Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1918)

North Wood IV (Final Assault)

All battlesBattle of Belleau Wood: engagement 12 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 wingReserveGunsCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGuns0200 m400 mN

One of the 13 engagements of the Battle of Belleau Wood recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 12 in date order). USA (US 3/5th Mar Rgt, 4,453 men under Maj Shearer) attacked Germany (Ger 1/347th Rgt, 1,546 men under Cpt Karlberg) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 13 hours of fighting on a front of 0.8 km, a frontal attack against fortified defense, and that USA won. Losses: USA 273 (6%), Germany 437 (28%).

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 Shearer

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry908
USA centreInfantry1,211
USA right wingInfantry908
USA reserveInfantry757
USA artillery (48 guns)Artillery668
Maj ShearerCommander—
In this plan4,452

Germany

Cpt Karlberg

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry315
Germany centreInfantry421
Germany right wingInfantry315
Germany reserveInfantry263
Germany artillery (20 guns)Artillery232
Cpt KarlbergCommander—
In this plan1,546

What the sources report

USAGermany
Strength, this plan4,4531,546
Losses, this plan273437

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 346, “North Wood Iv (Final Assault)”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
13 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rugged, Heavily wooded
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Fortified defense
Front width
0.8 km (attacker), 0.8 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
USAattacker4,453273048Frontal attack; Breakthrough
Germanydefender1,546437020Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Repulse; 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.