 Following the breakout, Middleton found himself in a doctrinally uncomfortable situation, as the allies were now in a position to pursue the Germans. The cautious and methodical Middleton was in command of two infantry divisions and two armored divisions within his corps, and the impatient and audacious Patton could not understand why Middleton was not moving his armor quickly in pursuit. In early August Patton wrote in his diary, "I cannot make out why Middleton was so apathetic or dumb. I don 't know what was the matter with him." Despite his wealth of battlefield experience and years of military schooling, Middleton had only limited experience in conducting pursuit operations, and was a bit overwhelmed by them. Ultimately he allowed his armored divisions some autonomy in their operations, while using his infantry to clean up pockets of resistance en route to Brest. His estimates of enemy strength turned out to be much more accurate than those provided to him by Patton, and Patton ultimately acknowledged Middleton's value as a corps commander by presenting him with a Distinguished Service Medal within seven weeks of calling him "dumb" in his diary.
