WITH THEIR BARE HANDS: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the Battle for Montfaucon

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Traces the fate of the US 79th Division-men drafted off the streets of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia-from boot camp in Maryland through the final years of World War I, focusing on their most famous engagement: the attack on Montfaucon, the most heavily fortified part of the German Line, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918.

Examines the 79th's mistakes and triumphs, the tactics of its commander General John J. Pershing, and how the lessons it learned during the Great War helped it to fight World War II.

This suggests that had Colonel George C. Marshall followed the original plan, he could have shortened the war and that Pershing was justified in ordering his troops to attack right up to the moment of the Armistice.

Draws upon original documents, including orders, field messages, and the letters and memoirs of the soldiers themselves.