On the division's left wing, the 60th Infantry was hit shortly after jump off by a strong counter attack supported by tanks which drove it back to its line of departure. Fighting through the remainder of the day succeeded in recovering only about half the lost ground. Resistance here turned out to be the enemy's last stand east of the Douve.
To keep the enemy from reinforcing and organising a better co-ordinated defence, it was essential to push to the Douve river line quickly. In planning the continuation of the attack on June 16, the corps commander, General Collins, decided to drive to the Douve with his southernmost regiment, the 82nd's 325th Glider Infantry, regardless of whether commensurate advances could be made on the rest of the front. The whole attack would thus be echeloned to the right rear, as each regiment refused its right to tie in with the regiment to the north of it.
The main effort of the corps, Collins announced on the 15th, would now be to cut the Cotentin peninsula. To give more weight and cohesion to the attack, the 9th Division received its third regiment, the 39th Infantry
(which had been detached to the 4th Division), back under command and in addition was given the 90th Division's 359th Infantry, so that General Eddy now could attack with four regiments in line from left to right the 60th, 47th, 359th and 39th.
The attack of the 82nd Airborne Division again made rapid advances on the 16th. Jumping off in the early morning, Ridgway's units met little resistance, the chief obstacle being the considerable artillery fire falling on the troops. Assisted by the tanks of Company A, 746th Tank Battalion, both the 325th Glider Infantry and the 505th Parachute Infantry made good progress. The 1st Battalion, 505th, (Lieutenant Colonel Mark J. Alexander) was initially held up by an 88 mm in their path, but later that morning reached and blocked the main Valognes La Haye du Puits north-south highway (which crosses the Douve at St Sauveur).
By noon, the 325th and 505th had closed into positions on the high ground east of the river, overlooking St Sauveur. The town had been pulverised by Allied aircraft. From their vantage position at Mont de la Place, the Americans could see German troops, trucks and horse-drawn transport withdrawing from the town. Closer in, between them and the town, they could see the Douve bridge, damaged but not broken. The original corps order for the attack had stipulated that the 82nd only advance as far as the Douve line and not beyond. However, Ridgway, realising the possibilities of the situation, asked Corps for permission to cross the river into town and establish a bridge head. As it happened, General Bradley, the army commander, was visiting the 82nd Command Post just then and, rather than lose time waiting for Collins' reply, Bradley gave Ridgway permission on the spot. Ridgway immediately ordered the 505th Parachute Infantry to cross the river and seize the town.
Meanwhile, he had the artillery deliver interdictory fire on the roads leading north, west and south from the town. An 82nd forward observer arranged a concentrated 'time on target' gun barrage by all VII Corps artillery battalions in the vicinity.
Those who watched it could not hear the guns being fired, but suddenly there was a deafening roar overhead and a split-second later most of St Sauveur erupted in a cloud of smoke, fire and shrapnel which wreaked havoc among the German columns in and around the town. A second barrage was thrown in for good measure.
As soon as the artillery was lifted, Vandervoort's 2nd Battalion, 505th, began crossing the river by way of the damaged bridge. Spreading out on the far side, the paratroops entered the town, pushing beyond its medieval castle and through the ruins caused by the air attacks and the artillery barrage.
They knocked out two 75mm self-propelled guns which had miraculously survived the barrage and opened fire on the battalion, and killed or captured those Germans left in town. Alexander's 1st Battalion, 505th, followed on the heels of the 2nd and, moving through it, occupied the high ground to the north-west.
All this time, heavy shelling was coming down around the bridge and General Bradley, observing the attack with Ridgway, is reputed to have said: 'My God, Matt, can't anything stop these men?' To which Ridgway is said to have replied: 'Sir, I would rather have a platoon of those men than a battalion of regular infantry.' In mid-afternoon, Ridgway brought forward the 508th Parachute Infantry (Colonel Roy E. Lindquist) from Etienville, where it had been in Division reserve. Its 3rd Battalion relieved the 3rd Battalion, 505th, in its blocking position on the Valognes St Sauveur road (on the high ground east of the Douve), enabling the latter to cross into the bridgehead as well and occupy the area to the south-east. By dark, a firm defensive perimeter had been established 2,000 to 2,500 yards out from the town. That evening, engineers bridged the Douve enabling tanks to enter the town.
About 2230 hours, Ridgway moved the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 508th, across the river to take over the southern half of the 505th bridgehead, straddling the main road south to La Haye du Puits. In the three day attack, the 82nd Airborne Division had advanced some seven miles, captured a vital bridgehead, and smashed the 91.Luftlande division beyond repair. Over 1,000 of the enemy had been killed or captured. The events at St Sauveur were a turning point in the whole drive westward. The success of the 82nd Airborne gave such impetus to the 9th Division's attack that it gathered a momentum which carried it swiftly across the peninsula. That afternoon, its 60th Infantry, after a cross-country sweep, entered Ste Colombe and, without pausing, crossed the Douve and established a small bridgehead on the west bank. Next day, June 17, with the 60th Infantry attacking from there and the 47th Infantry through the 82nd's bridgehead at St Sauveur, the 9th Division advanced the remaining miles to the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the coast road near Barneville sur Mer late on the 17th. Units of the German 77. Infanterie-Division, not wanting to be trapped in the Cotentin, attempted to fight their way south, but all escape routes were effectively blocked on the 18th. The Cotentin had been successfully sealed off and Cherbourg isolated. The action fought by the82nd Airborne at St Sauveur le Vicomte had been decisive for the overall outcome of the battle, and the town's capture was later estimated to have hastened the fall of Cherbourg by at least two weeks.