Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-28
DID CLEMENCEAU SEEK
PERSHINC'S REMOVAL?
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

orally read m France, and Recomy, who
wrote It, remained the friend and con-
fidant of the marshal. The revival Of
the story in 1929. and It's publication
in America as starting news, Is due
merely to the fact that the death OF
Foch served to reawaken interest In the
detailed history of the war and its
winning and that correspondents who
never read, or at least never anaiySed, q
the earlier Recouly book. have hastensd
to read and analyze his new work.
It is dangerous to print, piecemeal,
the accounts Of military operations.
The statement, by itself, that Clemen-
ceau talked about seeking to have
Pershing replaced, is utterly misleading.
Also 1t is utterly unfair to Clemenceau,
to Pershing and to Foch, not to men
ton the many other statesmen and
generals who had responsible part in
the concluding events of the 1918 CAM
paign. M. Clemenceau himself Is so i'm
patient of the public habit Of ssizing one
detail and overlooking the rest Of the
facts of history that he has refused
TO discuss the episode. He has merely
said, Il will not engage In debate over
a coffin. Gen. Pershlng and are good
friends"
Cause Of Dissatisfaction.
To grasp the salient facts surround
ing the dissatisfaction with Gen. Per-
shing and with our whole war effort
which prevailed In many quarters. both
English and French, in 1918. requires
very wide knowledge of the whole cam
paign and the whole American war
| effort. At the risk of incompleteness.
We may try to summarize them In this
and a following article. First let us
consider the Clemenceau-Pershing cpl
Sode as first related by Recouly and
later by the American correspondent.
Thomas M. johnson. and to some ex-
tent by Gems. Liggett and Harbord and
other writer's.
The tale goes that about the end Of
September, 1918, four or five days after
the American 1st Army started It's
greatest and final battle in the Meuse-
Argonne sector, Premier Clemenceau
started to visit the American front. On
this visit his automobile was caught in
a traffic jam close to the American
lines near the town Of Varennes. This
was on one of the few roads leading
roads were terribly overcrowded. Allied
military men had a good deal Of criti-
cism to offer about our transport sys-
tenn. Possibly they were right. We
had plenty of trouble with it, plenty of
traffic jams occurred.
M. Clemenceau, like most responsible
omcials in both France and England,
mad never wanted America to organize
and operate separate army In France.
The allied wish had been for us to
| supply regiments and divisions Of troops
which should fight with the French
| and British armies, under their high
command. Gen. Pershing had insisted
on the American Army plan, and the
! American LIST Army was the result of
his insistence. These facts made criti-
cism of our inexperience in detail, such
as our trafnc jams. the more vigorous.
1t Is told that M. Clemenceau, the
| day after his delay near Varennes, told
Marshal Foch at the latter's headquar-
tiers that the Americans were making a
| mess Of things. They were not advanc-
ing fast enough. They would never
break through in time to coordinate
with the Foch offensive plans. Should
not he, Clemenceau, appeal to Presi-
mander who would handle his army as
the allies wanted 1t handled?
| To all Of which Marshal Foch is said
to have replied that 1t would be unwise
to seek to replace Pershing, first because
II President Wilson refused, the effort
would become known to Pershing and
would be most unfavorable In its reac-
ton; second. because Foch was confident
that Pershing and the Americans, while
undoubtedly inexperienced In many de-
tails, would fight 1t through with as
much stubbornness as Pershing had
displayed In insisting on fighting with
American troops as an American Army
under American command, and thirdly,
| because anV 0ther American Ceneral
worth while would probably be just as
stubborn as Pershing.
In another article We shall sum UP
what happened az result of Pershing's
stubborn conduct and Foch's confidence
] In the Americans