WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome back. I am. I'm really glad you were 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:05.259 here with us today because we are stepping into 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:08.259 what is genuinely a defining moment of the 20th 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:10.240 century. Oh, absolutely. It's a huge turning 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:12.619 point. Right. So for today's deep dive, we are 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:14.800 pulling from a really comprehensive Wikipedia 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:17.679 article detailing the Battle of Cantigny. And 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.480 our mission today is to explore the very first 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.719 major American battle and offensive of World 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:25.820 War One. And it's one that a lot of people overlook, 00:00:25.899 --> 00:00:28.219 honestly. Exactly. This isn't just, you know, 00:00:28.269 --> 00:00:30.829 a story about moving lines on a map, it's a profound 00:00:30.829 --> 00:00:34.149 shift in global history. It just gets overshadowed 00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:36.210 by the massive engagements that came after it. 00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:39.929 It really is a crucible moment. Because to really 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:42.350 appreciate what happened at Cantini, you have 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.530 to understand the sheer weight of the strategic 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:46.969 situation in Europe right then. Right. Let's 00:00:46.969 --> 00:00:49.350 set the scene for everyone. So it's May of 1918. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.060 The world has been at war for four agonizing 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:54.799 years. The Western Front is just this landscape 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:58.020 of unimaginable devastation, and the Allies are 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.950 facing a literal crisis of survival. The situation 00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:06.469 was, I mean, beyond dire. The German military 00:01:06.469 --> 00:01:09.209 had launched what was known as the Michael Offensive. 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:13.890 It was this massive, desperate push to just win 00:01:13.890 --> 00:01:17.329 the war outright before American industrial might 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.650 could fully arrive and tilt the scales. And it 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:21.790 was working. It was terrifyingly successful. 00:01:21.790 --> 00:01:24.650 It was literally threatening Paris. Meanwhile, 00:01:24.730 --> 00:01:26.549 the French army, which had been bleeding into 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:29.549 the mud since 1914, was stretched to its absolute 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:31.390 breaking point. point. Yeah. They had mutinies 00:01:31.390 --> 00:01:34.109 the previous year. Morale was hanging by a single 00:01:34.109 --> 00:01:36.469 thread. And into this apocalyptic meat grinder 00:01:36.469 --> 00:01:39.090 arrives the United States military. It's kind 00:01:39.090 --> 00:01:41.969 of like being the new kid on the block who suddenly 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:43.730 has to prove they can hold their own in this 00:01:43.730 --> 00:01:45.870 incredibly high stakes team project. That's a 00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:47.930 great way to put it, which presents this really 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:50.290 fascinating dynamic. You have the French and 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:52.620 British who are just battle -hardened, exhausted, 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:55.640 and deeply cynical after years of industrial 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:58.060 slaughter. And then you have the Americans. They 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:01.019 bring immense manpower, fresh legs, but they 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:04.040 have absolutely zero credibility in modern trench 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:07.560 warfare. Not at all. Right. The U .S. First Division, 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:10.020 which was the most experienced of the five American 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:12.680 divisions in France at the time, was just sitting 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.879 in reserve. The French high command was looking 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:19.500 at these fresh, untested troops with a very critical 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:21.879 eye. They had to be thinking, can we actually 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.139 trust these guys? Exactly. They desperately needed 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:27.280 to know if an American vision could actually 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.240 hold the line against a relentless, highly disciplined 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.219 German war machine. OK, let's unpack this. It's 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:37.400 the ultimate trial by fire for a rising global 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.360 power. And the target chosen for this test was 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.020 this location called Cantini. Right. The geography 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.439 here is everything. It really dictated how the 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:48.000 whole battle would unfold. So Cantini was a small 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.759 village, but crucially, it was situated on high 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:53.159 ground and entirely surrounded by dense woods. 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:55.159 And on the western front, elevated terrain wasn't 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:57.719 just a tactical perk. It was practically a matter 00:02:57.719 --> 00:02:59.979 of life and death. Absolutely, because if you 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:02.099 control the high ground, you control the artillery. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.740 Precisely. Cantini served as an ideal observation 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:09.280 post for the German forces. From up there, German 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.479 spotters could see deep into the Allied lines, 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.280 monitor troop movements, and just direct their 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:18.439 own artillery fire with terrifying lethal accuracy. 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:20.759 It was a huge thorn in the Allied side. It was. 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:24.479 The German 18th Army had pushed this small salient, 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:26.879 basically a bulge, into the Allied territory, 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:29.719 specifically to secure that vantage point. So 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:31.979 the American objective was to attack this fortified 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:34.560 position, flatten the salient, and blind the 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.219 German artillery spotters. But assaulting a fortified 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:39.759 elevated observation post is a monumental task 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.180 for any military, let alone one that is quite 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:44.520 literally just entering the theater of war. It's 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.180 a huge ask. It really is. The assault force designated 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:49.900 for this operation was the 28th Infantry Regiment, 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.379 commanded by Colonel Hanson Edward Ailey. They 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.620 were supported by two companies of the 18th Infantry 00:03:54.620 --> 00:03:56.879 Regiment, a company of engineers and machine 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.060 gunners. So we're talking about roughly 3 ,500 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.810 men total. Yeah, about 3 ,564 men, to be exact. 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:05.949 But here is the stark reality that often gets 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:08.069 left out of the triumphant national narratives. 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:11.050 These American troops arrived radically under 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:13.750 -equipped for the realities of modern industrialized 00:04:13.750 --> 00:04:16.089 warfare. It's one of the most sobering aspects 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:17.949 of the American entry into the First World War. 00:04:18.569 --> 00:04:20.959 The United States had the manpower. but they 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:24.000 simply did not possess the heavy weaponry, the 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.939 specialized gear, or the mechanized armor required 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:29.180 to pull off a frontal assault on a fortified 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:31.939 hill in 1918. They were practically walking in 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:34.720 with just rifles and grit. What's fascinating 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.139 here is the massive logistical support provided 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:39.800 by the French to compensate for those American 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:42.120 shortfalls. The French military had to step in 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:44.360 and essentially bankroll the American offensive 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:46.709 with their own technology and firepower. And 00:04:46.709 --> 00:04:49.250 the sheer scale of that French logistical umbrella 00:04:49.250 --> 00:04:52.410 is staggering. It really is. I want you to imagine 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:54.709 the sheer scale of this multinational coordination. 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:57.490 Because the Americans lacked the heavy gear, 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:00.449 the French provided comprehensive air cover to 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:02.730 keep German planes from strafing the advancing 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:06.250 infantry. They hauled in 368 heavy artillery 00:05:06.250 --> 00:05:09.250 pieces to soften the German defenses. They supplied 00:05:09.250 --> 00:05:12.029 trench mortars to lob explosives over the German 00:05:12.029 --> 00:05:15.529 parapets and they brought in flamethrowers. Flamethrowers, 00:05:15.850 --> 00:05:18.709 which in the horrific close quarters reality 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:21.649 of trench warfare were a terrifying tactical 00:05:21.649 --> 00:05:23.670 necessity. They were. They used them to clear 00:05:23.670 --> 00:05:26.470 out those deep reinforced dugouts where artillery 00:05:26.470 --> 00:05:29.589 shells just couldn't reach to ensure that bypassed 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:32.170 German troops couldn't emerge and shoot the advancing 00:05:32.170 --> 00:05:34.779 Americans. the back. Right. And beyond the artillery 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:36.980 and the flamethrowers, the French provided what 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.959 was arguably the most crucial asset for an offensive 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.430 in 1918, which was armor. Yes, the tanks. They 00:05:43.430 --> 00:05:45.850 deployed French Schneider tanks from their 5th 00:05:45.850 --> 00:05:48.769 Tank Battalion, and these early tanks were entirely 00:05:48.769 --> 00:05:52.009 focused on a single vital mission, rolling ahead 00:05:52.009 --> 00:05:54.750 of the infantry to crush the entrenched German 00:05:54.750 --> 00:05:57.310 machine gun nests that would otherwise chew an 00:05:57.310 --> 00:05:59.910 unprotected assault force to pieces. Imagine 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:02.550 being an American infantryman, advancing under 00:06:02.550 --> 00:06:04.550 that protective umbrella of French steel and 00:06:04.550 --> 00:06:07.160 fire. Try to picture the visual of that coordination. 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:10.939 You have thousands of American infantrymen standing 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:12.879 shoulder to shoulder in their jump off trenches, 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.579 preparing to charge into the teeth of the German 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:18.199 defenses. Hurts pounding, I'm sure. Definitely. 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:21.560 But their entire protective canopy, the steel 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:23.980 raining down in front of them, the armor grinding 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:26.540 through the mud beside them, the aircraft circling 00:06:26.540 --> 00:06:30.259 overhead is entirely French. It is an incredible 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:32.959 display of an alliance functioning at the absolute 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:35.860 edge of human endurance. And that coordination 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:38.699 required a level of timing and discipline that 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.579 is just really difficult to comprehend today. 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:44.100 Which brings us to the morning of the assault. 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:49.560 May 28, 1918. Exactly. At precisely 06 .45 in 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:51.860 the morning, after an hour -long preparatory 00:06:51.860 --> 00:06:53.899 artillery bombardment designed to suppress the 00:06:53.899 --> 00:06:57.019 German guns, H -Hour arrives. The American troops 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:58.839 climb out of their trenches, but this wasn't 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.040 a chaotic blind charge across no man's land like 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.149 you see in the movies. No, not at all. The success 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:06.069 of the entire operation hinged on a tactic known 00:07:06.069 --> 00:07:10.430 as a rolling barrage. The 368 French heavy guns 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:13.610 behind the lines were calibrated to drop a continuous 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:16.050 curtain of high explosives just ahead of the 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:18.589 advancing American troops. It's basically a moving 00:07:18.589 --> 00:07:21.819 wall of fire. Exactly. But to keep the infantry 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.399 moving while keeping them protected, that wall 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:27.480 of fire had to creep forward. The math from the 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.319 source is incredible. It was calculated to advance 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.360 exactly 100 meters every two minutes. The psychological 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.759 discipline required to execute this is immense. 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.540 These American doughboys had to walk at a highly 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:42.639 specific, deliberate pace right behind a literal 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.339 moving wall of explosions. And by the way, that 00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:47.920 iconic nickname, Doughboys, likely had roots 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.459 in earlier conflicts, referencing the adobe dust 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:53.040 on their uniforms in the Southwest, or the doughy 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:54.879 rations they carried. Right, it's a classic term. 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.259 But the margin for error walking behind that 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.800 barrage was effectively zero. The noise would 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.079 have been physically concussive, the smoke blinding. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.560 If an American soldier walked too fast, his own 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.360 adrenaline would carry him right into the blast 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:09.040 radius of friendly French artillery shells. And 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:11.680 if the line moved too slowly, the creeping barrage 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.300 would move too far ahead. Right. The smoke would 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:16.620 clear, giving the surviving German defenders 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:19.600 precious seconds to climb out of their deep bunkers, 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:22.379 man their heavy machine guns and just mow the 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:24.500 Americans down before they could cross the remaining. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:29.100 It was a deadly, deafening, perfectly timed dance. 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:31.980 And this is exactly where the integration of 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:34.539 those French Schneider tanks proved decisive. 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:37.720 Oh, absolutely. As that creeping wall of explosions 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.460 rolled forward, the tanks emerged through the 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:43.620 smoke alongside the infantry, specifically targeting 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.159 and neutralizing the hardened German machine 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.820 gun pillboxes that had survived the artillery 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:51.120 prep. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:53.799 Thanks to this immense preparation and the French 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:56.919 tanks taking out the machine guns, the 28th Infantry 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.299 Regiment captured the village of Cantigny in 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:02.320 exactly 30 minutes. Half an hour. Half an hour. 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.580 In a war defined by agonizing stalemates, where 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:07.980 armies routinely fought and died for months just 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.240 to move the line a few muddy yards, they swarmed 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.559 the high ground, cleared the cellars and pushed 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:15.070 a half kilometer beyond their objective. The 00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:17.549 psychological impact of that 30 minute assault 00:09:17.549 --> 00:09:20.169 rippled across the entire Western Front. It must 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:22.169 have been a shock to the system for everyone. 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:24.529 Completely. It wasn't just about taking a small 00:09:24.529 --> 00:09:27.470 salient. It was about executing a flawlessly 00:09:27.470 --> 00:09:30.289 timed modern military operation on the world 00:09:30.289 --> 00:09:34.350 stage. They synchronized infantry, armor, heavy 00:09:34.350 --> 00:09:38.090 artillery and air support without breaking formation. 00:09:38.929 --> 00:09:41.090 The adrenaline of that rapid success must have 00:09:41.090 --> 00:09:44.330 been incredible. But as anyone who studies military 00:09:44.330 --> 00:09:47.230 history knows, the initial assault is often the 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:49.450 straightforward part. Always. The dust settles, 00:09:49.610 --> 00:09:51.350 the momentum stops, and you suddenly realize 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:54.669 you are now sitting in a shattered village occupying 00:09:54.669 --> 00:09:57.029 a salient that is exposed to the enemy on three 00:09:57.029 --> 00:10:00.049 sides. Taking ground is one thing, but holding 00:10:00.049 --> 00:10:02.990 it against a furious, highly capable enemy who 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:04.889 desperately needs that observation post back 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:06.889 is a completely different kind of nightmare. 00:10:07.090 --> 00:10:09.169 Yeah, the German forces were not simply going 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:11.389 to concede the high ground and walk away. Almost 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:13.570 immediately, the dynamic of the battle shifted. 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:17.029 The Americans went from being the attackers orchestrating 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:20.090 the violence to the defenders enduring it. The 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:23.029 Germans subjected them to a relentless artillery 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:25.549 bombardment for the rest of the day. The timeline 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:29.320 of the German pushback is agonizing. A small 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:31.480 probing attack against the extreme right of the 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.740 American lines hits at Euro 8 .30 in the morning 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:38.399 and is repulsed. Just testing the waters. Exactly. 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:42.000 Then the first large -scale, highly coordinated 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.240 German counter -attack slams into the American 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.779 lines at 17 .10. Late afternoon. That was the 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:49.379 moment the French command had been waiting to 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:52.000 see. Would the untested Americans break and run 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.200 under the pressure of veteran German shock troops? 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:56.200 The strain on the American line was immense. 00:10:56.379 --> 00:10:58.639 And right here, the text highlights a memorable 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.759 historical cameo. To plug a critical weak spot 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:04.139 in the line, the command sent in a company from 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:07.200 the 26th Infantry measurement, commanded by Major 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.820 Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Son of the former president. 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:12.440 Yes. Putting his life on the line alongside his 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:15.080 men to hold a pulmarized piece of French countryside. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:17.500 It's amazing. With Roosevelt's reinforcements, 00:11:17.580 --> 00:11:19.779 they managed to crush that twilight assault. 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.980 But the Germans hit them again at 18 .40, sweeping 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:25.940 out of the darkness. And again, crushed by combined 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:29.019 artillery and infantry fire. The line did not 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:32.100 break. But we have to note the human cost over 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:35.120 that multi -day defense. Holding a fixed position 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:38.379 under continuous artillery bombardment is catastrophic. 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:40.940 The numbers are just brutal. And when we look 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:43.039 at the historical records surrounding the casualties, 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.360 we really encounter the fog of war. There's an 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.379 interesting discrepancy in the historical records. 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:51.299 Yeah, the source info box cites 318 killed and 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:53.899 1 ,400 wounded. Right, but then the text itself 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:58.779 mentions 1 ,603 total casualties with 199 killed 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:01.759 in action. That discrepancy isn't a failure of 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:03.840 history. It's a reflection of the chaotic nature 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.320 of historical battlefield records. It's impossible 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:08.440 to track accurately when men are being buried 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.340 and unburied by shells over 72 hours. Exactly. 00:12:11.659 --> 00:12:14.379 But regardless of the specific tally, suffering 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:16.840 upward of 1 ,600 casualties in an assault force 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:19.500 of 3 ,500 means a nutrition rate approaching 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:22.940 50%. A staggering level of sacrifice. And I want 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.340 to bring those massive numbers down to a single, 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.919 poignant human life. The text mentions Matthew 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.779 B. Wan. He was a Pima Native American who was 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:34.360 killed in the battle. A tragic loss. He became 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:37.000 the first known Arizonan to die in combat in 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.259 WWI. Every single digit in those casualty reports 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:44.220 represents a person like Mathier who left behind 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:47.360 his family and community to fight on a hill in 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.539 France. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:52.529 the aftermath is fascinating. Though it was a 00:12:52.529 --> 00:12:55.129 relatively small geographical gain and kind of 00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:58.490 overshadowed by the larger Ain offensive happening 00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:01.529 around the same time, Cantini was the exact triumph 00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:03.570 the Allies needed. It proved they could do it. 00:13:03.590 --> 00:13:05.309 It proved to the French that the Americans could 00:13:05.309 --> 00:13:07.809 hold the line. And that paved the way for famous, 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:10.710 massive battles like Chateaubriand Below Wood 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.289 just weeks later. So what does this all mean? 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:15.889 How does a 30 -minute victory echo through the 00:13:15.889 --> 00:13:18.269 next century? Well, the way Cantini has been 00:13:18.269 --> 00:13:20.759 memorialized is really telling. The monuments 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.200 started going up almost immediately. In 1919, 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:27.200 just a year later, the First Division erected 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.399 a monument featuring a concrete shaft and a carved 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.899 stone eagle. A very raw, immediate tribute to 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.620 their fallen friends. And then in 1937, the American 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:39.120 Battle Monuments Commission dedicated a formal 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.639 monument with inscriptions in both English and 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.220 French. Cementing the narrative of the Alliance. 00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:47.600 And it doesn't stop there. In 2008, for the 90th 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.899 anniversary, they dedicated the Lion of Cantigny 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:54.080 statue by Steven Spears depicting a doughboy 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.340 advancing. Placed there by the Association of 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:58.500 the 28th Infantry Regiment. Right, the Black 00:13:58.500 --> 00:14:00.600 Lions. And they actually got that nickname from 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.559 the Black Lions on the traditional heraldic arms 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.840 of Picardy, the French region where Cantigny 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.139 is located. They fought so hard they absorbed 00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.860 the local symbol into their own identity. But 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:13.320 here's a surprising geographic trivia piece. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.179 The most surprising physical legacy of this battle 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:18.659 isn't in France at all. No, it's in the American 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:21.539 Midwest. Colonel Robert R. McCormick, who commanded 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:24.200 artillery at the battle, was so profoundly moved 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:26.799 by the experience that when he returned home, 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:30.700 he renamed his massive 500 -acre estate outside 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:33.960 Chicago to Cantini. That's incredible. It now 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.860 houses a First Division war memorial. It perfectly 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:39.620 encapsulates the journey from a heavily fortified 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:42.740 French hill to a sprawling estate in Chicago. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:45.620 The enduring ripple effect of history. Well, 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:47.559 thank you so much for joining us on this deep 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.639 dive. We've covered the brutal pressure of 1918, 00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:54.000 the flawless 30 minute assault utilizing French 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.200 tech, the agonizing defense and the legacy left 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.809 behind. It's vital history to keep alive. And 00:14:59.809 --> 00:15:01.429 this raises an important question we'll leave 00:15:01.429 --> 00:15:03.269 you with. Let's hear it. Given that America's 00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:05.690 very first major victory in World War One relied 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.090 almost entirely on borrowing heavy artillery, 00:15:08.289 --> 00:15:10.470 flamethrowers, and tanks from the French, how 00:15:10.470 --> 00:15:12.850 did the shock of arriving at a global war so 00:15:12.850 --> 00:15:15.870 radically under -equipped forever alter how the 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:17.730 United States would approach industrializing 00:15:17.730 --> 00:15:20.110 its own military technology in the decades that 00:15:20.110 --> 00:15:22.470 followed? That is a phenomenal question for you 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:24.669 to ponder. Keep turning that over in your mind. 00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:27.529 Keep asking questions. And above all, stay curious. 00:15:27.649 --> 00:15:29.470 We'll catch you on the next deep dive.