Montsec, Meuse Explained

Montsec
Commune Status:Commune
Image Coat Of Arms:Blason ville fr Montsec (Meuse).svg
Arrondissement:Commercy
Canton:Saint-Mihiel
Insee:55353
Postal Code:55300
Mayor:Daniel Lombard[1]
Term:2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:Côtes de Meuse Woëvre
Coordinates:48.8914°N 5.7211°W
Elevation M:370
Elevation Min M:226
Elevation Max M:376
Area Km2:5.95

Montsec (in French pronounced as /mɔ̃sɛk/) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Fighting in World War I and World War II took place in and around Montsec. The Montsec American Monument was built here during the 1930s by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The monument, dedicated in 1937, commemorates the American forces who fought in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in World War I.

History

During The Great War, also known as World War I, the village was occupied by the Germans in 1914 during the Battle of Flirey.[2] A hill, sharing the same name, commands a view of the Woëvre Plain, and was used by German forces as a strong point and for observation.[3]

During the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in 1918, the American 1st Division attacked in the area of Montsec, bypassing it.[4] The 1st Division was joined by the American 26th Division, attacking on the other side of Montsec, also bypassing it.[5] Both the 1st and 26th Divisions were able to accomplish it by a smoke screen being placed on the hill.[6]

Having been bypassed due to it being fortified, being cut off from the rest of the German line, it fell to the Allies.[3] This was accomplished by forces of the French 2nd Colonial Corps.[7]

Before the Battle of Nancy, the commune was liberated by the American 317th Infantry in 1944.[8]

Montsec American Monument

The monument was designed by Egerton Swartwout, and has been described as a doric temple.[9] It was built during the 1930s by the American Battle Monuments Commission;[10] it was dedicated in 1937.[11] The monument commemorates American forces involved in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.[12] These included the First and Second armies.[13]

During World War II, German forces occupying France left the monument untouched.[14] As American forces advanced, and began to displace the Germans, the memorial was damaged by American artillery. The monument was later restored.[15]

It has been described as being similar to the Jefferson Memorial.[16]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022. fr.
  2. Book: Richard Rubin. The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War. 21 May 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 0-547-84369-0. 321.
  3. Book: Frank Herbert Simmonds. History of the world war. 1920. Published for the Review of reviews company by Doubleday, Page & company. 223–224.
  4. Book: Richard Joseph Beamish. Francis Andrew March. America's Part in the World War: A History of the Full Greatness of Our Country's Achievements; the Record of the Mobilization and Triumph of the Military, Naval, Industrial and Civilian Resources of the United States. 1919. John C. Winston Company. 554.
  5. Book: John Eisenhower. John Eisenhower. Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I. 14 September 2001. Simon and Schuster. 978-0-7432-1637-1. 193.
  6. Book: Walter Hines Page. Arthur Wilson Page. The World's Work. 1919. Doubleday, Page & Company. 82.
  7. Book: James Alfred Moss. Harry Samuel Howland. America in Battle: With Guide to the American Battlefields in France and Belgium. 1920. Geo. Banta Publishing Company. 168.
  8. Dominique . Dean James . August 2003 . The Attack Will Go On: The 317th Infantry Regiment in World War II . Masters . Chapter 3: The Moselle River Bridgehead August 23 – November 1, 1944 . Louisiana State University . 25 May 2015 . 30-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230859/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0710103-051947/unrestricted/Dominique_thesis.pdf . 3 March 2016 . dead .
  9. Book: Ron Theodore Robin. Enclaves of America: The Rhetoric of American Political Architecture Abroad, 1900–1965. 14 July 2014. Princeton University Press. 978-1-4008-6310-5. 50–51.
  10. Book: Intelligence and Security Command Journal. 1984. U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. 4.
  11. 13 June 2015 . 1937 . Montsec American Monument Dedication in 1937 . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Vvw3bJdaH7I . 2021-12-21 . live. 25 May 2015 . ABMCVIDEOS .
  12. Book: David Bonk. St Mihiel 1918: The American Expeditionary Forces' trial by fire. 20 October 2011. Osprey Publishing. 978-1-84908-880-0. 93.
  13. Web site: Montsec Monument . . 21 April 2014 . American Battle Monuments Commission . 25 May 2015.
  14. Book: Douglas Peter Mackaman Michael Mays. World War I and the Cultures of Modernity. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-60473-712-7. 158.
  15. News: Rubin . Richard . In France, Artifacts of America's Role in World War I . New York Times . 18 September 2014 . 25 May 2015 .
  16. Book: Julia Hargrove. Tomb of the Unknowns (ENHANCED eBook). 1 March 2003. Lorenz Educational Press. 978-1-4291-1258-1. 14.
    Book: J. D. Ragsdale. Beyond Buildings: Designed Spaces as Visual Persuasion. 25 March 2014. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 978-1-4438-5838-0. 121.

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