Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-01-27
MANY DRAMATIC
PHRASES COINED
DURING THE WAR
Tense Crisis and Historic Mo-
mentS Results in Utterances
From Commanders Which
Will Survive Forever,

/
New York. Jan. 2G.--The war has
| developed many dramatic phrases,
| slogans, terse epigrams, OF laconc
statements. Looking back over the
perspective of four years of fight
ing it appears that the majority of
these grew out of tense crises in
battles, or marked historic moments
when the fate of nations hung in the
balance.
Take for example the slogan,
They shall not pass During the
tremendous fighting sn front of
Verdun when the Germans made
Their great desperate drive to
break through the French battle
tines in 1916 this saying passed from
lip to lip among the French soldiers
gathered there in a long drawn bat
tie to check the terrific onslaught of
the Germans. How it originated is
not clear. Some have attributed it
to Marshal Joffre, others to Marshal
Petain, who was in command of the
French fighting forces at Verdun.
Others believe the saying originated
with the men in the ranks. At any
event they adopted it and for months
while the Germans vainly threw
their hattalions upon the stubbornly
city, the saying, 'They~shall not pass"
became the watchword at Verdun.
And they did not pass.
To Americans the sententious ut
terance of General Pershing when he
placed wreath on the tomb of La
fayette in the Plcpus cemetery in
Paris conveyed a significance and an
inspiration, Lafayette, we are
here" was all he said, but to the
American as well as to- the French
man 1t was better than oratory II
meant to the American, I'VE are here
for business and our business is TO
fight 1t thrilled the hearts of Cen
eral Pershing's people at home and
the modesty of it filled them with a
glow of satisfaction.
Turning Point of the War
Another dramatic phrase which
stirred the patriotism of the Amer
lean people was that attributed to an
American commander at Chateau
Thierry when he responded to the
advice of French commanders to re-
treat by declaring The American
flag has been compelled to retire.
This is uncomfortable. We are going
to counter attack" These state
ments have been attributed to both
to Major General Omar Bundy, Some
observers have regarded this Incl
dent as the turning point of the war.
From that time the Americans adj
vanced. The victory of Chateau
Theirry followed and thereafter the
German army retreated
Vice Admiral William S, Sims,
commanding the American naval
forces in European waters, was
asked when the first Yankee war
ships arrived in England early in
May, 1917, When will you be ready
for BUSINESS" He replied, I'VE can
start at once. We made our prep
arations on the way over"
There was a dramatic moment, a
great crisis in the worlds history
when General Pershing placed tho
American army under the command
of the then General Foch, who had
just been made commander of all the
allied forces, but none of the phrases
that General Pershing used were
widely quoted as epigramatic. One
which might so have been selected
was the words, "All that we have are
yours. Dispose of them as you will"
The retort of Major Charles Whit
tiesey, commander of the "lost bat |
talon" of the American army in the |
Argonne forest when the Germans !
surrounded his isolated command and |
their commander demanded its sur
render was one of the wars historic /
phrases. Go to hell" he replied.
The first great battle of the war, !
the battle that stopped the Germans |
at the Marne ELECTED from the lips !
of Marshal Joffre the historic |
words: THE hour has come to adj |
vance at all costs to die where you I
stand rather than to give way
Courage, We VIII Get Them"
General, afterward Marshal Pc |
tain, inspired his weary troops at |
Verdun by an order of the day con-
Guiding with the words: Courage, |
We will get Them
General Foch, commanding the
French army in the first battle of
the Marine, had been almost over
whelmed by the onward sweep of |
the German forces. In a memorable
to Joffre he said: My right |
is crushed. My left is in retreat.
am attacking with my center" He |
did attack and drove a wedge
the German lines that start |
ed their retreat to the Aisne The |
rapidity with which the Germans ad-
vanced in their first rush toward the
people of Paris were stunned by the
French capital. The railway sta
tons We're bese:ged, but the great |
of the people knew they
must remain In this tragic mo-
ment General Gallieni, military com
mander of the city, inspired conf
dence and cheered the faint hearted
with his watchword, "Jusqua bout"
or ITO the very end" The populace
took up the cry and Gallieni With his
army played signal part in hurting
back the legions of Won Kluck at the
Marine.
No less inspiring but born of less
tragic circum stances was the saying
Of General Gouraud who, upon en-
Iering Strassburg after the liberation
Of Alsace and Lorraine, declared:
The day of glory has come"
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.
commander-in-ch of the British
armies in France, gave utterance to
an appeal in addressing his soldiers
which stirred a responsive chord in
the heart sof the allied peoples
the world. For three II
weeks the enemy had battered the Il
French lines in a desperate effort to
separate them from the French and II
irive through to the channel ports.
Day after day the British had been Il
driven back, On April IL. 1918. Mar
shall Haig called upon his men for