PLEASE FOLLOW OUR E BAY STORE. SALE SEE OUR STORE. PLEASE READ WHOLE ADD. MEDAL HAS 5 BATTLE BARS , BELOW IS BRIEF OF EACH BATTLE. United States campaigns in World War I. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Two American soldiers storm a bunker past the bodies of two German soldiers during World War I. World War I Campaign Streamer. The United States campaigns in World War I began after American entry. In the war in early April 1917. The American Expeditionary Force. (AEF) served on the Western Front. And engaged in 13 official military campaigns. Between 1917 and 1918, for which campaign streamers. The streamer uses the colors of the World War I Victory Medal. Ribbon which had a red center with a rainbow on each side of the center stripe and a purple edge. The double rainbow symbolizes the dawn of a new era and the calm which follows the storm. The details above and following are taken from “The Army Flag and Its Streamers”, a pamphlet which was originally prepared in 1964 by the Office of the Chief of Military History. In cooperation with the Office of the Chief of Information and the U. Army Exhibit Unit, to provide general summaries of each of the campaign ribbons authorized to be displayed on the Army flag. It was subsequently updated by the Center of Military History to add the campaigns from Vietnam. Aisne, 27 May 5 June 1918. Main article: Third Battle of the Aisne. US Marines in Belleau Wood, 1918. The next major German attack fell on 27 May on the thinly held but formidable terrain along the Aisne River. Known as the Chemin des Dames. The original objective of this new offensive was to draw southward the Allied reserves accumulated back of the British sector, in preparation for a final German attempt to destroy the British Army in Flanders. The French and British defenders were taken completely by surprise, and their positions were overrun rapidly on a forty-mile front. German progress on the first day was so rapid advances up to 13 miles (21 km) were made at some points that Ludendorff altered his plans and decided to make the diversionary attack a main effort. Most of the Aisne bridges were captured intact. The thrust toward Rheims. Was taken, and by 31 May the Germans had reached the outskirts of Château-Thierry. Less than 40 miles (64 km) from Paris. In the next few days the Germans sought to exploit and expand the deep and exposed salient which they had established. But by 4 June they had been stopped everywhere. Some 27,500 American troops of the American Expeditionary Force. Took part in the check of the German advance. Foiled enemy attempts in the period 14 June to secure a firm bridgehead across the Marne at Château-Thierry. West of the town the 2nd Division. Which included a Marine brigade, defended the road to Paris, and on 6 June successfully counterattacked in the Battle of Belleau Wood. Champagne-Marne, 1518 July 1918. In the four great offensives from 21 March to 13 June 1918 the Germans gained considerable ground, but failed to achieve a decisive advantage at any point on the front. Furthermore, success was bought at a price in manpower and material which they could ill afford. Their more than 600,000 casualties were irreplaceable, whereas the Allied loss of some 800,000 men was soon more than compensated for by new American units arriving at the front in ever-mounting numbers. By July 1918 Allied troops outnumbered German on the Western Front. Other factors also contributed to the decline of German morale, notably the pinch of the blockade and the effectiveness of the Allied propaganda, which was distributed widely by air at the front and in German cities behind the lines. But Ludendorff refused to consider peace negotiations, and planned two more offensives for July which he hoped would bring victory. The first of the new drives was designed to capture Rheims, to make more secure the supply of the Merge salient, and to draw in Allied reserves. The second and larger offensive, destined never to be launched, would strike once again at the British in Flanders. When the two-pronged German assault on either side of Rheims began on 15 July the Allies were prepared for it. Plans for the attack had leaked out of Berlin, and Allied airplanes had detected the unusual activity behind the enemy front. Foch had time to draw up reserves, and Petain, the French commander, skillfully deployed his troops in defense-in-depth tactics. Consequently, the German drive east of Rheims fell far short of its objective. The attack west of the city succeeded in pushing across the Marne near Château-Thierry. But was checked there by French and American units. Units involved in this action were the 3rd Infantry Division. 26th and 28th Divisions, the 42nd Infantry Division. The 369th Infantry Regiment. And supporting elements (in all about 85,000 Americans). It was here that the 38th Infantry and the 30th Infantry Regiments of the 3rd Division gained the motto, Rock of the Marne. By 17 July the Champagne-Marne offensive had petered out and the initiative passed to the Allies. The German people had built up great hopes for the success of this Friedensturm (peace offensive); its failure was a tremendous psychological blow to the whole nation. Aisne-Marne, 18 July 6 August 1918. Main articles: Second Battle of the Marne. And Battle of Soissons (1918). Several days before the Germans launched their abortive Champagne-Marne drive, the French high command had made plans for a general converging offensive against the Marne salient. Petain issued orders on 12 July for the attack to begin on the 18th, with five French armies the Tenth, Sixth, Ninth, Fifth, and Fourth, placed around the salient from left to right taking part. Spearheading the attack were the five divisions of the French XX Corps (Tenth Army), including the American 1st and 2nd Divisions. Early on 18 July the two American divisions and a French Moroccan division, jumping off behind a heavy barrage, launched the main blow at the northwest base of the salient near Soissons. Enemy frontline troops, taken by surprise, initially gave ground, although resistance stiffened after an Allied penetration of some three miles (5 km). Before the 1st and 2d Divisions were relieved (on 19 and 22 July respectively) they had advanced 6 to 7 miles (11 km), made Soissons untenable for the enemy, and captured 6,500 prisoners at a cost of over 10,000 American casualties. Meanwhile, the other French armies in the offensive also made important gains, and the German commander ordered a general retreat from the Marne salient. The French Sixth Army, on the right of the Tenth, advanced steadily from the southwest, reaching the Vesle River on 3 August. By 28 July this army included the American 3d, 4th, 28th, and 42d Divisions. The 4th and 42d Divisions were under control of the I Corps, the first American corps headquarters to participate in combat. On 4 August the American III Corps headquarters entered combat, taking control of the 28th and 32d Divisions (the latter had relieved the 3d Division in the line on 29 July). By 5 August the entire Sixth Army front was held by the two American corps. East of the Sixth Army the French Ninth and Fifth Armies also advanced into the salient. The Germans retired across the Aisne and Vesle Rivers, resolutely defending each strong point as they went. By 6 August the Aisne-Marne Offensive was over. The threat to Paris was ended by wiping out the Marne salient. The initiative now had definitely passed to the Allies, ending any possibility that Ludendorff could carry out his planned offensive in Flanders. Moreover, the success of the offensive revealed the advantages of Allied unity of command and the fighting qualities of American units. Divisions (1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 26th, 28th, 32d, 42d) in the action had spearheaded much of the advance, demonstrating offensive capabilities that helped to inspire new confidence in the war-weary Allied armies. About 270,000 Americans took part in the battle. On 24 July, while the Aisne-Marne drive was under way, Foch had outlined his plans for the remainder of 1918 at the only conference of Allied commanders that he called during the war. He proposed that the immediate objective of the Allied offensive should be the reduction of the three main German salients Marne, Amiens, St. Mihiel, with the goal of improving lateral communications behind the front in preparation for a general offensive in the fall. Reduction of the St. Mihiel salient was assigned to Pershing at his own request. The contribution made by American troops in the Aisne-Marne Offensive gave Pershing an opportunity to press again for the formation of an independent American army. Preliminary steps in the organization of the American First Army had been taken in early July 1918. On the 4th LTC Hugh A. Was selected as chief of staff and directed to begin establishment of army headquarters. After conferences on 10 and 21 July, Foch agreed on the 22d to the formal organization of the First Army, and to the formation of two American sectors a temporary combat sector in the Château-Thierry region, where the already active I and III Corps could comprise the nucleus of the First Army, and a quiet sector farther east, extending from Nomeny (east of the Moselle) to a point north of St. Mihiel which would become the actual theater of operations for the American Army as soon as circumstances permitted concentration of A. Orders issued on 24 July announced formal organization of the First Army, effective on 10 August; designated Pershing as its commander; and located its headquarters at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, west of Château-Thierry. Thus, 15 months after its declaration of war, the US finally had committed its formations on the ground. Stabilization of the Vesle River front in early August led Pershing to alter his plan for forming the First Army. Instead of organizing it in the Château-Thierry region and then moving it eastward for the St. Mihiel Offensive, he secured Foch’s consent on 9 August to a build-up of First Army units in the vicinity of the St. Tentative plans for reduction of the salient called for the concentration of three American corps (about 14 American and 3 French divisions) on a front extending from Port-sur-Seille westward around the bulge to Watronville. Three American divisions would remain on the Vesle front. Meanwhile, Allied forces, including some American units operating in other sectors of the Western Front, were making significant gains in the preliminary phases of the great final offensives. For the sake of clarity, the role of American units in the Somme Offensive (8 August 11 November), Oise-Aisne (18 August 11 November), and Ypres-Lys (19 August 11 November) Campaigns will be described briefly, before considering in more detail the activities of the main body of A. Troops in the St. Mihiel (1216 September) and Meuse-Argonne (26 September 11 November) Campaigns. Mihiel, 1216 September 1918. Main article: Battle of Saint-Mihiel. By September 1918, with both the Marne and the Amiens salients eliminated, there remained but one major threat to lateral rail communications behind the Allied lines the old St. Mihiel salient near the Paris Nancy. Active preparations for its reduction began with the transfer of Headquarters First Army, effective 13 August, from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre in the Marne region to Neufchâteau. On the Meuse, immediately south of St. On 28 August the first echelon of headquarters moved closer to the front at Ligny-en-Barrois. American units from Flanders to Switzerland were shifted into the area near the salient. The fourteen American and four French divisions assigned to the First Army for the operation contained ample infantry and machine gun units for the attack. The French made up this deficiency by loaning Pershing over half the artillery and nearly half the airplanes and tanks needed for the St. Shortly before the offensive was to begin, Foch threatened once again to disrupt Pershing’s long-held desire to carry out a major operation with an independent American force. On 30 August the Allied Commander in Chief proposed to exploit the recently gained successes on the Aisne-Marne and Amiens fronts by reducing the size of the St. Mihiel attack and dividing the American forces into three groups one for the salient offensive and two for fronts to the east and west of the Argonne Forest. Pershing, however, remained adamant in his insistence that the First Army should not now be broken up, no matter where it might be sent into action. Finally a compromise was reached. Mihiel attack was subordinated to the much larger offensive to be launched on the Meuse-Argonne front in late September, but the First Army remained intact. Pershing agreed to limit his operations by employing only the minimum force needed to reduce the salient in three or four days. Simultaneously he was to prepare his troops for a major role in the Meuse-Argonne drive. Mihiel offensive began on 12 September with a threefold assault on the salient. The main attack was made against the south face by two American corps. On the right was the I Corps (from right to left the 82d, 90th, 5th, and 2d Divisions in line with the 78th in reserve) covering a front from Pont-à-Mousson on the Moselle westward to Limey; on the left, the IV Corps (from right to left the 89th, 42d, and 1st Divisions in line with the 3d in reserve) extending along a front from Limey westward to Marvoisin. A secondary thrust was carried out against the west face along the heights of the Meuse, from Mouilly north to Haudimont, by the V Corps (from right to left the 26th Division, the French 15th Colonial Division, and the 8th Brigade, 4th Division in line with the rest of the 4th in reserve). A holding attack against the apex, to keep the enemy in the salient, was made by the French II Colonial Corps (from right to left the French 39th Colonial Division, the French 26th Division, and the French 2d Cavalry Division in line). In First Army reserve were the American 35th, 80th, and 91st Divisions. Total Allied forces involved in the offensive numbered more than 650,000 some 550,000 American and 100,000 Allied (mostly French) troops. In support of the attack the First Army had over 3,000 guns, 400 French tanks, and 1,500 airplanes. Directed the heterogeneous air force, composed of British, French, Italian, Portuguese, and American units, in what proved to be the largest single air operation of the war. American squadrons flew 609 of the airplanes, which were mostly of French or British manufacture. Defending the salient was German “Army Detachment C”, consisting of eight divisions and a brigade in the line and about two divisions in reserve. The Germans, now desperately short of manpower, had begun a step-by-step withdrawal from the salient only the day before the offensive began. The attack went so well on 12 September that Pershing ordered a speedup in the offensive. By the morning of 13 September the 1st Division, advancing from the east, joined hands with the 26th Division, moving in from the west, and before evening all objectives in the salient had been captured. At this point Pershing halted further advances so that American units could be withdrawn for the coming offensive in the Meuse-Argonne sector. This first major operation by an American Army under its own command took 16,000 prisoners at a cost of 7,000 casualties, eliminated the threat of an attack on the rear of Allied fortifications at Nancy. Greatly improved Allied lateral rail communications, and opened the way for a possible future offensive to seize Metz. Meuse-Argonne, 26 September 11 November 1918. Main article: Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Men of the 369th Infantry Regiment. In action at Séchault. On September 29, 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Soldiers of 2nd Division engaged in combat in the Argonne Forest. At the end of August Marshal Foch had submitted plans to the national commanders for a final offensive along the entire Western Front, with the objective of driving the enemy out of France before winter and ending the war in the spring of 1919. The basis for his optimism was the success of Allied attacks all along the front in August. Furthermore, he pointed out, the Allies already had active operations in progress between the Moselle. And on the Somme. Foch acknowledged that the Germans could stave off immediate defeat by an orderly evacuation combined with destruction of materiel and communications. Therefore, the overall aim of the fall offensive would be to prevent a step-by-step enemy retirement. As Foch anticipated, the Germans eventually contributed to the success of his strategy. Their High Command could not bring itself to sacrifice the huge stores collected behind the front lines, and so delayed the withdrawal of its armies. Foch’s great offensive, planned to begin in the last week of September, called for a gigantic pincers movement with the objective of capturing Aulnoye. The two key junctions in the lateral rail system behind the German front. Loss of either of these junctions would hamper seriously the German withdrawal. Despite grumbling from the English that they lacked the necessary manpower, a chiefly British army was assigned the task of driving toward Aulnoye. Was designated for the southern arm of the pincers, the thrust on Mézières. Simultaneously the Belgian-French-British army group in Flanders would drive toward Ghent. And the French armies in the Oise-Aisne region. Would exert pressure all along their front to lend support to the pincers attack. Pershing decided to strike his heaviest blow in a zone about 20 miles (32 km) wide between the Heights of the Meuse on the east and the western edge of the high, rough, and densely wooded Argonne Forest. This is difficult terrain, broken by a central northsouth ridge that dominates the valleys of the Meuse. Three heavily fortified places Montfaucon. As well as numerous strong points barred the way to penetration of the elaborate German defenses in depth that extended behind the entire front. This fortified system consisted of three main defense lines backed up by a fourth line less well-constructed. Pershing hoped to launch an attack with enough momentum to drive through these lines into the open area beyond, where his troops could then strike at the exposed German flanks and, in a coordinated drive with the French Fourth Army. Coming up on the left, could cut the Sedan-Mézières railroad. The task of assembling troops in the concentration area between Verdun. And the Forest of Argonne. Was complicated by the fact that many American units were currently engaged in the battle of Saint-Mihiel. Some 600,000 Americans had to be moved into the Argonne sector while 220,000 French moved out. Responsibility for solving this tricky logistical problem fell to Col. Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 (Operations), First Army. In the ten-day period after St. Mihiel the necessary troop movements were accomplished, but many untried divisions had to be placed in the vanguard of the attacking forces. On the 20-mile (32 km) Meuse-Argonne front where the main American attack w to be made, Pershing disposed three corps side by side, each with three divisions in line and one in corps reserve. In the center was the V Corps. From right to left the 79th. In reserve, which would strike the decisive blow. On the right was the III Corps. From right to left the 33d. With the 3d in reserve, which would move up the west aide of the Meuse. On the left was the I Corps. From right to left the 35th. In reserve, which would advance parallel to the French Fourth Army. Eastward across the Meuse the American front extended in direct line some 60 miles (97 km); this sector was held by two French Corps (IV and II Colonial) and the American IV Corps. Pershing had available to support his offensive nearly 4000 guns, two-thirds manned by American artillerymen; 190 light French tanks, mostly with American personnel; and some 820 aircraft, 600 of them flown by Americans. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive falls into three phases. During the initial phase (26 September 3 October) the First Army advanced through most of the southern Meuse-Argonne region, captured enemy strong points, seized the first two German defense lines, and then stalled before the third line. Failure of tank support, a difficult supply situation, and the inexperience of American troops all contributed to checking its advance. In the second phase (431 October) the First Army, after the inexperienced divisions had been replaced by veteran units, slowly ground its way through the third German line. The enemy was forced to throw in reserves, drawn from other parts of the front, thus aiding the Allied advances elsewhere. In the face of a stubborn defense, American gains were limited and casualties were severe, especially as a result of the newly devised enemy tactic of attacking frontline troops with airplanes. First Army air units retaliated with bombing raids which broke up German preparations for counterattacks. By the end of October the enemy had been cleared from the Argonne and First Army troops were through the German main positions. Two notable incidents of this phase of the campaign were the fight of the “Lost Battalion” of the 77th Division (27 October), and the feat of CPL (later SGT) Alvin C. Who single-handedly killed 15 Germans and captured 132 on 8 October. In mid-October the organization of the Second Army was completed, at Toul. Mihiel sector, to provide means for better control of the lengthening American front and solutions of the diverse tactical problems that it presented. Pershing assumed command of the new army group thus formed. Before the third and final phase (111 November) of the offensive got under way, many of the exhausted divisions of the First Army were replaced, roads were built or repaired, supply was improved, and most Allied units serving with the A. On 1 November First Army units began the assault of the now strengthened German fourth line of defense. Penetration was rapid and spectacular. The V Corps in the center advanced about six miles (10 km) the first day, compelling the German units west of the Meuse to withdraw hurriedly. On 4 November the III Corps forced a crossing of the Meuse and advanced northeast toward Montmédy. Elements of the V Corps occupied the heights opposite Sedan on 7 November, thus finally accomplishing the First Army’s chief mission denial of the Sedan-Mézières railroad to the Germans. Marshal Foch, at this juncture, shifted the First Army left boundary eastward so that the French Fourth Army might capture Sedan. Which had fallen to the Prussians in 1870. American units were closing up along the Meuse and, east of the river, were advancing toward Montmédy. When hostilities ended on 11 November. General Pershing authorized the results of the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, the greatest battle in American history up to that time, in his Final Report: Between 26 September and 11 November, 22 American and 4 French divisions, on the front extending from southeast of Verdun. To the Argonne Forest, had engaged and decisively beaten 47 different German divisions, representing 25 percent of the enemy’s entire divisional strength on the western front. The First Army suffered a loss of about 117,000 in killed and wounded. It captured 26,000 prisoners, 847 cannon, 3,000 machineguns, and large quantities of material. More than 1,200,000 Americans had taken part in the 47-day campaign. The item “WW1 US VICTORY MEDAL WITH 5 CLASP PLEASE READ FULL AD THERE IS A LOT HERE” is in sale since Thursday, May 7, 2020. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\WW I (1914-18)\Original Period Items\United States\Medals, Pins & Ribbons”. The seller is “bigjeffnola” and is located in Madisonville, Louisiana. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
