Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1918)

Bouresches I

All battlesBattle of Belleau Wood: engagement 4 of 13The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rugged, Heavily wooded groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreLeft wingRight wingGunsReserveGuns0200 m400 mN

One of the 13 engagements of the Battle of Belleau Wood recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 4 in date order). USA (US 6th Mar Rgt(-), 2,733 men under Maj Sibley) attacked Germany (Ger 2/461st Rgt, 1,352 men under Maj Bischoff) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 4.5 hours of fighting on a front of 0.7 km, a frontal attack against prepared defense, and that neither side won. Losses: USA 343 (13%), Germany 186 (14%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

USA

Maj Sibley

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry591
USA centreInfantry788
USA right wingInfantry591
USA reserveInfantry493
USA artillery (18 guns)Artillery270
Maj SibleyCommander—
In this plan2,733

Germany

Maj Bischoff

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry276
Germany centreInfantry368
Germany right wingInfantry276
Germany reserveInfantry230
Germany artillery (14 guns)Artillery203
Maj BischoffCommander—
In this plan1,353

What the sources report

USAGermany
Strength, this plan2,7331,352
Losses, this plan343186

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 339, “Bouresches I”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
4.5 hours
Winner
the draw
Terrain
Rugged, Heavily wooded
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
0.7 km (attacker), 0.7 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
USAattacker2,733343018Frontal attack; Penetration; Stalemate
Germanydefender1,352186014Defensive plan; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages morale +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.