Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

After the high level conference, Satin was officially cancelled and Fredendall was relegated to the task of conducting raids to confuse the enemy. Eisenhower was distracted, giving ambiguous orders, and was not closely directing the troops. When Orlando Ward easily took an Italian force at Seney Station, but in doing so scattered his forces over a hundred miles, General Von Arnim saw opportunity and attacked the vital Faid pass just to the north.

General Juin's 35,000 undersupplied French troops held the strategically important Faid Pass, located on the Eastern Dorsal, a mountainous region that separated east from central Tunisia. After several German attacks, French casualties were appalling. The French defenders frantically called Fredendall for assistance. He responded with only limited support, finally sending General McQuillin, who delayed his attack by stopping for the night only seven miles from the French location. When...