In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

9 the Côte de Châtillon in theArgonne, october 12–21, 1918 theAmerican expeditionary Forces changed its command structure just as the rainbow’s battle started at Côte de Châtillon.With a front of more than seventy miles,Pershing separated his army—a highly unorthodox move,but one required by army policy governing size of commands.he created the 1st USArmy Group on october 12 to direct his original 1st USArmy and the newly formed 2nd US Army. A division was made up of about 25,000 men, a corps 50,000, and an army 150,000. Pershing kept command of it all, a move that put him “on a par with both haig and Pétain, heads of the british and FrenchArmies. it was a necessary move, possibly overdue.”1 many commands changed. major General Charles Pelot Summerall, nicknamed “Kill ’em All Summerall,” was moved from 1st division commander to v Corps commander.2 his corps included the rainbow division,which he knew from having served as commander of its artillery at Camp mills, newyork.3 on the next day,october 13,Foch,supreme commander of theAllied Forces, told Pershing, “no more promises! results!”4 Summerall visited macArthur at the 84th brigade PC at la neuve–Forge Farm located in a house behind the rainbow front.5 After a brief discussion the corps commander said, “Give me Châtillon, macArthur, or a list of five thousand casualties.” macArthur replied, “All right, General, we will take it, or my name will head the list.”6 Summerall left without another word. v Corps’ mission was to capture the daunting Kriemhilde Stellung with two of the best divisions in the USArmy:the 42nd would take Côte de Châtillon,and the 32nd would take Côte dame marie. both large hills were in rough terrain, and capturing the Kriemhilde Stellung,the German“fourth line of defense,”was the most difficult leadership task facing theAmericans.7 Côte de Châtillon in theArgonne, october 12–21, 1918 / 177 the 167th intoAttack Position on october 11 the 167th infantry took over from the 1st division’s 18th infantry directly in front of the Côte de Châtillon.if that pivot point of the massive German line fell, the Americans would be in a good position to cut off a large salient they had held since 1914.According to Ferrell, “the action at the Côte de Châtillon thus represented a poised moment, with the huge battle seeming to hinge on its success.”8 major Corbabon,chief of the French mission with the rainbow,wrote about changes that had developed on battlefields and doctrine in battle,“the terraine . . . is much more difficult,the position stronger than that on the ourcq . . .the idea of manoeuvre (rather than rigid adherence to attack formation) . . . exists . . . it has become less rash and more skillful. . . . liaison is good.”9 the atmosphere was tense.every trail and path in that heavily wooded area of rolling hills was soupy with mud and nearly impassable. German artillery blew out telephone lines almost as fast as they could be spliced together. narrow ravines were filled with water.there were no roads or trails.10 everything bore signs of the previous week’s battle by the 1st division.11 mudcovered and bloated bodies of German andAmerican soldiers were strewn about, and the large proportion ofAmerican bodies was unnerving.12 the green residue of mustard gas marked everything.13 the few leaves remaining on trees were the only concealment from German artillery observers.most of the ground was covered with water-filled shell holes, and the oak, beech, fir, and birch trees of the area were shot up and splintered. Clay sucked boots into the mud. the Côte de Châtillon (hill of Châtillon) (see fig. 22) looked down on the rainbow division.German defenses were the best it ever faced.multiple bands of new barbed wire,covered day and night with machine gun and rifle fire,were backed by concrete fighting bunkers.there were some machine guns outside the protective wire.the front of the hill was bare,cleared of vegetation to create unobstructed fire lanes, and a narrow gauge railroad served it.14 the 167th’s regimental PC was a hole in the side of hill 263 nearly a mile back.that night macArthur inspected it on a visit with bare,its new commander, who later wrote,“While we were talking the Germans were . . .shelling the...

Share