Montgomery Informs Eisenhower of Reinforcements and Troop Movements During the Battle of the Bulge (1944)

Date: January 16, 1945

Created By: Bernard Montgomery

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The General, Advance to the Rhine

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box 83, Montgomery, Bernard (10); NAID #12125644

This December 25, 1944 top secret cable from British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to General Dwight D. Eisenhower reports on the increasingly difficult military situation on the northern portion of the Battle of the Bulge. Montgomery warns that German pressure was increasing against the right flank of the U.S. First Army and that the German Fifth Panzer Army was attempting to infiltrate around the right flank of VII Corps. The message provides a concise example of the urgent battlefield communications exchanged among senior Allied commanders as they responded to Germany’s Ardennes offensive.

Montgomery then informs Eisenhower of two important troop movements intended to strengthen the Allied position. He had ordered the 82nd Airborne Division to withdraw from the Vielsalm salient and return to a defensive line running through the Grandmenil–Trois-Ponts area. He also ordered the 1st Infantry Division to move from Ninth Army reserve into First Army reserve on December 26. These decisions demonstrate how Allied commanders repositioned experienced American divisions as they attempted to contain the German advance and stabilize the front. The document offers students a direct look at high-level Allied command and battlefield decision-making during the Battle of the Bulge, while the outcome of Germany’s final major offensive in Western Europe remained uncertain.