From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Site of Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Location of Forest of Argonne in northeastern France
Forest of Argonne in 1915
Forest of Argonne in a valley near
Chatel-Chehery
, France, where Sgt.
Henry Johnson
, known after his heroic battle as the Black Death, and Sgt.
Alvin C. York
fought in
World War I
U.S. soldiers in the Argonne Forest resting in a trench, 1918
The
Forest of Argonne
(
French pronunciation:
[a???n]
) is a long strip of mountainous and wild woodland in northeastern
France
, approximately 200 km (120 mi) east of
Paris
. The forest measures roughly 65 km (40 mi) long and 15 km (9 mi) wide filled with many small hills and deep valleys formed by water run-off from the
Aire
and
Aisne
rivers rarely exceeding more than 200 m (650 ft) in elevation.
[1]
Following the
First World War
, the landscape of the forest was forever changed as
trench warfare
led to parts of the forest being riddled with deep human-made trenches along with craters from explosives. The forest is bordered by the Meuse River on the west and rolling farmland and creeks to the east. The forest is largely
oak
,
chestnut
, and
pine
trees, and
ferns
cover much of the
forest floor
. Common animal life consists of
wild boar
,
red deer
,
roe deer
,
hares
,
rabbits
,
foxes
, and
wildcat
.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
In 1792,
Charles Francois Dumouriez
outmaneuvered the invading forces of the
Duke of Brunswick
in the forest before the
Battle of Valmy
.
During
World War I
, the forest again became the site of intense military action. Bitter fighting between German and Allied units took place here in fall and winter 1914, summer 1915, and fall 1918. During the
Meuse?Argonne offensive
(1918), several
United States Army
soldiers earned the
Medal of Honor
there, including Colonel
Nelson Miles Holderman
, Major
Charles White Whittlesey
, Sergeant
Alvin C. York
, Corporal
Harold W. Roberts
and
William Henry Johnson
(a.k.a. "Black Death"), most of them part of the "
Lost Battalion
". The World War I
Montfaucon American Monument
consists of a large
granite
Doric column
surmounted by a statue symbolic of
Liberty
. The monument is located 32 km (20 mi) northwest of
Verdun
, not far from the
Meuse?Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial
.
[3]
Points of interest
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Wood, James
, ed. (1907). "
Argonne`, Forest of
".
The Nuttall Encyclopædia
. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
49°09′N
4°58′E
/
49.150°N 4.967°E
/
49.150; 4.967