26 DECEMBER 1944 – BATTLE OF ELSENBORN RIDGE ENDS – BATTLE OF THE BULGE:

 26 DECEMBER 1944 – BATTLE OF ELSENBORN RIDGE ENDS – BATTLE OF THE BULGE:

As the Battle of the Bulge raged across the Ardennes, a crucial ten-day battle was fought at the northernmost edge of the German salient at Elsenborn Ridge, the westernmost edge of the rugged terrain of the Ardennes Forest.

 On and around this crucial piece of terrain, heroic American efforts prevented the German offensive from escaping the confines of the Ardennes and breaking out into the open flatlands of the Low Countries.

The assault on Elsenborn Ridge began early in the morning of 16 December, when the green soldiers of the 99th Division were bombarded by an enemy artillery barrage and subsequent infantry assault.

 Tenuously maintaining their grip on their line during brutal close-range fighting on the first day, the 99th was quickly reinforced by the battle-hardened 2nd Infantry Division.

The battle raged through the Belgian towns of Rocherath and Krinkelt as the sheer weight of the German advance slowly forced American troops northwards towards defensive positions on Elsenborn Ridge; by 20 December, the enemy had seized both towns and forced remaining American forces on the high ground of the ridge.

The Elsenborn Ridge defenses steadfastly held out for an entire week, becoming one of the only locations along the original American frontline in the Ardennes to successfully resist the enemy’s offensive. 

Crucial to this success were the artillery units positioned behind the ridge, who provided one of the most accurate and intense campaigns of coordinated bombardment in the entire war, vaporizing the German units arrayed against the Elsenborn Ridge defenses and shredding the enemy’s timetable of advance.

By the time that the last German assaults futilely ebbed against the American stronghold on Elsenborn Ridge on 26 December, the tide of the Battle of the Bulge had already turned. 

German momentum had been halted to the south at Bastogne, and Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army had begun to break through the enemy’s southern flank, while the German goal of striking northward at Antwerp had been stymied altogether by the bulwark of American strength at Elsenborn.