Generals of the Bulge by Jerry D. Morelock

Author:Jerry D. Morelock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stackpole Books

17 DECEMBER

The 14th Cavalry Group, disorganized and confused by the furious onslaught, frustrated Clay's gunners for much of 17 December by refusing to allow them to fire toward the east, fearing that cut-off American troops could be killed in the shelling. This situation ended in the afternoon on 17 December when the battered and dazed 14th Cavalry Group was forced to withdraw for the last time and finally disintegrated as an effective fighting force.99

This situation led to Clay's dramatic offer to Clarke and his approaching Combat Command B, 7th Armored. Clay recalled, “No one had to tell me I was under Clarke's command. I assumed it.”100 For the next two critical days, Clay's 275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion constituted the entire artillery support for Clarke's troopers manning the St.-Vith roadblock—a stand that gained Clay's gunners a Presidential Unit Citation. This battalion, and units like it that drifted into the St.-Vith salient, provided the help Clarke desperately needed to patch together a viable defense.101

Shortly after Clarke dispatched Clay to provide much-needed support to Riggs's tiny force, portions of the 7th Armored began to trickle into St.-Vith. Troop B, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, was the first 7th Armored unit to force its way through the packed roads. Clarke immediately sent it to fall in on Riggs's left flank. As other units arrived, they too were moved to defensive positions ringing the eastern approaches to the town. The 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, the 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion, the 31st Tank Battalion, and the 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion were all in the St.-Vith vicinity by midnight, and most were in combat hours before that.102 Clarke recorded how he disposed his forces and organized the defense:

As [the combat command] arrived, which continued until after dark, I sent help to [Lieutenant Colonel] Riggs, established a direct fire force with my tank destroyer company, established a counter-attack force of 2 tank companies and sent troops forward to the northwest and southeast locations of St.-Vith with instructions to stop the Germans. My small staff and I were up all night getting the situation organized.103

While the armored units were trickling into St.-Vith on the afternoon and evening of 17 December, General Hasbrouck, the 7th's commander, arrived in town in the late afternoon. After a brief meeting alone with Alan Jones, who was still in St.-Vith, Hasbrouck briefed Clarke on how he saw the mission.104 Clarke, of course, was to stop the Germans from entering St.-Vith, or delay them for as long as possible. Hasbrouck, commanding the entire 7th Armored Division, would attempt to do the same for the whole northern sector. From his headquarters in Vielsalm, west of St.-Vith, Hasbrouck and the 7th Armored Division staff planned and conducted the defense of that portion of the VIII Corps line formerly held by the 106th Infantry Division. Hasbrouck had Clarke and his Combat Command B defending St.-Vith. To Clarke's north, Combat Command R, 7th Armored, protected the left flank of the division. Bill Hoge's Combat Command B, 9th Armored, along

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