Battle of Château-Thierry (1918)

Battle of Château-Thierry (1918)
	Part of the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I
Date	18 July 1918
Location	Château-Thierry, Aisne, France; 49°2′31″N 3°22′19″E / 49.04194°N 3.37194°E
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
United States; France; Belgium	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
John J. Pershing ; Charles Mangin	Erich Ludendorff
Strength
American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)	Unknown

The Battle of Château-Thierry was fought on July 18, 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. It was a battle in World War I as part of the Second Battle of the Marne, initially prompted by a German offensive launched on 15 July against the AEF, the newest troops on the front.

On the morning of 18 July 1918, the French (some of them colonial) and American forces between Fontenoy and Château-Thierry launched a counter-assault under the overall direction of Allied généralissime Ferdinand Foch against the German positions. This assault on a 40 km (25 mi) wide front was the first for over a year. The American army played the larger role fighting for the regions around Soissons and Château-Thierry. The allied forces had managed to keep their plans a secret, and their attack at 04:45 took the Germans by surprise when the troops went "Over the Top" without a preparatory artillery bombardment, but instead followed closely behind a rolling barrage which began with great synchronized precision. Eventually, the two opposing assaults (lines) inter-penetrated and individual American units exercised initiative and continued fighting despite being nominally behind enemy lines.^[1]

Memorial[]

After World War I, a memorial was built on Hill 204, 2 miles (3 km.) west of the town for which it is named. The Château-Thierry Monument, designed by Paul P. Cret of Philadelphia, was constructed by the American Battle Monuments Commission "to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of American and French fighting men in the region, and the friendship and cooperation of French and American forces during World War I."^[2]

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Château-Thierry (1918).

↑ Edwin L. James (1918). "A Description of the Battle of Chateau-Thierry". New York Times Current History. New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090606025355/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Thierry.html. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
↑ "Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial". American Battle Monuments Commission, U.S. Government. http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/am_pict.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-22.

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Battle of Château-Thierry (1918) and the edit history here.

[Edwin_James-1] Edwin L. James (1918). "A Description of the Battle of Chateau-Thierry". New York Times Current History. New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090606025355/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Thierry.html. Retrieved 2009-06-22.

[Memorial-2] "Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial". American Battle Monuments Commission, U.S. Government. http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/am_pict.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-22.

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