| Show X X al X X X sll Cesi ga eral pae ars g adlung 91 I 1 q 1 X K abo X 14 ag lf fl se A fl s in all countries by the north A merl by am Gene raff awu kwu 1 newspaper alliance horld rights right reserved re rel M including ludl K the I 1 in whole hvamb IT john J Perv 0 or in part prohibited service W f CHAPTER XVI continued specialties ot trench warfare at home I 1 cabled Washl washington ngon september ber 24 1017 should not be allowed to interfere with rifle practice nor with intensive prell preliminary minar y training in our schools bhoola of soldier company and battalion americans retain Jaris jurisdiction diction my diary notes the follon following ing chaumont Clin wednesday sept L 20 1917 the french agnile aree that we should retain exclusive jurisdiction avei over Anie american soldiers in france chief of ordnance at washington delays storehouse construction by requesting views of french commissioner regarding our necessities have again cabled relative to carelessness and delay in loading of transports the war department h had ad brought up the ques question fion of civil jurisdiction over the members of our forces in prunce france and had inquired regarding the attitude of the french my judge advocate col W A bethel presented our opinion to we the french authorities which was that according to the principles of international law and in view of the conditions under which the american arnia arina was serving in france its member should not be subject to criminal pros elution in french courts but should be answerable only to our own military tribunals this view was readily accepted by the french and very properly the jurisdiction over our forces both civil and military remained in our hands great confusion at home there was ample evidence of great confusion at home dus due to lack of efficient supervision even in new york harbor where experts should have been easy to find ships were seldom loaded to their full capacity supplies greatly needed were often left behind non nonessentials essentials were being sent over many things were broken due to careless loading troops were often shipped chipped to one port and their equipment to another the washington bure bureaus aits often followed blindly some out of date supply table perhaps drawn up under a former regime by an antiquated desk soldier long since retired and forgotten As aa an illustration I 1 recall a bill of lading from one of our transports that 7 X k Y V 91 az pershing and joffre was presented present col to me about this time as a curiosity it listed a number of articles quite useless to an army in the field and provoked the following cable for all departments recommend no further shipments be made of following articles bath bricks bookcases bathtubs cabinets tor for blanks chairs except folding chairs cuspidors ors office desks floor wax hose lose except tire fire hose stepladders lawn mowers refrigerators settees set tees sickles stools window shades further stop orders will follow soon we were shorthanded short handed both at depots and along the line of communications in all classes of labor that should have been sent over long before the quartermaster corps to in franco france was seriously handicapped in handling caring for and issuing its stores and supplies the need tor for stevedores 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 or this sort of work through lack of experience moreover it was urgent that the combat troops should be pent inland lancto to receive their battle instruction the french although short themselves had loaned us a few prisoners and also some women as laborers to help out but neither class was satisfactory under the conditions there was danger that our ports would become hopelessly congested although three weeks later and after further urgent appeals the war department promised to send stevedores at once my diary notes the following chaumont Chau munt thursday oct 4 1017 1917 gen do da Cast lenau called tuesday to discuss entry of first division la in the line allu witnessed atkoch maneuver of the division yesterday slid conducted critique ambassador sharp came caine today avith 1 th mr air joseph reinach Kelni cli for a visit and had lunch with us lave have cabled cable appeal for olli cers fitted for general staff the french always solicitous re garding the lie progress of our training wore were anxious that our most advanced american unit ta take its place in a quiet sector for the experience the main reason they advanced for suggesting front line training at this timp with which I 1 fully agreed wits was that it would give new encouragement to their armies and through them to the people the first division itself was keen to take a more active part and was soon to have the opportunity tills this division had been billeted in the training area since july 15 and had haa begun to show the excellent effects of the system of training we had prescribed at the maneuver which I 1 attended tile the officers handled their units with considerable skill particularly capt F 11 durr burr who condu conducted ted an attack with alth his battalion of ohp twenty eighth regiment and maj theodore roosevelt jr who did a similar problem with his battalion of the twenty sixth regiment pleased with efficiency at the division school the bayonet exercises special target practice firing with trench mortars bomb throw ing and other trench training were well carried out I 1 returned bucl pleased with the evidences of efel efficiency in this organization which was later to become famous among the armies on the western front my diary says parts paris wednesday oct 10 1917 spent sunday at Gondi first division field meet with general harbord general and representative mccormick we lunched with bullard yesterday evening the officers at G 11 II Q called to extend congratulations on confirmation of my appointment as general all heads of permanent staff departments appointed to grade of brigadier general A group of major generals are over on tour of inspection the staff department heads who be came brigadier generals at that time were james G harbord chief 0 staff benjamin alvord adjutant gen eral harry L rogers quartermaster quarterma ge general eral W A bethel judge advocate general edgar russell chief of signal corps G 0 williams chief of ord nance and A E bradley chief surgeon officers visit battlefields in accor accordance danee with my recommend a tion division commanders from the states were being sent over to visit the battlefields armies and schools to in order to become acquainted with conditions and to experience the atmosphere of war it was important that they should appreciate the realities and become fully impressed with the urgency of thorough preparation of their commands it was thought they would become impressed with the aggressive gres sive spirit that characterized out oui training in france by coming into close touch with our methods these officers were sent to visit the allied fronts and to see demonstrations at our own training fields and schools and were also taken along the line of communications I 1 took occasion to give them personally my conception of the course of training that should be followed at home making makin 9 an especial point of rigid discipline rifle practice and the instruction of junior officers in open warfare A number of the officers sent over were either physically unfit or had reached the age when new ideas fall to make much of an impression and consequently I 1 recommended that those of both classes be left at home tor for other duty or to be retired CHAPTER marshal joseph joffre upon my invitation vi arrived at chaumont october 15 1017 to see our first division the french military officials were anxious to show their respect and it was arranged to have both an american and a french guard of honor drawn up to salute him upon hla his arrival at my residence these two small guards vied with each other and both seemed to get a great thrill out of the ceremony i after an interesting evening with the marshal and his staff as our guests we left the next morning by motor car for Tre veray accompanied by generals and alvord colonels de chambrun and mccoy and captain boyd the troops of the division were drawn up in line ready to receive us and presented ir a much better appearance than at the review by president Pol the men were especially keen to be inspected by a marshal of france and their pride was clearly evident by their perfect lines as they swung by in the march past the marshal in turn was enthusiastic over their vigorous appearance and military bearing one indolent incident occurred occur rad that was not on the pi pr on oil the way to the field for me ceremony a well groomed mule mula that happened to be running loose ced up liis his ears cars I 1 looked us over and decided to trot along with us its one of my stuff start wagered this wise animal knew what was going on and would be present to see th the e marci march past sure enough when we readied reached our position this MISSO missouri ur product had preceded us cautiously sly approaching he displayed displaced the greatest curiosity in the guest of honor r 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 proceedings much to the amusement of the marshal review other units I 1 gave a luncheon at Neuf chateau for the marshals party and my own and the senior officers of the first division after that we saw the training conducted by the first corps school and visited the american and french billets at the village of st alln where the one hundred and first regiment twenty sixth division arid the french sixty ninth passed in review in excellent form As we returned toward chairmont other amer american and french units were drawn up by the roadside in honor of the marshal it was rather late when we started and darkness overtook us while passing on toot booi through the lines the trumpets of each regiment sounded as we approached and with the lights front from our automobiles close behind illuminating the trees that bordered the highway and the faces that peered through the shadows to catch a glim glimpse P se of the marshal the scene suggested some legendary painting finally we halted and the troops including the french one hundred and fifty first infantry which had made a remarkable record at verdun marched past us As the regiments came out of the darkness into the spotlight of our autos they made a picture never to be forgotten denies fa false lse cable rumor returning to paris october 19 10 1 I learned that a dispatch from berlin to the new york times represented me ine as having said that the german lines were impregnable the report might have been idle gossip but tt it was more probably circulated to ere cre yet without question there were not it few among ofir allies and probably some in our own army who thought the task impossible supporting their view by citing the fall failures pres of the previous three years especially that of f the spring of 1017 1917 it was none it the less a surprise however when a report came directly to rue that such views had actually been expressed in the presence of civilian by bi officers of rank in our army I 1 was indignant to learn of that h kind ind of talk and in commenting on it to lo the americans who had heard such statements made I 1 said eald that the german lines can be broken they must be broken and they will be broken and those present will recall that it was said with considerably emphasis positive steps were taken at once to eradicate such notions or at least 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 tn in my general impression of the situation at this time was set forth lu in a cable to washington october 21 during the last week the water soaked ground in flanders and on the western front generally has haa prevented further development of offensive movements summing up wastage of german larmy army in this years campaign a single offensive such as ag the anglo french in flanders in progress since july 31 Is insufficient materially teri ter ally fally to weaken germanys germanas Germ anys man power next year must see two offensives fen continuously maintained throughout summer it if decisive res result alt Is to be obtained this can only be secured through old aid of effective united states army on this side the troops on the western front have been re enforced by one german from the russian front As the training of the first division had now progressed sufficiently it was put into line in the quiet sector northeast of huneville Lu neville under the supervision of the F rench french for actual trench experience the division was and short of horses clothing and many other things especially rolling kitchens of which a few had only recently been received and trucks which were borrowed from the french stressed need of winter clothing my repeated cables beginning in july for winter clothing had received scant attention and with the coming of colder caldei weather the shortage became critical the initial stock requested was disallowed the monthly allotments were totally inadequate and the depots were practically empty the explanation that came from mg quartermaster generals office that our requests could not be granted on account of the needs at home showed a total lack of appreciation of the necessity of properly clothing the fighting man actually at the front above all others after another urgent appeal a partial supply wa was s sent but we had succeeded in obtaining a quantity of clothing from the british to tide us over CHAPTER upon the invitation of general petain I 1 went to the french front to be present at their second offensive since general Nl Ni velles falli failure lre in april arriving by motor at the headquarters of general dEs perey commander of the group of armies of the north on the evening of october 22 1917 the plans tor for the attack were explained to us and from the extreme care taken la in working out the details and frota from their accurate knowle knowledge dge of the forces and his position there seemed to be little doubt of success soon after their victory near verdun in august the french had beg begun un to prepare tor for this offensive in which wh they could not well afford to fat fall the advance was made by eight divisions visions of the sixth army on a front of only seven and a half miles extending along the ainne aisne with the object TZ 4 gentral general pershing inspecting pollux ate the impression that our armies were starting on a forlorn hope this report was so BO far from the truth that I 1 cabled the secretary of war that it was absolutely false and without any foundation whatever in every reference to our future operations I 1 had strongly maintained thet that it was waa not only possible to break the german lines but that it would be done the very system of training that we were persistently following was bused based on the determination to force the germans out of their trenches and beat them in the open on no other theory could they have been defeated of gaining a more advantageous po position for the winter and also still further building up french morale general maestre Mal the army commander gave the operation his personal attention prescribing an artillery preparation covering six days during which the expenditure of ammunition was even greater than in tile the offensive of august 20 the long period of artillery fire was considered necessary as the germans were strongly fortified along the chalky bluffs of the tha alroe where numerous caverns afforded cover for large garrisons held no 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