The riveting true story of America's first modern military battle, its first military victory during World War One, and its first steps onto the world stage At first light on Tuesday, May 28th, 1918, waves of American riflemen from the U.S. Army's 1st Division climbed from their trenches, charged across the shell-scarred French dirt of no-man’s-land, and captured the hilltop village of Cantigny from the grip of the German Army. Those who survived the enemy machine-gun fire and hand-to-hand fighting held on for the next two days and nights in shallow foxholes under the sting of mustard gas and crushing steel of artillery fire. Thirteen months after the United States entered World War I, these 3,500 soldiers became the first “doughboys” to enter the fight. The operation, the first American attack ever supported by tanks, airplanes, and modern artillery, was ordered by the leader of America’s forces in Europe, General John “Black Jack” Pershing, and planned by a young staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel George C. Marshall, who would fill the lead role in World War II twenty-six years later. Drawing on the letters, diaries, and reports by the men themselves, author Matthew Davenport tells the inspiring, untold story of these soldiers and their journey to victory on the Western Front in the Battle of Cantigny. The first American battle of the “war to end all wars” would mark not only its first victory abroad, but the birth of its modern Army. Washington Times: "Mr. Davenport’s very readable account gives a ground-level account of fierce fighting, centering on individuals who he followed throughout the battle, based on letters and oral histories. A saga of blood and suffering, to be sure, but the U.S. Army at its very best." Library Journal (starred review): "From the 'creeping barrage' of artillery to the eventual American victory, the reader will hear every explosion, feel each bullet whiz past, and sometimes cry at the loss of a comrade. This is brilliant work for every library." James McPherson, Pulitzer-prize winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era: “This story of the men who participated in the first attack by American troops in World War I is military history at its best . . . The gritty, grinding, lethal nature of warfare on the Western Front comes alive for the reader in this splendid book.” Richard Norton Smith, Pulitzer-finalist and C-Span's in-house historian: "Davenport is that rarest of military historians, marshaling a vast amount of battlefield action while keeping the human drama center-stage. The battle of Cantigny is a historical turning point, arguably the true beginning of the American Century. It has never been told better than in this moving recreation, as gripping a read as it is definitive scholarship." Joseph Persico, New York Times best-selling author of Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: “Not only does Davenport trace the battle with addictive readability, but he brings to life both the ordinary soldiers who were there and the leaders who still resonate throughout history. . . Davenport has placed Cantigny in its rightful place on the map of World War I battles.” John Milton Cooper, author of Pulitzer-prize-finalist Woodrow Wilson: A Biography: “Davenport has brought this engagement and the men who fought and died in it and lived on after it back in a moving way. This is first-rate military history, which recount the personal reality of this country’s first foray overseas as a great power.” Lieut.General Daniel P. Bolger (US Army, retired), author of Why We Lost: A General’s Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: “Drawing on a wealth of eye-witness accounts, Davenport tells us what it took to go ‘over the top’ in the face of deadly machine gun fire. His aim is true. This is military history at its best.” Allan R. Millett, Stephen Ambrose professor of history at the University of New Orleans, and author of For the Common Defense: “Matthew Davenport gives a human face to the ordeal of the doughboys who gave the AEF its first victory at Cantigny, May 1918. His book recounts the reality of warfare on the Western Front.” Col. Paul Herbert (U.S. Army, retired), Executive Director of the First Division Museum: “Matthew Davenport's new account is superb. Based on exhaustive research, his narrative moves easily among the great questions of policy and strategy, the dramatic experiences of individual soldiers, and the home front. This is excellent military history and cannot fail to re-awaken our interest in that long ago conflict as we enter its centennial.” James Carl Nelson, author of The Remains of Company D: “Matthew J. Davenport's First Over There is an exhilarating, minutely detailed, boots-on-the-ground account of America's baptism by fire into the maelstrom of World War 1. It's a solid work of military history -- and a great read." Lieut.Col. Mark Grotelueschen (USAF), professor of history at the US Air Force Acade