What Were the Causes of the Delay of the 79th Division Capturing Montfaucon During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I?

<p>On the opening day of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I the newly-created United States 79th Division was templated to advance nine kilometers through German-controlled terrain. However the advance through the first four kilometers which included the German strong point of Montfaucon took two days. The slowed advance of the 79th Division is credited with slowing the progress of the entire American Expeditionary Forces' First Army thus allowing time for Germans to react to the surprise American offensive. Thus the central research question is: What were the factors that caused the delay of the 79th Division in their capture of Montfaucon? Little research has been completed on this subject and most historians pinpoint the sole cause as inexperience on the part of the 79th Division. Therefore an analysis will be conducted which takes into account the training received by the 79th Division in the United States the training received in France and other factors that influenced the outcome of the battle.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>