Butte de Montsec – History and Present
Due to the monument standing on its summit in the memory of the fighting in the Saint-Mihiel salient, the Butte de Montsec is inextricably linked with the deployment of American troops in the years 1917 and 1918. Yet, contrary to how it is frequently depicted in military-historical accounts, the hill was at no time in the operational area of American units, nor was it in the American attack zone during the offensive beginning on September 12, 1918. Rather, the Butte de Montsec, just like the sections located further west toward the town of Saint-Mihiel (Bois d’Apremont, Bois Brûlé, Bois d’Ailly), was captured from the retreating German troops by units of the 2nd French Colonial Corps, in particular the 39th French Infantry Division, on September 13, 1918, after in part heavy fighting.
Butte de Montsec – Prehistory:
The history of the hill of Montsec and the village of the same name lying at its foot dates back to early Gallo-Roman history, as corresponding coin finds prove. The hill lay directly on an important Roman road (today’s D 119) connecting St. Mihiel and other settlements with the Moselle cities of Metz, Nancy, and Trier, as well as the Roman centers further east on the Rhine such as Mainz and Cologne.
A Roman castellum existed on the hill, which bore the name „Mocio“. After in the year 451 AD the Roman general Flavius Aetius had withstood the Hunnish troops of Attila on the Catalaunian Plains, the area east of the Meuse became part of the Austrasian Empire, later of East Francia. Following the destruction of the original installations by the Huns, a new military camp is recorded from the eighth century AD onward, which bore the name „Castrum Vabrense“. Later, a civilian settlement and a basilica are also reported. The designation for the military camp changed to „Chastel Montclin“. The present-day name is derived from this.
Butte de Montsec – 1914-1918:
In the mid-19th century, archaeological excavations uncovered extensive tunnel systems in the hill of Montsec, which were dated to the eighth to twelfth centuries AD. Parts of these tunnel systems were used and expanded by German troops when they captured the hill in September 1914 and subsequently made it a military fixed point on the southern flank of the St. Mihiel salient for over four years.
Units of the Garde-Ersatz-Division (Guard Ersatz Division) and later the 5. Landwehr-Division (5th Landwehr Division) built essentially three larger gallery complexes along with observation positions on the crest of the Butte de Montsec starting in the spring of 1915. These were designated “Plewna I, Plewna II, and Plewna III”. The name Plewna (Plewen) was derived from the city of the same name in Bulgaria, which was the scene of a battle lasting several weeks during the Russo-Turkish War in July 1877.
Traces of the galleries and positions on the Butte de Montsec can still be found above ground, such as the caved-in entrance to the Plewna I facility, which can be spotted on the slope immediately after the first bend when driving up the hill, not far from a set of stairs. If you follow the hiking trail up, you can make out above it the observation positions and positions that formerly belonged to the “Plewna I” facility. If you drive up the hill and follow a path behind the American monument into the forest, you reach the formerly central observation post “Plewna II”, of which better-preserved remains can be examined. These include a masonry lookout, remains of fire trenches, masonry gallery necks, and concrete remnants. Observation post “Plewna III” was located on the crest of the hill, approximately where the American monument stands today. Remains of the facility have not yet been found. Unfortunately, hardly any photos or detailed information regarding these facilities and their military use are known.
During the Franco-American attack starting September 12, 1918, unlike the forward sector positions of the Géréchamp-Wald as well as the Le Mont ridge, there was no significant fighting in విశa the area of the Butte de Montsec. The village of Montsec and the hill were captured on September 13, 1918, by elements of the French 39th Infantry Division, after German troops had systematically withdrawn as part of the “Loki Movement”.
The village of Montsec was hardly suitable for quartering German troops due to its heavy destruction, which had already occurred during the German advance in 1914 by French artillery, as well as due to continued shelling over the following years. Troops stayed in the surrounding forest camps. Accordingly, there are hardly any authentic relics or photographs from the German occupation period to be found in the village. An exception is the former washhouse, which was barely destroyed during the war and is still preserved almost in its original state today. It contains a small exhibition that describes the period of German occupation of the place using a few photographs. Next to the washhouse during wartime stood a monument of which no remains can be discerned today. Inscribed on it was the sentence originating from a speech delivered in February 1888 before the German Reichstag by Reich Chancellor
“We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world
This heroic passage, frequently used on German monuments or postcards, is limited to the first half of Bismarck’s statement and omits its essential core, which read as follows:
and it is precisely the fear of God that makes us love and cherish peace.“
At the northern exit of the village, near the former Roman road leading to Woinville (today’s D 119), lies another interesting relic from wartime. It is a large German command bunker of Sector Command L responsible for this front sector. One frequently reads and hears, even from expert mouths without corresponding evidence, that it was the former telephone exchange of the positions on the Butte de Montsec. This assessment is doubtful, as all accessible sources accordingly speak of a command bunker and no cabling whatsoever is recognizable in contemporary pictures or the current remains of the facility.
Immediately next to this bunker, the remains of another concrete structure can be found, bearing a coat of arms with the Hessian lion as well as the inscription “HESSENTREUE”. The origin and function of the structure remain unclear due to a lack of contemporary photographs and information.
Following the farm track where the two previously described bunkers are located, along the northern slope of the Butte de Montsec, a short walk leads to an area that becomes flatter. Various remains of German camp buildings are visible here, as well as spoil heaps and ventilation pipes of a large tunnel system that led from an underbrush called “Küchenwäldchen” by the Germans on the D 119 north of Montsec to an underground camp complex there and further up to the “Plewna III” system. The Germans called this facility “Hohenzollern-Stollen”. The collapsed section of the tunnel can still be seen today in the meadow lying between “Küchenwäldchen” and Butte de Montsec. In addition, building remains that were once associated with the formerly double tunnel entrance can be found directly on the D 119.
Butte de Montsec – Post-War Period and Monument Construction:
In the early 1920s, considerations began on the American side regarding how to handle the more than 100,000 fallen soldiers from the battles of the First World War, the vast majority of whom were still buried in France. A survey among relatives revealed that the overwhelming majority desired the repatriation of the bodies to America and only about 30% favored the fallen relatives remaining near the combat sites in France and the establishment of permanent cemeteries and memorials. Both wishes were accommodated. In 1923, the U.S. Congress established theAmerican Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) with its headquarters in Arlington, which was to take care of the creation of corresponding war cemeteries and memorials in France as well as later in all other countries with American participation in the war.
The first chairman of the ABMC until his death in 1948 was General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing, the former commander of the American Expeditionary-Forces (AEF) as well as the 1st U.S. Army, which had planned and commanded the attack to eliminate the St. Mihiel salient starting on September 12, 1918. In addition to the large memorial on the Butte de Montfaucon for the fallen of the Maas-Argonnen-Offensive, two other large memorials were decided upon in the area of the other two battlefields with American participation: the Aisne-Marne sector as well as the Frontbogen von St. Mihiel.
In 1924, it was decided to erect a unified memorial for the fallen of the 1st and 2nd U.S. Armies as well as other units that had fought in 1917 and 1918 in the area of the Frontbogen von St. Mihiel, on the battlefields of Lorraine located further north, and as far south as Alsace. The prominent Butte de Montsec was chosen as the site. It was not until 1930, after initial disagreements between the French and Americans regarding design and costs, that construction of the Montsec American Monument began. The planning was undertaken by the American architect and sculptor Egerton Swartwout. A circular colonnade in the Doric-Greek style consisting of columns and an attached wreath was created, in the center of which a large bronze landscape relief depicts the course of the battle and the respective front positions. All participating units as well as their main deployment locations were listed on the columns and the wreath.
In 1937, the Montsec American Monument was inaugurated as part of a solemn ceremony that was captured on film. World War II began as early as 1939, which ultimately brought about the defeat of France within just a few weeks due to the German Western Campaign in June 1940. Lorraine, and thus also the area between the Meuse and Moselle, once again fell under German occupation, which was to last until 1944. Significant combat operations in the area of the Butte de Montsec only occurred toward the end of the war. On September 1, 1944, units of the 317th US Infantry Regiment reached the area east of the town of St. Mihiel. Several air raids had previously been flown against the Butte de Montsec, as German units were supposed to have entrenched themselves on the hill. There was talk of several machine-gun nests, the existence of which, however, remained questionable and unverified. The bombardment considerably damaged the monument as well as the surrounding areas of the memorial site. In 1948, the restoration and final design took place, as it can be visited today.
As part of a tour through the St. Mihiel salient, the Butte de Montsec always constitutes a special stopover, regardless of its modest military-historical significance. A key reason is likely that, in good weather, one can see from the hill the entire region held by the Germans at the time, all the way back to the Moselle Valley as well as north along the Côtes Lorraines directly to the Verdun battlefield. The Butte de Montsec thus offers an unrivaled opportunity to geographically explain and understand the formation and the fighting in the area of the St. Mihiel salient.
were AI-edited (notice pursuant to Art. 50 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).