The cost to the First Division was high-over 800 were killed or wounded. Over the next three days, amidst the shrieks and whines of constant shelling, the Division fought fiercely to throw off six determined assaults. But the First Division proved up to the challenge. The Germans counterattacked to regain lost ground. By 7:30 am, Cantigny was in American hands and a new front line was established east of the village. The 28th Infantry Regiment reached its objective in 30 minutes and, with the help of French flamethrower teams, cleared the remaining Germans from the cellars. Three minutes later, division soldiers charged up with cries and shouts from the trenches, moving forward behind the covering fire of the rolling barrage. At 6:42 am, a line of French tanks began moving eastward through the thick smoke. For an hour on the morning of May 28, American and French artillery bombarded German positions. The First Division planned a coordinated attack to seize the area. The village of Cantigny offered a valuable lookout point for whichever army held it. Taking Cantigny – May 28, 1918Īfter a month of preparation, the First Division took Cantigny in a carefully planned assault. The First Division’s victory at Cantigny confirmed this ‘team of teams’ approach, and it gave the Allies new reason to hope. American commanders used a ‘combined arms’ approach: a team of specialized teams-tanks, infantry, artillery, engineers, aviation and other units-working together in a synchronized operation. In the first major American battle of WWI, the First Division was ordered to take it back. In March of 1918, the German army had secured a valuable position around the French village of Cantigny (can TEE nee). At Cantigny, the First Division proved U.S.
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