A granite monument in downtown Leesville commemorating the Louisiana Maneuvers of 1940 and 1941, when nearly half a million soldiers staged a mock war across 3,400 square miles of western Louisiana. Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and Mark Clark all cut their teeth here — the maneuvers were the proving ground for the American officers who would run the European and Pacific theaters three years later. The monument lists the units that participated and sits a block from the Heritage Museum.
Quick facts
- ·Commemorates the 1940–1941 Louisiana Maneuvers — the largest peacetime military exercise in American history
- ·Nearly 500,000 soldiers participated across 3,400 square miles of western Louisiana
- ·Eisenhower, Patton, Omar Bradley, and Mark Clark all served as officers during the maneuvers
- ·The exercises revealed the need for more infantry, better tank tactics, and became the template for WWII doctrine
- ·Monument sits at the corner of Third and Lee Streets in downtown Leesville, one block from the Heritage Museum
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