Battle of Cantigny

Battle of Cantigny
Part of the Western Front of World War I
Battle of Cantigny
Date 28 May 1918 Location Cantigny 49°39′50″N 2°29′28″E / 49.664°N 2.491°E / 49.664; 2.491Coordinates: 49°39′50″N 2°29′28″E / 49.664°N 2.491°E / 49.664; 2.491 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Robert Lee Bullard	Oskar von Hutier
Strength
~4,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
1,603 casualties (330–340 killed)	1,400 killed and wounded 250 captured

The Battle of Cantigny, fought 27–31 May 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).

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 stem 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.

The U.S. 1st Division, soon to be known throughout France as the "Big Red One" after its post-Armistice 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. On the eve of Cantigny total AEF strength amounted to 406,844 out of 667,000 U.S. military personnel in Europe.

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