Relief map postcard of the battle front between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers, including Verdun, Nancy, and the Woevre plain. Forts Douaumont and Vaux can be made out east of Verdun, target of the 1916 German siege. St. Mihiel is to the west, south of Verdun. The Argonne is in the upper left, west of Verdun.

Reverse:

Reliefkarte des Kampfgebietes zwischen Maas & Mosel



Relief map of the combat area between Maas & Mosel

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Wednesday, September 11, 1918

"The [St. Mihiel] salient had been held by the Germans since September, 1914. It covered the most sensitive section of the enemy's position on the Western Front; namely, the Mézières-Sedan-Metz Railroad and the Briey Iron Basin; it threatened the entire region between Verdun and Nancy, and interrupted the main rail line from Paris to the east. Its primary strength lay in the natural defensive features of the terrain itself. The western face of the salient extended along the rugged, heavily wooded eastern heights of the Meuse; the southern face followed the heights of the Meuse for 8 kilometers to the east and then crossed the Plain of the Woevre, including within the German lines the detached heights of Loupmont and Montsec which dominated the plain and afforded the enemy unusual facilitites for observation. The enemy had reënforced the positions by every artificial means during a period of four years.

On the night of September 11th, the troops of the First Army were deployed in position."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from American Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing's 'final report' of November, 1919 describing the threat posed by the St. Mihiel salient. He launched the St. Mihiel Offensive on September 12, 1918, the first independent offensive of the new American First Army. The line Charleville-Mézières-Sedan-Metz roughly parallels the French border with southeastern Belgium and Luxembourg.

Source

The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, pp. 308–309, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920

Tags

1918-09-11, 1918, September, St. Mihiel, Woevre plain