the cemetery was established in october 1918 on ground which saw heavy fighting just before and during the battle of st quentin canal. it contains the graves of 1,844 of the united states' military dead from world war i. most lost their lives in the assault on the hindenburg line while serving in american ii corps attached to the british fourth army. others were killed in operations near cantigny. the headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. the longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.