Final Allied Offensive of World War I Decided Fate of Europe

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By David Vergun,Army News Service

WASHINGTON — By mid-September 1918, the French and U.S. armies under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing had achieved victory in a critical campaign, driving back the Germans from the Saint-Mihiel salient.

With that area secured, about 600,000 Americans, along with some 220,000 French and Italian troops, moved 40 miles to the northwest along the bank of the Meuse River in the Meuse-Argonne region of France.

This movement of forces took about two weeks and was confined to the hours of darkness to maintain secrecy, said Brian F. Neumann, a historian who authored the Center of Military History pamphlet: “The U.S. Army in the World War I Era.”

The transfer of forces took place without a serious setback, he said. This was largely attributable to the careful supervision of a young staff officer from Pershing’s First Army, Col. George C. Marshall. Marshall would later become the Army’s chief of staff during World War II.

That large-scale operation, known as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, lasted right up to the armistice, Nov. 11, 1918. A total of 220 allied divisions participated in the offensive, 42 of which belonged to the American Expeditionary Forces.