Show general ameral ston of th e A E F v 0 fight val to eit co by th the north 1 19 american american NW tp allf m world iffie MU Cie his reserved including la eludia the tl aca 11 vian joi in whole or in non mirt i n john J P CHAPTER continued I 1 pointed out that regardless of the depressing conditions and the very urgent seed need of men by the allies their plan was not practicable end and that even tf if sound in principle there wits waa not time enough to prepare our inen cien as individuals for efficient service under a new system with the strange surroundings to be found in a foreign army here foch said you are willing to risk our being driven back to the loire I 1 said yes I 1 am willing to take the risk moreover the time may come coma when the american army will have to stand the brunt of this war and it Is not wise to fritter away our resources in this manner the morale of the british french and italian armies is low while as you know taint th at of the american army Is very high and it would be a grave mistake to give up the idea of building an american army in all its details as rapidly as possible cant budge him an inch at about tills this juncture lloyd george SI clemenceau and premier orlando of italy evidently becoming impatient walked into the room milner met lloyd george at the door and said in a stage whisper behind his hand band you cant budge him an inch lloyd george then said well how Is the committee getting along whereupon we all sat down and lloyd george said to me cant you see that the war will be lost unless we get this support which statement was echoed in turn by cierden clem en beau and orlando Ori ando in fact all five of the party attacked me with nil all the force and prestige of their hi high b positions but I 1 had already yielded to their demands as far as possible without disrupting the plans toward which we had bad been striving for over a year and a continuance of may shipments into june without any provision for transporting artillery and auxiliary and service of supply troops could i not be granted without making it practically impossible in the future jo ao have an american army after I 1 had gone over the whole situation again and stated my position they still insisted whereupon I 1 struck the table with my fist and A E F phone girls sald with the greatest possible emphasis gentlemen I 1 have thought this program over very deliberately and will not be coerced this ended tue discussion in committee and when the council rec reconvened on AI 11 clemenceau stated that the question of american troops would be taken up again the following day when the council met for the afternoon session of the second day the discussion of shipments of american personnel was at once resumed general foch spoke at length repeating previous arguments and giving a rather grand grandiose lose dissertation of the allied situation and the dire things that would happen unless the americans americana cana agreed to the proposal of the council lloyd georges george s challenge mr lloyd george in turn spoke at some length lie he asserted that the germans hoped to use up the british and french reserves before their own were exhausted and that the british had already called up nearly men for their army and navy a and rid had extended their age limits to all men between eighteen and fifty years st of age if the united states does docs not come to our aid he said then per flaps the calculations will be correct it if F france rance and great britain should have to yield this defeat would be honorable for they would have fought to their last roan while the united states would have to stop without having put into line more than little belgium possibly realizing the unfairness of the comparison he q slickly birly went on 00 to say eay that he was sure I 1 was do doing ing my best to meet the emergency and that deneu Ge neu desires tha the aid brought to us by america should not be incompatible with the creation of the american army as rapidly us as possible 1 i too am counting ing on tte be exist oata oat a ot 1 I that army and an d I 1 am counting on it this chils very year to deal the enemy the final blow cut but to do that the allies will have to hold out until august CHAPTER speaking in the name of the american army and in the name ot of the american people I 1 told the su supreme prene war council during the second day of its session at Abb vIlle may 2 1018 1 want you to realize that we are ready to bear as large a part as aa possible of the burden of the war we nil all want the same thing but our means of attaining it Is different from yours america declared war independently of the allies and she must face it as soon as possible with a powerful army there Is one capi capital till point to which I 1 wish to call your attention that Is the importance to the morale of our soldiers of fighting under our own flag america Is already anxious to know where her army Is the ger mans have once more started a strong campaign of propaganda in the united states santes the purpose of which Is to insinuate that the a illes allies have so little confidence in the american troops that they are obliged to distribute them among their own divisions tells of american pride the american soldier Is as proud as any other and the time will soon come ni when ben our troops as well as our government will ask to fight as an autonomous army under the american high command 1 I understand that in prime minister lloyd georges proposal we shall have to examine the situation gain again i I 1 in june before deciding tor for july that Is till nil that I 1 can agree to at present to show my desire tor for solidarity with the cause of the allies lloyd george had arm previously taken up a revised program submitted by myself and after some discussion he proposed that america give us infantrymen arnd machine gunners in may tho same number in june with a supplement of infantrymen and machine gunners it if we scrape together erl the tonnage to transport them he further proposed that the situation be examined again in june b before L deciding whether there was reason to extend to july the program decided upon for may and june he then called on the council to accept his plan inasmuch as the alie proposal submitted by lloyd george contemplated the shipment of the numbers mentioned in british tonnage leaving american shipping entirely free for us to use as we should decide tin an agreement was soon reached substantially as set forth in the following cab cablegram legrain to the secretary of war following agreement adopted by supreme war council may 2 at abbe ville IV will III cable more in detail later it Is the opinion OD of the supreme war council that to carry the war to a successful conclusion an american army should be formed as early as possible under its own commander and under its own flag then it was thought the war would run to 1919 in order to meet the present emergency it Is agreed that american troops should be brought to france as rapidly as allied transportation facilities cili ellIt ties les will permit and that us as far as consIc consistent tent with the necessity of building up an american army preference be given to infantry and ma chine gun units for training and service with french and british armies with the understanding that such infantry and machine gun units are to be withdrawn and united with their own artillery and auxiliary troops into divisions and corps at the discretion of the american amer commander in chief after consultation with the commander in chief of the allied armies in france it Is also agreed that during may liay preference should be given to the transportation of infantry and ma chine gun units of six divisions and that any excess tonnage shall be devoted to bringing over such troops as may be determined by the american commander in chief june shipment up to pershing it Is further agreed that this pro gram shall be continued during june upon condition that the british gov eminent shall furnish transportation for a minimum of men in may and men in june with the understanding that the first six of infantry shall go to the brit ish for training and service sen ice and that troops sent over in june shall be al located for training and service RS as the american commander in chief may determine it Is ia also further agreed that if the british government shall tr aris port an excess of men in june such excess shall be infantry and machine gun units and that early in june there shall he be ri new review of the situation to determine frie further action As sta stated ted to in a cable from the see sec rotary of war received may 12 tills agreement provided less priority tor for infantry and machine gun units than recommended by the sul supreme reme war council it was wap certainly much mot moia favorable to tile the ultimate formation of mi all american army anny than we had bad reason to expect in view of the becom lons contained in note no IS 18 of the military representatives which als ae we have seen had been practically approved by the Preside president nL in the excitement over nur agreement with the british the fall purport of this commitment was wa not emphasized by the allies during the discussion pooling of supplies another matter taken up informally with the prime ministers utter after atie th e conference was wan that of pooling filed allied supplies I 1 explained its advantages and emphasized the saving in tonnage that would result mr lloyd george and mr orlando did not commit themselves entirely but accepted it in n principle as M clemenceau clemenc Clemen enu veau had done and each h agreed to designate an officer with business experience to meet with us at an all early date to study the question with this beginning at least a step had been taken toward our objective even though the principle might not be extended as tar far as we thought desirable si A few days later M demonceau called a meeting in his office of the representatives oen gen sir travers clarke acting for the british and col charles 0 dawes for the americans CHAPTER on the heels of all tile the clamor for nothing but infantry and machine gunners I 1 received a request from marshal halg haig british commander asking artillerymen artilleryman artillery men this fully bore out a prediction I 1 had cabled washington that the allies would be asking artil before long it will be readily understood however that once the allies had made a der demand for infantry and machine gunners they all joined in concerted effort to bring it about regardless of what their real needs might be in reply I 1 reminded marshal halg 1309 that the Ab abbeville beville agreement giving priority to infantry and machine gun shipments would prevent the arrival of our artIlle artilleryman artillerymen artillery men for some time in fulfilling our part in military cooperation we had already gone far beyond b L the mere recognition of the principle of unity of command and had begun to bring over hundreds of thousands of men almost regardless of tile lie organizations to which they belonged that they might be available in the event of extreme necessity it was my custom throughout the war as both a duty and a pleasure to visit the troops as frequently as possible to keep in touch with the state stale of efficiency effi clency and the morale of officers and men As bundas second division with harbord and B E M lewis as brigade 9 ade commanders was leaving the quiet sector south of verdun en route to the billeting and training area to finish preparation for battle the moment was opportune to make inake a brief inspection I 1 had bad an opportunity to talk with a number of the officers in command of smaller units I 1 especially discussed the question of supply with officers charged with that duty I 1 visited harbordt Harb brigade of marines and found those I 1 inspected in good shape and their billets well kept the troops of the division that were seen on the march especially the trains did not look so well in an army like ours the care of animals Is 13 difficult to teach artillery looked well weil the entraining at ancemont arcemont Anc emont was carried out in an orderly and systematic manner general Blond lat in whose corps the second had been serving spoke very highly of the troops the favorable impression obtained of this unit was very soon to be confirmed on the battlefield tle field where its distinguished service was to make its name immortal frequently had guests during the first few months at chaumont I 1 occupied quarters in the town but later M X de rouvre jouvre placed at my illy disposal ills his beautiful chateau some three kilometers away my headquarters mess was limited to the tew few officers with whom I 1 was most intimately associated and consisted of my personal aids the chief of staff and one or two others nearly always there were a few guests at meals invited from among the visitors both french and american who came to headquarters officers from french general headquarters were frequent guests and we were always glad to have them As a rule there was a ban on everything in the way of shop talk and the rule was rarely broken and then only when we had special guests seeking en ca lighten ment or information regarding our policies and activities there was one subject that would always start a discussion and that was the relative value of the different arms each being represented by at least one officer harbord and I 1 were both from the cavalry and the cavalry member of the staff felt that he had at least a sympathetic audience the infantry aid however always held his own la in any discussion as no mat ter how specious the arguments or per naps haps the gibes at his expense we all know that without the infantry the I 1 other arms would accomplish little the associations of such euch a group girt are never forgotten and even a short pe was enough to establish a permanent and affectionate relationship flot flotation adon in office was early adopted as a principle to be applied to the in general and although it was never possible fully to carry it out roost most of the officers of my staff got their chance at a tour with combat troops major colllns collins and major llenberger lienberger Sha Shil two of the aids who went with me to france were the first to go to other duty being replaced by major and major bowditch colonel noyd boyd who joined me as aid shortly after my arrival in france rema hied throughout the war when general beneral harbordt Harb turn came cama his place as chief of staff was taken by general mcandrew several of tho tha higher officers of the general start staff had a tour with troops not only that they might have the opportunity to serve at the front which Is every sold soldiers lers ambition but because they would return to staff duty with a broader and more sympathetic understanding of the line officers point of view and appreciate more fully the consideration that he deserves at the hands of the staff according to the plan for the rotation of officers between line and staff several others were relieved and sent to serve with troops among then them were col frank R mccoy secretary of the general staff relieved by maj james 11 colllns collins and col W D connor assistant chief of staff gl G l 1 re llevad by col Q G V H 11 moseley morrow on maritime council our members of the maritime council were wide awake at tills this time in their search for additional tonnage dwight morrow reported prospects of some increase besides calling attention to tonnage that was idle or not being used to the best advantage the immense shipment of american troops contemplated the use of all available passenger cargo carrying ships british american and neutral As very little if any space would ha be left in such ships for cargo the latter class of ships was in greater gi cater demand than ever meanwhile tile the amount of world cargo tonnage built |