| Show deni AM eral CU ra tx r s count copy right r fee 1231 by in th all north A amerlan merl a a ry gid the chah ae E a fe served world including rights vi reproduction the r 1 in whole oi part prohibited by g gen ee lohn ahm 1 pershing I 1 service CHAPTER VI continued the first section of 0 the first d division 1 1 islon convoy had brought to st buzal r the headquarters the sixteenth infantry two battalions of the twenty elg eighth lilli infantry one battalion of the fifth marines and some motor transport troops and stevedores to see the naval vessels and transports flying the amer american can flag in the harbor gave gae 99 us all a thrill of pride it was a pleasure to meet the naval commander rear bear admiral albert gleaves cleaves who was to have general charge of the convoy system the regiments of 0 the division had 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 tile the canton ment at st nazaire the infantry of the division was sent to the training area of Gond north of neuf chateau and tile the artillery to Vold shon near belfort beffort arrival tipped off maj gen william L alhert who had won distinction as nn an engineer in the construction of the Ila naina canal was in command of the first division tile two infantry brigades wire were commanded by brig GUIS gens it 11 L rul hill lard nud and omar bundy both of whom had many years of line service behind them I 1 had known nil three of the general officers as we were cabets bailets to gether gather nt the academy although all belonged to classes ahead abend of mine it had been arranged that tile hie regu lations restricting reference to the al lied armies by tile the press should appl to the american tones forces hut but to no my utter surprise the IT french and british P papers apers in their eagerness eagel ness to let thelt people know that the elements of th american army had find really reached france carried full accounts of the arr arrival ivill of this convoy giving the port of debarkation the designation of units and the number of men tighten on censorship the publication of this piece of news was in open contravention of the cen rules and called for immell ate steps to prevent present further infract eions my vigorous protest resulted in our placing in tile the french press bu reau an american representative to whom all matter regarding our army was to be submitted for approval there Is no doubt however that lint the suppression of news prevented out oui people from obtaining a clear and con conception of the greit great und and often brilliant achievements of our and left such knowledge to he be gleaned from monger meager accounts account by participants or from the I 1 he later writ ing of historians it was unfortunate that sudi such rules had to be enforced as otherwise much that might have been published at the time moy may never be known but there was nothing else to be done without serious risk CHAPTER VII As the die F rench french authorities wished to donor our national holiday they re quested that some of our troops pu pa rade in III paris july 4 1917 we were riot not pie prepared pared to ninke make much of a mill tary impression as our men were largely recruits cut but to stimulate morale the french wanted to demon strate that the americans were fetu MIS coming so a battalion of tile six infantry was brought up tip front from saint nazaire Naz alre the untrained awkward appearance of this unit which was accepted ns as tile the cream of our regular army by the french offic lills no doubt tended to confirm their belief that hint it wot would be some time line before we should be a able b e to organize an effective army if they could have foreseen the trl tri of this same battalion at the peak of the grent great counter counteroffensive offensive on oll the field of soissons Sols sons just one year ear lat er we might have been spared many delays and in earning carrying out our plans troops bring joy to french nevertheless the farst appearance of american Ameil can combat troops in parts paris brought joyful acclaim from the peo pie on the march the battalion was accompanied by a great crowd many women forcing their way into tile ranks and swinging along arm in arm arill with the men with wreaths about their necks and flowers in their lints hats and on their rifles tile the column had the appearance of a moving flower garden with only a semblance of military formation the animated throng pushed its way through avenues of people to the marttil strains of the french hand bund and the still more thrilling music of cheering voices many dropped on their knees in reverence as the column went by the battalion marched to the cemetery where the tomb of lafayette Is located tile ceremony there consisted of a few speeches the principal speaker being brand whitlock our ambassador to belgium I 1 had been asked to deliver nn nil address but had designated col CL n 13 stanton of my lily 0 staff in if an old army anny friend and something t of an orator to speak in my place however I 1 was prevailed epou to speak extemporaneously lafayett we are herel it was on OD tills occasion that utter ance nce was given to an that could co u la be born bom only of ope that will live long in history lafayette we ore are herel here I 1 tinny many lime have attributed this striking utterance to me and I 1 have often wished it could liae have been mine but I 1 have no recollection of saying anything so splendid I 1 mi am sure those words were spoken by colonel stanton and to him must go the credit for so happy and felicitous a ph phrase ruse the parade of our troops through paris doubtless fortified tile the morale of 0 the people to a certain extent but we ue all knew that eventually something very much more effective would have haie to be dune done the real question was whether the allies could hold out until we were ready it wast wasi elear clear that no halfway measures on our part would answer and that allied ollied hopes lay to in A amert me I 1 ean can military assistance on a vast le at the earliest moment cables for men the allies thought an american force of men the lie maximum that we e could have hae in france in 1018 but in my opinion that would not be enough to meet the situation if we could have liae had half a million fighting men in france in the early spring it would have hae been a different matter hut but looking ahead it wits necessary Y to allow from 35 to 40 per cent fo or r the services of sli supply tilly illch aou would ld leave leae out of tills this number only App apprel roxi fighting troops althou gh tills this would ald we e could not be con tent merely to lend a helping hand hut must prepare to strike stille a deel declee sive blow while tile the appearance on the front of any american force was still months away yet there was little doubt that it if we could induce allied cooperation we ne should te le able to give much great i pr assistance thon 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 of the army there were many officers with theoretical training in special lines but with some notable exceptions they generally lacked broad constructive or administrative experience from the very start I 1 determined to obtain the best talent available and was fortunate in practically every field to find 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 tt it would have to be obtained in europe A coble to the war department early in july 1017 1917 recommended the leml immediate organization of a forestry service consisting of sawmill units to be com composed posed of experienced lumbermen and to unskilled laborers to build roads and transport lumber special request wits was made tor for the appointment of prof henry graves craves chief of the united states forestry service who was then on the ground as the man to take charge of this service A number of other specially Qed men were requested as we entered the tusk task of building up the supply service but as tills this was vas the first intimation given to the war department that such a 11 force would be needed naturally tt it was some tinie time before it was actually at work heavy work 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 ie av 11 z jal i 7 french children watching yankee troops on aa a rc h made on the baltic I 1 therefore cabled washington july biily 0 as follows PI plans ans should contemplate sending 0 ver over at least east men by next net may this estimate would give practically half million men for trenches inasmuch as question nt nf fecas nil all olles oles whose common inter ests demand that we exert eert military power consistent with trans dans port problem suggest early agreement agi cement be reached lend led among allies which would provide requisite und and limit sea transportation to fool food aud and military supplies find and the exclusion of every mad kind of luxury as well as other supplies supplier in excess of immediate needs of countries dependent upon oversea supplies question of ol transportation the question was therefore one of sea transportation but sd so far nil all ef forts to get the allies especially tile the british to consider giving help to bring over men and supplies had been futile they did not seem to reallie realize that america would be practically negil gible from a military standpoint unless they could provide some shipping nor did they seem to appreciate that time was a vital factor but the spirit of full co operation cooperation among the allies did not then exist they seemed to regard the transports trans tion alon of an american aminy overseas as no concern of theirs this apparent nt indifference also rave gave further color t to the suspicion that perhaps perlin ps after all an american army as such was not no wont want ed the situation from our stand poNt was grave and embarrassing for it looked its as though it might not le be nee essary for us to save either tile the allies or ourselves an entry in my diary notes two of the roosevelt boys bos theodore jr and archie reported unable to pur par himself their fathers fine spirit Is represented by his sons CHAPTER vill VIII As the details of our mission ahrend developed it soon became evident that thai in all that pertained to the tun inte elpio 0 and supply of our armies as dis dented 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 off leers included in the following cable I 1 regarded as especially fitted for the duties for which they were here desired request robert 0 davis dails adjutant general gene ial be sent these headquarters earliest date request frank moor or J 0 mauborgne be sent these headquarters earliest date f for or duty as code expert eipert request sa samuel mu ea T hubbard jr signal corps now here he called to active service find 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 R mccoy george van horn moseley malin craig alfred W bjornstedt BJorn stadt tl 11 B fiske allen alien J grear paul B malone edgar T colllns collins samuel R cleaves laurence Ln urence halstead nicholas W campanole A R bl moleno oreno preston brown leroy R eltinge W B burtt frank T lines edward L king J 1 P mcadams W C sweeney Swe ency J B barnes kerr T riggs W 11 II winters walt wait C johnson stuart upton birdle kirby walker berkeley enochs Cn oclis having this nucleus and selecting the best fen features tures of the french and british systems si stems a general staff bation mas created which efficiently met every demand made upon pon it throughout the war and which U remains today as a model tor for present presen t and fu ture guidance source of guns a problem the question of artillery procurement caused me much concern the almost negligible amount on hand when we went to war consisted mostly of field guns of the tareo tin ee inch type then largely in III the funds of troops tn in the philippine islands and elsewhere and unavailable for issue moreover for call calibers bers heavier than tile the three inch type tipe our department had adopted nothing which was really up to date ante the enormous proportion of both light and heavy holivy 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 rail and deliver them made it imperative that we re seek other sources source than our own to help equip our armlee following up st an intimation it was wai learned definitely that although not fully supplied themselves the french could increase 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 i the french types tor for the usual 1 calibers and sought their assi assistance assistant stane 1 in oll ob the guns needed at least toi fol the first two years we secured an agreement that our troops as they 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 the french as up to the end of the war no guns of american manufacture of t the he types used except twenty four 8 inch mortars find and six 14 inch naval guns were fired in battle trench guns 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 the red ned 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 M P murphy for war work with our own armies was now about completed tte tt establishment of canteens and huts buts ht t the ports and other important points had already begun and the numbers increased as fast as needed these centers of service later maintained dispensaries dispensa ries and provided beds and bathing facilities tor for men traveling under orders or on leave when the necessity arose the ribeil let cross actively t operated cooperated co with the medical corps in n the field contributing large quantities of supplies and often additional nurses the work of the society directed from a central office in paris eventually em embraced b raced pra practically etl call y every endeavor touching the health ol of the armies CHAPTER IX I 1 left paris july 20 1017 1917 for a visit w with ith field marshal sir douglas halg the british commander in chief whose headquarters biere were in an old chateau half hidden away in a magnificent grove at Beld laues I 1 was accompanied by colonels and alvord and captain patton of my staff at dinner the subject of conversation naturally turned on the military 1 situation of the allied armies our own in particular they were keen to know about our army its organ organization and size and the prospects of our put ting troops in the field As our active participation depended on many factors such as training equipment and shipping my replies of course were wera indefinite and no |
