On September 26, 1918, Allied forces launched the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest and deadliest operation undertaken by the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Led by General John J. Pershing, the attack was part of the wider Allied Hundred Days campaign and aimed to drive German forces back while threatening the crucial rail network around Sedan and Mézières, which supported German armies in France. An immense artillery bombardment opened the offensive before American and French troops advanced through the difficult ground between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest.
More than 1.2 million U.S. soldiers eventually participated in the campaign alongside French forces. Over the next 47 days, they confronted entrenched German defenses, dense woods, broken roads, mud, autumn rain, supply bottlenecks, and the worldwide influenza pandemic. Progress was often slow and costly, especially in the opening stages, but American forces gradually gained ground and increased pressure on a German army already strained by Allied attacks across the Western Front.
The offensive continued until the Armistice took effect on November 11, 1918, ending the fighting on the Western Front. American losses were staggering: 26,277 U.S. service members were killed and more than 95,000 were wounded, making Meuse-Argonne the deadliest campaign in U.S. military history. Its success did not alone defeat Germany, but it was a major contribution to the sustained Allied pressure that pushed the German government to seek an armistice. The campaign also demonstrated that the United States had become a significant military force in the final outcome of the war.
(Image: A 37 mm gun crew provides cover for advancing U.S. troops during the Meuse-Argonne campaign. National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the United States.)
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