Bisbee daily review., 1918-01-29


ed.
Reason For Change
why did We decide to send some
troops TO France in 1917? II is no Sc
cret. When Marshal Joffre came to
this country from France. when the
British mission came from France,
they told us of situation which we
had not up to that time fully appre-
ciated. There had been in France re-
Gently conducted before that an unsuc-
eessful major offensive. The French
people had suffered, oh, suffered in a
way that not only our language is not
adapted to describe. but our magma
ton cannot conceive. The war is in
their country. This wolf has not only
been at their door. but he has been
gnawing for two years and a half at
their vitals, and when this unsuccess-
full offensive in France had gone on
there was a spirit, not of surrender.
but of fate. about the French people.
and this mighty military engine which
they had seen prepared to overcome
them for forty years was at them. and
their attitude was that no matter
whether every Frenchman died in his
tracks. as they were willing to do. or
not. that il was an irresistible thing
and so they said to us: Frankly. it
will cheer us up; it will cheer our peo-
pie il you send over some of your
troops
What Was Possible
AT that place We had a choice. We
could have sent over. as Great Britain
did. our regular army and in a very
81 % sr,~0
ton and suffered exactly what Great
Britain suffered with her contempt
bic little army as it was called by
their adyersaries- Our army would
have given as good an account of it.
self as the British army did. but it
would nave been destroyed like the
British army. and there would have
been no nucleus on which to build this
new army that was to come over a lit
tie later. and it was deemed wise to
send regular division. but not to
send over the whole regular army at
that time.
Then what happened was that reg
ular divisions went over and the peo-
pie Of France kissed the hens of their
garments as they marched up the
streets of Paris; the old veterans,
wounded in this war, legless or arm
less. stamping along on clutches, per
haps, as they went up the streets of
Paris with them arms around the
necks of American soldiers. Not a sin
gle man in that division was unaccom-
panied by a veteran. America had
gone 70 France and the French people
rose with a sense of gratitude and
hopefnlness that had never been in
them before
'Of course they welcomed the Brit
ish. bat their need was not so great
when the British went. OF course
they welcomed the British, but there
were ties between them and us which
there mad not been between them and
the British and so when our troops
went there was an instant and spon-
taneous rise in the morale of the
French. but an equally instant and
spontaneous insistence that these sol
diers Who came from America should
continue to come in an unbroken
stream.
And so We made the election We
decided not to send the regular army
as whole. but to send regular divis-
ions and national guar ddivisions
selected according to the state OF
their preparation and keep back here
some part of our trained force in order
that it might inoculate with the spirit
and its training these raw levies which
We were training and one after anoth-
er these divisions have gone over IN
til in France there is fighting army,
an army trained in the essentials and
in the beginnings of military discipline
and practice and trained. seasoned
fighters in this kind of a war on the
actual battlefields where it is taking
place.
TelCS Of Action
Early in this war, when Joffre was
here and when Balfour was here, they
said to us: 1t may take you some
time to get over to US fightingarmy
but YOU are great industrial country
our manpower is fully engaged in our
industrial and military enterprises
send over artisans. special engineering
regiments and troops OF a technical
character and although it was not
contemplated at the outset. and only