing’s and GHQ’s spans 

of control expanded to the coordination and 

sustainment of multiple armies.

The Chaumont Marker is a bronze tablet 

affixed at the entrance to the Damremont 

Barracks. It was originally installed by 

ABMC after World War I. In 1942, during 

the German occupation of France, the 

marker was removed. The current marker 

is a replica of the original. ABMC installed 

it in 1947.

A Jewish New Years holiday service in 

Chaumont. 

Chaumont Marker.

Site 6 
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Souilly Marker

During World War I, the “field army” 

was the level of command at which the 

strategic activities of transportation and 

supply translated into the operational and 

tactical activities of the battlefield. An army 

headquarters included representatives of 

all the branches and services. The U.S. 

First Army stood up on August 10, 1918, 

and established its headquarters at Souilly 

on September 21. From the beginning, 

its logistical responsibilities were at least 

as expansive and consequential as its 

operational and tactical responsibilities. 

St. Mihiel (September 12-16, 1918) was 

the AEF’s first independent offensive. 

The U.S. First Army mustered 650,000 

troops (of whom 550,000 were Americans) 

supported by thousands of artillery pieces 

and hundreds of planes and tanks. This 

effort was soon overshadowed by the even 

more massive Meuse-Argonne Offensive 

(September 26 – November 11, 1918). 

For this, First Army massed an even 

greater arsenal. Behind the lines many 

depots sprung up to support the army’s 

requirements for ammunition, ordnance, 

engineer supplies, fuel, food, and water 

supply. Dozens of evacuation hospitals 

cared for the wounded. 

Site6

First Army headquarters in Souilly. 

Getting to the Souilly Marker: 

Driving from Paris on A4, take the Verdun exit and follow the 

signs to Souilly. The address is Mairie 35, Voie Sacree, Souilly, 

France. 

U.S. First Army logistical 

assets were continuously 

challenged through the six 

long weeks of the MeuseArgonne Offensive. In 

the face of hard fighting 

and heavy casualties, the 

offensive paused from 

time to time to replace 

exhausted units and lost 

equipment, restore lines of 

communication, and stage 

supplies forward. Renewed 

major attacks jumped off 

on October 4, October 14, 

and November 1. Over 1.2 

million American soldiers 

and thirty divisions were drawn into the 

campaign. Hundreds of kilometers of railway 

were constructed on the battlefield to forward 

massive quantities of ammunition per day. 

The Souilly Marker is a bronze tablet affixed 

on the outer wall of the town hall of Souilly. 

Souilly Marker.

A telegraph operator in Souilly.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Central arch of the Lafayette 

Escadrille Memorial Cemetery.

Paris was central to the history of World 

War I. German offensives threatened Paris 

in 1914 and 1918, and German aircraft 

bombed it. Later in the war, the long-range 

“Paris Gun” shelled the city from 130 km 

away. Then, between the Armistice and the 

Treaty of Versailles that ended the war, Paris 

became the center of diplomatic activity for 

the world. Yet, throughout the war, Paris 

captivated Americans for other reasons. 

...between the Armistice 

and the Treaty of 

Versailles that ended 

the war, Paris became 

the center of diplomatic 

activity for the world.

In addition to being the French capital, 

Paris was an international cultural beacon 

for performing arts, design, fashion, 

science, learning, and gastronomy as well 

as a center of politics and international 

relations. It possessed venerability of 

age, energy of youth, and the luster of 

modernity. Mid-19th century urban 

planning and successive international 

expositions in 1889 and 1900 made Paris 

the “City of Light” and yielded enduring 

architectural icons like the Eiffel Tower. 

Beaux-Arts and Art Nouveau styles, which 

were developed in Paris, drew attention 

to its iconic examples. In the golden age 

of print and advertising, Paris was an 

PARIS: 

CITY OF LIGHT

Marines pose with a Paris taxi in front of the 

Madeleine Church.

Temporary barracks for American soldiers on 

leave in Paris. 

On July 4, 1918 young French women wait to cast 

flowers on American soldiers.

Paris Paris American Women in the Great War Their Sacrifices Remembering
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

international star. Paris was a subject of 

pioneering popular work in photography 

and cinema. Even the sewers were 

considered marvels, and the catacombs 

a mysterious attraction. The risqué 

attractions of the “Belle Époque” were 

well known. Depictions of Bohemian life 

and cabaret society in literature, art, and 

imagery found avid audiences, establishing 

another international Parisian stereotype.

In the United States, France was popular 

as a beacon of civilization, a fellow 

democratic republic, and an ally since 

the American Revolution. French 

immigrants were better received than 

most in the United States. Relations 

between Washington, D.C. and Paris were 

cordial. There was an American expatriate 

community in Paris, and a significant 

presence of college students and seasonal 

tourists. An American hospital was 

founded in Paris in 1909.

In the United States, 

France was popular as a 

beacon of civilization, a 

fellow democratic republic, 

and an ancient ally.

For Americans, nothing was more 

positively associated with France than 

Paris. Soldiers, sailors, and officers made 

their way to the French capital for unique 

Parisian sites and experiences. Bars and 

cafés like Harry’s New York Bar and Café 

de la Paix near the Paris Opéra were 

popular with Americans. They still exist. 

The welcome that Parisians extended 

to Americans was often rapturous. The 

American Expeditionary Forces, state 

governments, religious groups, and 

Americans sought out famous Paris attractions. 

In October 1918 American volunteers, along with 

active duty service members, gather for a special 

tour of the sewers of Paris. An American officer in the Paris Catacombs.

Start Tour 

organizations like the American Red 

Cross and YMCA provided an array 

of services for wartime Americans in 

Paris. The American Express company 

went from offering tourist amenities to 

providing financial services for soldiers. 

Thousands of American military and 

civilian personnel worked in Paris. To 

some, it seemed like the city was awash 

with Americans. 

With the Armistice and negotiations to 

end the war, President Woodrow Wilson 

resided outside Paris for six months. He 

participated in the Allied conferences, 

including the Treaty of Versailles, and 

ceremonies to honor and memorialize 

the service of Americans in the war. 

He participated in the dedication and 

decoration of Suresnes American 

Cemetery, located west of Paris beyond the 

Bois de Boulogne. The Treaty of Versailles 

brought the palace to greater American 

notice, though it was already a popular 

destination for American servicemen 

during the war.

American soldiers examine a 

Paris metro map in the city. 

Paris Sustaining the AEF Paris AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

AUTEUIL

GRENVELLE

MUETTE

CHAILLOT

TERNES

VILLA

MONTMORENCY

PORTE DAUPHINE

QUARTIER

BELLINI

Puteaux

Suresnes

Neuilly-sur-Seine

Fondation Louis Vuitton

Arc de Triomphe

Palais de Chaillot

Le Palais des Congrès de Paris

Pont de Bir-Hakeim

Tour Eiffel

Palais de Tokyo

Parc du Bois

Bois de 

Boulogne

Golf du Bois 

de Boulogne

Seine Parc de 

Bagatelle

N185

N185 D985

D104

D1

D1

D5

D5

D3

D7

D7

N13

1

2

3

Hippodrome 

Saint-Cloud

La Celle-Saint-Cloud

Suresnes

Saint-Cloud

BoulogneBillancourt

Vaucresson

Le Chesnay

Versailles

Buc

Jouy-en-Josas

Meudon

Chaville

Sèvres

Viroflay

Vélizy-Villacoublay

Garches

Puteaux

Rueil-Malmaison

D180

N118

D910

D406

D533

D186

D307

D185

D183

D113

D985

D446

D938

D985

D1

D3

D39

D57

A86

N12

D10

N10

A86

A86

D53

A13

Vélizy – Villacoublay 

Air Base

4

5

3
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Thomas Jefferson Square, 

the Place des États-Unis

Thomas Jefferson Square is located on 

the Place des États-Unis, so named at the 

request of an American ambassador in the 

19th century. The site contains several places 

of interest to Americans. The American 

Embassy was once located at No. 16, and 

for a time during the Versailles Peace 

Conference, Wilson lived at No. 11. Edith 

Wharton, a prominent American author, 

once lived in No. 3. The park itself features 

a statue of George Washington and Marquis 

de Lafayette, created by Frédéric Bartholdi, 

who sculpted the Statue of Liberty.

...the memorial to 

American volunteers, 

which honors those who 

volunteered to serve for 

France during World War I.

Also in the park is a memorial to American 

volunteers, which honors those who 

volunteered to serve for France during 

World War I. The bronze statue is based 

on the American poet and volunteer, Alan 

Seeger, whose poem “Ode in Memory of 

the American Volunteers Fallen for France” 

is inscribed on the base, along with his 

name and those of 23 other Americans 

who died serving in the French Foreign 

Legion. Seeger, who also composed the 

more famous “I Have a Rendezvous with 

Death,” would perish while serving in the 

Foreign Legion, on July 4, 1916.

At the east end of the park is the Place de 

l’Amiral de Grasse, which contains a small 

tribute to the Comte de Grasse, victor of the 

Battle of the Virginia Capes, and commander 

of the French fleet at the Battle of Yorktown 

during the American Revolution.

Getting to Stop 1: 

The site is in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris, less than 1 km 

south of the Arc de Triomphe, just off the Avenue d’Iéna. The 

closest metro stop is Kléber on the Avenue Kléber, about half Stop 1 way between the Arc de Triomphe and Place des États-Unis.

An Army nurse stands with American servicemen 

in the Place des États-Unis.

Stop 2 

Memorial to American Volunteers.

Right: The statue of Washington and Lafayette in the 

Place des États-Unis. Below: Alan Seeger poem on 

American Volunteer monument.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe, dedicated in 1832, is 

a monument to the combatants of France’s 

Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. 

Beneath the Arc is the grave of France’s 

unknown soldier of World War I. It is one 

of the most iconic monuments of Paris, and, 

for France, the focus of national martial 

commemoration. The Allied victory parade 

passed here at the end of the war. Many 

Americans visited the site in 1918. Later, 

during World War II American forces 

paraded by the site after the liberation of 

Paris in 1944. Modern Bastille Day parades 

mass here to march down the ChampsÉlysées to the Place de la Concorde.

Beneath the Arc is the 

grave of France’s unknown 

soldier of World War I.

Getting to Stop 2: 

On the south side of the Place des États-Unis, go to the 

Avenue d’Iéna and turn left (north) to the Place de Charles de 

Gaulle (also called the Etoile) to the intersection around the Stop 2 Arc de Triomphe. If you are driving, park nearby.

On July 14, 1919 members of the American Expeditionary Forces march through the Arc de Triomphe.

Americans stop at the Arc de Triomphe on the Stop 3 Etoile, today’s Place de Charles de Gaulle.

Gen. John J. Pershing leads American forces in the victory parade passing through the Arc de Triomphe 

on July 14, 1919.

Arc de Triomphe, 2018.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Suresnes American 

Cemetery

This cemetery was dedicated in 1937 

but began use as an American military 

cemetery during World War I. The 

cemetery is unique for the ABMC, in 

that it was established for the American 

Expeditionary Forces in 1917 to receive 

American dead from Parisian hospitals. 

The plots hold the graves of more than 

1,500 World War I fallen, as well as more 

than 20 unknown soldiers from World 

War II. The walls of the chapel bear the 

names of nearly 1,000 other Americans 

Getting to Stop 3: 

From the Place de Charles de Gaulle, drive west on Avenue Foch 

until it terminates in the Place de Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny 

and turn right. Take the third exit toward Neuilly y Seine. Turn left 

at the first traffic light on Allée de Longchamp (N185). The road 

will curve to the right and cross the Seine River. Continue straight 

on the Boulevard Henri Sellier for about 370 meters from the river, 

and turn right onto Avenue du General Charles de Gaulle that 

curves left becoming Avenue Roosevelt (D3). Stay on this road up 

the hill to Boulevard Washington. Go clockwise around the island 

in the intersection to go left (south) on Avenue Washington (D5). 

Look for a car park on the right in about 180 meters. The cemetery Stop 3 is located on the southwest side of Avenue Washington.

Suresnes American Cemetery entrance.

whose final resting places are unknown. 

A rosette next to a name indicates their 

remains were later identified. There is a 

reception building at the south end of the 

cemetery. Loggias extend from the chapel 

and terminate in memorial rooms. The 

loggias list the other ABMC cemeteries of 

the world wars, and the memorial rooms 

contain memorial statues and inscriptions.

The cemetery is unique for 

the ABMC, in that it was 

established for the American 

Expeditionary Forces in 1917 

to receive American dead 

from Parisian hospitals.

A panoramic view of the city stretches out 

from the platform in front of the chapel, 

and also from the carpark.

Stop 4 

President Woodrow Wilson and the First Lady, 

Mrs. Wilson observe Memorial Day 1919 at 

Suresnes American Cemetery.

Detail of the chapel at Suresnes 

American Cemetery.

Memorial urn with graves.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Lafayette Escadrille 

Memorial Cemetery 

This is the memorial and resting place for 

members of the Lafayette Escadrille, made 

up of pilots who were largely American 

volunteers. The Escadrille was a fighter 

squadron of the French Air Service. Many 

Americans volunteered for French service 

in the Foreign Legion or the volunteer 

ambulance services. These men typically 

shared an affinity for France, desire for 

adventure, technical ability and higher 

education, traits which recommended 

them for air service. A unit of American 

flyers, the Escadrille Américaine was 

approved by the Service Aéronautique and 

began operations in April 1916, but the 

name contradicted American neutrality. 

Rechristened the Lafayette Escadrille, 

it established a reputation for skill and 

Getting to Stop 4: 

Turn right onto Boulevard Washington (D5) which becomes 

Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny. In about 0.75 km, 

turn left at the intersection onto Rue de la Procession (D5). 

Follow this street to the first traffic circle and turn right onto 

Rue Louis Loucheur (D39), towards Boulogne /Billancourt/

Saint-Cloud. Follow D39 to the intersection with Boulevard 

de la République (D985). Turn right and stay in the right 

lane. Turn right at the second traffic light onto Rue du Camp 

Canadien (D180A) towards Garches. D180A becomes Rue de 

la Porte Jaune (D180A). Go to the second stop light and bear 

left onto Rue de la Porte Jaune, toward Centre Culturel. 

At Rue Pasteur/Boulevard General de Gaulle (D907), 

turn right toward Garches/Versailles. Watch for signs for 

Memorial de l’Escadrille Lafayette. You will pass a traffic 

light and pass a gatehouse on your left. The next gate on the 

left is the marked entry to the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial 

Cemetery, a white stone gateway with medallions of a Native 

American warrior. Turn left through the gate and follow the Stop 4 road to a parking area before the bridge.

Detail of arch inscription.

Mosaic of squadron emblem.

daring that was celebrated in France and 

the United States. These pilots and their 

comrades who flew for other French 

squadrons became known collectively as 

the Lafayette Flying Corps.

Rechristened the Lafayette 

Escadrille, it established 

a reputation for skill and 

daring that was celebrated in 

France and the United States.

The monument consists of a central 

triumphal arch flanked by open wings 

terminating in pavilions. There is a 

reflecting pool, and a terrace that forms 

the roof of a crypt, housing the resting 

place of 49 American aviators and two 

of their French commanders. Nineteen 

others whose remains are buried 

elsewhere or were never recovered are also 

commemorated here.

Stop 5 

Facade of the Lafayette Escadrille 

Memorial Cemetery.

Eagle stained glass in crypt.

Place for prayer in the crypt.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles was much more 

than a home for French kings. The vast 

estate was a seasonal residence for many 

French nobles and court officials. It is the 

site where the Treaty of Paris was signed in 

1783, ending the American Revolution. 

It is the site where the 

Treaty of Paris was signed 

in 1783, ending the 

American Revolution.

Getting to Stop 5: 

Return to the D907 and turn left (west). In about 1 km, turn left 

toward Versailles on Boulevard Jardy (D182). The road becomes 

Avenue Saint-Cloud (D185). Continue on Avenue Saint-Cloud 

through the tree-lined boulevard until you come to an intersection 

that broadens out to the left in a great plaza often filled with buses. 

Turn left onto Avenue Rockefeller. Continue around the lot on the 

right until you see the entrance to parking. Stop 5 Note: There is also rail service to the Palace of Versailles that connects with the Paris metro.

The peace conference convened at Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors.

- End of tour -

Leaving the parking lot, turn right and continue up the Rue Pierre de Nolhac, following 

to the left. At the intersection, turn left on the Rue de l’Orangerie (D10). Drive east until 

the “T” intersection and turn left. Go north until you come to the broad intersection 

with Avenue de Paris. Turn right and stay right. In 140 meters, bear right onto Rue des 

Chantiers. Bear right under the highway and then left onto the on ramp toward Paris.

The Paris Peace Conference opened here 

in 1919, and its product, the Treaty of 

Versailles, brought an end to the war and 

founded the first modern international body 

– the League of Nations. The treaty was 

signed here in the Hall of Mirrors, crowded 

with delegations from the Allied and 

Central Powers. This was the same room 

where the German Empire was proclaimed 

in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War.

The palace is also associated with the 

offices of the Allies’ Supreme War Council 

and its leader, Marshal Ferdinand Foch. 

This inter-Allied body was formed in late 

1917 to guide strategy. It evolved from an 

advising body into an inter-Allied general 

staff with great influence on the conduct 

of the war and the conclusion of the 

Armistice on November 11, 1918.

“Big Four” world leaders at the Paris Peace 

Conference. From left to right: British Prime 

Minister David Lloyd George, Italian Premier 

Vittorio Orlando, French Premier Georges 

Clemenceau, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Soldiers from New England 

visit the Palace of Versailles.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Maj. Julia C. Stimson, seated, superintendent 

of the Army Nurse Corps in France and 

recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, 

is pictured with other members of the corps.

There were few American women in 

military service prior to World War I. 

The expansion of their presence and the 

significance of their service emerged for 

several reasons, not least their dedication 

and ability. The traditional role of women 

at home was altered by the absence and 

loss of their male counterparts to war 

work or military service. Women entered 

industrial and agricultural work in greater 

numbers than ever before.

Women entered 

industrial and agricultural 

work in greater numbers 

than ever before.

American military commitment rapidly 

developed to an unprecedented scale. 

Large modern armies created high 

demand for support services traditionally 

performed by men. Beyond treating 

the wounded, public health and social 

services became recognized as essential 

to promote morale or prevent epidemics. 

While training enormous numbers of 

soldiers was a problem, training sufficient 

nurses, technicians, and social workers 

would be harder. At the same time social 

movements in the United States provided a 

new national asset. Reformist movements 

that advocated suffrage and expanded roles 

for women promoted humanitarianism as 

well. Many American women who looked 

AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE GREAT WAR:

THEY ALSO SERVED

A poster advertises YWCA support for women 

war workers in France.

A member of the American Red Cross serves 

water to a badly wounded British soldier on a 

railway platform on Montmirail, France.

American Women 

in the Great War

American Women 

in the Great War Their Sacrifices

Remembering
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

to expand rights and education also took 

interest in social work and medical careers. 

The new national asset was a growing 

body of women with experience, training 

and ambition to serve wherever they were 

most needed. A nation in the crisis of 

war could not ignore them. Some 25,000 

American women served overseas, many 

in previously unavailable vocations. Their 

success was a very significant contribution 

and they inspired others by their example.

Other historic conditions encouraged 

women to pursue overseas roles during 

World War I. They were the same ideas 

that made men accept or volunteer for 

military service. Opportunities for foreign 

travel had placed more American women 

in European countries before the war 

as students, performers, tourists and 

expatriates. Some turned to service directly 

from their lives overseas. The example set 

by high profile women in media, such as 

teachers and professors, drew others to 

share their values and follow their example. 

In World War I the changing role of 

women, and popular culture inspired them 

to seek rewards and challenges that had 

drawn men into service for generations. 

Some 25,000 American 

women served overseas, 

many in previously 

unavailable vocations.

Many American families shared sentimental 

attachment to their nations of origin. Affection 

for their traditions, ancestors, and relatives 

drew men and women into service. This was 

Left: Jane Jeffrey was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during an air raid on the 

hospital at Joy-sur-Morin in July 1918. Top right: Staff stand outside the American Women’s Hospital No. 

1 at Chateau de Luzancy, France. Bottom right: A nurse at an American Red Cross rest station provides 

comfort to soldiers in September 1918. 

true of recent immigrants and long-established 

American families. 

The first American women to find 

service in World War I were those whose 

professions and residence made their 

participation immediate in 1914, before 

the American declaration of war. The 

American Hospital of Paris opened in 

1909. The women of its clinical staff and 

nursing school were involved immediately. 

The hospital became a base for ambulance 

service that transported thousands of 

wounded soldiers. Many American 

expatriates and students in France became 

interested in service, though opportunities 

were somewhat more restricted for women. 

The writers Edith Wharton and Mildred 

Aldrich engaged the public through 

their literature and humanitarian acts. 

Julia Taufenlaub, Mary Borden, and 

Anne Morgan were very well connected 

expatriate humanitarians who donated 

their property and wealth to medical and 

relief service. Anne Morgan founded the 

American Committee for Devastated 

France, an organization with 350 women 

staff. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas 

became drivers for French hospitals 

moving supplies and personnel. These 

prominent American women stood 

out in the war and set an example by 

creating opportunities for others to follow. 

Hundreds of others served with them, 

remaining in the war zone or traveling 

there to work. The popular Allied cause 

drew many American women to Europe 

under sponsorship or using their own 

money. Nurses were prominent and 

some even served in German or Austrian 

hospitals, though many more served with 

the Allies. Relief and health work for 

refugees, care for orphans, and supporting 

industrial workers were also common 

tasks. Some became casualties working 

among the troops or in accidents. 

With war looming, many in the United 

States became engaged in preparedness 

for the likely possibility of war. Within the 

American medical community, returning 

volunteers from Europe worked to 

establish reserve hospital organizations that 

would serve with the Army. Their clinical 

experience and knowledge of military 

medical organizations was invaluable to 

training and organizing reserve hospitals 

and warehousing medical supplies for 

future use. American women nurses from 

civilian hospitals provided administrative 

and clinical service for these hospitals.

Immediately after the United States 

entered the war in April 1917 the British 

medical liaison officer in Washington, 

D.C., issued an urgent request for 16 base 

hospital organizations and additional staff 

for Europe. The first U.S. Army unit to 

deploy to Europe arrived on May 28, 1917, 

as Base Hospital No. 4. It was one of six 

immediately mobilized. When Gen. John J. 

Pershing stepped ashore in France on June 

28, all six mobilized base hospitals had 

arrived and No. 4 was treating wounded 

at Rouen, France. Hundreds of American 

nurses were treating British wounded and 

their duties included rotation to clearing 

stations near the front where some were 

wounded. Army Nurse Corps numbers 

in Europe eventually totaled 10,660, 

and the Army Medical Corps employed 

300 women as reconstruction aides for 

occupational and physical therapy with 

recovering wounded. American Red Cross 

nurses worked in the same organizations as 

Army nurses.

American Women 

in the Great War Sustaining the AEF Paris American Women in the Great War AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Maj. Julia C. Stimson became chief nurse 

of the American Expeditionary Forces 

during the war. She was decorated with 

the Distinguished Service Medal for 

her service. However, the situation of 

American women in Army or Navy 

service was strained by the fact that they 

generally did not receive rank. Even 

women physicians serving the U.S. Army 

did not receive rank. The situation amazed 

Allied military medical organizations. In 

response, some American women medical 

professionals prolonged their service with 

Allied countries, while others raised funds 

to organize and run their own medical 

institutions. Doctor Rosalie Slaughter 

Morton had volunteered for service in 

the Balkans, and founded the American 

Women’s Hospital Service that raised 

funds supporting a hospital in France and 

medical professionals in Serbia, Palestine 

and Greece during and after the war. 

The first American women to receive 

rank in the military were in the Navy and 

Marine Corps in World War I, though 

not in medical service. In 1917, the 

Navy designted women, often in clerical 

positions, as Yeoman (F), for female. The 

Marines designated women as privates 

in the Marine Corps Reserve. Most of 

these women served in the United States. 

Their status allowed them to receive the 

same benefits as men in service. Veterans’ 

benefits were not available to Army 

and Navy nurses, or the many civilian 

contractors supporting the military. 

Among civilian contractors who did extremely 

important service for the Army in France and 

England were Signal Corps female telephone 

operators, known as the “Hello Girls.” Four 

hundred and fifty carefully selected women, 

fluent in French and English, were hired and 

trained to operate headquarters’ switchboards. 

As contractors they did not receive the 

same benefits as their Navy and Marine 

counterparts. 

The Marines designated 

women as privates ... Their 

status allowed them to 

receive the same benefits 

as men in service. 

Many American women volunteered 

for service with organizations that were 

neither medical nor military. The most 

noted of these were the Young Men’s 

Christian Association (YMCA), the 

Jewish Welfare Board, the Young Women’s 

Christian Association (YWCA), and the 

Salvation Army. The YMCA was best 

known for providing wholesome diversion 

and entertainment for troops in Europe. 

They provided services like mending 

garments, assisting with correspondence, 

library work, sports events, and traveling 

entertainment. The YWCA was focused 

on women’s welfare, assisting women 

in French war industry, war brides, and 

rest and recreation for American women 

serving in Europe. Before the Russian 

Revolution they had even established 

facilities in Petrograd and Moscow. 

The most popular organization for the 

American Expeditionary Forces in France 

was the Salvation Army. They provided 

many of the same services as the YMCA 

and assisted in helping soldiers transfer 

funds to their families in the United States. 

Their popularity stemmed from their 

unstinting service to troops just behind the 

front. Often under threat of poison gas and 

artillery fire, women of the YWCA baked 

pies, fried doughnuts, and provided other 

sustenance to the fighting men. There are 

many images of them in helmets with gas 

masks preparing food. They sometimes 

fed thousands a day from the most 

hardscrabble improvised kitchens. All three 

organizations supported religious services 

for Christians and other denominations. 

American women continued to serve in 

Europe after the Armistice in November 

1918 and after the Versailles Peace Treaty. 

As soldiers departed for home so did those 

providing services of all kinds. Women 

stayed on to serve with occupation troops 

in Germany, and some American women 

stayed on in Europe as new expatriates. 

Many continued to work for social service 

organizations assisting orphans and 

widows and widowers of the war and 

fighting the influenza epidemic. 

American women more than met the 

challenges posed to them by the war. Some 

credit their example in part for the final success 

of women’s suffrage in the United States. The 

American Battle Monuments Commission is 

committed to commemorating their service a 

century after the war. At least seventy American 

women who served in World War I as civilians, 

Army Nurse Corps, American Red Cross, 

YMCA, Army Signal Corps, and Army Medical 

Corps members are honored at the Brookwood, 

Meuse-Argonne, Oise-Aisne, Somme, St. 

Mihiel and Suresnes American Cemeteries.

Left: A sheet music cover extols the service of Salvation Army women at the front providing doughnuts 

for soldiers. Top Right: YMCA volunteers prepare doughnuts for American soldiers. Bottom right: Women 

with the Salvation Army make pies for soldiers.
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

AMERICAN WOMEN INTERRED 

AT ABMC WWI CEMETERIES

Brookwood American 

Cemetery

Florence L. Athay, Army Nurse Corps

Tula Harkey, Chemist

Teresa M. Murphy, Army Nurse Corps

Alice V. Murphy, Army Nurse Corps

Hattie M. Raithel, Army Nurse Corps

Meuse-Argonne American 

Cemetery

Caroline H. Christman, Army Nurse Corps

Charlotte A. Cox, Army Nurse Corps

Marion G. Crandall, YMCA

Dorothy B. Millman, Army Nurse Corps

Annie D. Reveley, Army Nurse Corps

Elizabeth S. Tyler, American Red Cross

Somme American Cemetery 

Helen Fairchild, Army Nurse Corps

Elma Groves, Army Nurse Corps

Margaret Hamilton, Army Medical Corps

Lucile Pepoon, American Red Cross

Constance Sinclair, Army Medical Corps

St. Mihiel American Cemetery

Esther Amundson, Army Nurse Corps

Nora E. Anderson, Army Nurse Corps

Margaret S. Bailey, Army Nurse Corps

Anne Maria C. Breen, Army Nurse Corps

Sophia Haarman, American Red Cross

Sabra R. Hardy, Army Nurse Corps

Elizabeth L. MacDonald, Army Nurse Corps

Ella Maescher, Army Nurse Corps

Crystal E. McCord, Army Nurse Corps

Marion L. Overend, Army Nurse Corps

Charlotte Schonheit, Army Nurse Corps

Nellie J. Ward, Army Nurse Corps

Gladys Watkins, Army Nurse Corps

Edith M. White, YMCA

Margaret W. Worth, Army Nurse Corps

Suresnes American Cemetery 

Elizabeth A. Brubaker, YMCA

Maude Mae Butler, American Red Cross

Inez Ann Murphy Crittenden, Army Signal Corps

Dorothy K. Cromwell, American Red Cross

Gladys Cromwell, American Red Cross

Ella Dalton, Army Nurse Corps

Katherine Dent, Army Nurse Corps

Nellie M. Dingley, Army Nurse Corps

Lily Durant, American Red Cross

Eva Emmons, Civilian

Lucy N. Fletcher, Army Nurse Corps

Dorothea Gay, YMCA

Florence B. Graham, Army Nurse Corps

Alice Hagadorn, Army Nurse Corps

Florence Kimball, Army Nurse Corps

Winona C. Martin, YMCA

Marian H. Peck, Dietician

Nelle Robertson, YMCA

Alice C. Rogers, YMCA

Ethel Fannie Scatchard, American Red Cross

Esther Slocum, YMCA

Ruth E. Smith, American Red Cross

Marian H. White, American Red Cross

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery

Hazel E. Babcock, Army Nurse Corps

May Berry, Army Nurse Corps

Alice S. Drisko, American Red Cross

Pauline Field, American Red Cross

Joan Lorraine Forbes, Civilian

Louisa Francks, Civilian

Katheryne E. Greene, Army Nurse Corps

Felicita W. Hecht, Army Nurse Corps

Alice A. Ireland, Army Nurse Corps

Estelle Jegon, Army Signal Corps

Alice J. Knight, YMCA

Mary A. Moore, American Red Cross

Gertrude O’Connor, Army Nurse Corps

Lorraine Ransom, YMCA

Gertrude C. Valentine, YMCA

Ida H. Vietmeier, Army Nurse Corps
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The American Expeditionary Forces 

(AEF) served a pivotal role in World 

War I, and helped tip the scales towards 

the Allied victory. In the years after the 

Armistice many states, cities and towns 

erected “doughboy” statues or other 

memorials to honor servicemen drawn 

from the local community. The Liberty 

Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, 

erected in 1926 to honor all the nation’s 

WWI veterans, was designated by 

Congress in 2014 as the National World 

War I Museum and Memorial. 

In Washington, D.C., the American 

Battle Monuments Commission built 

the AEF Memorial in Pershing Park to 

commemorate the two million American 

Gen. John J. Pershing.

Gen. Pershing at a review parade after the war, with Col. George C. Marshall behind.

REMEMBERING 

THEIR SACRIFICES

military personnel of the AEF and 

their Commander-in-Chief, General 

of the Armies John J. Pershing. 

Located on Pennsylvania Avenue 

one block from the White House, 

the memorial consists of a reflecting 

pool, an 8-foot statue of Gen. 

Pershing, and battle maps and text 

detailing the accomplishments of the 

AEF. The AEF Memorial, dedicated 

in 1981, is now administered by the 

National Park Service. 

In 2014, Congress designated 

Pershing Park as the National World 

War I Memorial in the nation’s 

capital. As of 2018 it is slated to be 

redeveloped into a more substantial 

tribute to the AEF.

The 8-foot statue of Gen. Pershing in the park that bears his name.

Detail of the Pershing statue.

AEF MEMORIAL IN 

PERSHING PARK

 Their Sacrifices Their Sacrifices

Remembering Remembering
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

AFTERWORD

A century ago the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were arriving in France in 

increasing numbers. Aided by the experience of the French and British armies they 

took their places on the Western Front. They added an energetic dedication to duty 

that distinguished them to friend and foe alike. Their arrival was welcomed by the 

Allies and their actions helped make 1918 the year of victory.

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) was established as an 

enduring expression of America’s desire to recognize the service of the AEF, the 

veterans who returned, and their comrades in arms interred overseas and at home, 

as well as those missing. General of the Armies John J. Pershing became the first 

Chairman of the ABMC. Under his leadership American cemeteries and monuments 

were created in Europe. Great care was shown in the design of these sites. The 

architects created in stone and earth fitting memorials to service and sacrifice that are 

national treasures for all Americans. The World War I monuments of the ABMC also 

inspire European families who frequent the sites, some of whom have worked for and 

supported the ABMC for generations.

The monuments and cemeteries of the ABMC are as essential to the national story as 

those in the United States. Visiting the final resting places of these American men and 

women, we are inspired by their service and indebted to their sacrifice. Standing on 

the battlefields of American armies we sense the drama of the history they made, and 

appreciate their endurance and achievement.

David J. Urban

Chairman

Jennifer S. Carroll, Commissioner

Benjamin L. Cassidy, Commissioner

Dorothy Gray, Commissioner

Thomas O. Hicks, Commissioner

John P. McGoff, Commissioner

Luis R. Quinonez, Commissioner

Evans C. Spiceland, Commissioner

Robert O. Wefald, Commissioner

William M. Matz 

Secretary

Robert J. Dalessandro

Deputy Secretary 

John A. Wessels

Chief of Operations

LIST OF SOURCES

 Alec C. Bennett

 Alexander Barnes

 American War Memorials Overseas, Inc.

 City of Oudenaarde Archives

 Douglas MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives

 First Division Museum

 George C. Marshall Research Library

 George S. Patton Museum

 Gerald Torrence

 Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

 International Military Antiques 

 Library of Congress

 Michael E. Hanlon

 Monique Seefried

 National Archives and Records Administration

 Robert J. and Rebecca S. Dalessandro

 The Army Navy Club on Farragut Square Library Trust, Washington, D.C.

 The Smithsonian Institution

 Tom Cavaness

 United States Air Force Historical Research Agency

 United States Army Heritage and Education Center

 United States Marine Corps History Division

 United States Military Academy Museum

 United States National Library of Medicine

 Warrick Page

Introduction Remembering Their Sacrifices Sustaining the AEF Paris American Women in the Great War Remembering Their Sacrifices AEF Farther Afield
BATTLEFIELD COMPANION

www.abmc.gov

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION
AMERICAN BATTLE

MONUMENTS COMMISSION

“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.”

GENERAL OF THE ARMIES JOHN J. PERSHING

2300 Clarendon Boulevard Suite 500

Arlington, VA 22201

(703) 696-6900

WWW.ABMC.GOV

July 2018

Cover photo: Montsec American Monument

aerial-photos.com / Alamy Stock Photo