Offensive at St. Mihiel

OFFENSIVE AT ST. MIHIEL The St. Mihiel Offensive began on September 12, 1918. It was the first operation of World War I performed and commanded solely by an American Army. The whole idea of the operation was to reduce the size of the German salient, a part of their battle line that jutted out towards allied territories. Though delayed at first by other occurring battles, the operation began on August 10, 1918 when the American First Army headquarters was …

…which had stood for four years was now non-existent. The German front line had been drastically reduced. 15,000 Germans were captured along with 450 weapons. 7,000 Americans lost their lives, but this was deemed acceptable compared to the standards of this war. In any case, this battle showed that the American Army could handle any operation. It allowed the American Army to now take on large scale assignments and successfully fight the upcoming battles of Argone and after.