divisions were exhausting themselves in futile attacks against enemy units dug into rock-face positions with interlocking fields of fire. In nine days the 9th Infantry Division alone lost 120 killed, including 5 battalion commanders, 872 wounded, and 820 missing, injured, or ill.
Frustrated at the pace of the American infantry attack, General Alexander directed Patton to send an armored column on a quick thrust to Gabes, the seaport whose possession would complete the division of Axis forces. Patton sent a task force ahead at noon on 30 March, but in three days it made little progress and lost thirteen tanks. The task force was halted, and the emphasis returned to the infantry struggling in the hills. More than a tough Axis defense was stalling II Corps. During the advance from Gafsa to Maknassy, Alexander had told Patton not only what to do but how to do it and then changed the American mission several times. Now in the attempt to advance beyond Maknassy, Alexander again gave orders Patton considered overly detailed and, again, changed them to produce the infantry-first, armor-first, infantry-first sequence the troops found confusing and exhausting. An exasperated Patton, prevented by Eisenhower from saying anything that might upset Allied harmony, complained bitterly in letters to General Marshall in Washington. Held in place by a tenacious enemy defense and irritated by changing instructions, Patton took a hard look at his command. Deciding a personnel change would help, he chose Maj. Gen. Ernest
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