Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-12-14
,,uo WON THE WAR?
 "no pERsHING SAYS DOUGHBOYS DID IT

tcor+inued from page tWo)
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 ,;.octlv contrary to the principle
 af forming distinct American
 0- for which my contention
 sad sab been insistent. An enormous
 nau nnount mi of preparations had al-
 amJu''b Ju been made in the construc-
 rssas req of roads, railroads, regulat-
 !lon a stations, and other installa-
 l!ans lhs looking to the use and sup
 IlOn' 10. of our armies on particu-
 ply front. The inherent disin-
 ll1;nation la, of our troops to serve
 o, .nder allied commanders would
 sa~a ulus crown and American morale
 nauld lasI . have suffered. My position
 was was'i stated quite clearly that the
 S1s S@1rategical employment of the
 ast army as a unit would be un- Irtaken where desired, but it's
 E;su1pti noto carry out these pro-
 uosals lS would not be entertained.
 "A further conference at Mar
 .bal Foch's headquarters was held
 on 0 September 2, at which Gener-
 al Petain was present. After
 d d;scussion the question of en-
 nloving the American army as 2
 pnit it was conceded. All the al
 lied armies were to be employed in a converging action. The Brit
 ish armies, supported by the left of the French armies, were to pur
 sue the attack in the direction of cambrai; the center of the French armies, west of Rheims, would continue the actions, already be- cun. to drive the enemy beyond the Aisne; and the American ar my, supported by the right of the French armies, would direct it's attack on Sedan and Mezieres.
 "It should be recorded that al- tho this general offensive was full l ly outlined at the conference no ! one present expressed the opinion that the final victory could be won l in 1918. In fact, it was believed l by the French high command that 1.-the Meuse-Argonne attack could not be pushed much beyond Mont faucon before the arrival of win | ter would force a cessation of op- | erations.
 The Argonne Operation.
 "The choice between the two sectors, that east of the Aisne in cluding the Argonne forest, or the Champagne sector, was left t, l me. In my opinion, no other al- lied troops had the morale or the l offensive spirit to overcome sue |cessful the difficulties to be met | in the Meuse-Argonne sector and | our plans and installations had been prepared for an expansion 1 of operations in that direction. "Ihe salient had been held by Fthe Germans since September 1914. It covered the most sensi- tive section of the enemy's posi- tion on the western front; name ly, the Mezieres -Sedan-Metz rail road and the Briey Iron Basin; ii threatened the entire region be- tween Verdun and Nancy, and in- terrupted the main rail line from Paris to the east. It's primary strength lay in the natural de- fensive features of the terrain it. self. The western face of the Iallent extended along the rugged Heavily wooded eastern heights oii he Mouse for eight kilometers to 'the east and then crossed the plain of the Woevre, including within the German lines the de- tached heights of Loupmont and Montsec, which dominated the plaln and afforded the enemy un- u; usual facilities for observation The enemy had reinforced the po- sltlons by every artificial means durlng period of four years"
 "The operations was carried out With entire precision," the gen. eral continued. The rapidity of our advance overwhelmed the ene- my, who * * * apparently had started to withdraw some of his clements from the tip of the sa- llent. We captured 16,O00 pris- oners, ssH3 443 guns and large stores. The material results of the victory achieved were very impor- tant. An American army was an accomplished fact, and the enemy had felt it's power No form of propaganda could over- come the depressing effect on the morale of the enemy of this dem- onstratlon of our ability to or ganlze large American force and erlve It successfully thru his de- l1nses. ,.1:ees. 1t gave our troops inn pllclt confidence in their super !1rlty and raised their morale to .le highest pitch. For the first t tline wire entanglements ceased to oe regarded as impossible barriers Sna sn9 open warfare training, which nao na been so urgently insisted up- tn, proved to be the correct doc ttlne. th Our divisions concluded en one attack with such small loss us;+i vs ana in such high spirits that s,, %,.noqt the usual rest they were Irmedlately available for en-
 pyment in heavy fighting in a s'Hw stn theatre of operations. The bb..ength ba.a,gth of the first army in this oSo 0Sotle totaled approximately 5OO,. Were French.