\
DALLAS POST, DALLAS, PA.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1931
Gen. John J. Pershing.
From painting by Joseph Cummings Chase fn Paris. 1910.
NE
My Experiences
in the World War
By General John J. Pershing
Copyright, 1931, in all countries by the North American N
Alliance, World rights reserved, including the WN. u.
wvian, Reproduction ta whole or part prohibited. “
Petain “Most Agreeable.”
A visit to French general headquar-
ters at Compiegne was made, primarily
to meet General Petain and the offi-
cers of his staff. Petain is above
medium height and weight. He wore
a full mustache, slightly gray, and
was then about sixty. He has a kind-
ly expresison and is most agreeable,
“but not especially talkative.
His keen sense of humor became
: apparent from .the jokes he told at
| the expense of some of his staff. Our
conversation after ‘luncheon was al-
most entirely on military affairs, in-
. cluding America's probable part in the
war, which, as: matters stood, gave lit-
tle promise of becoming effective “un-
til the following spring.
able and it remained | unchanged
- throughout the war, Our friendship,
which 1 highly treasure, had its be-
ginning at this meeting.
At the luncheon there were several
general officers, among whom was
Maj. Gen. Franchet d’Esperey, then -in
command of a group of armies under
Petain. He was considered one of the
ablest and most aggressive officers in
the French army and was very popu-
lar with his men.
As we wished to get a glimpse of
the actual front he took us by motor
as near as possible without drawing
the fire of the enemy's artillery, al-
‘though at that time there was little
. activity on that part of the front. The
Point of observation that we reached
was opposite St. Quentin, which was
then within the enemy’s lines, and
which was later near the center of the
great German drive of 1918 against
the British.
after being cautioned several times,
continued to drive at a somewhat dan-
gerous speed, which so exasperated
the general that he finally threatened
the chauffeur with violence, whereup-
on the speed was greatly reduced.
CHAPTER VI
As soon as the formalities incident
to our arrival in Paris were over—and
1 made them brief as possible—we got
down to work, as it was urgent that
we should begin at once to lay the
foundation for: the development and
employment of the American army.
| To expedite handling the many ques-
tions that must arise, especially in our
relations with the French war office,
which controlled practically all indus-
| trial facilities and transportation, it
“was War Minister Paul Painleve’s
videa that there should be a group of
French officers placed at our disposal.
Marshal Joffre was designated as
head of this liasion group. The in-
structions received by Marshal Joffre
My impression of Petain was favor-:
On the return trip the chauffeur,’
Iron tne minister of war were trans-
mitted to me in a polite note. Natur.
ally, it was pleasing to think of being
associated with Marshal Joffre, but I
thought the adoption of the plan at
this time would only add an extra
channel through which requests must
pass and that this would complicate
rather than simplify matters. .
The scheme indicated that a sort of
tutelage was comtemplated, which also
made it objectionable.
In my opinion, it would be more
expeditious to utilize the French offi-
cers on duty at my headquarters and
develop a workable system through
experience: I explained my views to:
M. Painleve and readily arranged for
the officers of our supply department
to confer directly with the chiefs of
the coresponding bureaus of the
French organization. But this was
only the beginning and we soon found
that we had much to learn of the diffi-
culties of dealing with French bu-
reaus, either directly or indirectly.
There was no question that under
the great enthusiasm the afternoon of
our arrival there existed serious de-
spondency among all classes. The ter-
rible strain of the previous years of
continuous fighting, with heavy losses,
was telling against both the French
and the British. Temporary success
in different theaters of war had
brought small comforts, followed as
they had been all too frequently by
disastrous reverses.
With actual conditions in mind, one
could fully understand why the allies
had been So insistent that a contingent
of American troops be immediately
sent to France to bolster their morale.
While not yet prepared to do any
fighting, we could and did furnish men
for seryice behind the lines, We also
provided raw material and certain
manufactured supplies as rapidly as
possible and financial aid without stint.
U. 8. Inaction Shows Effect.
The more serious the situation In
France, the more deplorable the loss
of time by our inaction at home ap-
peared. It is true that a committee
at the war college in February had
presented a brief outline report on the
organization of a limited force, yet no
comprehenSive general plan had been
considered for the formation or em-
ployment of such a force, much less
for a larger one,
It was finally decided we should use
the ports of Bordeaux and St. Nazaire,
It was likewise estimated that the rail
lines leading to the Lorraine sector,
with collateral routes available, could
be improved to meet our needs.
Then it became necessary to deter-
mine the sector where our forces, fight-
ing as a unit, would be most effective.
After lengthy study and consultation
with _allied leaders if was logical to
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conclude that Irom the purely Inilitary
standpoint the employment of the
American armies on the Lorraine front
would prove the most beneficial. In
conference with. General Petain, who
had reached the same conclusion, the
decison was made accordingly.
It was necessary to have a particu-
uar sector in mind to plan definitely
and construct requisite! rail and dis-
tributing facilities. It was tentatively
understood between General Petain
and myself that the American,sector
should include the St. Mihiel salient.
I suggested that the first American of-
fensive would naturally be its reduc,
tion. He fully agreed.
Place of Red Cross Decided. ?
Maj. Grayson M. P. Murphy, head
of the Red Cross in France, and his
assistant, James H. Perkins, called at
my headquarters June 17 to discuss
co-operation with the army. It was
decided the Red Cross could best han-
dle its work if given a semiofficial
status, so Major Murphy was attached
to my headquarters.
It was the French situation that
gave me the gravest concern. Pacifist
sentiment was prevalent in France and
in many quarters there was talk of
a peace parley, This pessimistic and
despondent mood of the people further
depressed the morale of their armies
as men at the front contemplated an-
other winter of suffering and distress
for their families.
To help meet these conditions 1 sug-
gested to Major Murphy that the first
task of the Red Cross should be to aid
needy French people. As a result he
and Perkins proposed that funds be
distributed to soldiers’ families wher-
ever necessary.
When the idea was presented to
General Petain he expressed the keen-
est appreciation and at once under-
took through his military organization
to obtain the necessary data. The
Red Cross arranged to make 5,000,000
francs (nearly $1,000,000) available to
be distributed by local charitable agen-
cies as rapidly as the information
could be furnished as to where funds
should be sent.
Sees First Troops Arrive.
I went to St. Nazaire June 28 to
meet the advance elements of the first
division and inspect the port. ;
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 hagbor gave us
all a thrill of pride. It was a pleas-
ure to meet the naval commander,
Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, who
was to have general charge of the
convoy system,
The regiments of the division had
all served under my command at one
time or another. They were now,
however, composed of a large percent-
age of recruits and would have to go
through a long period of training.
After a few days spent in the canton-
ment at St. Nazaire the infantry of
the division was sent to the training
area of Gondrecourt, north of Neuf-
chateau, and the artillery to Valdshon,
near Belfort.
Arrival “Tipped Off.”
Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert, who
had won distinction as an engineer in
the construction of the Panama canal,
was in command of the first division.
The two infantry brigades’ were
commanded by Brig. Gens. R. L. Bul-
lard and Omar Bundy, both of whom
had many years of line service behind
them. I had known all three of the
general officers, as we were cadets to-
gether at the academy, although all
belonged to classes ahead of mine.
It had been arranged that the regu-
lations restricting reference to the al-
lied armies by the press should apply
to the American forces. But to my
utter surprise the French and British
papers, in their eagerness to let their
people know that the elements of the
American army had really reached
France, carried full accounts of the
arrival 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-
sorship rules and called for immedi-
ate steps to prevent further infrac-
tions. My vigorous protest resulted
in our placing in 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 the
suppression of news prevented our
people from obtaining a clear and con-
temporaneous conception of the great
and often brilliant achievements of
our armies and left such knowledge
to “be gleaned from meager siccounts
by participants or from the later writ-
ing of historians. It was unfortunate
that such rules had to be enforced, as
otherwise much that might have been
published at the time may never be
known, but there was nothing else to
be done without serious risk.
CHAPTER VII
As the French authorities wished to
honor our national holiday they re-
quested that some of our troops pa-
rade in Paris July 4, 1917. We were
not prepared to make much of a mili-
tary impression, as our men were
largely recruits. But to stimulate
morale the French wanted to demon-
strate that the Americans were actu-
ally coming, so a battalion of the Six-
teenth infantry was brought up from
Saint Nazaire.
The untrained, awkward appearance
of this unit, which was accepted as
the cream of our regular army by the
French officials, no doubt tended to
confirm their belief that it would be
some time before we should be able
to Organize an effective army,
= thay could have foreseen the tri-
nmph af this sams Seitelion at the
!
| Parade of the First American Troops in Paris.
peak of the great COumcer-omrens=%e On
the field of Soissons just one year lat-
er 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-
ple. On the march the battalion was
accompanied by a great crowd, many
women forcing their way into the
ranks and swinging along arm in arm
with the men. With wreaths about
their necks and flowers in their hats
and on their rifles, 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 martial strains of the French band
and the still more thrilling music of
cheering voices. Many dropped on
their knees in reverence as the col-
umn went by.
The battalion marched to the ceme-
tery where the tomb of Lafayette is
located. The ceremony there consist-
ed of a few speeches, the principal
speaker being Brand Whitlock, our
ambassador to Belgium. I had been
asked to deliver an address but had
designated Col. C. E. Stanton of my
staff, an old army friend and some-
' thing of an orator, to speak in my
place. However, I was prevailed upon
to speak extemporaneously.
* “Lafayette, We Are Here!”
It was on this occasion that utter-
ance was given to an expression that
‘could be born only of inspiration, one
that will live long in history: “Lafay-
ette, we are here!”
Many have attributed this striking
utterance to me, and I have often
wished it could have been mine. But
I have no recollection of saying any-
thing so splendid. I am sure those
words were spoken by Colonel Stan-
ton, and to him must go the credit
for so happy and felicitous a phrase.
The parade of our troops through
Paris doubtless fortified the morale of
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 was clear that no halfway
measures on our part would answer
and that allied hopes lay in Ameri-
can military assistance on a vast scale
at the earliest moment,
Cables for 1,000,000 Men.
The allies thought an American
force of 500,000 men the maximum that
we could have in France in 1918, but
in my opinion that would not be
enough to meet the situation. If we
could have had half a million fighting
men in France in the early spring it
would have been a different matter.
But looking ahead it was necessary
to allow from 35 to 40 per cent ‘for
the services of supply, which would
leave out of this number only approxi-
mately 300,000 fighting troops. Although
this would aid, we could not be con-
tent merely to lend a helping hand
but must prepare to strike a decisive
blow.
While the appearance on the front
of any American force was still months
away, yet there was little doubt that
if we could induce allied co-operation
we should be able to give much great-
er assistance than they believed pos-
sible. Our study having confirmed the
correctness of my tentative estimate
made on the Baltic, I therefore called
Washington, July 6, as follows: >
“Plans should contemplate sending
over at least 1,000,000 men by next
May, . This estimate would
give practically half million men for
trenches. Inasmuch as question af-
fects all allies whose common inter-
ests demand that we exert maximum
military power consistent with trans.
port problem, suggest early agreement
be reached among allies which would
provide requisite transportation . . .
and limit sea transportation to. food
and military supplies and the exclusion
of every kind of luxury as well as
other supplies in excess of immediate
needs of ‘countries dependent upon
oversea supplies.”
Question of Transportation.
The question was, therefore, one of
Sea transportation, but so far all ef-
forts 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 negli-
gible from a military standpoint unless
hiey could provide some shipping. Nor
dig they seem to appreciate that time
was a vital factor:
But the spirit of full co-operation
among the allies did not then exist.
They seemed to regard the transporta-
tion of an American army overseas as
no concern of theirs, This apparent
indifference also gave further color to
the suspicion that perhaps after all an
American army as such was not want-
ed. The situation from our standpoint
was grave and embarrassing, for it
looked as though it might not be nec-
essary for us to save either the allies
or ourselves.
An entry in my diary notes: “Two
of the Roosevelt boys, Theodore, .Jr.,
and Archie, reported. Unable to par-
ticipate himself, their father’s fine
spirit is represented by his sons.”
CHAPTER VII
As the details of our mission abroad
developed it soon became evident that
in all that pertained to the mainte-
nance and supply of our armies as dis-
tinguished 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 determined to obtain the
best talent available, and was fortu-
nate in practically every field to find
able men who were anxious to do their
part.
The earliest application of the prin-
ciple was in connection with timber
and lumber procurement. The call for
lumber would be enormous, and since
it would be impossible with our limit-
ed tonnage to bring a great quantity
across the Atlantic, most of it would
have to be obtained in Europe.
A cable to the War department early
in July, 1917, recommended the imme-
diate organization of a forestry serv-
ice, consisting of sawmill units, to be
composed . of experienced lumbermen
and 8,000 to 10,000 unskilled ‘iaborers
to build roads and transport lumber.
Special request was made for the ap-
pointment of Prof. Henry Graves, chief
of the United States forestry service,
who <ras then on the ground, as the
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 this was the first intimation
given to the War department that such
a force would be needed naturally it
was some time before it was actually
at work.
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