Corps Commanders of the Bulge: Six American Generals and Victory in the Ardennes

[@johnburns4017]

Patton stalled at the Bulge continually. Patton had less than 20 km of German held ground to cover during his actual 'attack' north towards Bastogne, with the vast majority of his move through American held lines devoid of the enemy. Yet he still took him five days to get through to Bastogne. It took Patton almost three days just to get through the village of Chaumont. In the Ardennes Patton castigated Middleton of the US VIII Corps and Millikin of the US III Corps. When his advance from Bastogne to Houffalize stalled he criticised the 11th Armoured Division for being _"very green and taking unnecessary casualties to no effect"._ He blamed everyone except himself.

[@bigwoody4704]

More bullshit from the London Home for the Indigent.Monty didn't come across that channel for 4 full years and when he did it was hanging on the GIs coat tails sad I'm sure you'd agree.And Patton ran circles around the Pratt in Sicily

[@johnburns4017]

1:4:30 I will let the Germans have a say on the Bulge: *Genral Hasso von Manteuffel:* _‘The operations of the American 1st Army had developed into a series of individual holding actions. Montgomery's contribution to restoring the situation was that he turned a series of isolated actions into a coherent battle fought according to a clear and definite plan. It was his refusal to engage in premature and piecemeal counter-attacks which enabled the Americans to gather their reserves and frustrate the German attempts to extend their breakthrough’._ By November 1944, British SHEAF officer, Strong, noted that there was a possibility of a German counteroffensive in the Ardennes or the Vosges. Strong went to personally warn Bradley, who said, _let 'em come._ Montgomery on hearing of the attack _immediately_ took British forces to the Meuse to prevent any German forces from making a bridgehead, and moving west of the river, securing the rear. He was prepared to halt their advance and attack them. This was while Eisenhower and Bradley were doing _nothing._ _even by 19 December,_ *_three days_* _into the offensive, no overall plan had emerged from 12th Army Group or SHAEF, other than the decision to send Patton’s forces north to Bastogne. Overall, the Ardennes battle was in urgent need of grip._ _General Hodges had yet to see Bradley or receive more than the sketchiest orders from his Army Group commander._ - Neillands, Robin. The Battle for the Rhine 1944 On 20 December, Montgomery had sent a signal to Alanbrooke regarding the US forces: _Not good... definite lack of grip and control. I have heard_ -*nothing*_ _from Ike or Bradley and had no orders or requests of any sort. My own opinion is that the American forces have been cut in half and the Germans can reach the Meuse at Namur without opposition._ Omar Bradley, commander of the 12th Army Group, did very little: 16 Dec, the first day, for 12 hours did *nothing.* 16 Dec, after 12 hours, he sent two armoured divisions from the flanking Ninth and Third Armies. 17 Dec, after 24 Hours, he then called in two US airborne divisions from Champagne. 18 Dec, he ordered Patton to halt his pending offensive in the Saar. 18 Dec, he had still not established contact with the First Army, while Monty had. 19 Dec, he withdrew divisions from the Aachen front to shore up the Ardennes. 19 Dec, he had still not produced an overall defensive plan. 19 Dec, the Supreme Commander intervened directly late in the day. 20 Dec, Eisenhower telephoned Montgomery telling him to take command of the US First and Ninth Armies While all this dillying by Bradley was going on, German armies were pounding forward into his lines. British SHEAF officer Whiteley and American officer Betts visited the U.S. First Army HQ seeing the *shambles.* Strong, Whiteley, and Betts recommended that command of the armies north of the Ardennes be transferred from Bradley to Montgomery. Unfortunately only the British officers approached Beddel Smith of their recommendations, who immediately fired the pair, claiming it was a nationalistic thing. The next morning, Beddel Smith apologized seeing the three were right, recommending to Eisenhower to bring in Monty. *It was because of the shambles of the US command of the First and Ninth armies that highly professional Montgomery had to be in command.* During the Battle of the Bulge Eisenhower was stuck self imprisoned in his HQ in des-res Versailles near Paris in fear of German paratroopers wearing US uniforms with the objective to kill allied generals. He had remained locked up more than 30 days without sending a single message or order to Montgomery, and that is when he thought he was doing _ground control_ of the campaign, when in effect Montgomery was in control as two US armies had to be put under his control after the German attack, the US First and Ninth armies. The Ninth stayed under Monty's control until the end of the war, just about. Coningham of the RAF had to take control of US air force units. The only thing Eisenhower did was tell Monty to get control of two out of control US armies, tell the US 101st to go to Bastogne (who were in northern France after the buffer Market Garden was created) and men under Bradley to counter-attack. That is it.

[@jamesa.7604]

General "Lightning" J. Lawton Collins was one of the Best Corps Commanders in the US Army!

[@Gadget014]

narred - you are technically correct. "Although it didn't receive the SS designation until after the Battle of the Bulge, the SS designation came into general use in military history literature after the Second World War for the formation as assembled prior to that campaign" Info obtained through several scources.

[@Paul-talk]

communications with Hodges were never broken.

[@brianhuss9184]

Good presentation! Although the largest battle ever fought by the US Army was the Meuse-Argonne in World War One, not the Battle of the Bulge.

[@crewshaw2122]

They got past the rank issue in Korea by making corps commanders 3 star Generals.

[@Paul-talk]

Bradley was foraws BECAUSE he was a better battle commander. Bradley's orders had been given before Ike's order. Radio communications were more than adiquate. Monty put the 1st army on the defencive, which put most of the burden on the 3d army. Monry was a child.

[@Merlin5by5]

Attack until they turn and run. Then, pursue them, and attack them running away. It's been the core of US Army strategy since General William Tecumseh Sherman.

[@Elfandspartan]

+Merlin5by5 Unfortunately we seem to be overly reliant on it. We don't rely on strategy so much as smashing through whatever we meet through superior firepower.

[@juanseegar2546]

Could be prescription Golf?

[@TheFreshman321]

It takes a lot for a yank to admit that Monty was a better General than Brad. The truth is Monty was the best allied General in the west fact.

[@bigwoody4704]

He was a lying pratt he stalled everywhere even in the desert.The Navy and Air Corp completely strangled Rommel and Monty plodded even with the benefit of ULTRA.A small minded incompetant braggart.For 4 full years he wouldn't come across the channel.Arrogant English pride

[@AmericanWarrior1776]

The only way the Germans could have been successful in taking Antwerp would be if they found a genie and wished the Americans away or if an Army commander did something really stupid like order an all out frontal assault into the advancing Germans.

[@midlandredux]

+AmericanWarrior1776 - That is pretty much the view some of the smarter German generals stuck with the job of making the offensive work. The schedule was predicated on the Americans folding up under the shock of the attack like the half-trained French reserves did in the Ardennes in 1940 or a thin Russian line might have on the Eastern Front. However, the Germans bungled their opening attacks, using too much bad infantry, and the American front line troops refused to fold. They had to be chewed away, strongpoint by strongpoint. Also, the Germans assumed that the Americans would be moving reinforcements only as as fast as the Russian or British armies had earlier in the war. Instead, the Americans put half the 1st and 3rd armies on trucks, division by division, day by day, over the first week of the attack. The combination of these two miscalculations essentially doomed the German offensive by the end of the second day of the offensive. All that was sure to happen was a lot of fighting and killing.

[@bushidoshogun4964]

Top lecturer and topic. Knowledge is powerful. I have always respect the US army organization in world war 2. What out American rescuers and man power the world would have been a different place today. And last of as a none American and as a man who loves the knowledge I must say the in history of mankind we have never seen the likes of the American military organization before. One has remember that American is a little over 240 years old. In Korea American hold the line against the communist and American was light in the dark. Was found on American democracy and equality of men as human beings. It's really sad now days that mankind is uneducated and disgusting of greedy politicians and banks. Anyway enjoy this masterpiece of knowledge.

[@juanseegar2546]

What causedthe Buldge?

[@davidkrater7946]

Would any care to give an opinion on Monty and his part in the Battle of the Bulge?

[@midlandredux]

+David Krater - Montgomery handled his side of the battle competently, and wisely did not try to dominate the American corps commanders the way he did the officers in the British and Canadian army groups. Unfortunately, his blowhard public statements and obnoxious and insubordinate behavior towards Eisenhower brought on a completely unnecessary command and political crisis that hampered his relations with the American generals for the rest of the war.

[@davidkrater7946]

+Midland Redux Bravo, thoughtful and well balanced answer. Are you from Uk or US?

[@midlandredux]

US. I've been around long enough to identify the nationalist booshwah in the arguments on this topic that have been going on for fifty years.

[@davidkrater7946]

+Midland Redux Was hoping UK, most of the arguments I've heard from that side of the pond really just seem anti American. Monty was greatest thing since sliced bread sorta stuff. Still good answer.

[@midlandredux]

The current generation of British and American historians go out of their way to try to see both cultural sides of the argument. The remarkable thing, as even a number of the brighter observers said at the time, was that the alliance worked as well as it did. Compared, say, to the Anglo-French alliance, or the Western Soviet alliance, or the German-Italian=Japanese alliance, the Anglo-American alliance functioned brilliantly in the European campaigns. Eisenhower deserves a lot more credit for this than a lot of American or British partisans give him. That said, I noticed a book published as recently as 2005 by an aging British historian claiming that the Battle of the Bulge was a major American defeat! Imagine that! You get hit by two full-sized panzer armies with complete surprise at the weakest point in your line, and you stop them cold mostly within ten to forty miles of their start. What other army could have done better?

[@ДмитрийДепутатов]

Jones James Taylor Jeffrey Lopez Ruth

[@ericmanuel6413]

think about it if Germany win the war ??? we be in the twilight zone episode! the world will be chaos and suffering and full of sorrow!!!!

[@broncosgjn]

"Its cold tonight, It was colder for the troops in Europe". Stares at the crowd. What! So somehow that is our fault. What is this a guilt trip! Please you are not still in the army and we are not in the army any more so just get on with the lecture and forget the pissing contest.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Chill

[@randyr.ottele8553]

hIis presentation was very factual in very interesting... But he is describing a huge battle field and battle front. ...all with only one map. If he had used a map and pointer to reference the movements of both armies would have mad things a lot more clear !!! just saying north and east //etc made his description of this very dynamic and fluid battle hard to follow