When the Third Army began its attempt to capture Nancy, it had only recently recovered from a severe fuel shortage which had caused it to halt on the Meuse River for five days.

Panzerkorps - General der Panzertruppe Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz Due to the difficulty of the terrain and lack of intelligence about enemy strength, it was decided against risking the 4th Armored Division in the initial capture of a bridge, as had been done at Commercy.

This turned out to be a poor decision though, as the German defenders, who were in greater strength and much better prepared than assumed, held terrain that allowed them to observe the movement of the American forces in the vicinity.

At Toul, there was seemingly more success as a loop of the Moselle was crossed by the 319th Infantry, but it was short-lived as the German defenders of the 3rd Parachute Replacement Regiment simply fell back until they reached a 10 mi (16 km) defensive line flanked by two forts from which they were able to stall further advances.

After the poor results from the hasty earlier crossing attempts, greater effort was made for a coordinated and well-supported assault, with General Eddy deciding on a concentric advance to encircle the German forces around Nancy.

On 10 September, the IX Bomber Command destroyed a bridge at Custines to prevent enemy reinforcements from Nancy, and the following evening struck at Mousson Hill.

CCA sent a reconnaissance troop of armored cars and jeeps into the bridgehead at 06:15, and this unit pushed to the outskirts of Sainte-Geneviève (48°53′50″N 06°05′23″E / 48.89722°N 6.08972°E / 48.89722; 6.08972) but was forced to halt by German self-propelled guns.

The following day saw further counterattacks against the foothold by German forces emerging from mist-shrouded hills, but they were again repelled by the 80th Division, aided by reinforcements sent back from the advanced CCA.

This loss prevented the regiment from being further involved in the attempt to secure a crossing site, and the next day, it was instead assigned to guard the left flank at Pont St. Vincent (48°34′46″N 06°11′10″E / 48.57944°N 6.18611°E / 48.57944; 6.18611).

Panzergrenadierdivision with only light casualties, then proceeded to set up a defensive position, oriented towards the east from which they were able to harass German forces on the main road to Nancy and send advance units to meet with patrols from CCB around the Marne-Rhin Canal.

The following day brought word to CCA of further German counterattacks at Dieulouard, at which point they released a reinforcing infantry battalion as well as a tank company to stabilize the situation.

After CCB crossed the Moselle in the south, the German defenders, finding poor natural defense in the terrain, retreated to the Forêt de Vitrimont (48°34′48″N 06°25′48″E / 48.58000°N 6.43000°E / 48.58000; 6.43000) across the Meurthe River.

The Germans had little time to prepare their defenses in the area, and were soon driven off after CCB crossed the Meurthe River on 14 September, the bulk of them falling back to Lunéville.

Intelligence provided by the French Forces of the Interior informed the U.S. troops that the Germans had evacuated the Forêt de Haye (48°41′39″N 06°05′24″E / 48.69417°N 6.09000°E / 48.69417; 6.09000), and on 15 September, the 3rd Battalion, 319th Infantry entered Nancy on the Toul Road and pushed through to the eastern outskirts of the city with no opposition.