Colonel Fontenot’s Loss and Redemption at St Vith is an excellent addition to the host of books covering the Battle of the Bulge and provides a needed focus on the action of the 7th Armor Division as well as several other units including the 106th, 28th, and 4th Infantry Divisions, their regiments, and a number of lesser known units. The story covers actions and decisions at both the higher levels of command and those at the bottom showing how their interplay and independent decisions impacted the US’s ability to defeat the Germans in this final large battle.
He tells an excellent story which makes the battle come to life in his description of terrain, weapon’s capabilities, leader traits and interactions, weather, and small facts which add depth and humanity to the story such as the looting of supply dumps which lead to temporary halts of units as they eat and refuel their vehicles, meeting people speaking the same dialect and deserting to their home at the end of the battle.
Of course, there is a focus on the life and death situations we are all used to, but there was also an excellent portrayal of the resupply efforts needed to ensure the 7th could continue to fight as well as its partial refitting/reconstitution and training after it was withdrawn into reserve. The inability of the US to man the Army to a level allowing the US to withdraw tired divisions from combat is also highlighted and the problems of personnel replacement. These logistics actions are seldom covered and really struck home with me as an Armor/Cavalry officer who was both a Battalion and Brigade Supply Officer, so I have a personnel appreciation of how difficult and important these functions are.
He brings a laser focus to the effect of Artillery and the US mastery of the Time on Target and shows the effects of US tank design on tank battles and tactics and how the crews were able to surmount these problems in tank on tank combat.
He provides glimpses of the relationships of general officers and other commanders and their effects on the battlefield, and excitement of various events, such as the arrival of the Russian High which froze the roads to allow the withdrawal of the 7th.
It is always gratifying to read history with the excitement of a military fiction novel. The small nits I must pick are the maps lack the detail I would lack, but are clear enough to follow the action, and the repetitious acronym definitions which are repeated in many chapters by Colonel (COL) Fontenot.
I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the Battle of the Bulge and all combat arms officers (and perhaps quartermaster officers as well). It gives an insightful examination of command, leadership, organizational, and tactical issues at the sharp end of the spear as important today as in December of 1944.
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