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The Second Battle of the Marne (The Aisne-Marne Offensive)

Victory Monument commemorating the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France reorganized as the 370th U.S. Infantry Regiment of the 93rd Division. The bronze sculpture is by Leonard Crunelle and was erected in 1927.
The regiment saw action at St. Mihiel, the Argonne Forest, Mont des Singes, and in the Oise-Aisne Offensive. The monument lists the names of the 137 soldiers of the regiment who lost their lives in the war.

Victory Monument commemorating the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France reorganized as the 370th U.S. Infantry Regiment of the 93rd Division. The bronze sculpture is by Leonard Crunelle and was erected in 1927.
The regiment saw action at St. Mihiel, the Argonne Forest, Mont des Singes, and in the Oise-Aisne Offensive. The monument lists the names of the 137 soldiers of the regiment who lost their lives in the war. © 2013, John M. Shea

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The French had ample warning from prisoners and air reconnaissance of Ludendorff's preparations for the Champagne-Marne Offensive, the last of five German drives of 1918. General Foch prepared a counter-attack for July 18. He had available 750 tanks, 1,000 aircraft, and three French armies that included American and Italian divisions. Foch moved an additional French army into position on July 17, concealing it in a forest.

In their third, fourth, and fifth offensives, German armies drove south between Soissons and Rheims, crossed the Aisne, captured Soissons, encircled Rheims, reached the Marne, and threatened Paris. The Allies retreated before the German advance, but formed a pocket anchored on either side.

On July 18, Foch counter-attacked on the western side of the salient with two French armies totaling 26 infantry divisions including the 1st and 2nd American Divisions and the 1st Moroccan Division, several hundred tanks and a rolling barrage but no preparatory artillery barrage, catching the Germans unaware and unprepared. Attacking also from the east, the Allies advanced four miles on the first day, taking 25,000 prisoners.

The Germans stubbornly defended Soissons, a key communication center, but on the night of the 19th and 20th, they evacuated the south bank of the Marne pursued by the French and Americans.

After further Allied attacks on July 25 and 26 and August 1, Ludendorff ordered a general retreat, falling back to the north, relinquishing his gains of the previous months. The Germans were running out of supplies and men as desertions skyrocketed and reserves stopped reporting to the front. The German rearguard made stands during a retreat from the salient, but by August 4 had been driven from all their gains between Soissons and Rheims to a line on the Vesle River. German casualties were staggering: 420,000 dead and wounded and 340,000 captured or missing.

1918-07-18

1918-08-06

More about The Second Battle of the Marne (The Aisne-Marne Offensive):

The Aisne Marne Offensive