The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-02-06
DRAMATIC PHASES
BORN OF THE WAR
"THEY SHALL NOT PASS" WACH-
WORD OF VERDUN.
Lafayette
We Are Here
Gen. Pershing's Utterance on e
ing Tomb of Great Soldier
Now Famous.

New YORK, Jan. Io.-AHo ""i Az"
developed many dramatic phrases
slogans. terse epigramS or laconlc
statements. Looking back over the
perspective of four years of fighting
II appears that the majority of these
grew out of tense. crises in battle or
marked historic moments, when the
fate of nations hung in the balance.
Take, for example the slogan
.sThey shall not pass, During the
tremendous fighting in front of YER
DIM. when the Germans made their
great desperate drive to break
through the French battle lines IN
1916, this saying passed from lip to
lip among the French soldiers gath
cred there in the long drawn battle
to check the terrific onslaught of the
Germans. How it originated is MOI
clear. Some have attributed it to
Marshal Johre, others to Marshal Pc
tain, who was in command OF tne
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
battalions upon the stubbornly de-
tended forts around the French CITY,
the. saving. s'They shall not pass"
became the ~watchword at Verdun.
And they did not pass.
Lafayette, We Are Here"
To Americans the s~ententious ut
terance of Gen. Pershing when ne
placed a wreath on the tomb of La
fayette in the Picpus Cemetery; IN
Paris, conveyed a significance and an
inspiration. Lafayette, we are
here" was all he said, but to the
American as we'll to to the French
d it was better than oratory. 1t
meant to the American, I'VE are
here for business, and our business
is to fight" 1t thrilled the hearts Of
General Pershing's people at home
and the modesty of it filled them
with a glow of satisfaction.
Another dramatic phrase which
stirred the patriotism of the Ameri-
can 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 statements
have been attributed to both Major
Gen. Robert l.. Billiard and to Major
Gen. Omar Bundy. Some observers
have regarded this incident as the
turning point of the war. From that
time the Americans advanced. The
victory of Chateau Thierry followed
and thereafter the German army re-
treated.
we San SCdIC at ouCC.
Vice Admiral William S. Sims,
commanding the American naval
forces in European waters. was ask
ed when the first Yankee warships
arrived in England, early in May,
1917, when will you be ready for
business? He replied, 1--WE can
start at once; we made our prepare
tions on the way over
There was a dramatic moment, a
great crisis in the worlds history,
when Gen. Pershing placed the
American army under the command
of the then Gen. Foch, who had just
been made commander of all the AL
lied forces, but none of the phrases
that Gen. Pershing used were widely
quoted as epigramatic. One which
has been selected was the words,
Infantry, artillery, aviation, all that
we have are yours. Dispose of them
as you will"
The retort of Major Charles Whit
tlesey, 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 it's
surrender, was one of the wars his
toric phrases. eco to hell" he re-
piled.
1.-THE Hour Has Come"
The first great battle of the war,
the battle that stopped the Germans
at the Marine, elected from the lips
of Marshal Joffre the historic words,
1.-The hour has come to advance at
all costs; to die where you stand
rather than to give way"
Gen. (afterward marsha) Petain
inspired his weary troops at Verdun
by an order of the day, concluding