By Editor/Publisher Mike Hanlon
Background
By summer 1918, the Allies had repelled the last of the German offensives on the Western Front and had gone on the counterattack. General Pershing had also achieved his goal of building up a substantial American army of more than 500,000 under his direct command and at the ready to conduct a major offensive against the Germans. On 12 September 12, a quarter of a million American soldiers and Marines, with the assistance of a French corps, attacked the Germans where the front lines bulged into Allied held territory around the French town of St. Mihiel. The five-day battle succeeded in pushing the enemy out of the St. Mihiel pocket.
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| Note 2nd Division's Opening Position and Advance |
Lasting a brief 5 days, St. Mihiel does not get a lot of space in most World War I histories. However, it is notable for a number of reasons:
• Turning around the strategic threat of the St. Mihiel Salient to the Allied transportation network in eastern France to a threat to the German homeland through the Lorraine.
• First U.S. operation and victory by an independent American army in the Great War.
• First U.S. tank attack (personally led by Lt. Col. George S. Patton).
• First exposure to large-scale offensive operations for numerous future World War II commanders, including: future Army Generals George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, Mark Clark, Joseph Stillwell, and Marine Generals Holland Smith and Thomas Holcomb.
• St. Mihiel would be an area of detailed study assigned to Dwight D. Eisenhower when he served on the American Battle Monuments Commission. His World War II forces attacked right through the ground of the old salient.
• 12 September 1918 was History's first "D-Day."
The 4th Marine Brigade, Second Division
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| Marine Commanders Col. Logan Feyland, 5th Rgt, BG Wendell Neville, Bgd, Col. Harry Lee 6th Rgt |
Of the five major operations of the Marine Brigade in the Great War, St. Mihiel is by far the least remembered. You can find quotes to the effect that the St. Mihiel Offense overall was a "walk-over." I don't think this was the case, however, for the Marines. As throughout the war, they were a major component of the AEF's Second Division.
The attack began on 12 September (D-Day) at 0100 hrs. with a massive aerial and artillery bombardments of German positions. The main ground attack on the southern face began at 0500 hrs (H-Hour) (jump off position the Second Division) with a secondary assault on the face western (that proved quite successful) starting at 0800 hrs. When the Second Division's 3rd Brigade made the opening divisional attack, they had encountered units that were either of a "sacrificial" category or already preparing to withdraw. With the additional benefit of tactical surprise, initial casualties for most attacking units were light. The Second Division's Third Brigade advanced the 4.3 miles to major objective Thiaucourt and succeeded in capturing the town by noon.
By the evening of the 13th, however when the 5th and 6th Marines had passed through the Doughboys to take the lead in the advance, enemy tactics had changed. The Marines would face the same rearguard tactics that had halted them at Soissons—concentrated machine gun and better-organized artillery fire. They would also be forced to deal with German counterattacks mounted from stronger outposts where the enemy had pre-prepared entrenchments. This style of fighting took a serious toll on the Leathernecks. Over about 4 days they suffered 146 dead and 758 wounded. Far fewer than the blood baths at Belleau Wood and Soissons, but not at all insignificant.
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| Moving To the Front |
The Marines' Operations
The Marine Corps History Division created an excellent monograph titled Reducing the Saint-Mihiel Salient by Col. Walter Ford during the war's centennial, which I've drawn on here to explain the operational level of the battle. [A download link for the full work is provided below.] His cartographer created highly detailed maps that I'm going to take advantage of. The first image is a sectional graphic of the Marine area of deployment, the second, is the key to help you read the map, which is somewhat dense. [I would suggest reading the key in sequence while checking the map.] Note that 6th Marine Regiment is deployed on the left and the 5th Marines on the right and the division's area of operation is bounded by heavy black lines with the Eighty-Ninth Division on the left and the Fifth Division on the right.
Some Notable Aspects of the Fighting
A. That Troublesome Left Flank, Map #3
As the Marines moved north their left flank started to open since the Eighty-Ninth Division had not kept pace on that side. At the opening phase, a combat group of the 6th Marines 1st Battalion, commanded by Major Frederick A. Barker, reinforced with 73rd Machine Gun Company, the regimental machine gun company, was attached to 23rd Infantry, 3rd Brigade, to ensure cross-boundary liaison with IV Corps’ Eighty-Ninth Division.
When the Marines took the lead for the division, the commander of the 2nd battalion, Major Ernest Williams was directed to assign one of his companies as a covering force on the left flank of the regiment. Still positioned on the left side he machine gunners of the 73rd Company would distinguish themselves throughout the action. Their recently returned fiery and highly-decorated First Sergeant Dan Daly surely had something to do with this, but any specifics are not apparent in the accounts of the fighting. Two members of the company would receive the Navy Cross for the Marines' most heated fight of the offensive (described below)—Corporals Casey Loomis and Lyle Houchins (Posthumously).
The Navy medical personnel in this sector performed notable service as well. Corpsmen of the 6th Regiment set up an aid station in the abandoned town of Xammes hours before it was captured by soldiers of the Eighty-Ninth Division.
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| Jaulny, Probably Prewar |
B. Jaulny Village, no map #
Successes on 12 September had pushed the division line near Xammes on the left, across to include Jaulny. It not originally included in the American First Army objective line, was added due to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire originating from the city. Heavy bombardment by German artillery devastated the town after its capture. Jaulny was captured by elements of the 5th Marines, who then extended the advance well beyond the town.
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| A Wounded Marine and His Mates in What Appears to Be Bois de la Montagne |
C. Bois de la Montagne, Map #5
The culminating and most confusing fighting of the Marines took place in this wood on 15 September. Rather than give a detailed account, here's old Marine's description of what went on that—I think—captures the feel of what transpired that day.
We were in the vicinity of Thiaucourt for three days, where we were subjected to heavy shell fire. In the early morning of September 15 we moved into the Bois-de-la-Montagne to establish a front line, as it was not well defined in these woods. At daybreak we unexpectedly ran into the enemy, who had taken up an advanced position during the night. We immediately attacked, without artillery support, driving the enemy from the woods and forming a new front line . . .
The Seventy-eighth Company had become greatly scattered during the morning attack, and had suffered a number of casualties, so it was a very thin line that repulsed the enemy and held the woods when the Germans came over on us that afternoon in wave formation, preceded by a rolling barrage.
PFC George H. Donaldson, 78th Company, 6th Marines
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| 2nd Division Marker at the Point of the 4th Brigade's Farthest Advance |
Relief
The relief of the 5th and 6th Marines by the Seventy-Eighth Division was begun during the night of 15-16 September. Command of the sector passed at 1000 hrs. The Second Division was moved to the vicinity of Toul about 15 miles to the south. In a few weeks in the Champagne the United States Marines would be facing one the greatest challenges in their history, Blanc Mont Ridge.
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