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Battle of Nancy (1944)
The Battle of Nancy in September 1944 was a 10-day battle on the Western Front of World War II in which the Third United States Army defeated German forces defending the approaches to Nancy, France and crossings over the Moselle River to the north and south of the city. The battle resulted in U.S. forces fighting their way across the Moselle and liberating Nancy.
When the Third Army began its attempt to capture Nancy, it had only recently recovered from a severe fuel shortage which had caused it to halt on the Meuse River for five days. During this time, German defenders in the area had reinforced their positions.
While the U.S. XX Corps in the north was tasked with the capture of Metz, Nancy, the other major city in the region, was assigned to the U.S. XII Corps. When the XII Corps first started on this assignment it was not at full operational strength as the 35th Infantry Division was guarding the southern flank of the Allied forces until the southern Seventh Army could close the gap. This left only the 4th Armored Division and the 80th Infantry Division available.
U.S. XII Corps - Major General Manton Eddy
XXXXVII. Panzerkorps - General der Panzertruppe Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz
Due to the difficulty of the terrain and lack of intelligence about enemy strength, it was decided against risking the 4th Armored Division in the initial capture of a bridge, as had been done at Commercy.
Instead, the 80th Infantry Division was assigned to secure three crossing sites across the Moselle: at Pont-à-Mousson with the 317th Infantry Regiment, Toul with the 319th Infantry Regiment, and a limited one at Marbache (48°48′05″N 06°06′17″E / 48.80139°N 6.10472°E) with the 318th Infantry Regiment. The 4th Armored Division would then sweep around from the northern Pont-à-Mousson to assault Nancy from the east, while infantry from Toul would attack from the west.
At Pont-à-Mousson, the 317th Infantry dispensed with reconnaissance and preliminary artillery bombardments, hoping to use tactical surprise instead. This turned out to be a poor decision though, as the German defenders, who were in greater strength and much better prepared than assumed, held terrain that allowed them to observe the movement of the American forces in the vicinity. American forces made two crossing attempts, the first in the daylight and the second at night, but both were easily repulsed and the assault was called off by General Eddy.
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Battle of Nancy (1944)
The Battle of Nancy in September 1944 was a 10-day battle on the Western Front of World War II in which the Third United States Army defeated German forces defending the approaches to Nancy, France and crossings over the Moselle River to the north and south of the city. The battle resulted in U.S. forces fighting their way across the Moselle and liberating Nancy.
When the Third Army began its attempt to capture Nancy, it had only recently recovered from a severe fuel shortage which had caused it to halt on the Meuse River for five days. During this time, German defenders in the area had reinforced their positions.
While the U.S. XX Corps in the north was tasked with the capture of Metz, Nancy, the other major city in the region, was assigned to the U.S. XII Corps. When the XII Corps first started on this assignment it was not at full operational strength as the 35th Infantry Division was guarding the southern flank of the Allied forces until the southern Seventh Army could close the gap. This left only the 4th Armored Division and the 80th Infantry Division available.
U.S. XII Corps - Major General Manton Eddy
XXXXVII. Panzerkorps - General der Panzertruppe Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz
Due to the difficulty of the terrain and lack of intelligence about enemy strength, it was decided against risking the 4th Armored Division in the initial capture of a bridge, as had been done at Commercy.
Instead, the 80th Infantry Division was assigned to secure three crossing sites across the Moselle: at Pont-à-Mousson with the 317th Infantry Regiment, Toul with the 319th Infantry Regiment, and a limited one at Marbache (48°48′05″N 06°06′17″E / 48.80139°N 6.10472°E) with the 318th Infantry Regiment. The 4th Armored Division would then sweep around from the northern Pont-à-Mousson to assault Nancy from the east, while infantry from Toul would attack from the west.
At Pont-à-Mousson, the 317th Infantry dispensed with reconnaissance and preliminary artillery bombardments, hoping to use tactical surprise instead. This turned out to be a poor decision though, as the German defenders, who were in greater strength and much better prepared than assumed, held terrain that allowed them to observe the movement of the American forces in the vicinity. American forces made two crossing attempts, the first in the daylight and the second at night, but both were easily repulsed and the assault was called off by General Eddy.