The plan for the withdrawal from the Twin Villages had been finalized by early morning December 19. It was simple: units would be pulled out from left to right, or from north to south. General Robertson encouraged the officers who were actually leading men not to use the word "withdrawal." This action was "a move to new positions," and would be conducted in an orderly fashion. The men would "walk, not run." About 1330, Colonel Boos ordered all equipment that could not be carried out of the villages to be destroyed. The Germans, still unwilling to give up, attacked throughout the day, but not on the scale of previous days. This was partially due to the fact that the 12th SS Panzer Division had been ordered to detour south and bypass the bottleneck, and continue on to its final objective–the banks of the Meuse River.

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Commencing at 1730, the 395th RCT fell back from positions around the Baracken Crossroads, withdrawing along a boggy trail toward Elsenborn. The 38th Infantry’s 2nd Battalion was next, followed by Mildren’s 1st Battalion. Soon thereafter, the majority of American troops were gone, out of the charnel house that the Twin Villages had become. A rear guard consisting of infantry, engineers and some tank destroyers held the back door through Wirtzfeld open until early morning on December 20. Then they too made their way back along the muddy, deeply rutted road to Elsenborn.

After three long, difficult days of practically nonstop combat (seven days for most of the 2nd Division), the initial phase of the battle around Elsenborn Ridge was over. Although some units lost as much as 80 percent of their combat strength, the back of the German offensive in the Ardennes was effectively broken at the Twin Villages. The continuing efforts of the 2nd and 99th divisions, in concert with the 1st Division to the south and the 78th Division in the north, near Elsenborn Ridge, would end all German hopes for a successful drive to the Meuse River and then the vital Belgian port of Antwerp.

Author Ralph E. Hersko, Jr., writes from Cross Junction, Va. Further reading: A Time for Trumpets, by Charles B. McDonald; Krinkelt-Rocherath: The Battle for the Twin Villages, by William C.C. Cavanagh; and Battle: The Story of the Bulge, by John Toland.

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