1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Division)
13 - 22 September 1944
At dawn on 20 September, fog covered the area. Al Levasseur, who was at the time the S-3, l/26th Inf, recalls that the massed artillery fires had been set for 0700. All preparations for the attack having been completed, Al decided around 0630 that he would shave for the first time in several days:
"While shaving, my mind was mulling over the events of the previous night, including periodic harassing fires by our tanks and artillery on the objective....and the dense fog existing at this time. I visualized the enemy in entrenched positions sleepless and exhausted from our previous day's attacks and frequent shellings during the night. I stopped in the middle of my shave to suggest to Major Adams and Col. Hogan that, under the circumstances, an attack by our infantry with fixed bayonets but without any supporting fires might be more effective by surprising the enemy asleep in his trenches. They both considered this briefly and agreed it just might work. Col. Hogan immediately requested cancellation of all scheduled supporting fires for 0700 hours. Shortly after 0700 hours A Co. reported it had taken the objective with complete surprise, catching the enemy asleep in their trenches and taking many prisoners."
Many of the 33 PW taken were asleep in their foxholes. A number stated that at midnight they had formed for an assault, but were attacked by American tanks, and suffered many casualties. The Germans reacted violently with fire, but there was no other counterattack.
CCB ordered a general attack to seize Weissenberg, and to clear the woods to its west. Company B, 26th Infantry, joined Companies H and G, 33d Armor to take Weissenberg itself. Company C, 26th Infantry and Company H, 36th Armored Infantry attacked to clear the woods on the left (west) flank of Company A. Company D, 33 Armor and Company I, 36th Armored Infantry from the adjacent TF Mills conducted a foray to the left front, and then occupied the west end of the woods. CCB had secured Hill 283.
After dark on the evening of 20 September, a unit of the 9th Infantry Division relieved l/26th Infantry. TF Hogan was ordered back to an assembly area west of Mausbach, where the troops were fed a hot meal, and allowed to sleep. The leaders prepared for an attack into Stolberg on the morning of 21 September.
Stolberg is a long, narrow town at the bottom of a meandering, steep-sided valley. The attack into the city encountered very strong enemy resistance, including heavy artillery and mortar fires. Nonetheless, the first day Task Force Hogan advanced four kilometers, fighting from building to building, traversing nearly half the town, and capturing 25 PWs. On 22 September, Companies A and B of the 26th Infantry, attacking parallel to the main street, were stopped at a cross street by intense indirect fires, and by tank and machine gun fires from the flanks. Supporting tanks — Lt. Col. Hogan then could then muster only about 12 — were slowed by mines hastily laid by the enemy on the street surface, but concealed by dirt and debris. Company C of the 26th was committed on the right, but even with all units on line, the Task Force could make little headway. [1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, was at that time 42% of TO&E strength]. TF Hogan had become embroiled in a larger fight, for higher stakes: 12 ID had established a defensive line that incorporated the Donnerberg, high ground on the east opposite mid-town, and adjacent positions within Stolberg that they were then hotly contesting with CCB. At 1700 on 22 September the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry was relieved in place, and on the following day returned to the 1st Division. The battalion was designated division reserve, and ordered to reorganize, re-equip, and train hundreds of replacements.
For their tenacity, Hitler renamed the defenders of Stolberg the 12th Volksgrenadier Division, one of only two serving divisions so honored. For its part,lst Battalion, 26th Infantry won the Presidential Unit Citation. That award, however, reached the battalion in the late spring of 1945, when most of the Blue Spaders who had earned it were more concerned with civilian pursuits than with battle honors. In September 1944 the accolade that mattered came from Major General C L. Huebner, Commander of the 1st Infantry Division, who, when he was told that the Battalion had rejoined the 26th RCT, said simply "The 1st Battalion did a fine job over there and I am proud of them."
