The Lorraine Campaign PDF
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UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations THE LORRAINE CAMPAIGN Hugh M. Cole CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D. C., 1993 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 50—60957 First Printed 1950—CMH Pub 7–6–1 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II Kent Roberts Greenfield, General Editor Advisory Committee James E Baxter William T. Hutchinson President, Williams College University of Chicago Henry S. Commager S. L. A. Marshall Columbia University Detroit News Douglas S. Freeman E. Dwight Salmon Richmond News Leader Amherst College Pendleton Herring Col. Thomas D. Stamps Social Science Research Council United States Military Academy John D. Hicks Charles H. Taylor University of California Harvard University Walter L. Wright* Princeton University Historical Division, SSUSA Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, Chief** Chief Historian Kent Roberts Greenfield Chief, World War II Group Col. Allison R. Hartman Editor-in-Chief Hugh Corbett Chief Cartographer Wsevolod Aglaimoff *Deceased 16 May 1949. **Maj. Gen. Harry J. Malony was succeeded by General Ward on I April 1949. . . .t o Those Who Served THE LORRAINE CAMPAIGN Foreword In publishing the series, U.S. ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, the Depart- ment of the Army has three objectives. The first is to provide the Army itself with an accurate and timely account of its varied activities in mobilizing, or- ganizing, and employing its forces for the conduct of war—an account that will be available to the service schools and to individual members of the Armed Services who wish to extend their professional reading. The second objective is to help enlarge the thoughtful citizen's concept of national secu- rity by describing the basic problems of war and the manner in which these problems were met. The third objective is to preserve for the record a well- merited tribute to the devotion and sacrifice of those who served. The authors of the combat volumes were selected from among trained civilian historians, many of whom served as historical officers attached to the headquarters of larger units engaged in the campaigns about which the his- tories are written. Their material has been gathered from their own observa- tions and research as well as from the gleanings of other trained historians who served in the wartime Army. All pertinent official records, interviews with both Allied and enemy participants in the actions, and captured enemy records were made available in the preparation of these volumes. Although no claim is made that the series constitutes a final history, the authors have weighed the evidence in accordance with the Chief of Staff's directive that Army histories must present a full and factual account, thoroughly docu- mented and completely objective. They are under no restrictions in their work except those imposed by the requirements of national security and by the standards of historical scholarship. The level on which the volumes are written necessarily varies. When an ac- tion is confined to a comparatively small number of units in a limited area, it has been possible to carry the narrative down to companies, platoons, and even individuals. When an action involves many large units moving rapidly vii over extensive areas, the small-unit level is not feasible. In the writing of combat history, as in combat itself, the solution to the problem “depends on the situation.” Hugh M. Cole, the author of this volume, obtained his Ph.D. in Military History from the University of Minnesota in 1937. He taught Military History at the University of Chicago until the spring of 1942 when he accepted a com- mission as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. A graduate in 1943 from the Command and General Staff School, Dr. Cole subsequently joined the Historical section, G–2, War Department, and in 1944 was assigned to Head- quarters, Third United States Army, then in England. After serving in four campaigns with the Third Army, he became Deputy Theater Historian, European Theater of Operations. In 1946 he was reassigned to the Historical Division, WDSS, and started the research and writing that culminated in this volume. The Department of the Army gratefully acknowledges the co-operation of the U.S. Air Force in making available such of their records and research facilities as were pertinent to the preparation of this volume. HARRY J. MALONY Washington, D. C. Maj. Gen., U.S.A. 15 March 1949 Chief, Historical Division viii The Author Hugh M. Cole received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1937 in the field of European military history. He taught military history at the Univer- sity of Chicago until 1942, when he joined the Army as an intelligence officer. After graduating from the Command and General Staff School he was assigned to the staff of the Third Army during its operations in Europe. At the close of hostilities he became Deputy Theater Historian, European Theater of Operations. From 1946 to 1952 Dr. Cole directed the work of the European Theater Section, Office of the Chief of Military History, wrote The Lorraine Campaign, a volume that appeared in this series in 1950, and undertook much of the work that has culminated in this volume on the Ardennes Campaign. He joined the Operations Research Office of The Johns Hopkins University in 1952 and has continued his active interest in military history and his service to the Army both as a scholar and as colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. ix
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