First tank in Bastogne, "Cobra King," M4A3E2 Jumbo. by A. Harding Ganz Bigonville was rough. With intelligence of advancing German armor, Reserve Command (CCR) had been committed on the right flank, as the other two combat commands of the American 4th Armored Division continued to slug north toward Bastogne and the beleaguered paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division. Colonel Wendell Blanchard, commander of CCR, had the 37th Tank, 53rd Armored Infantry and 94th Armored Field Artillery Battalions, when the command jumped off on 23 December 1944. The Reconnaissance Platoon of the 37th Tank preceded the advance guard—Team B (B Company, 37th Tank, and B Company, 53rd Armored Infantry Battalions)—as far as the 25th Cavalry's outpost, where Lieutenant Marion Harris pulled the platoon aside and waved the column on. The approach march to contact, along the sheer, ice-covered secondary road was difficult, and tanks and half-tracks skidded out of control. Initially,...