WWI Battlefield Tours: The Aisne-Marne Offensive – Going on the attack

This World War I Battlefield Tour includes Google Maps links at each stop. Travel along virtually or map the full route and take a drive along this historic battlefield route in France.

"The first great setback for Germany."

By the end of May 1918, the third German spring offensive had established a salient extending from a point west of Soissons south to Chateau-Thierry, and then northeast to the outskirts of Reims. An attack pushed west from Soissons in June fell short of German expectations. Another was planned to encircle Reims and cross the Marne River east of Chateau-Thierry in mid-July. French intelligence uncovered the plan. Their response was a prepared defense and a strategic counterattack to collapse the Chateau-Thierry salient.

The attacks between July 15 and 17 were countered by prepared defenses. French and American artillery east of Chateau-Thierry fired on the masses of German infantry waiting in forward positions. It was here that the American 3rd Division earned its name, "The Rock of the Marne," in defensive battles on the south bank of the Marne. The 42nd Division fought with French forces east of Reims near Navarin Farm in the Champagne region.

With the German offensive balance thrown toward Reims, the second part of the French plan was to attack the salient from the west, southwest, and east with three French armies supported by British, Italian, and American divisions. To the west the French Tenth and Sixth Armies, including the U.S. 1st, 2nd, 4th and 26th Divisions, surprised German units south of Soissons on July 18. On July 19 Maj. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., was gassed and wounded leading his battalion of the 26th Infantry, 1st Division.

Soldiers en route to the front cross a pontoon bridge across the Marne.

The French determined that the better German troops had already been used. Second rate "defensive" units held the west face of the salient.

The predawn French-led attack on July 18 was a complete surprise to the Germans. There was no preparatory bombardment. The French Tenth Army's 1,500 artillery pieces only fired a heavy rolling barrage ahead of the assault. Behind the artillery fire came tanks followed by infantry. The American 2nd Division led the others advancing 8 kilometers. Twenty thousand German soldiers were taken prisoner. An American liaison officer with the French High Command was congratulated by French officers saying, "Without the Americans this would never have been possible."

For American Expeditionary Forces' units in the French Sixth and Ninth Armies, pursuit began with the 26th Division attacking between Vaux and Belleau, and the 3rd Division crossing the Marne east of Chateau-Thierry.

The Germans reacted and began a methodical withdrawal from the salient covered by reinforcements of ground and air forces. The reinforcements were assault units preparing for an Aug. 1 offensive against the British in Flanders. The attack was canceled, saving the British from another dangerous battle.

Allied forces pressed the Germans steadily out of the salient. American divisions fought under Allied command in French corps and armies. Most of the campaign was fought in "open warfare" conditions across land without strong entrenchments and fortifications. American divisions distinguished themselves in the rolling fields and dense woods of the region. In his memoirs, German Gen. Erich Ludendorff wrote of this campaign, "This was the first great setback for Germany. There now developed the very situation which I had endeavored to prevent. The initiative passed to the enemy. Germany's position was extremely serious. It was no longer possible to win the war in a military sense."

The campaign was the first clear Allied victory in 1918 on the Western Front. Germany would not mount another offensive or have another victory. The Allied counteroffensive lasted until early September. Before the Oise-Aisne campaign ended, the advantage passed to the Allies on the Western Front. Ludendorff was compelled to cancel plans to attack the British Army in Flanders. German morale sagged. The opportunity had passed for Ludendorff to force the Allies to negotiate before the American Expeditionary Forces could tip the balance. Gen. John J. Pershing's First Army began its first offensive as an independent force at St. Mihiel.

Stop 1 - Croix Rouge Farm

The 42nd Division was made up of National Guard units from 26 states. The press nicknamed this division "The Rainbow Division." On July 24, 1918, the 42nd Division passed through the Forêt de Fère, south of Beuvardes. Patrols encountered German defensive positions at Beuvardes and Croix Rouge Farm.

The American units were trained but did not have significant battle experience. The Germans were in the fortified farm buildings, the remains of which you see by the monument. The fields around the farm were as broad as you see them now, with a summer's growth. Concealed in the fields were trenches on the sides of the road running north and south. A v-shaped trench ran around the farm buildings pointing toward the wood line. The Germans had made colored blazes in the wood line to assist their shooting. They were armed with several dozen machine guns. To the east, more Germans were stationed in the woods beyond the fields. The fields are 915 meters wide, half the effective range of their machine guns. The area had been surveyed by German artillery observers for accurate fire from distant guns.

The 1st Battalion, 167th Infantry, an Alabama National Guard regiment, attacked the farm without artillery support at 4:50 p.m. From a position 460 meters in the woods the men advanced in a skirmish line in cool rainy weather.

The regiment's 3rd Battalion, covering the right flank, advanced to pass south of the farm buildings. Advancing in line through the woods, both battalions encountered German snipers and machine gun teams who fired and fell back. High explosive and poison gas shells from German artillery began to fall in the wood. Approaching the field, the 167th came under fire from the farm buildings and field positions. The attack of the 1st Battalion became pinned down in front and to the north of the farm. At 6 p.m., reserve companies came up and renewed the attack with survivors of the first wave. About 100 men assaulted the roadside trench, north of the farm. From the woods to the east, a German counterattack advanced. The Alabama National Guardsmen turned them back at bayonet point. Casualties were very heavy.

Croix Ridge Farm

On the right flank, the 3rd Battalion encountered dense woods approaching the fields, which protected them from long-range fire, but brought them into close contact with German skirmishers. Enemy fire checked the assault at the wood line briefly. The assault then carried into the field trenches in hand-to-hand combat. A 3rd Battalion mortar section began to bombard the farm from the woods. Five hundred fifty meters south of the farm, two companies of the 167th cleared the enemy from the south edge of the fields. The 3rd Battalion's commander and three of his company commanders were casualties. Assault organization was breaking down, but officers and men reformed and pressed the attack across the road to the east of the farmhouses.

Two hours into the attack, casualties were severe. The 167th had isolated the farmhouse from enemy reinforcements. The 3rd Battalion's attack had veered toward the farm buildings, with the 168th Infantry, an Iowa regiment. To the north by the road, 1st Battalion fired on the buildings and the eastern woods. The roadside trenches provided cover to approach and attack the farm buildings. About 7 p.m., lieutenants from the 1st and 3rd Battalions led separate attacks on the farm buildings and cleared the roadside ditches, carrying Croix Rouge Farm. German artillery fire had fallen in the woods and around the farm during the attack and continued through the night. In the field east of the farm, men of different units of the 42nd Division organized a defense and repelled a German counterattack.

Throughout the rainy night, the regiment recovered its dead and evacuated the wounded. One hundred sixty-two officers and men of the 167th Regiment were killed in the fighting at Croix Rouge Farm. The 1st Battalion had 65 percent killed or wounded. On the morning of July 27, word came that the Germans had retreated across the Ourcq River.

On July 26 Col. Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of the Rainbow Division, praised the 167th and 168th Regiments that, "… captured the Croix Rouge Farm in a manner which for its gallantry I do not believe has been surpassed in military history."

Stop 2 - Attack on Grimpettes Wood

On the morning of July 28, 1918, the 28th Division, a National Guard division from Pennsylvania, replaced French forces here, facing northeast around the town of Courmont. The 42nd Division covered their left flank 1 kilometer to the northwest. To the right, just across the road from the soccer field, the 3rd Division stretched to the southeast. Two infantry regiments of the 28th Division were held in reserve near Croix Rouge Farm 5 kilometers to the rear. The clash here was part of the Battle of the Ourcq.

Courmont is in the valley of the Ourcq River which flows along the line of trees you see down the road. Beyond, crowning the ridge opposite Courmont, is Grimpettes Wood. In wet July weather, the Germans had been slowly retreating north, taking advantage of good defensive positions. The 28th Division and elements of the French Sixth Army had been pursuing them in force, not knowing when they would fight.

On July 28 a reinforced regiment of the 28th Division, about 4,500 men, descended the hill toward the Ourcq to press the Germans. Occasional machine gun and artillery fire fell on the men in the fields here. The enemy had made a stand across the little river, and the regiment went to ground in the riverbed. On the right, the 3rd Division advanced beyond the river toward Grimpettes Wood but was driven back. German artillery fire increased and the advance was halted. The Ourcq River, then as now, forms a natural trench some 2.5 meters wide and deep with only 0.3 meters of water in its bed.

The temporary cemetery at Courmont, November 1918.

On the second day, the 28th Division attacked again before dawn with a brief artillery bombardment. The leading troops made it to Grimpettes Wood by 6 a.m. but were forced back by heavy fire three hours later. The attack only gained the lower slope of the hill. To the right, the 3rd Division made an attack mid-afternoon but made little progress. The Germans still held Grimpettes Wood and the ridgeline to the left of it. German artillery and machine guns harassed the American line. Orders were issued to attack again in the morning on July 30. Engineers built wooden bridges across the Ourcq. The 28th Division's objective was the Grimpettes Wood and the ridge to the left. Through the day and into the night, one brigade of the 28th Division prepared to attack before dawn. French artillery had arrived and set up for the next day's attack.

At 3:40 a.m. on July 30, the 28th Division attacked again. In the dark, a brief but heavy bombardment struck the German positions. The soldiers of the 28th Division made it to the crest and to the edge of Grimpettes Wood. In the early afternoon, French artillery bombarded the woods and then laid a rolling barrage in front of the 28th Division. The line of explosions hid the American soldiers from the enemy, then rolled forward through the wood. The soldiers of the 28th Division followed the confusion of the barrage through the wood, often bypassing Germans. Beyond the wood, they secured a line above the town of Ceigres out of sight beyond the ridge. Two reserve companies of the attacking regiment went slowly through Grimpettes Wood, mopping up the enemy, then reinforcing the new line. In the evening, the 28th Division held off a German counterattack from the Ceigres Wood on their right. The next day, the 28th Division was relieved by the 32nd Division, made up of Michigan and Wisconsin National Guardsmen. In only a few days of fighting here, the 28th Division suffered 1,400 men killed and wounded.

Stop 3 - 1^st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt and Chamery

When indoor water taps were uncommon, most of the village came here for their drinking water. This fountain was presented to the town in memory of 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt by his family.

In July 1918, Chamery was behind German lines. When the Allies attacked, the Germans sent reinforcements, including aviation units. Military aviation had become more important, and as the value of reconnaissance and bombing aircraft increased, so did the need to counter them with fighters. Flying swift, maneuverable, and well-armed aircraft, fighter pilots were much admired by the public, as their single combat in colorful biplanes drew parallels with chivalric knights.

The grave of 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt in 1918 near Cierges, Aisne, France.

On July 14, Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest son of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was killed in action flying a Nieuport 28 fighter. Quentin had grown up in the White House and was a favorite of the American people. Aged 20, he had only been flying in combat for nine days. This was the tragically typical life expectancy for a World War I pilot.

The crash site was in the field 915 meters east of the fountain. Quentin was buried with honors by the German Army at the site of his crash, in a well-attended funeral. After they took Chamery, Allied soldiers flocked to the gravesite. In 1955, Quentin's remains were moved to the Normandy American Cemetery to lie by those of his brother, Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Five days after his brother's death, Theodore was wounded near Soissons. He would later die in World War II during the Normandy campaign in July 1944.

Stop 4 - Oise-Aisne American Cemetery

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery is ABMC's second largest American World War I cemetery. It lies on land seized from the German army by the 42nd Division between July 31 and Aug. 2, 1918. In the course of an ongoing attack on July 31, the division advanced behind a heavy barrage of high explosive and thermite incendiaries that broke the local German defense. On August 2, the division advanced again in pursuit over the ground where the cemetery stands and through the Forêt de Nesles to the north. The 42nd Division suffered almost 6,500 casualties in this campaign. The poet Joyce Kilmer, author of "Trees," is interred here. As a member of the regimental intelligence section, he volunteered for a hazardous patrol and was killed by a sniper on July 30.

The 42nd Division established this cemetery as a resting place for its fallen in 1918. It was confirmed as a permanent site in 1921. Most of those interred here were casualties of the Aisne-Marne and Oise-Aisne Offensives. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 6,000 Americans, nearly 600 of whom are unknown. The names of nearly 250 missing Americans, who died in this region, are honored on the Walls of the Missing in the chapel.

Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in 1921 with wooden markers.

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