In mid-December 1944, Kesternich was vital ground for U.S. forces advancing toward the Schwammenauel Dam and even more important to the Germans, who were moving elements of four divisions toward the Ardennes for what became the Battle of the Bulge. Around the town, mines hidden by fresh snow, exposure to artillery from three sides, and strong defenses of mortars, machine guns, snipers, and booby traps made the fighting exceptionally deadly. The 78th Division opened its assault on December 13th, fought through minefields, barbed wire, and intense fire, briefly reached houses on the edge of town, and then withdrew. On December 14th, casualties mounted, a battalion commander and most of his men were captured, another battalion commander and his executive officer were killed, and later a captain and 56 of his men were captured and taken into Germany, even as eight U.S. battalions answered a call for supporting artillery and battered the German guns in return. On December 15th, ordered to move through the town rather than clear it building by building, the 78th faced point-blank fighting, attacks from the rear, and hand-to-hand combat amid confused lines, then encountered an endless line of German infantry with tanks and self-propelled guns, revealing why Kesternich was being held at all costs as the lead elements of Hitler's largest offensive since U.S. forces entered Europe approached. When the German offensive began the next day, Bradley ordered the 78th to halt its drive on the dam and take the defensive, and the division held the line against Germany's best soldiers in a stalemate that made Kesternich the northern shoulder of the Bulge from 17 December 1944 until January 30, 1945.