Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-21
Marshal Foch.
~Beauvais. April 8, 10,

*Beauvais, April 8, 1918.
General Foch is charged by the
British. French and American gov
ernments with the coordination OF
the action of the allied armies on the
Western front. To this end there
Ia conferred on him all the powers
necessary for its effective realization.
To the same end. the British, French
and American governments conflde
In General Foch the strategic direc-
ton of military operations.
II was on the heels Of unforsetsable
"Black week Of March, 1918, when the
Germans were crashing toward the
Channel coast that the historic allied
agreement, above quoted, was sealed.
Conceived In grave emergency. It was
destined to prove the turning point tn
the World War.
It was no eas y thing for Haig and
Pershfng to surrender supreme COM
mand Of their own forces. To their
eternal credit and lasting fame it will
be recorded that the sacrifice was made.
The Spartan spirit in which II was Of
fered Is immortalized, as far rs the
American Army is concerned, by Gen.
Pershing's address to Gen. Foch on the
eve of the Frenchman's formal ap-
pointment as ,generalissimo.
IT have come to tell you" said Per-
shing, that the American people viii
hold it a high honor that their troops
should take part in the present battle. I
ask you to permit this in my name and
In theirs. At the resent moment there
is only one thing to do-to fight. In
fantry, artillery, aeroplanes-all that
! have, put at your disposal. Do
what you like with them. More will
come-in fact, all that may be neces-
sary. I have come expressly to tell
you that the American people viii be
proud to take part In this, the great
and most striking battle Of history"
Then ensued a battle that was to
experience many phases and cost rivers
of blood, but was to know no ending
until the armistice Of seven months
later. It was Fochs battle. The glory
Of it was great, and many shared it.
But the directing brain, the unifying
genius of it all, was the gallant gentle
man and soldier of France whose men,
ory the world this day salutes in rev.
erence and enduring gratitude.
In an ofhcial Independence day sd-
dress In honor Of the now laurel
crowned troops Of the United States
Marshal Foch was able to say, on July
4, 1918: AFTER four years Of struggle,
the plans Of the enemy for dominance
are stopped. He sees the number OF his
adversaries increase each day, and the
young American Army bring into the
battle a valor and faith without equal
Il not this sure pledge OF the definite
triumph Of the just cause?"
So It turned out to be. II was the
beginning of the end. Foch planned
his final offensive and crucial counter
stroke against the Germans on q ma
jestic scale of Napoleonic strategy. BY
Midsummer, % one graphic British
historian has put II. Foch had won his
Gettysburg and assured his Appomat-
tox." He had paralyzed the nerve
center of ths enemy and driven him
down the first stage of the road to de-
feat. Three months later the Kaiser
was in flight, his armies in retreat and
Hindenburg suing for cessation OF
hcstilities. Foch had organized victory.
Perhaps Ferdinand Fochs place In
history will be enshrined most gloriously
Of all for his farewell act as allied gen.
eralissimo. II lay within his power to
prolong fighting operations until his in
vincible hosts had battled and bombed
their way through Alsace-Lorraine and
the Rhineland to Berlin. Long after
the passions OF conflict were cooled. men
In many countries lamented that II
would have been better II peace had
been dictated to q Germany helpless on
her knees within her conquered terri.
tory-peace, in other words, on the
Bismarckian model.
Foch demurred. He surveyed his be.
loved France, devastated and bleeding
from every pore, and the graves Of hel
million and three-quarters Of heroic
dead. Germany was banned and beaten
The allies purpose accomplished, Fochi
soul rebelled against the spilling Of *
much rs another drop Of either alliet
or German blood. He ordered arm
stacked, instead of shouldered for al
invasion of the enemy's country.
When posterity pays him tribute il
the Invalides at Paris it will remembe
Foch's last command. 1t will stand il
vensration before the tomb Of a soldie
who proved himself as valorous in tn
works Of mercy Is In the arts Of war.