136: The German Spring Offensive’s End, or The Second Battle of the Marne
55:58 Share

I'm an educator, and I'm also a parent. As with any parent, you want to empower your children with knowledge and support them so they can succeed, now and in the future. But each of my kids are different, and they each learn in different ways.

One option for parents is K-12. K-12 powered schools are accredited, tuition-free, online public schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. K-12 can help your child reach their full potential and give you the support you need to get them there. K-12 is designed to help your child learn at their own pace, in their own place, with an engaging curriculum that supports individual learning styles.

This is different from homeschooling, where you are responsible for teaching them. K-12 powered schools have state certified teachers specifically trained in teaching online. They use hands-on innovative technology to make learning interactive.

K-12 powered schools even offer social opportunities, extracurricular activities, and in-person events. And K-12 has more than 20 years experience helping students gain the skills they need to thrive in the future. So join the more than 2 million families who have chosen K-12 and empower your student to reach their full potential now. Go to k12.com slash HTDS today to learn more and find a tuition-free K-12 powered school near you.

near you. That's the letter K, the number 12.com slash HTDS. K12.com slash HTDS. It's a beautiful summer morning, the 4th of July, 1918. We're on the Chesapeake Bay's Virginia coast, and thousands of visitors are walking amid the gorgeous greenery surrounding the home of the Continental Army Commander and First President of the United States, George Washington.

That's right, we're at Mount Vernon. And thanks to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association and current director Harrison Howell Dodge, the whole of these grounds and its various buildings are immaculately preserved. Everything about the cream-colored two-and-a-half-story mansion home, its several shuttered windows, its striking red roof, the dove of peace weather vane atop the cupola, as well as the details of the flanking and matching detached one-story wings are all spot on.

You half expect George himself to walk out the front door. But he's not the president we're here to see this somber wartime Independence Day. We're waiting on President Woodrow Wilson. In fact, let's head around back and watch for his yacht on the Potomac River. Standing amid the columns of this shaded 96-foot long porch running the length of the mansion's backside, the sight is unreal. Just look at that view.

at the verdant grass sloping down to reveal the tops of the trees farther below and how all of this green gives way to the serene blue of the Potomac before yielding to still more greenery on the opposite bank in the distance. And all of that under a blue sky? God, it's breathtaking. No wonder George was always so loath to leave this place. Ah, but look, there's a ship approaching. One funnel, two masts, a white hole. Yep, that's the presidential yacht, the USS Mayflower.

President Woodrow Wilson is here. Let the ceremonies begin. The crowd cheers and soldiers salute as the president and perhaps a hundred others, including his wife Edith, his oldest daughter Margaret, cabinet members, and foreign dignitaries, set foot on the shore. Nor does the enthusiasm drop as Woodrow winds his way up the path to the mansion home. Dressed in a white suit, hat, and shoes, the professorial president acknowledges the crowd with bows.

but all fall silent as the current president reaches the resting place of the first. Now at the red brick tomb, Woodrow's bespectacled eyes fall on the white marble sarcophagi of George and Martha. I wonder, what is the historian turned wartime president feeling as he gazes at the final resting place of the nation's revolution-forged first commander-in-chief? I wish I could say, but according to the New York Times,

No soldier ever stood more rigidly at attention than Woodrow at this moment. Surely, his deep knowledge of history and presidential responsibilities are merging to fill Woodrow with a unique sense of respect, awe, and gravity. But he can't keep it all to himself as the afternoon wears on. Given the war, particularly the recent hard fighting along France's Marne River and at Belleau Wood, this 10,000 strong crowd wants to hear from the president.

Following a few words from Belgian-born, Felix Strickmans, white-clad Woodrow takes his place amid the shadows of the Washington tomb and looks at the sea of faces before him. He then proceeds to share his thoughts on this war-torn Independence Day. Gentlemen of the diplomatic corps and my fellow citizens, I am happy to draw a part with you to this quiet place of old council in order to speak a little of the meaning of this day of our nation's independence.

The place seems very still and remote. It is as serene and untouched by the hurry of the world as it was in those great days long ago when General Washington was here and held leisurely conference with the men who were to be associated with him and the creation of a nation. From this green hillside, we also ought to be able to see with comprehending eyes the world that lies about us and should conceive anew the purposes that must set men free.

Woodrow goes on, speaking in terms not altogether different from the 14 points he put before Congress last January for rebuilding society after the Great War. These included ideas like no secret treaties, free trade amid war and peace, greater respect for self-determination, even in colonial empires, and the creation of an association of nations to guarantee that these and other terms are respected.

Today, Woodrow doubles down, saying there can be no compromise on: destroying arbitrary power settling questions of territory, sovereignty, and economic arrangements ensuring no nations deal with each other on secret, underhanded terms that the free nations of the world establish an organization to protect these principles. Fascinating.

sounds like Woodrow, who entered the White House fully admitting he was out of his depth on foreign policy, now feels comfortable crafting and pushing a vision of the post-war world, one that he hopes spreads and protects democracy, self-determination, and open economies around the globe. To him, this is a continuation of the spirit of the American Revolution, of George Washington,

And he makes that point to his Mount Vernon audience. "I can fancy that the air of this place carries the accents of such principles with the peculiar kindness. Here were started forces which the great nation against which they were primarily directed at first regarded as a revolt against its rightful authority, but which it has long since seen to have been a step in the liberation of its own people, as well as of the people of the United States.

And I stand here now to speak, speak proudly and with confident hope of the spread of this revolt, this liberation, to the great stage of the world itself. The blinded rulers of Prussia have roused forces they knew little of, forces which, once roused, can never be crushed to earth again, for they have at their heart an inspiration and a purpose which are deathless and of the very stuff of triumph.

The speech has a deep impact on all present, including the newly naturalized American citizen John McCormick, aka the Irish Tenor, who pours his patriotism-filled soul out as he belts an incredible rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Citizens and soldiers alike depart ready to carry on this war in the name of democracy and self-determination, and in the days ahead, newspapers far and wide will hail Woodrow's words as historic.

It seems the professorial president has done a fine job shoring up support for the war at home. About 4,000 miles to the east, making plans for life after the war may feel a bit premature. Over there, it's still trenches filled with blood. And before the month is out, the blood of another 50,000 young Americans will flow in and between Francis Marn and N. Rivers.

Welcome to History That Doesn't Suck. I'm your professor, Greg Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a story. The goal of President Woodrow Wilson's 4th of July speech was to maintain support for the war, but the bespectacled commander-in-chief wasn't wrong to be thinking about its end.

By July 1918, the United States has already tipped the scales irrevocably. Or, as emeritus professor David Woodward puts it, quote, in retrospect, it is clear that the war was now unwinnable for Germany as the American presence rapidly grew in Europe. Close quote. Now, no one living through these events, the president included, can see that fully as they struggle on through the fog of war. Months of hard fighting are yet ahead, but the tide is indeed turning.

We'll see that in this very episode. Today, we bear witness as the German spring offensive comes to an end and the Allies answer with a counteroffensive of their own. This means returning to that protruding, bulging German presence, or salient, that the Boche carved out between the Aisne and Marne rivers in episode 134 as General Erich Ludendorff carries out a fifth spring offensive aimed at taking the city of Reims just north of the Marne river.

This battle, known as the Second Battle of the Marne, will involve fighting on both sides of the city, but we'll follow the ugliest of it to the west of the city, where the men of the U.S. 3rd Division are bleeding, dying, and killing as they ensure the only Germans south of the Marne River are dead Germans. Holding like an unmovable rock between July 15th and 17th, the 3rd Division will ensure that Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch's counteroffensive, called the End-Mann Offensive, can spring into action the very next day.

Once again, we'll focus on the ugliest fighting, which will take us to the western side of Germany's salient and into the vicinity of a town just south of the Aisne River called Soissons. Here, the U.S. 1st and 2nd Divisions will fight as a part of the French 3rd Corps. A lot of these doughboys will never go home, but their sacrifice won't be in vain. The Germans will suffer a serious blow.

Meanwhile, General Black Jack Pershing will take yet another step toward his long-term goal of organizing a full-scale American army. So, ready to see the momentum of the Great War shift? I am. So let's leave Woodrow Wilson here on the East Coast with his deep thoughts about the post-war world and steam across the Atlantic to rejoin the doughboys in Europe. Full steam ahead. Germany's prospects are souring here in France as we enter July 1918. And fairly quickly.

Let's recall that just last March, the Kaiser's imperial mustache-wearing commanders, the towering six-foot-six level-headed field marshal, Paul von Hindenburg, and his brilliant chief of staff, Erich Ludendorff, were filled with hope. Russia's exit from the war had just made three quarters of a million seasoned troops available for a spring offensive on the Western Front.

Yet, as we know from episodes 133 and 134, the first two operations terrified but didn't break the British in Flanders. The third operation farther south started as a diversion meant to keep the French from helping the Brits, but it went so well that Erich thought he saw a path to Paris.

So the Germans stuck with it, only to find that American reinforcements and, more importantly, issues with their own supply lines shut them down, leaving the Fritzes with a bulging line, or salient, between the Aisne and Marne rivers. Well, Erich Ludendorff followed these with a fourth operation that didn't involve American forces in mid-June on the Marne river. The French repelled them.

Thus it is that, four months and as many operations in, the spring offensive has provided Germany with this massive salient, yes, but at a steep price, half a million casualties. Nor is Germany's suffering isolated to the front. Back in the fatherland, inflation has reduced those on a fixed income to paupers, and food shortages are so common that the black market has become really the only market.

In February, a Frankfurt newspaper published an open letter to Germany's military leaders saying, quote, the course of events might be such that considerable sections of the people will prefer any peace, peace at any price, to the continuation of the war, close quote. Yikes. Desperately needing to stop the tide from turning then, German General Erich Ludendorff is launching the spring offensive's fifth operation, Friedensturm, or the Peace Offensive.

The name says it all. This is a Hail Mary for Germany. An all or nothing move. Erich hopes to widen his "Enn-Marn" salient. Specifically, he wants to choke off the city of Reims in a pincer movement. The German 1st and 3rd armies will strike east of Reims, while the 7th strikes to its west.

Paralleling his original plan in the Spring Offensive's third operation last May, Erich hopes that the Allies will overcommit troops to defend this city just north of the Marne River, thus giving him the edge needed to break the Brits up north. This brilliant tactician has come up with the perfect time to attack as well. 1210 AM, July 15th.

Striking a mere 10 minutes after the end of France's July 14th national holiday, Bastille Day, he hopes to catch the French distracted, if not drunk, as he launches this second battle of the Marne. There's just one problem. The French are learning all about Erich Ludendorff's plan, thanks to talkative German deserters and POWs. There are so many details we could get lost in at the second battle of the Marne.

For instance, we have high-level drama as Britain's Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, clearly not fully aware of the intel, throws a minor fit over Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch, sending far more American divisions to support French rather than British lines. We also have Americans fighting on both sides of Reims. And as all of this goes on, Ferdinand is refusing to allow the German attack to derail his own preparations for an offensive.

But as I said earlier, we're zeroing in on one of the ugliest fights. One waged by the U.S. 3rd Division as it fights in French General Jean-Marie de Goutte's 6th Army west of the city along the Marne River. A bit of tension exists between Jean-Marie de Goutte and the U.S. 3rd's commander, Major General Joseph Dickman. They have different views on how the doughboys should defend their mile-and-a-half stretch of the Marne River.

The old Frenchman wants the Americans there in force, one foot in the water, so to speak, ready to pick off Germans in boats or on pontoon bridges. But Joseph thinks that's stupid. This is the gateway to the Sault Malone Valley. There are hills on the Americans' left and right. As such, Joseph would prefer to put a few men on the bank, but with the intention of using an elastic defense.

That means these forces will eventually fall back, luring the Germans in so that their fellow doughboys up in the hills can then shoot the foe from above. It's the same strategy that French General Henri Gouraud is using on the east side of Reims. And more than that, Joseph Dickmann's officers on the ground, Colonel Billy Butts of the 30th Infantry and Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander of the 38th Infantry, both prefer an elastic defense as well.

So sorry, Jean-Marie, but the Americans are, once again, going to do things their own way. Especially that larger-than-life colonel with a big name to live up to, Ulysses Grant McAlexander. He's more than ready for the Germans to come. It's a hot afternoon, July 14th, 1918.

Soldiers of the 38th Infantry's G Company are diligently guarding their position on the Marne South Bank, just where the river meets the Sur-Moulin Valley when they see their square-jawed, mustachioed colonel approaching, Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander. He looks at the 9-foot-tall railroad bank between them and the Marne. It's the only thing protecting G Company from the Germans on the other side of the river. And yet, the colonel now begins to scramble up its sloping side. Has he gone mad?

A concerned sentry finds the courage to confront his colonel. "Sir, my orders are not to allow anyone to expose himself over this line. Don't draw fire there." Already at the top, Ulysses peers out across the railroad bank and Marne River. He takes in the wooded ridge and village of Mézy protected by the US 30th infantry to the west and the far taller Moulin Ridge held by the French 125th division to the east.

This perspective further assures Ulysses that they're right to keep more men in the hills and pay little more than lip service to French General Jean-Mélie de Gouttes thinking. Sliding back down, the fearless colonel finally answers his mindful sentry. "Under the head of military necessity, I think we may change your orders so far as my observations are concerned." Later that day, Ulysses takes note of Captain Jesse Woolridge's Springfield 30 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight.

A man of action, the colonel grabs the firearm, turns to the fit, bespectacled captain and says, "I want to bowl a couple of them over myself. Let's see how close we can get." He and the captain wiggle their way through some shrubbery in H Company's position.

Now laying a mere 70 yards from the German line, Ulysses fires at anything that moves. Jesse isn't a fan of this sniper mission, but it is consistent with what this brash commander said earlier. Don't let anything show itself on the other side and live. Ulysses empties two clips in his failed efforts to shoot one of the Fritzes. As the sun sets that evening, Ulysses takes a final look at his men around the railway embankment.

He knows the Germans are coming, that within hours their artillery will make sand and men fly, that gray-clad troops will then splash into the marne intent upon killing them. But having studied the terrain, the ever so appropriately named Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander is undaunted. Captain Jesse Woolridge will never forget how, at this moment, Ulysses squares his shoulders, sets his jaw, and unflinchingly looks at the doughboys as he declares, "'Let 'em come.'"

Putting their excellent intel to use, the Allies' guns on the Marne beat the Germans to the punch, opening fire shortly before midnight. This doesn't stop the German attack from coming, though. G Company commander, Captain Jesse Woolridge, will later recall in vivid words how the Germans seemingly accept Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander's invitation as their guns answer in kind shortly after 12 a.m. on July 15th. To quote him,

Out of a night as black as the mouth of hell, they came. 84 German batteries that made Zeus hurling thunderbolts from Olympus look like an angel of mercy distributing alms consolidated their fire on the Sur-Moulin Valley for four solid hours with a fury never before equaled, according to French observers, not even at Verdun."

At 3:30 a.m., the Boche bombardment becomes a rolling bombardment, providing cover for gray-clad engineers and boats to create a pontoon bridge across the 150-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep Marne River. Rifles from the 38th Infantry's four companies on the shore crack and flash in the still black morning. Young Germans splash into the river, dead. But the Yanks can't hold them back forever. German bullets, stick grenades, and more bring the work of death to the doughboys as well.

As the morning passes, the Fritzes gain a foothold on the Marne's south shore. The fighting turns brutal. Stationed right in front of the German pontoon bridge, every single man in G Company's most forward platoon is either killed or wounded. Behind them, Lieutenant Mercer M. Phillips is in the middle of having a head wound bandaged when a German officer leaps out. Mercer immediately grabs a rifle and runs a bayonet through his attacker five separate times.

But as the punctured, bleeding German falls, he squeezes off a shot with his last breath. The bullet rips through the lieutenant's skull, showering his brains on the shore. Neither man survives. Captain Jesse Woolridge's G Company is getting hammered. And yet, his men never break.

Indeed, they bloody the Germans every bit in equal part. And when the Fritzes take the small village of Mezy from the 30th Infantry on his left, this young captain will step into the leadership void, rallying men of the 30th to retake the village while capturing hundreds of Germans before the day is through. In short, G and H companies will not let their regiments left break. But what about the 38th Infantry's right, held by E and F companies? Well, let's find out.

It's now just before dawn, July 15th, 1918. After hours of bombardment, the Germans have crossed the Marne River. Holding the regiment's far right, F Company's doughboys unleash rifle and machine gun fire on the river crossing foe. Meanwhile, their clean-shaven, square-jawed commander, Captain T.C. Reid, squints at the sight of soldiers coming from the 125th French Division's position to his company's right.

But is it the gray-clad Boche? Or is it the blue-clad French retreating from the village of Varennes in the high ground of Moulin Ridge? The morning's barely dawning light isn't sufficient to tell. Not until the stick grenades start flying, that is. Guns crack and grenades explode as Germans charge at the American lines. But the doughboys are holding.

Expecting the French not to hold their ground, Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander had F company dig trenches facing the French lines. Thank God for the Colonel's distrust of his own allies. And as the fight wears on, Lieutenant Ralph Eberlin seizes on the Germans' exposed position. With fixed bayonets, he leads his men over the top, charging straight at their flagging foe, giving them chase back toward Carreale.

but the charging Americans are forced back to their trenches as German biplanes or Fokkers enter the fray. Meanwhile, the Germans have succeeded in establishing two machine gun positions. It feels endless, but the Americans don't back down. The fight. The battle rages through the afternoon. At four o'clock, F Company covers E Company's retreat. Two hours later, F Company follows, falling back to the aqueduct line.

But this retreat isn't a failure. It's all part of the elastic defense envisioned by General Joseph Dickman and brilliantly executed by his colonels, especially Ulysses Grant Alexander of the 38th Infantry. As the four companies of his second battalion fall back from the shore, Ulysses' first and third battalions join them in striking from the Sommelin Valley's heights, from the woods known as Bois des Cremants on the left and from Moulin Ridge on the right.

They slaughter the Fritzes on the valley floor. The Germans have no choice but to retreat. This is largely the case to the east of Reims as well, where General Henri Gouraud's French 4th Army is likewise succeeding with an elastic defense. The fighting isn't as dramatic here, but let's note that his forces include Black Americans of the 369th as well as the U.S. 42nd Rainbow Division. And yes, Douglas MacArthur, now a brigadier general, is still with the 42nd.

He earned his second silver star today. While the fighting will continue through July 17th, German leaders know by the 16th that this is over. When asked if he wants to continue the attack, General Erich Ludendorff says no because Understatement of the year.

German casualties aren't recorded, but German Lieutenant Kultesse of the 5th Grenadier Regiment, who fought against the 3rd Division, puts his estimate at 60% of their forces, including over 1,000 prisoners. He also describes the Yankees as ferocious. Never have I seen so many dead men. Never such frightful battle scenes. The American has nerve, a savage roughness.

The third division suffered serious losses holding the Marne. 3,151 casualties, 606 of whom are dead. But while other Allied divisions gave up as much as five miles before the advancing Germans, the third didn't give an inch by the end. It's just as the division's commander, General Joseph Dickman, reports. Quote,

On the front of the 3rd Division, there are no Germans south of the Marne except the dead. With much credit due to Colonel Ulysses Grant McAlexander of the 38th Infantry, he's soon compared to another unyielding general from the Civil War, aside from his namesake. He's compared to General Thomas, a.k.a. the Rock of Chickamauga. And so it is that Ulysses, already named for one Civil War hero, picks up the nickname, the Rock of the Marne.

It soon rubs off on his 38th infantry and even the whole 3rd Division, hereafter known as the Marne Division. But the fighting is far from over. With Germany's 5th and final operation of the spring offensive brought to heel after mere three days of fighting, Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch sees the tide turning and he's ready to launch an immediate counteroffensive to push back the Germans' menacing N-Marne salient.

To that end, it's time to head north of the Marne River and attack German Hellswassel. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. I've been telling you about summer vacationing with my family and how we've been using Greenlight with the kids to establish their own spending money on these trips. But now, summer is winding down while the school year is quickly approaching. That means new school supplies and clothes. And once again, Greenlight provides another great opportunity for our kids to learn about managing their personal finances.

Greenlight is a debit card and money app made for families. Parents can send money to their kids and keep an eye on their kids' spending and saving. We really like the chores feature of Greenlight. Parents set up one-time or recurring chores and reward their children with allowance for a job well done. Millions of parents and kids are learning about money on Greenlight. It's the easy, convenient way for parents to raise financially smart kids and families to navigate summer vacation and new school year together.

Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to greenlight.com slash htds. That's greenlight.com slash htds to try Greenlight for free. greenlight.com slash htds.

Get started with Greenlight today and get your first month free at greenlight.com slash Spotify.

I trust you recall from episode 134 that it was about a month back on June 23rd, 1918, that the American Expeditionary Forces commander Black Jack Pershing suggested hitting the Germans on the western side of their massive south-facing salient just south of Soissons.

I'm not giving the credit for this upcoming attack to Blackjack per se, but rather pointing out that the Allies have been aware of Germany's weakness near this town on the Enn River's south bank for quite some time. And our mustachioed Supreme Allied Commander, Ferdinand Foch, is ready to take advantage of that weakness. But before we launch this massive Allied assault right on the heels of Germany's failure at the Marne, let me give you a bit of background.

Ferdinand took quite a gamble moving forward with his plan to counterattack at Soissons. The intelligence about Germany's fifth spring offensive operation, Friedensturm, came in right in the midst of his own preparations. French commander Philippe Pétain wanted Ferdinand to respond by sending more forces to Reims, yet the aggressive supreme commander said no. He trusted those forces already there to hold the Germans back while other Allied troops continued to gather in Champagne for the counteroffensive.

Quite a roll of the dice, but damn that was well played. Not only does this mean that Ferdinand can strike faster, but the Germans, who also expected him to reinforce Reims, won't see it coming. But as Ferdinand assembles the French 5th, 6th, 9th, and 10th armies to hit the salient on all sides, the Americans are having a hard go of it in terms of organization and communication.

See, Blackjack has just begun organizing his divisions into corps, a crucial step in turning the American Expeditionary Force into an autonomous army. But alas, only the First Corps under Major General Hunter Liggett, presently in the Belleau Wood area, is ready to function as such. Third Corps Commander Major General Robert Lee Bullard feels his doughboys need more time.

Thus, while the U.S. 1st Corps plugs in as a singular unit of the French 6th Army, the U.S. 3rd Corps, currently consisting of the Big Red 1 and the 2nd Division, are going to Soissons as elements of the French 10th Army's 20th Corps. And since they will see the worst of this counterattack, we'll stick with these two American divisions for now. While it might sound like closer French supervision will make life easier for the U.S. 1st and 2nd Divisions, that isn't what James Harbord is finding.

See, Blackjack only promoted this former commander of the 4th Marines to command the whole 2nd U.S. Division a few days ago, and presently, the division's forces are scattered across the N Department. Okay, that's fine, but then the other shoe drops over dinner with several French officers on Tuesday, July 16th.

That's when the French 20th Corps' commander, Pierre-Emile Berdula, lets James know that his 2nd Division will be a part of the secret attack at Soissons on the morning of the 18th. You know, in just 30 hours. James is astounded. How is he supposed to organize his scattered forces or prepare a battle plan? When he poses such questions to his French colleagues, they merely shrug while saying, C'est la guerre. C'est la guerre. Or, that's war.

Some French officers then offer to help him make his battle plans, but that only makes the American general fume all the more. He politely declines them with a less than sincere smile. Working with the same 2nd Division Chief of Staff that proclaimed they would hold in Episode 134, Colonel Preston Brown, General James Harbord prepares a battle plan with a mere 24 hours to H-hour, that is, the time of attack, 4.35 a.m. on July 18th.

Such brief prep time means the 2nd Division will enter the battle without grenades, mortars, or machine guns. This will be an old-school infantry attack, apart from the support of French tanks. Not that most of these soldiers have ever seen, let alone trained, with tanks. Facing rain, mud, and two near-sleepless nights of marching in the dark, the 2nd Division makes a superhuman effort to reach their assigned position by H-hour. Often, they aren't even sure where to go.

James Harbord says of his men that, "They had no maps, no guides. They were not told where to go and could only follow the instinct of the American soldier." One battalion literally runs the last mile, but they make it breathlessly to the battle line. So finally, it's time to carry out this secret counter offensive. It's so secret, in fact, that many going into battle aren't even aware of the details.

It's early in the pre-dawn morning, July 18th, 1918. French Lieutenant Charles-Maurice Chenu isn't new to war, but as he and his cramped crew roll forward in his Schneider CA-1 tank, he's in awe at the sheer mass of men and artillery now pressing their way through the muddy, rain-softened forest roads to participate in this attack on Soissons. He drives forward in the midst of brown-clad Americans, the doughboys of the Big Red One.

Charles Maurice is operating one of the 27 Schneider tanks accompanying this specific division into battle. It's now 4:20 a.m. Charles Maurice looks at his watch, confused. The attack begins in 15 minutes, so why isn't the artillery firing? Something must be wrong. He goes looking for his captain to point out this apparent critical error. There's been a mistake. Each hour is in five minutes and we haven't fired a single shell.

His captain responds, "We've changed our method. Today everything is by surprise. We will only break our cover when we attack." Charles' face is covered in skepticism. He presses, "The artillery isn't doing anything more." The captain hesitates as he answers cryptically, "They'll manage." Charles walks away, still confused and still in doubt. After years of war, everyone knows that artillery softens the foe's lines for hours before the infantry move forward. But what more can he do?

He climbs back in his tank. 4:35 AM, the sound of two shots echoes through the air. That is indeed the signal to attack, but again, no artillery. This can't be real, right? And that's when the lieutenant and his tank crew get the shock of their lives. Suddenly, the artillery roars to life, spitting flames and shells right next to them. Somewhere outside, the crew hears a voice yell. - Forward! Forward! - And with that,

The Allied assault on German Hell's Soissons has begun. Lieutenant Charles-Maurice Chenu's confusion is more than understandable. As we know from past episodes, it is military doctrine at this point of the war that artillery always precedes an attack. But this time, the Allies are hoping that surprising the Germans on their salient's weakest side will more than offset the lack of artillery barrage. Besides, they aren't skipping the big guns altogether.

We heard the artillery fire up and give Charles Maurice's poor tank crew the surprise of their lives. The Allies are just skipping straight to the rolling barrage as the troops advance. The French 20th Corps is right there at the front, striking Soissons from the west. Though there's little French about this Corps' strike. The front line consists of three divisions, and two are the American divisions that we've been following. The Big Red I on the Corps' left, and the ever-so-rushed 2nd Division on the right.

The 1st Moroccan Division is between them in the center. With men hailing from Senegal, Asia, Spain, and still other corners of the globe, including veterans of the French Foreign Legion, the 1st Moroccan isn't exactly what you might expect either. But these yellow uniformed soldiers with crescent moons on their helmets are fierce warriors. Many doughboys of the Big Red One will later say that the men of the 1st Moroccan are the ones who truly taught them how to fight. The initial advance on the morning of July 18th goes well.

The 26th Regiment of the Big Red One advances a full mile and completes its first objective with little loss or resistance. But by the afternoon, the Germans are dug in, using the train's rocky ravines for cover. The Allied advance slows. By the end of the day, the Germans are able to fully respond to the offensive and move their reserves in to defend against the attack. Things only get uglier the next day, July 19th.

With little information coming from their commanders, the doughboys push forward, often becoming German targets as they pull ahead of their French counterparts. The worst of it, perhaps, is seen by the 2nd Division's 6th Marines. Assigned to take the crucial road that leads from Soissons to Chateau-Thierry, they move out at 8:30 a.m. No artillery supports them with a rolling barrage as they advance across a wheat field with no cover. I have to imagine these men are sick to their stomachs. It's like they're right back at Belleau Wood.

Indeed, German defenses make it feel like that as well. As the Marines move forward in two waves separated by 50 yards, German shells and machine guns rip, mangle, and shred devil dog flesh. Corporal Joseph E. Rendonel will later recall, I would see a man walking across the field with his rifle at his hip, and suddenly he would take another step, and there wouldn't be no step there, and he would go down. Some fell flat, some grabbed at their wounds and sort of crumpled down.

As the sun sets, more than half of the 2,450 Marines sent to take this road have become a casualty. The Leathernecks gained a mile of ground and have the road in rifle range, but can't quite take it. Meanwhile, the whole 2nd Division has fought without food or water for a full day and suffered more than 4,000 casualties. It's a grim scene.

Lieutenant Robert Keene of the 15th Field Artillery, 2nd Division, will later recall looking across the wheat fields and hearing, quote, groans, cries for help in English and French and German, pleas for water and babblings of delirious men. The fields were full of dead and dying and nothing could be done for them. Close quote. It tears the lieutenant up. Some of those miserable souls are his friends. His only solace is one tender scene amid such death.

Again, to quote the lieutenant, "An old Frenchman, he looked at least 50, in a tattered blue uniform, was walking slowly down the road carrying on his back toward the dressing station a wounded American doughboy. Every time I have felt annoyed since then at France, this picture comes to mind and my anger softens." All of this is enough for General James Harbord. He sends a message to his superior officer, General Pierre-Emile Berdullat, saying,

The French commander agrees. The U.S. 2nd Division is relieved. The French 58th Colonial Division will take it from here. But the 2nd Division isn't alone in suffering gut-wrenching losses.

Farther north, on the French 20th Corps' left, the Big Red One is suffering to rest the hilltop town of Berzille-le-Sec from the Germans. The engagement is a success, but whole units are decimated. Lieutenant Jeremiah Everts of the 18th Infantry will recall that, "What was left of E Company marched in single file. I was more tired than I have ever been."

Taking this small village perched above the Soissons-Châteauterie road and a local railway cost the Big Red One 7,083 infantrymen and 234 officers. But with the fight mostly over, intelligence officer Lieutenant Shipley Thomas of the 26th Infantry Regiment places a call to the Big Red One's headquarters so he can make his report to the Division Adjutant. But to his surprise, that's not who answers.

It's the afternoon of July 22nd, 1918. We're inside a large quarry cave, now serving as the impromptu military headquarters with the commander of the US 1st Division, aka the Big Red One. The division is now under the command of General Charles Summerall. He's a hard-nosed leader, one known for telling his men, "I don't expect to see any of you again."

But even he isn't ready for what's to come as he answers the phone. Hello, this is General Summerall. Who is this? Lieutenant Thomas, sir. 26th Infantry. Well, how are things? I have to report that we have broken through as far as we can. Our colonel is dead, our lieutenant colonel is dead, and all the majors are dead or wounded.

Even the hardened General Charles Summerall can't take this news without flinching. He assures the Lieutenant that the British are sending the 15th Scottish Division to relieve them.

More than that, a band and much-deserved feast will greet the poor officers' depleted regiment as they depart. An honor much appreciated, but no amount of food or music can console the survivors over the loss of thousands of brothers-in-arms. The deadly days of July 18th through the 22nd, 1918, left the fields and hills around Soissons littered with the bodies of the dead. But the doughboys didn't die in vain.

This initial thrust of the Allies' N-MARN counter-offensive is now forcing the Germans to withdraw from the greatest gain of their spring offensive, the N-MARN salient. With a heavy heart, General Erich Ludendorff admits this to Colonel Merz von Quirinheim on July 22nd. But the harder admission of failure falls to Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. After all, someone has to tell the Kaiser. It's the afternoon of July 22nd, 1918.

Kaiser Wilhelm II bounces along the roads of the French countryside, perhaps in a Mercedes Benz, given his love for them, making his way to the town of Abenzuel. This is where his Imperial Army's high command, the Oberstherr Heresleiter, or the OHL, is currently set up. And the nearly 60-year-old, imperial mustache-wearing emperor is likely looking forward to this visit. Official communiques keeping him up to date have been nothing but positive. But meanwhile, back at the OHL,

Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg is dreading this coming meeting. See, he's got a war to run. He doesn't have time to keep the Kaiser up to date on every little thing. And if we're being honest, he and Eli Schlüttendorf have really been the ones running Germany and this war for a good long while. The Kaiser is more of a figurehead at this point. One that these two military commanders don't take that seriously. As such, their reports to Wilhelm have been a little light on the details and overly optimistic.

After Soissons though, Paul has little choice but to come clean on their setbacks. The Kaiser's car pulls up. He exits the vehicle and soon is face to face with Paul von Hindenburg. The towering 6'6 grain and decorated Field Marshal now confesses some hard truths. Like the fact that all the gains from the Spring Offensive's third operation, Operation Blüche, are quickly disappearing. In fact, the whole Spring Offensive is falling apart.

The exact words Paul uses are "total failure." The Kaiser is floored, perhaps in a state of denial if not confusion. How can this be? Still processing the shock, His Highness asks the Field Marshal what he should do now. Paul sees no use here for this figurehead ruler. He tells the Kaiser to return to his imperial headquarters in Spa, Belgium. The Kaiser will go back, and he pouts all the way.

That same evening, he tells his entourage to show consideration toward him as a defeated warlord. Meanwhile, the Kaiser's dreams are haunted by visions of his English and Russian relatives, all the ministers and generals of his own reign, marching past and mocking him. But even as the Germans fall back, that doesn't mean the end of the war, or even the end of the counter-offensive for that matter.

After all, the Imperial German Army still holds Belgium in large stretches of northeastern France and withdrawing from the Enmarne salient is hardly tantamount to losing all of that turf. Erich Ludendorff understands that he faces retreat, but he won't admit defeat. Not yet, he tells the foreign minister, Admiral Paul von Hinze. Five times I've had to move troops back during this world war, but in the end I beat the enemy. Why shouldn't this happen a sixth time?

Yes, the Ayn Marn Offensive will go on. More blood will be spilt. And not just to the west of Soissons. Indeed, while the US 1st and 2nd participated in the biggest push of this offensive, there are 9 American divisions in total hitting the Germans here. In the center of the German's south-facing salient are the forces of America's first fully functional corps, General Hunter Liggett's 1st Corps. This includes the 26th Yankee Division, which over the course of July has suffered more than 5,000 casualties.

As the battle goes on, these weary New Englanders are relieved by the 42nd Rainbow Division. This includes Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur's 84th Brigade, which on July 26th carries out an attack on Red Cross Farm. German machine guns tear through his men. The Dobais adapt, spreading out as Douglas will later recall.

We reverted to tactics I had seen so often in the Indian Wars of my frontier days. Crawling forward in twos and threes against each stubborn nest of enemy guns, we closed in with the bayonet and the hand grenade. It was savage and there was no quarter asked or given. They take the farm, but at the cost of a thousand casualties. Hard fighting will continue into early August and Americans played their role in this offensive to the end. While there are always exceptions, many of the doughboys fight with courage.

The same can be said of their leaders. That intrepid, daring general, Douglas MacArthur, takes so many risks that he earns his third and fourth silver star here within a matter of days. But alas, the rookie status of these American troops is still all too evident. They fail to make proper use of cover, hold their lines too rigidly, and otherwise fail to see when a risk is worth taking or just flat-out suicide. The loss is heart-wrenching.

Perhaps no one better expresses this mixture of courage and experience in slaughter than French General Albert Dugand does while speaking through tears to U.S. 1st Corps Commander Hunter Liggett at Soissons. "I weep for the families and sweethearts of these Americans. See how they go into battle as we did in 1914. My division, the flower of the French Army, no longer can keep up with them.

The Endmarn counteroffensive, sometimes classified as the last phase of the Second Battle of the Marne, will end on August 6th. The Allies will take the town of Thieme as the Germans withdraw, giving up the last remnant of their Endmarn salient. Between the failure of Operation Friedensturm and the Allied counteroffensive, Germany is looking at roughly 170,000 casualties.

Added to the casualties of its first four operations, the German spring offensive has cost the 2nd Reich nearly the equivalent of the entire 750,000 troops that went west after Russia quit the war. Many of these were elite troops, men whose skill and experience are irreplaceable at this point. Now, the spring offensive has killed or mangled about as many Allied troops, including 50,000 Americans in this last counteroffensive alone, but the Germans have lost numerical superiority.

And still worse for the Second Reich is the United States' growing presence. By late July 1918, the American Expeditionary Force boasts about 1.2 million men. While all the other armies are incapable of increasing their numbers, another 250,000 doughboys are landing on France's shores every month. The tide has turned indeed. Germany is losing. But losing is not the same as lost.

Thus, as the end-Maurin counteroffensive plays out, Allied leaders must ask themselves, what's next? They've got Germany against the ropes. How do they keep that momentum and make the most of it? Well, Ferdinand Foch has an idea. It's 10.30 in the morning, July 24th, 1918.

The Allied commanders, British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, French General Philippe Pétain, and American General Black Jack Pershing, are all chatting and taking their seats inside the stately and elegant 17th century white stone and red brick Château de Bonbon.

Located some 25 miles southeast of Paris, at the edge of the Tarn-de-Mélan, this gorgeous château with enormous windows providing mesmerizing views of its flushed green gardens is currently serving as Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Fauche's headquarters. These national commanders have come here today to meet with him. Ferdinand's chief of staff, General Maxime Weygand, calls their attention.

He then proceeds to read the Supreme Commander's proposal. The Germans have been compelled to throw so many divisions into action that for the first time we have a superiority in reserves. The moment has come to abandon the general defensive attitude forced upon us until now by numerical inferiority and to pass to the offensive. All present delight in hearing what they already know, that the German spring offensive's fifth operation has been repulsed and answered with a counteroffensive.

but some faces register a touch of shock as Maxime comes to specific next steps. Ferdinand is calling on the British and French to continue driving the Germans from the Paris-Amiens railway. He also wants the Americans to clear the Paris-Avicourt railroad by reducing the Saint-Miel salient. General Maxime Weyland finishes. Ferdinand Foch turns to the assembled military leaders. What do they think?

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig starts. The British army, entirely disorganized by the events of March and April, is still far from being re-established. General Philippe Pétain gives a similar cautionary response. The French army, after four years of war and the severest trials, is at present worn out, bled white, anemic. Okay, not a great start, if understandable.

Sir Douglas Haig and Philippe Pétain are leading years-worn, fatigued armies. But then we come to the American. Pausing a moment, Black Jack Pershing answers succinctly but boldly, "The American army asks nothing better than to fight, but it has not yet been formed." Ah, we're back to Black Jack's great mission, turning his AEF into a proper American army.

He's let his forces fight under British and French leadership as needed, but still loathes amalgamation and longs for the day when his doughboys fight as a cohesive American army, just as the French and British fight in their own national armies. That hasn't happened yet, and if Ferdinand Foch wants this new offensive, it might do him well to remember his promises. Ferdinand acknowledges the justification of these objections. He knows that the British Army's Tommies and the French Army's Poilus are tired

He insists that he's already thought this through. They can speed or slow the attack as necessary, but should keep their sights on ending and winning this war sometime next year in 1919, which with their combined efforts is possible. And as for Blackjack, yes, after more than a year in France, it's time.

This very same day, Blackjack gives the formal order that the US 1st and 3rd Corps, both of which fought at Soissons, come together to form the US 1st Army. The order will take effect next month, on August 10th. After snapping a photo to memorialize this rare meeting of military minds, the four grain commanders go their separate ways. But with no major objections, Sir Douglas Haig and Philippe Pétain both give Ferdinand Fauche their approval of his plan in the next 24 hours.

As for Black Jack Pershing, he too is a yes. Having finally achieved his heart's desire, a real American army, he can hardly wait to lead his doughboys into battle. But while Black Jack's long insisted that these doughboys can fight on their own, this means they'll no longer have the same support from the French and British allies who will be more than preoccupied in their own fight at Amiens. Can these Yankees really fight on their own?

They'll soon get a chance to prove their effectiveness on the battlefield as they carry out Foch's plan and fight in the coming battle of Saint-Miet.