The First Division Museum at Cantigny on Winfield Road in Wheaton continues its acclaimed, Date with History series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19. Military historian Dr. Mark E. Grotelueschen will discuss the Battle of St. Mihiel in World War I, with emphasis on the key role played by the U.S. Army’s First Division, Cantigny’s own “Big Red One.”
The free program is available at the Cantigny Visitors Center and online. Registration for both in-person and Zoom viewers is required at FDMuseum.org. For those attending in person, parking is free.
When fought in September 1918, the St Mihiel Offensive in France was the largest and most complicated battle in American history. Yet, more than 100 years later, it is one of the U.S. military’s least known and most misunderstood major engagements. In just four days, General John J. Pershing’s brand new American First Army defeated Germany’s smaller, but more experienced army in fighting that involved 550,000 Americans and 110,000 Frenchmen, supported by 3,000 artillery pieces, over 1,400 coalition aircraft, and hundreds of tanks commanded by a young George Patton.
Mark Grotelueschen, PhD, teaches in the Department of Military and Strategic Studies at the United States Air Force Academy (USAF in Colorado). A 27-year veteran of the Air Force, he holds degrees from the USAF, the University of Calgary, and Texas A&M University. In addition to other books and articles, he is the author of The AEF Way of War: The American Army and Combat in World War I (Cambridge University Press, 2007), and, most recently, edited The Harmon Memorial Lectures in Military History, 1988-2017 (Air University Press, 2020). He is writing a book on the St. Mihiel Offensive.
The First Division Museum is open daily, except Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Admission is free with Cantigny Park’s regular entrance fee. Visit FDMuseum.org for more details.
—First Division Museum at Cantigny