The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-01-31

.
! "Why did we decide to send so
many troops to France in 1917 is no
! secret. When Marshal Joffre came
to this country from France, when
the British mission came they told
US Of the situation which We had not
up to that time fully appreciated.
There had been in France recently
conducted before that an unsuccess-
full major offensive. The French peo-
pie had suffered, oh, suffered in
/ way that not only our language is
not adapted to describe, but our imag-
ination 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 vi
tails, and when this unsuccessful Of
fensive in France had been met 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 overthrow
| them for 40 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 it was an irresistible thing,
and so they said to us, Frankly, 1t
will cheer us; it will cheer our peo-
pie if you send over some of your
troops
eve did send some troops.
Division Was Sent.
'At that time we had a choice. We
could send over as Great Britain did,
our regular army and in very short
preparation have put it into action,
and suffered exactly what Great
Britain suffered with her 'contempti-
BILE little army as it was called by
their adversaries Our army would
have given as good an account of it
self as the British army did, but it
would have 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 little later, and it was deemed wiser
to send over a regular division, but
not to send over our whole regular
army at that time.
"Then what happened was that the
regular division went over and the
people 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, stumping along on crutches, per-
haps, as they went up the streets of
Paris with their arms around the
necks of American soldiers. Not a
single man in the division was unac-
companied by a veteran. American
had gone to France and the French
people rose with sense of gratitude
and hopefulness that had never been
in them before.
"Of course, they welcomed the
British but their need was not so
great when the British went. They
welcomed the British but there were
ties between them and us which there
had not been between them and the
British and so when our troops went
there was an instant and spontaneous
rise in the morale of the French, but
an equally instant and spontaneous
insistence that these soldiers 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 a whole, but to send regular. di-
visions and National Guard divisions
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
it's spirit and it's training these raw
levies which we were training, and
one after another these divisions have
gone over until in France there is
fighting army, an army trained in the
essentials and in the beginning OF
military discipline and practice, and
trained seasoned fighters in this kind
of a war on the actual battlefields
where it is taking place.
Army Behind Lines.
early in this war, when Joffre
was here aid when Balfour was here,
they said to us it may take you some
time to get over to us a great fight
ing army, but you are great indus
trial country; our man power is fully
engaged in our industries and mill
tary enterprises, send over armies
and special engineering regiments
and troops of technical character and