Show general raMnes Pe copyright all 11 II countries countr lei by the th nor north t h Amer american loan twy efi ae ac eo F world including rights reserve the r th a pr scandinavian 0 o d dai 1 la whole lle reproduction w 0 by pershing service CHAPTER VI continued the first section of the first division convoy had brought to st nazaire the headquarters the sixteenth infantry two battalions of the twenty eighth infantry one battalion of the fifth marines and some motor transport troops and stevedores to see the naval vessels and transports flying the american flag in the harbor gave qs us ill all a thrill of pride it was a pleasure to meet the naval commander it hear e or admiral albert gleaves cleaves who was to have general charge of the convoy system the regiments of the division had bad all served under my command at one time or another they were now however composed of a large percentage of recruits and would have to go through a long period of training after a few days spent in the cantonment at st nazaire the infantry of the d vision division was sent to the training area of cendrecourt Gond Cond north of neut neuf chat chateau an and the artillery to Vald shon near belfort bel fort tipped off mn ma G on n william L sibert who had won als distinction ns as till an engineer in the construction of the hie inzaina In naina canal was in command of tile the first division tile the two infantry brigades were commanded by brig gens it L milliard an and omar bundy both of whom had baid many years of line service behind them I 1 had known till all three of tile the general officers as we were etere cadets cabets to geaber at the academy ademy nc although all belonged to classes abend of mine it had been arranged that the regu lations restricting reference to the al lied armies by tile the press should apple to the american forres forces hut but to my utter surprise the french and british papers in their eagerness to let theli people know that the lie elements of the american army had really reached france carried full accounts of the arrival of this convoy giving tile the port of debarkation the designation of units and the number of men tighten on censorship the publication of tills this piece of news was in open contravention of the censorship rules and called for immediate steps to prevent further infractions my vigorous protest resulted in our placing in the F reach french press bu reau an american representative to whom till all matter regarding our army was to be submitted for approval there Is no doubt however that the suppression of news prevented oui people from obtaining a clear and con conception of the great and often brilliant achievements of our armies und and left such knowledge to he be gleaned from monger meager accounts account by participants or from I 1 lie he later inter writ ing of historians it was unfortunate that such rules had find to be enforced ns as otherwise much that might have been published at the time may never bf be known but there was nothing else to be done without serious risk CHAPTER VII As tile the french authorities wished to donor our national holiday they re quested that some of our troops pu pa rade in ill paris july 4 1917 we were not prepared to make much of a mill tary impression as our men were largely recruits put but to stimulate morale the french wanted to demon strate that tile the americans were actu ally alij coming so a battalion of the six infantry was brought up tip from froin saint tile untrained awkward appearance of tills this unit which was accepted as if the e cream of our regular army by the french officials no doubt tended to confirm their belief that it would he be some time before we ve should be able to organize nn an effective army if they could have foreseen the trl tri of this same battalion at the peak of the grent great counteroffensive counter offensive 0 on n the field of soissons Sols Sola sons just one year ia later t we might have been spared many delays and difficulties in carrying out our plans troops bring joy to french nevertheless the first appearance of american combat troops in paris brought joyful acclaim from the peo ale on the march tile the battalion was accompanied by a great crowd many women forcing their way into the ranks and swinging along firm arm in ID art arm with the men with wreaths about their heir necks and flowers in their tints hats and on their rifles the column had the appearance of a moving flower garden garde ii with only a semblance of military formation the animated throng pushed its way through avenues of people to the martial strains of the french ban bund and tile the still more thrilling music of voices many abany dropped on their knees in reverence as the column went by tile the battalion marched to the cemetery where the tomb of Lc rayette Is located the ceremony othere consisted of a few speeches the principal speaker being brand whitlock our ambassador to belgium I 1 had been asked to deliver till nn address but hod bad designated col C 13 stanton of my staff an old army wend friend find something of an orator to speak in my place Ilo however wever I 1 was prevailed upon to speak extemporaneously lafayette lafayett we are herel it was on ils hint utterance was given to lo a an n that thai could be born bora only of ova or that will live long in history lafayette we tire ere herel many have attributed tills this striking utterance to me and I 1 have often wish wished edit it could have been mine but I 1 have no recollection of saying anything so splendid I 1 an am sure those words were spoken by colonel stanton and to him must go the lie credit for so happy and felicitous a phrase the parade of our troops through paris doubtless fortified the morale of tile the people to a certain extent but we all knew that eventually something very much more effective would have to be done the real question was whether the allies could hold out until we were ready it wast was clear elear that no halfway measures on our part would answer and that allied hopes lay in american military assistance on a vast settle scale at the earliest moment cables for men the allies thought an american force of men the alie maximum that we could have in prance france in 1018 but in my opinion that would not be enough to meet the situation it if we could have had half a million fighting ali liling men in france in the early spring it would have been a different mutter matter hut but looking ahead it was necessary to allow from 35 to 40 per cent for the services kei of supply mil blikh ch would leave out of tills this number only app roxi fighting troops although tills this would ald aid we could not be con tent merely to lend a helping hand hut must prepare to strike a decisive blow while the appen appearance rance on the front of any american force was still months away yet there was little doubt that if we vie could induce allied cooperation we should be able to give much great i pr assistance than they believed pos sible our study having confirmed the correctness of my tentative estimate from the purely military task men with expert knowledge and broad experience in business industry and transportation would be needed in the technical branches ot of the army there were many officers with theoretical in special lines but with some notable exceptions exception they generally lacked broad constructive or administrative experience from the very start I 1 determined to obtain the best talent aval available lale and was fortunate in practically every field to find flail able men who were anxious to do their part the earliest application of the principle was in connection with timber and lumber procurement the call tor for lumber would be enormous and since it would be impossible with our limited tonnage to bring a great quantity across the atlantic most of it would have to be obtained in europe A cable to tile the war department early in july 1017 1917 recommended the immediate organization of a forestry service ice consisting of sawmill units to be com composed posed of experienced lumbermen an and d to unskilled laborers to build roads and transport lumber special request was made tor for the ap of prof henry graves chief of the united states forestry service who was then on the ground as the non man to take charge of this service A number of other specially qualified men were requested as we entered the task of building up the supply service but as tills was as the first Anti intimation matlon given to the war department that such a force would be needed naturally it was some time before it was actually tit at work heavy work vork for the staff during the first two months in france the work imposed upon the few staff officers who had accompanied me was very heavy after urgent and re pealed requests I 1 was fortunate in having at my disposal later in the summer a small group of men which included some of the most brilliant and highly educated officers in the army in addition to those already with me the officers included la in the following cable I 1 regarded as especially fitted for the duties for which they were desired des lied request robert 0 davis adjutant general gene ial be sent these headquarters earliest date request bequest frank moor all or J 0 mauborgne Nau borgne be sent these headquarters earliest date for duty a as s code expert request samuel T I 1 hubbard ab jr signal corps now here he called to active service and ordered to report to me request ten of following named officers be sent to report to me by second convoy for general staff duty frank H R mccoy george van horn Alo moseley seley matin malin craig alfred W bjornstedt 11 II B fiske allen alien J grear paul B ll bl alone edgar T colllns collins samuel n R cleaves laurence II li alstead nicholas W Campan campanola olp A n R moreno preston brown leroy lenoy R eltinge W 11 burtt frank T lines edward L king J P mcadams ill C sweeney J B barnes kerr T riggs W 11 winters wait C johnson stuart upton birdle kirby walker berkeley enochs having tills this nucleus and selecting the best features of the french and british systems s stems a general staff bation was ft as created which efficiently met every demand made upon it throughout the war and which remains today us its a model for present and future gul guidance dance source of guns a problem the question of fir artillery tillery procurement caused me ine much concern the almost negligible amount on hand when we c went to tn war consisted mostly of field guns of tile the thre tin ce eInch inch type then largely in tile the hands of troops in the PhIllp idne islands and elsewhere and unavailable for issue moreover for calibers heavier than the three thre eInch inch type our ordnance ord naLce department had bail adopted nothing which was really UP to date the enormous proportion of both and heavy suns guns used by both sides the knowledge of our deficiency and the realization of the length of time that must elapse before we could manufacture anil and deliver them made it imperative that we ve seek other sources source than our own to help equip our aimle following up lip an a I 1 intimation it wa was learned definitely that although not fully supplied themselves the french could increase tile the output of their factories provided they could get steel from the united states As it seemed probable that we should operate in proximity to their armies we adopted the french types tor for the usual pall call hers bers and sought their assistance in obtaining the guns needed at least fol foi the first two years we secured an agreement that our troops as they t h e y come came along would be provided with french guns and ammunition including not only the and but 37 mm guns and 58 mm trench mortars as well it was most fortunate that we were able to get these guns from th the 6 french as up to the end of the war no guns of american manufacture of the types used except twenty four 8 inch mortars and six 14 inch naval guns were fired bred in battle trench guns guna of the three inch and six inch mortar types with ammunition were purchased from the british as they were considered superior to those used by the french progress of red cross cros the red cross reported excellent progress at this time especially in its first effort to assist the french as agreed upon with general petain its organization by maj grayson al P murphy for war work with our own armies was now about completed ltv it ZI V 4 if french children watching yankee troops on march made on the baltic I 1 therefore cabled NV washington ashington july 0 as follows ful lons 1117 ri fans ans should contemplate sending over at least men by next net may alay this estimate would give practically half million men for trenches inasmuch as question affects all alecs whose common interests e ts denland that we vie exert masl illum military power consistent with transport problem suggest early agreement agie agree ement be readied reached among allies which would provide requisite und and limit almit sea transportation to food and military supplies and the exclusion of every kind hind of luxury ns as well as other supplies In ln excess of immediate needs of countries dependent upon oversea supplies question of transportation the question was therefore one of sea transportation but sa so far all efforts to get the allies especially the british to consider giving help to bring over men and supplies had been futile they did not seem to realize that america would be practically negligible from n military standpoint unless they could provide some soine shipping sor nor did they seem to appreciate that time was a vital factor cut but the spirit of full operation cooperation co among the allies did not then exist they seemed to regard the triin transport tion of nn an american army overseas over sells as no concern of theirs tills this apparent indifference also gave further color to tn the suspicion that perhaps after all nn an american army as such was as not want ed the situation from our stand was grave and embarrassing for it looked as though it might not be necessary for us to save either the allies or ourselves an entry tn in my diary notes two of the roosevelt Hoo sevelt boys bos theodore jr and aichle Ar clile reported unable to participate himself their anthers fine spirit Is represented by his sons CHAPTER vill VIII As the details of our mission abroad developed it soon became evid evident t that in all that pertained to the amainte lot into and supply of nor armies as establishment of canteens and huts kt t the ports and other important points had already besun begun and tile the numbers increased as fast as needed these centers of service later inter main talked dispensaries dispensa ries ond and provided beds and bathing facilities tor for men traveling under orders or on leave when the necessity arose the tied red cross ac t ive y cooperated with the medical corps to in the field contributing large quantities of supplies and often additional nurses the work of the boci soci ety directed from a central office in paris eventually embraced practically every endeavor touching the health ol of the armies CHAPTER IX I 1 left paris july 20 1017 for a visit with w ith field Bl marshal arshal sir douglas the british commander in chief whose headquarters bere iere were in an old clin chateau half hidden away in a magnificent grove at I 1 was accod panted by colonels harbord and alvord and captain patton of my staff at dinner the subject of conversation naturally turned on the military situation of the allied armies our own in particular they were keen to know about our army its organization and an d size and the prospects of our putting troops in the field As our active participation depended on many factors such as training equipment and shipping my replies of course were indefinite and no doubt disappointing in turn we asked many questions and it was especially |