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With their bare hands : General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the battle for Montfaucon

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After the American declaration of war in 1917, two million US troops were deployed to France - among them the recently drafted 79th Division. These men, raw recruits from the streets of Boston, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, were plunged into the hell of trench warfare. With just seven weeks of combat experience, they were thrown into their most important and bloody battle of the Meuse-Argonne offensive - the attack on Montfaucon, the highest and most heavily fortified part of the German line. Gene Fax's ground-breaking narrative tells the full story of these men and their commanders from the 1917 draft right through to the end of the war. Using the division as a window on the US Army as a whole, Fax reveals both its mistakes and its triumphs, and how the lessons it learned ultimately helped it to fight World War II. -- From the back cover.

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Summary Note

After the American declaration of war in 1917, two million US troops were deployed to France - among them the recently drafted 79th Division. These men, raw recruits from the streets of Boston, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, were plunged into the hell of trench warfare. With just seven weeks of combat experience, they were thrown into their most important and bloody battle of the Meuse-Argonne offensive - the attack on Montfaucon, the highest and most heavily fortified part of the German line. Gene Fax's ground-breaking narrative tells the full story of these men and their commanders from the 1917 draft right through to the end of the war. Using the division as a window on the US Army as a whole, Fax reveals both its mistakes and its triumphs, and how the lessons it learned ultimately helped it to fight World War II. --
From the back cover.

General Note

Includes maps of: Allied Line in Lorraine, France, March 20, 1918; Alignment of US Divisions for the Meuse-Argonne Attack, Showing Planned Advance, September 26, 1918; German Defensive LInes (Hindenburg LIne") in the Meuse-Argonne; First Army Front Line, Evening of September 26; Positions of the 79th Division's Regiments, Morning and Night of September 26; Positions of the 79th Division's Regiments, Night of September 27; Positions of the 79th Division's Regiments, Night of September 28; Positions of the 79th Division's Regiments, Nights of September 29 and 30; 79th Division Operations, October 30-November 11, 1918.

Content Note

Setting the stage -- War comes to Baltimore -- Creating an army -- What Pershing should have known -- Training-- the army at war with itself -- Americans reach the battlefield -- First Army takes the field -- Concentration -- The Germans -- Over the top and up the hill, September 26 -- Left, right, and straight ahead, September 26 -- "Montfaucon taken," September 27 -- Bois de Beuge and Nantillois, September 28 -- Bois 250 and Madeleine Farm, September 29-30 -- Interlude-- Troyon Sector, October 1-28 -- Borne de Cornouiller and the Heights of the Meuse, October 29-November 10 -- Armistice to home, November 11, 1918-June 4, 1919.