Credit must go to U.S. Fifth Corps Commander, General Leonard Gerow, who was in charge of the northern sector. On day one of the surprise offensive when everyone was reeling, he and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division Commander, General Walter Robertson quickly came up with the defensive plan based on Elsenborn Ridge high ground, getting the 99th and 2nd Infantry Divisions up there quickly into prepared fortified foxholes in front of powerful U.S. 1st Division artillery under Commanding General Clift Andrus. Known as “Mr. Chips,” Andrus, the expert artilleryman, would play a crucial role in the battle for Elsenborn Ridge.

Robertson’s role that day has been called inspirational.

By the evening of December 18, after pulling back from Rocherath, the U.S. 99th Infantry held the Elsenborn slope facing Krinkelt to the southeast, while the U.S. 2nd Infantry held the southern slope facing Wirtzfeld and Butgenbach. They were dug in and backed by pre-registered artillery, including 90-mm anti-aircraft guns used as artillery. Here, they blocked the two Rollbahns (A and B) assigned to the 12th SS Panzer Division for its run to join Peiper.

As it turned out, the Elsenborn defensive position never broke.

Between December 18 and December 21, the 12th SS Panzer, having finally taken the Twin Villages, hit the southern face of Elsenborn Ridge, but lost 44 tanks and 1200 men on top of those already lost. The 277th Volksgrenadiers and 3rd Panzergrenadier Divisions launched three assaults against the eastern face on December 20, but were destroyed by massed time-on-target artillery fire from 155-mm “Long Toms” and 105-mm howitzers. Other 4.5- and 8-inch Guns fired shells 16 kilometers into the German rear, blocking German movement to the attack area.

The 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion played a crucial role here, as it had at the Twin Villages.

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