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The Battle of Cantigny, fought 27–31 May 1918〔(First World War.com – Battles – The Battle of Cantigny, 1918 )〕 was the first American battle and offensive of World War I. The U.S. 1st Division, the most experienced of the five American divisions then in France and in reserve for the French Army near the village of Cantigny, was selected for the attack. The objective of the attack was both to reduce a small salient made by the German Army in the front lines but also to instill confidence among the French and British allies in the ability of the inexperienced American Expeditionary Force (AEF). ==Background== As the United States was technically not an ally, but rather a co-belligerent of the Allies. General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commanding the American Expeditionary Force, had for some time been resisting Allied efforts to integrate American divisions as they arrived into British and French armies. Instead, he wanted to launch them into battle as wholly American armies. Nevertheless, during the crisis of the Somme offensive end March, Pershing had offered to lend the Allies the five divisions that had arrived in France to help stern the German advance. The offer was gratefully accepted, and the U.S. 1st Division was ordered into the Picardy region to help General Marie-Eugène Debeney's French First Army. Exhausted after halting the advance of General Oskar von Hutier, commanding the newly formed German Eighteenth Army. By April 23 the 1st Division was in place west of Cantigny, between the French 9th and 6th Corps.〔Christopher Chant (1976). Cantigny 1918, p. 32. Marshall Cavendish Ltd.〕 The U.S. 1st Division, soon to be known throughout France as the "Big Red One" after its formation insignia of a red figure '1', had started to arrive in France on 26 June 1917. Composed of the 1st and 2nd Brigades (16th and 18th, 26th and 28th Infantry Regiments), 1st Division had been commanded by the able Major General Robert Lee Bullard since 14 December 1917. At the end of April the division had a strength of about 26,500 all ranks. One the eve of Cantigny total AEF strength amounted to 406,844 out of 667,000 U.S. military personnel in Europe.〔Christopher Chant (1976). Cantigny 1918, p. 32. Marshall Cavendish Ltd.〕 The Americans desired to make a show of strength after the U.S. 26th Infantry Division was surprised in the line by a raid on Seicheprey in the Lorraine region on April 20–22. A division attack to retake Montdidier was contemplated but ruled out because it would also involve supporting attacks by French divisions on either side. On April 23 the 1st Division held the sector between the French 9th Corps and the French 6th Corps, with 1st Brigade's 18th Infantry Regiment holding the left-hand half of the line and 16th Infantry Regiment the right-hand—2nd Brigade being in reserve. The nationality of the troops opposite Cantigny could not long be concealed from the Germans: General Erich Ludendorff, appointed as First Quartermaster General (''Quartiermeister''), had given special orders that once Americans had been discovered in the line, they were to be subjected to immediate shelling with high explosives (HE) and gas shells to test out and possibly break their morale before they became hardened to the realities of trench warfare. On May 3 the Germans fired over 15,000 rounds of HE and gas shells at the 18th Regiment, causing 800 casualties, 200 of them killed. But the shelling was by no means one-way. The 1st Division's artillery brigade of one 155mm and two 75mm field regiments responded in kind, firing upwards of 10,000 rounds a day in counter-battery fire.〔Christopher Chant (1976). Cantigny 1918, pp. 32–33. Marshall Cavendish Ltd.〕 On May 15 Debeney ordered Bullard to capture Cantigny, a salient into the Allied lines (approximately 5 kilometres deep), which was defended by two battalions of German 82nd Reserve Division. The objective had little but tactical significance. The day chosen for the assault was May 28—one day after the date scheduled by the Germans for the start of the Aisne Offensive. Bullard had 13 days in which to prepare his plan and his men. The unit chosen for the honor of leading the first American offensive of World War I was the 28th Infantry Regiment.〔Christopher Chant (1976). Cantigny 1918, p. 33. Marshall Cavendish Ltd.〕 On May 27 the 28th Regiment moved up to its assault lines and prepared for the following day's action. Around midnight the Germans sent out two strong patrols (over 30 men in each) to bring back American prisoners for interrogation. One of these patrols was caught and wiped out in no-man's land. The other reached the American lines in the Casablanca sector and after a brisk fight pulled back with one prisoner. The Americans immediately sent a patrol in pursuit, and this caught the German patrol before it reached its lines, rescued the American prisoner and destroyed the German patrol before returning to its own lines. That night's activities, including a German artillery bombardment, cost the Americans 33 casualties.〔Christopher Chant (1976). Cantigny 1918, p. 34. Marshall Cavendish Ltd.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Cantigny」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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