Home > Historic times > The Great War in the Meuse 1914-1918 > The battle sites of Saint-Mihiel, Les Eparges and the Woëvre
The battle sites of Saint-Mihiel, Les Eparges and the Woëvre
The German offensive in September 1914 towards the Verdun fortress, contained by the heroic resistance at the Fort de Troyon, did lead to the taking of Saint-Mihiel.
This Salient, attacked in vain by the French army in 1915, was only liberated in 1918 during the American offensive (colonnaded Monument at Montsec).
The sector, where extremely fierce fighting took place, is criss-crossed by trenches which can be seen from platforms which have been built (the Bavarois Trenches, Bois Brûlé, Tranchée de la Soif, and so on).
The Crête des Eparges, dominating the vast Woëvre plain that opens up towards Metz, was the subject of terrible fighting, especially in 1915. This sector, which includes the Tranchée de Calonne, was the setting for the tragic meeting between the writers of the Great War: Alain-Fournier, Louis Pergaud (both of whom disappeared in 1914), Jean Giono, Ernst Jünger and the academic Maurice Genevoix, author of the monumental account "Ceux de 14" (Those of 14).
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