Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Doughboy Basics: How Many Battles Did the AEF Fight?


Below is a map I use for my battlefield tours to show the distribution of the main American operations in the war.  It has its genesis in the infamous WWI PBS documentary of the 1990s, The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, in which two American historians, David Kennedy and Jay Winter, separately misinformed the viewers that "the United States had only fought one battle" in the war. For two decades I have waged a campaign to correct the damage they did.

What is shown on the map are what I think to be the ten most significant battles of the AEF.  I does not include ALL operations. These battles were waged by American formations of division size or greater and resulted in American victories. Not shown, for example, are the battles of the segregated regiments that fought separately with the French (mostly in the Champagne) and the aborted offensive out of the reduced St. Mihiel Salient that ended with the Armistice.  Sorry, but the only way to view the map is to enlarge it. Please feel free to print it out or save it to your hard drive if you wish.

Click on Image to Enlarge


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11 comments:

  1. Paul HurmOctober 22, 2017 at 10:21 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Paul HurmOctober 22, 2017 at 10:25 AM

    Can someone advise which battle they claimed was the only "one"?

    And, any details about which episode and a time reference for where they do this?

    Thanks.

    Paul

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    Replies
    1. Mike HanlonOctober 22, 2017 at 11:49 AM

      Hi Paul, I'm sure they were referring to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

      Delete
    2. CJOctober 22, 2017 at 11:53 AM

      Meuse-Argonne.

      I believe Mik is talking about the Great War series that PBS partnered with the BBC on about twenty years ago...not the one AE did six months ago.

      Delete
    3. Paul HurmOctober 22, 2017 at 12:05 PM

      Thanks for that info. I know I have seen parts of the 90's PBS series but a long time ago so I have ordered a copy from my library to do a refresher.

      I too am keeping a copy and printing the map. It should be helpful as a future reference.

      Thanks.

      Paul

      Delete
  3. David CraigOctober 22, 2017 at 10:52 AM

    Thank you Mike, A useful tool for those of us on this side of the pond who like to recount the AEF achievements o the Western Front.

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  4. Bryan AlexanderOctober 22, 2017 at 11:18 AM

    That's a superb map. Very, very usefukl.

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  5. John T. SnowOctober 22, 2017 at 11:45 AM

    A minor nit to pick: probably rolled into your "3", but we should remember that before they moved west to participate in the drive to the Vesle, the 42nd fought a bloody defensive action east of Reims under the Lion of Champagne, General Henri Joseph Eugene Gourand.

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    Replies
    1. Mike HanlonOctober 22, 2017 at 11:52 AM

      Greetings John,

      As you know the the series of operations collectively called the Second Battle of the Marne is quite complicated. I would include the action of the Rainbow Division Division in the initial defensive phase of the battle. You probably know that one of the figures atop the Navarin Farm Monument is an American soldiers.

      Delete
    2. Mike HanlonOctober 22, 2017 at 11:57 AM

      That being said, I probably should have included some notation on the map about that action.

      Delete
  6. vaiyboraOctober 23, 2017 at 11:03 PM

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    ReplyDelete

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