During the first week of the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans' 6th SS Panzer Army rolled down the road to Butgenbach, where the 26th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division held out against constant attacks at the southern end of Elsenborn Ridge. Meanwhile, Jochen Peiper's SS battle group raced toward the critical river bridges at Stavelot and Trois Ponts, massacring American prisoners along the way near Malmedy. The U.S. 30th Infantry Division and other units put up stiff resistance, destroyed the bridges, and forced Peiper's men to withdraw.
