New-York tribune., 1920-09-23
FqyolLe
By Frdnk II. Sinaonds

unity of command which was the pre-
requisite of victory. But even Foch
could hardly have succeeded had
Fayolle's conduct of the French opera
tions III the desperate days before Foch
came been less skillful.
AS it was, the French since the war
have told us in their military writings
that even the superhuman efforts of
Fayolle and Foch would have been un-
availing if the German high command
had been more observan. of the stu
alton, for gap existed and continued
to exist for several days, and March o7,
when the Germans took Montdidier,
was day when all seemed lost.
Following the terrific crisis of March
and the first days of April, Fayolle ap-
pears as commander of the group of
French armies which fought south of
the Somme and between the Somme and
the Aisne. Thus it was under his
| command that the 1st and I'd Amer
/ lean divisions fought in the army
Of General Mansin on July 18, when the
counter offensive which in America n
military records is known as the
isneMarne, but in French and British
as the Second Battle of the Marne, was
launched.
Moreover, as this battle extended and
the French armies of Degoutte and
Berthelot were involved in the general
attack other American divisions fight
ing in the Degoutte army were also
under the supreme command of Fayolle.
Thus Fayolle had a brilliant part not
alone in checking the German offensive
of March Fl, but in delivering the blow
which at last opened the German re-
treat which was not terminated when
the armistice ended the fighting.
The Second in Command
1t is one of the inevitable conse-
quences of VAR that, while the supreme
commander is always we'll known and
tie generals who command armies are
frequently in the news, the soldiers
who occupy the middle ground that is,
the commanders of army groups are
little known. Mangin, who commanded
the French Tenth Army in the Aisne-
Marne affair and in all the brilliant
fighting to the end of the war. is
familiar to all students and readers of
war literature and one of the most
picturesque figures on the Allied side,
while Fayolle, De Maistre and De Cas-
telnau, who commanded the three
groups Of French armies in the
last campaign, are little known,
save as De Castelna. may be re-
membered as the defender Of Nancy
in 1914 and De Maistra as the
victor in the Battle of Malmaison in
1917. which gave the French the whole
of the Chemin des Danes, which thev
.unhappily lost few months later, when
the Germans advanced to the Marne in
May 1918.
Thefe is a legend that when the
French government contemplated max
ing other marshals, following the VIC
torious conclusion OF the war, Foch
was asked to express his opinion. Pc
taln's promotion he recognized and ap-
proved as logical, fitting reward for
the victory in Champagne in 1915, the
defense Of Verdun in 1916 and the re-
organization of the French army and
the restoration of its morale. following
the unhappy Nivelie failure in the
spring of 1917. OF the ether possible
possessors of the baton Foch ranked
Fayolle highest, while De Castelnpu
was the only other name considered.
10 will be seen, then. that France is
sending one of her greatest soldiers
and that commander under whom the
Americans fought at the Aisne- -Marnc
in the armies Of Mangin ard Degoutte.
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