The Meuse-Argonne American Memorial: Inside the 58-Metre Tower of Montfaucon

By Christophe Vandewalle · 7 min read

The tower at Montfaucon stands where the village used to be. On the morning of 26 September 1918, soldiers of the US 37th and 79th Divisions began their assault up this hillside; by the end of the next day they had taken it, at the cost of seven thousand casualties. Nineteen years later, the United States built a fifty-eight-metre Doric column on the same spot, in pale limestone shipped across the Atlantic, and dedicated it to the men who came up that slope. This is the story of how the tower got there, what you see when you climb it, and why it is the right place to begin any visit to the Meuse-Argonne.

The hill before the tower

Before the war, Montfaucon was a village of about two hundred and fifty people, with a church, a school, a town hall, and a medieval collegiate church on the summit. It sat on a 336-metre hill that dominates the surrounding countryside for thirty kilometres in every direction. In autumn 1914, the German Fifth Army took the hill without serious resistance. They held it for almost exactly four years and turned it into one of the most important observation posts on the entire Western Front. Concrete bunkers along the slope let German artillery observers direct fire on Verdun throughout the long battle of 1916. By the time the Americans came up the hill in September 1918, the village no longer existed: four years of bombardment had ground every building to rubble. After the war, the surviving residents rebuilt the village lower down the slope, around the foot of the hill. The summit, with the bones of the medieval church still standing, was given to the United States.

How the tower was built

The American Battle Monuments Commission was created by Congress in 1923 to design and build permanent memorials on the major American battlefields of the First World War. General Pershing himself chaired the commission until his death in 1948. For the Meuse-Argonne — by far the largest American operation — the ABMC wanted a single, dominant monument that could be seen from every part of the former battlefield. The architect was John Russell Pope, one of the most celebrated American architects of his generation. He also designed the Jefferson Memorial in Washington and the National Archives Building. Pope's design at Montfaucon is restrained almost to the point of austerity: a single Doric column of pale limestone, fluted, capped by a small platform and a sculpted figure of Liberty. Construction took place during the 1930s, in the depths of the Depression, and the dedication was held on 1 August 1937 in the presence of General Pershing and the President of France. Eighteen months later, the Second World War began. During the German occupation, the Wehrmacht used the tower briefly as an observation post, but did not damage it.

The view from the top

Inside the column, a spiral staircase of 234 steps leads to the open observation platform. Information panels along the parapet identify what you are looking at in every direction. To the north, the dark ridges of the Argonne forest, where the Lost Battalion was surrounded. To the north-east, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, where the American cemetery now lies on a south-facing slope — on a clear day you can see the dark line of the crosses against the lawn. To the east, the Meuse valley, the eastern boundary of the offensive, and beyond it the heights that consumed the French army at Verdun in 1916. To the south, the gentle slopes from which the American assault began on 26 September 1918. To the west, the high country toward Reims and Champagne, where the French Fourth Army attacked at the same hour as the Americans. If you know which division your great-grandfather served in, the parapet plans will tell you the direction from which he advanced and roughly the line he took. For descendants, this is often the most concrete moment of the trip.

The architecture, up close

At the foot of the column stands the sculpted figure of Liberty, facing south toward the United States. Above the entrance is the dedication: "Erected by the United States of America in commemoration of the services of her First Army." Around the base, inscriptions list the eighteen American divisions that fought in the offensive and the names of the principal towns liberated by them. Walk around the column slowly. The fluting was carved by hand. The proportions of the order are classical, deliberately stripped of decoration; Pope is making a point about restraint, the way a tombstone is restrained.

Practical information

Free entry. The Memorial is open daily except 25 December and 1 January, with seasonal hours that change between summer and winter — check abmc.gov before you set out. A small visitor centre at the base is staffed by ABMC personnel who can answer questions in English and French. Parking is free, immediately below the tower. The climb is steep and the staircase is narrow. There is no lift. Visitors with limited mobility can still enjoy the grounds and the medieval church ruins; the panels at ground level summarise the geography of the offensive.

A perfect way to start a day of memorial visits

The Memorial is six minutes by car from Ferme Lafayette, or a walkable thirty minutes in good weather. We suggest starting your day here, at opening time, before the small number of tour buses arrive. Climb the tower, take in the geography, and you will spend the rest of the day with a mental map of every site you visit. The natural sequence from Montfaucon is: Memorial in the morning → American Cemetery before lunch → lunch in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon → Musée Romagne in the afternoon → back to Ferme Lafayette for dinner.

Ferme Lafayette is a five-minute drive from the American Memorial. Breakfast is included; a three-course dinner is available on request. Sandra and Christophe will help you sequence your visits and contact the ABMC if you are tracing a relative. See room availability →