The Lost Battalion was the name given to nine companies of the US 77th Infantry Division, some 554 troops, that were isolated by Imperial German Army troops during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 1918. Major Charles White Whittlesey led the battalion in a breakthrough towards American lines to the west, as they had been isolated due to the stalling of the French Army's advance. Water, food, and supplies were short, and only 194 were rescued by the rest of the US Army; 197 were killed and 150 were missing or captured.