Orders from Field Marshal Walter Model and Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt that Elsenborn Ridge be captured and the advance of Sixth Panzer Army resume were being sent down the chain of command to 12th SS Panzer Division Headquarters with increasing urgency. General Hermann Priess, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Corps, ordered Obersturmbannführer Hugo Kraas, Commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division, to take command of all forces facing Elsenborn Ridge and capture it. The battle-seasoned veteran American tankers resisted repeated attacks by lead elements of Sixth Panzer Army from 16–19 December. Fighting against the superior German Panther and Tiger tanks, supported by infantry, the battalion fought many small unit engagements. Using their size and mobility to their advantage, their Shermans stalked the German tanks in twos and threes until they could destroy or immobilize them with shots from the flanks or rear.