Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1918)

Bouresches II

All battlesBattle of Belleau Wood: engagement 9 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.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingCentreReserveGunsLeft wingRight wingReserveGuns0500 m1 kmN

One of the 13 engagements of the Battle of Belleau Wood recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 9 in date order). Germany (Ger 109th Rgt(-)(+), 3,690 men under unrecorded commanders) attacked USA (US 3/5th Mar Rgt(+), 2,629 men under Maj Shearer) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 2.5 hours of fighting on a front of 1.6 km, a frontal attack against prepared defense, and that USA held. Losses: Germany 138 (4%), USA 107 (4%).

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

Germany

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry753
Germany centreInfantry1,004
Germany right wingInfantry753
Germany reserveInfantry627
Germany artillery (48 guns)Artillery554
Germany commandCommander—
In this plan3,691

USA

Maj Shearer

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry545
USA centreInfantry726
USA right wingInfantry545
USA reserveInfantry454
USA artillery (24 guns)Artillery360
Maj ShearerCommander—
In this plan2,630

What the sources report

GermanyUSA
Strength, this plan3,6902,629
Losses, this plan138107

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 343, “Bouresches Ii”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
2.5 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
1.6 km (attacker), 1.6 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker3,690138048Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew; Stalemate
USAdefender2,629107024Defensive plan; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages training +1 · initiative +1 · surprise +1 · air superiority +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.