The small town of Saint-Mihiel, 25 km south of Verdun on the Meuse, gives its name to the first major US-led offensive of the First World War. In September 1918 General Pershing's American Expeditionary Force, with French support, eliminated the Saint-Mihiel salient in four days, taking 15,000 prisoners.
The huge American Monument at Montsec, on a hilltop 14 km east of the town, was built by the United States in the 1930s and offers a sweeping view of the former battlefield. The Saint-Mihiel American Cemetery at nearby Thiaucourt holds the graves of 4,153 American dead. The town itself is worth a stop for its Benedictine abbey church and the Sepulchre by the early Renaissance sculptor Ligier Richier in the church of Saint-Étienne.