Editing Battle of the Bulge (section)

===Outcome===
[[File:Captured German Panther tank crewman 1944.jpg|thumb|An American soldier escorts a German crewman from his wrecked Panther tank during the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge.]]

The U.S. 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. German losses were much higher. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns.<ref name="dean">{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hofendefense.aspx |title=Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast to Become Heroes of Hofen |last=Dean |first=Rob |work=American Forces in World War II |publisher=Military History Online |access-date=17 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225230026/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hofendefense.aspx |archive-date=25 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Historian [[John S. D. Eisenhower]] wrote, "...&nbsp;the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."{{sfn|Eisenhower|1969|p=224}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belgiumtouristguide.be/pdf/en/BAT60.pdf |title=The Battle of the Ardennes |year=2009 |publisher=Office de Promotion du Tourisme de Wallonie et de Bruxelles |access-date=26 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207121855/http://www.belgiumtouristguide.be/pdf/en/BAT60.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The stiff American defense prevented the Germans from reaching the vast array of supplies near the Belgian cities of Liège and Spa and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River.{{sfn | Cole|1964|pp=259–260}} After more than 10 days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] of the [[First U.S. Army]] prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.