On April 6, 1917, Congress declared war and the United States joined the great conflict that had engulfed Europe since the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) took the better part of a year to train and mobilize and their first major battle did not take place until the following April. The real challenge for the American troops came in September 1918. It was then that the 47-day battle of the Meuse-Argonne began. Encompassing seven weeks, a 25-mile front and more ...
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On April 6, 1917, Congress declared war and the United States joined the great conflict that had engulfed Europe since the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) took the better part of a year to train and mobilize and their first major battle did not take place until the following April. The real challenge for the American troops came in September 1918. It was then that the 47-day battle of the Meuse-Argonne began. Encompassing seven weeks, a 25-mile front and more than one million American troops, the Battle of Argonne Forrest averaged 558 deaths per day, a human cost exceeding any America has paid in battle before or since. Written with a view toward bringing this legendary tale to a more personal level, the work creates a vivid picture of the men who lived, fought and died in the final, all-consuming battle of World War I.
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