Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1918)

North Wood I (Hunting Lodge)

All battlesBattle of Belleau Wood: engagement 8 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 groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserveGunsGuns0200 m400 mN

One of the 13 engagements of the Battle of Belleau Wood recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 8 in date order). USA (US 2/5th Mar Rgt, 1,747 men under Maj Wise) attacked Germany (Ger 2/110th Gren Rgt, 1,952 men under Maj Hartlieb) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 3 hours of fighting on a front of 0.8 km, a frontal attack against prepared defense, and that USA won. Losses: USA 167 (10%), Germany 293 (15%).

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 Wise

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry356
USA centreInfantry475
USA right wingInfantry356
USA reserveInfantry297
USA artillery (18 guns)Artillery262
Maj WiseCommander—
In this plan1,746

Germany

Maj Hartlieb

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry398
Germany centreInfantry531
Germany right wingInfantry398
Germany reserveInfantry332
Germany artillery (20 guns)Artillery293
Maj HartliebCommander—
In this plan1,952

What the sources report

USAGermany
Strength, this plan1,7471,952
Losses, this plan167293

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 342, “North Wood I (Hunting Lodge)”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
3 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rugged, Heavily wooded
Weather
Dry, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
0.8 km (attacker), 0.8 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
USAattacker1,747167018Frontal attack; Penetration
Germanydefender1,952293020Defensive/offensive plan; Single envelopment; Left rear; Withdrew with heavy losses

Attacker’s advantages morale +1 · initiative +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.