Show 0 ysa DS IS 0 awl a ia te ks 0 0 0 0 story stor y theae NO 0 1931 la all countr tu by tb north american by y general newspaper Nw alliance Alli anc world rights rubt reserved include nc us the th scand ilarra reproduction production Ke ia in whole sahn aff or i in part prohibited CHAPTER XVI continued specialties t trench warfare at borne home I 1 cabled washington septem ber 24 1917 should not be allowed to interfere with r practice nor with intensive preliminary training in our schools of solder sold er company and bat tallon amer cans retain jurisdiction my diary notes the folio chaumont wednesday sept 26 1917 the french agree that we should retain exclusive juried c tion over american soldiers in france chief of ordnance at NN wasting asling ton delays storehouse construction by requesting ft views of french commissioner regarding our ne tie have ii again aln cabled relative to carelessness and delay in loading of transports the anar ar department had bad brought h t up the question of civil jurls dicton on over the members ot of our forces in I 1 ranee rance and had inquired regarding the atti attl tude of the I 1 rench my judge advocate col W A bell el presented our opinion to tie tl e I X rench authorities which was tl at ac cording to the principles of internal lional law and in vie v of the c adl eions under which the american army was serving in france its u members should not riot be sul eject to criminal pros elution in I 1 rench courts but should be answerable only to our own mili military tarN tribunals this view was read ly al u cepter by the french and very prop erly the jurisdiction over our forces both civil chil and military remained li it our hands great confusion at home there was ample evidence of great confusion at home due to lack of effi clent supervision even in new york harbor where experts should have been easy ts t find ships were seldom loaded to their full capacity supplies greatly gre itly needed were often left behind nonessentials were being sent over many things were broken due to careless loading troops were often shipped to one port and their equip ment to anoil another er the washington bureaus often tol fol lowed blindly some out of date supply table perhaps drawn up under a for mer regime by an antiquated desk so sol dier long since retired and forgotten As an illustration I 1 recall a bill of lading from one of our transports that r Z pershing and joffre was presented to me about tl is time as a curiosity it listed a nun ber of ar tides quite useless to an army in tie ti e field and provoked the following cable for all departments ants I 1 recommend no fertl er sh patents be made of fot fo lowing articles bith bath brick book cases bati tubs cabinets for blanks chairs except folding chars chairs cusp dors offee desks floor was wax hose except fire firc I 1 ose stepladders lawn mowers re settees sickles stools win dow shades fertl er stop orders will follow soon we were shorthanded short handed both at de pots and alon along g the line of com munica eions in all classes of labor that should have been sent over long before the quartermaster corps li it france was seriously hand capped in handling caring for and issuing its stores and supplies the need for steN stevedores edores had become most urgent combat troops were still being used to unload cargo and much time was wasted by the use of labor that was entirely unsuitable for tl is bert fert of work through lack of expert ence moreover it was that the combat troops should be sent in land to receive tl if air battle instruction the french although short them selves had loaned us as a few prisoners and also some women nomen as laborers to help out but neftal er class was satis factory under the conditions it biere ere was danger that our ports would be come hopelessly congested althou although ib three weeks later and after further urgent appeals the war department promise I 1 to send stevedores at once my diary i t otes the following chaumont thursday oct 4 1917 gen de Cast lenau called tues guesby ly to discuss entry of first divisi n to in the una hue witnessed attack maneuver ot of the division yesterday and con ducted critique ambassador sl arp came today v ith mr joseph reinach for a vis it and had lunch with us have cabled appeal for officers fitted for general staff lie 1 I I 1 e french always solicitous re garding the progress of our training were anxious flat tl at our most advanced american unit take its place in a quiet sector for the experience the main reason they advanced for sug gesting front line training at this time with wl ich I 1 fully agreed was that it would give ne v elloura encouragement ement to their armies and through them to the people the first divis on itself was as keen to take a more active part and was soon to have the opportunity this division had been b lietea in the training area since july 15 and had begun to show the excellent ef facts of the sa system stem of training we had prescribed at the maneuver which I 1 attended the officers handled their units with ith considerable skill laria capt F 11 II burr who conducted el I 1 an attack with his battalion of the twenty eighth regiment and maj theodore Roose roosevelt Nelt jr who v ho did a similar problem with his battalion of the tw enty sixth regiment pleased with eff efficiency chency at the division school tl e bayonet exercises special target practice fir ing with trench mortars bomb tl row ing and oti er trench training were well carried out I 1 returned mud muel pleased with the eil evidences dences of efel clency in this organization which wa was later to become famous among the armies on the western front my diary says paris wednesday oct 10 1917 spent sunday at gond first division field meet v th gen eral harbord general and representative medill mick e lunched with bullard yesterday lest erday evening the thin officers at G II 11 Q called to extend con granulations on confirmation of my appointment as general all heads of permanent staff departments appointed to grade of brigada er general A group of major generals are over on tour of inspection the staff department heads who be came brigada er generals at that tim were james G Ilar bord chief 0 staff benjamin alvord adjutant gen eral harry L rogers q larvern aste general W A bethel judge adNo advocate cate general edgar russell ch ef of sigi qi 1 corps G C williams chief of ord nance and A F bradley cl let lef sur geon officers vis vist t battled battlefields elds felds in accordance with mv recommend i tion divis on commanders from tl ti e states were be ng sent over to visit the battlefields armies and schools in or der to become acquainted with condi alons and to experience the atmos phere of war it was importing Import int that they should appreciate the realities rea litie litle and become fully impressed with the urgency of thorough preparation ol 01 tl ti cir commands it vis v is thought the would become impressed with tl ILI e ag gres sive spirit that characterized oil training in france I 1 y coming int it cloe touch with our met these officers were sent to visit the allied fronts and to see demon stra eions at our own training fields an I 1 schools and were viere also taken along alono the line of communications I 1 took occa occa slon sion to give them personally personal lv my con captin of the course u of train ng tin thi should be followed at home making an especial po nt at of r gid d sc rifle practice and the instruction of junior officers in open warfare A number of tl e officers sent over were e ther physically unfit or ha 1 I read ed tl e age when new ideis fall to make male much of an impression ana anu consequently I 1 recommended that those of both classes be left at home for other duty or to be retired marshal joseph joffie upon my in vi vit atlon tation arrived at chaumont octo ber her 15 1917 to see our I 1 arst di vision the french military officials were anxious to show their respect and it was arranged to have both an ameri amerl can and a french guard of honor drawn up to salute him upon his ar rival at my residence these two small guards vied with each other and both seemed to get a great thrill out of the ceremony after an interesting evening with the marshal marhal and his staff as our guests we left the next morning by motor car tor for Tre veray accompanied by gen brals neau and alvord colonels de cl ambrea and mccoy and cap tain boyd the troops of the division were drawn up in line ready to receive us and presented a much better al appear pear ance than at the review by president poincare Pol the men were ere especially keen to be inspected by a marshal of france and tl ti air pride was clearly evident by their perfect lines as tl ey swung by in the march past the marshal in turn was enthusiastic over their vigorous appearance and military bearing one Inci incident delat occurred that was net on the program on the way to the field for the ceremony a well groomed roomed mule that happened to be running loose pricked up his ears looked us oer and decided to trot along with us one of my staff wage ed that this wise animal knew what was going on and would be present to see the march past sure enough when we reached our position this missouri product had preceded us cautiously he d ed the great est curiosity in the guest of honor r a ar rl 4 A are wartime picture of col E M house As all efforts to drive him away seemed futile he hovered near as an interested spectator of the pr proceed ings much to the amusement of the marshal review other units I 1 gave a luncheon at Neuf chateau tor for the marshals party and my own and the senior officers of the first dh islon after tl at we saw tl e train ing conducted by the first corps school aid visited the american and trench rench b billets at the village of st plin where the one 11 hundred undred and I 1 llast regiment tient sixth dai ision and the I 1 rench sixty ninth parsed passed in review in excellent form As we returned toward climmont Cli cl aumont other ameri amerl tan an and french units were viere dhawn up I 1 y the roadside in honor of the mar ill it was rather late when we started and darkness overtook us wh ie pass pas ing on foot through the lines the trumpets of each regiment sounded as we approached and with the lights from our les cloe behind the trees flat tl at bordered the higl way and tl ti e faces that peered through tie shadows to catch a glimpse of the marshal the scene sug sone some legendary legen diry palli painting ting finally we ve halted and the troops ng the french one II hundred and fiffi first infantry which had i ade a lemarl able record at verdun marched past us As the regiments came out of the darkness into the ht of our autos they made a picture nen neer er to be forgotten denies false cable rumor returning return to paris october 19 1 I learned that a d from lerlan to the new york times represented me as having haning said that the german alnes were impregnable the report might have haie been nen idle gossip but it nip was more ably circulated to cre ere yet without question there were no i i few among our allies and probably some in our own army who thought the task impossible supporting their view by citing the failures ot of the three years especially that ot of tie spring ot of 1917 it was none the less a surprise howe however er when a leport came directly to me that such views had actually been expressed in the presence of civilian visitors by officers of rank in our army I 1 was as indignant to learn of that kind hind of talk and in commenting on it to the americans who had heard such statements made I 1 said that the german lines can be broken brohen they must be broken brohen and they will be brol braben en and those i resent will recall that it was said with consider considerable ible emphasis positive steps were taken at once to erad cate such notions or at leist least le prevent them from being openly stated and I 1 was determined to relieve immediately any officer without regard to rank who should express any such opinion first division moves in sly my general impression of tie tl e sit nation at tl ti is time N w as set forth in a cable to Wash washington inkton october 21 during the last week the water soaked ground in flanders and on the western front generally has prevented further development of offen hive moNe movements ments summing up wast age of german army in this years year s campaign a s agle offensive sive such as the anglo angio french in flanders in ress since july 31 Is insufficient ma teria liy to weaken Geiman ys man power next year must see two of fen continuously maintained throughout summer if decisive result Is to be obtained this can only be secured through aid of effective united stites army on this side the troops on the western front have been enforced re by one german dialon from the russian front As the training of the I 1 arst division had now progressed sufficiently it was put into line in the quiet sector north east cast of I 1 lu une neville Nille under the super vision of the french for actual trench experience the division was anjer officered and short of horses clothing and many other things especially roll ing kitchens of which a few had only recently been received and truck trucks which were borrowed from th the french eFrench atres ed need of winter clothing my repeated cables beginning in tuly tilly for winter clothing had received scant attention and with the coming of colder weather the shortage became critical the initial stock requested was disallowed the monthly allot ments were totally inadequate and the depots were practically empty the explanation that came from t 1116 quartermaster general s office that our requests could not be granted on ac count of the neds at home showed a total lack of appreciation of the necessity of properly choti ing the fight ing man actually at the front above all others after another urgent ap peal a partial cupply was sent but we I 1 ad succeeded in obtaining a quan city of oloti in from the british to tide us over CHAPTER upon the invitation of general pe ta n I 1 v ent to the I 1 rench front to be present at their second offensive since genet general al ain lovelies elle s fa lure in april ar riv 11 by motor at the headquarters of general com comman mauler ier of the group of arm es of the coith on the evening of october 2 1917 1017 tie tl e plans for tl e attack were ex to us and from the extreme caie late taken in working i out the details and from their accurate knowledge of the enemy s forces and his posit ln n there seemed to be little doubt of sue cess soon after their victory near ver dun in august tl e french had hid begun to prepare for this offensive in which tl ey coul I 1 not well afford to fall the advance was vas made by eight di dl v 8 ons of the sixth arm annii on a front of only seven and a half miles extend ing along the aisne aasne with the object drw I 1 2 1 I 1 1 I N Q t 0 1 gilr 4 A A a 5 R 11 i 0 0 14 1 19 k P 0 3 al general pershing inspecting philus ate the biml im that our armies were starting on a forlorn hope this report was so far from the truth that I 1 cabled the secretary of war that it was absolutely false and without any wit whatever atmer in every reference to our future operations I 1 had strongly maintained tl at it was not only poss ble to break the german I 1 lues ties but that it would be done the very system of thain ing that we e were pers follow ing was based on the determination to force the germans out of their trenches and beat them in the open on no other theory could they I 1 have been defeated of gaining a more advantageous position for the winter and also still further building up french morale general maistre the army comman der gave the operation his personal attention breser bing an artillery on co covering Nering six diya during which the expenditure of ammunition was even enen greater than in the |