Note: The town is located on the Ardennes Plateau in the northeast of the province of Luxembourg in Belgium. . In 1944 it was the site of successful resistance to German attack during Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War. When the advancing Germans demanded surrender from the American forces garrisoned there, General Anthony McAuliffe refused and the ensuing siege leveled the town. However, Bastogne never fell, and as a result the Germans were slowed enough for Allied reinforcements to arrive and prevent them from reaching their goal, Antwerp. There is a military museum commemorating the siege. Its 2003 estimated population was 13,800.