The sun., 1919-09-07
He's Commanded
His Country's s
Greatest F orce on
Fields of Creates st
War in History


when will Black Jack Per-
shlng be home to take what is coming
10 him like a MANI"
At the present moment OF writing
the gentleman in question will be
home within a few hours-and what
is coming to him is understood to be
good and plenty! No question but he
will take II like man. He has the
habit of taking things that way.
John Joseph Pershing of Linn
county, Missouri, is the successor OF
George Washington and the great
Union trio of civil war chieftains In
holding the highest military rank his
nation has to bestow. In our army
10 be General" without prefix is the
equivalent Of being Marshal Of
France.
This General has commanded the
greatest armed force we have ever put
in the field By numerical comparison
Washington's immortal army at York
town was little more than corporal's
guard. Not only did Pershing COM
mand the A. r. f.; his also was the
heaviest Individual responsibility in
preparing it to fight, and for its ef-
fectiveness on European battlefields
against the most formidable enemy a
commander has ever faced.
The honor and prestige OF the United
States among nations, not to mention
considerable part Of all that was
meant by 1.-The safety of democracy"
the world over, have been in Per-
shing's hands. How well he has, ac-
Quilted himself we know. We are
now about to show him that we
know it,
What Pershing would have accom-
plished in Foch's place or in Haig's
Lefore the Capitalization of command,
is a question that can never be an
swered, and that will only preoccupy
certain might have been species of
mind such as dotes on post mortems
in whist. What he accomplished in
the place he had is of record and no
one is finding the record open to7seri-
Gus complaint.
His Conception of His Task.
He went to France with two domi-
nant ideas. The first was the war
fare Of position, fought In trenches,
would never be conclusive, and that the
German must be driven to open war
fare and there thrashed in American
style. When he said, in France, Ger
many must be beaten, Germany can
be beaten. Germany will be beaten"
he had in mind this way of going
about IL.
RE Vas not alone in this idea and
may not even have originated II. The
a6lest Of his subordinate Generals
shared 1t from the first. Foch held 1t (;
80 had Nivelle, IL not Joffre or Petain.
Nivelle's tactics in the spring Of
fensive Of 1917 had taught 1t to the
enemy-Nivelle himself not. having
been permitted to follow it up. The
German, Won Hutier, copied Nlvelle's
method with improvements. The prin-
eiple was surprise and forcing the
lighting in the open.
This is both traditionally and tenn
peramentally the American brand of
warfare, at which American soldiers
excel. Pershing as Commander in
chief Is known to have worked con-
unually to get them their chance to
Try 1t He succeeded and the results
We're the st. Mihiel victory under his
personal command, won at a pace that
astonished military Europe, and then
tne stupendous and victorious Meuse-
Argonne drive, which dislocated the
entire German defence.
The other dominant idea with which
re went over was to place in line
strictly American army under Amer
isn command-to be entrusted with
an important sector on the earliest
possible date, and to fight that sector
IN his own American fashion. This
iuea OF course was the Siamese twin
OF his first one. Time was of the es-
hence OF the contract, and he had
small patience with a policy Of season
ing his divisions slowly for the ortho-
uoT defence n position warfare whe,
tney already possessed the qualities
ior Irresistible attack.
lie was delayed somewhat in achiev.
ing his ambition 10 create an Ameri
can First Army and command 1t "or
aus own" by the wise course which
eventuated In the placing Of all tn,
aIiied American forces under a su
preme command. the command O
Foch. The British military. leader,
were strongly opposed to that cours,
az hrst. and the credit for the accom-
pilshment has besn given in man,
quarters to President Wilson-who o