This book provides the most comprehensive examination of American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) combat doctrine and methods ever published. It shows how AEF combat units actually fought on the Western Front in World War I. It describes how four AEF divisions (the 1st, 2nd, 26th, and 77th) planned and conducted their battles and how they adapted their doctrine, tactics, and other operational methods during the war. General John Pershing and other AEF leaders promulgated an inadequate prewar doctrine, with only minor modification, as the official doctrine of the AEF. Many early American attacks suffered from these unrealistic ideas that retained too much faith in the infantry rifleman on the modern battlefield. However, many AEF divisions adjusted their doctrine and operational methods as they fought, preparing more comprehensive attack plans, employing flexible infantry formations, and maximizing firepower to seize limited objectives. - Back cover

Originally published: 2007. Army reading list. Includes maps of: 1st Division, April 27-July 8, 1918; Initial Plan of Attack in the Aisne-Marne, Morning, July 18, 1918; French-American Attack South of Soissons, July 18-22, 1918; German Withdrawal Positions, Aisne-Marne Salient; Plan of Operation and Advance, American First Army, St. Mihiel Offensive, September 12-18, 1918; German Defensive Organization in the St. Mihiel Region; German Defensive Positions behind Western Front, September 1918; German Defensive Organization in the Meuse-Argonne Region; Plan of Attack of First Army, Meuse-Argonne Operation, September 26, 1918; Plan of Attack of First Army, Meuse-Argonne Operation, October 4, 1918; Ground Gained on Romagne Heights, October 4-10, 1918; Combined Order of Battle of the French Fifth and Sixth Armies and German Seventh Army in the Aisne-Marne, July 25, 1918, 9 A.M.; Ground Gained on Heights of the Meuse, October 8-30, 1918; 26th Division's Attack to Take and Hold the Belleu Bois; 2d Division Operations, June 4-July 10, 1918; 2d Division with French Fourth Army, October 2-10, 1918; Plan of Attack of Amer. First Army, Meuse-Argonne Operation, November 1-3, 1918; Oise-Aisne Offensive, American 77th and 28th Divisions, August 8-September 16, 1918; Meuse-Argonne Operation Battle Instructions, September 16, 1918; Lost Battlion, October 2-7, 1918; Plan of Flank Attack of First Army against Argonne Forest, October 7, 1918; Plan of Attack of Amer. First Army, Meuse-Argonne Operation, October 14, 1918; Ground Gained Vicinity St. Juvin, October 10-31, 1918; Ground Gained near Grandpre by 77th and 78th Divisions, October 10-31, 1918; Operations of First Army, November 1-11, 1918; Ground Gained by AEF Divisions and Major American War Memorials.

Introduction -- Doctrine, dogma, and development in the AEF -- The 1st Division : training for and waging trench warfare -- The 1st Division : the search for a "sufficiently powerful fire" -- The 26th "Yankee" Division : doctrine, discipline, and discrimination -- The 26th "Yankee" Division : doctrine, demoralization, and disintegration -- The 2nd Division : bloody lessons in "open warfare" -- The 2nd Division : the rise of set-piece battle -- The 77th "Liberty" Division : training for the trenches and fighting on the Vesle -- The 77th "Liberty" Division : dogma, delegation, and discretion -- Conclusions.