The Battle of Château-Thierry was a battle that was fought on the Western Front of World War I on 18 July 1918.
By the spring of 1918, both the Entente Powers of Western Europe and the German Empire interpreted the tide of war as swinging in their momentum. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia freed up 50 Imperial German Army divisions for use on the Western Front, but the Allies began to receive reinforcements of their own from the United States. The American Expeditionary Forces' commander, General John J. Pershing, initially insisted on keeping American troops under American command, but he relented in the face of the successful German Spring Offensive and dispatched a portion of his army to shore up the French defenses at Château-Thierry.
The American 3rd Infantry Division was dispatched to aid the French in the defense of the Chemin des Dames against the Germans, and the 3rd Division occupied the main bridge on the south bank of the Marne River, just under 50 miles from Paris. On 1 June 1918, the Germans advanced into Château-Thierry from the north, forcing the French and Americans to defend the bridge with machine-gun fire. The French destroyed the bridge as the Americans kept up their machine-gun fire, and, on 18 July, French and American forces launched a counterassault on a 25-mile-wide front between Fontenoy and Château-Thierry. The Allies followed closely behind a synchronized rolling barrage, penetrating the German lines. The Germans were forced to retreat back across the Marne, setting the stage for the Second Battle of the Marne.
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