Nine under or barely trained American divisions attacked German defenses centered on the hilltop citadel of Montfaucon.
The initial attack was a disaster and held off by just a few thousand German troops. After four days the Germans retreated of their own will, leaving tens of thousands American casualties in their wake. General von Gallwitz's defense of the sector was brilliant, using flexible tactics to draw the Americans in, sap their strength, and then drive them back.
Had the Meuse-Argonne offensive ended on 10 October, which Pershing said was the end of the second phase of the battle, Meuse-Argonne would be remembered as a horrible defeat like Camden, Chancellorsville or Kasserine Pass.
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