With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the battle for Montfaucon

Fax, Gene

ISBN 10: 1472829794 / ISBN 13: 9781472829795

Published by Osprey Publishing, 2018

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the battle for Montfaucon
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1472829794
• ISBN 13: 9781472829795
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

With Their Bare Hands traces the fate of the US 79th Division - men drafted off the streets of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia - from boot camp in Maryland through the final years of World War I, focusing on their most famous engagement: the attack on Montfaucon, the most heavily fortified part of the German Line, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918.

Using the 79th as a window into the American Army as a whole, Gene Fax examines its mistakes and triumphs, the tactics of its commander General John J. Pershing, and how the lessons it learned during the Great War helped it to fight World War II. Fax makes some startling judgments, on the role of future Army Chief-of-Staff, Colonel George C. Marshall; whether the Montfaucon battle - had it followed the plan - could have shortened the war; and if Pershing was justified in ordering his troops to attack right up to the moment of the Armistice.
Drawing upon original documents, including orders, field messages, and the letters and memoirs of the soldiers themselves, Fax tells the engrossing story of the 79th Division's bloody involvement in the final months of World War I.

About the Author

During his 45 years in the policy research industry, Gene Fax has written more than 200 research reports, policy papers, and competitive proposals and has edited hundreds more. An engineering graduate of MIT, he spent eight years conducting research and tactical studies in anti-submarine warfare for the US Navy. He is the co-founder of The Cadmus Group, Inc., which specializes in program development, evaluation, and policy research in environmental protection, energy efficiency, and sustainable development. He lives in New York, USA

In preparation for With Their Bare Hands, Gene spent seventeen years researching archives in Washington, Baltimore, Paris, West Point, and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He also researched this most bloody and fiercely contested battle on the battlefield itself.