Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-20
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

i
"ooh, la! la! C'est la guerre!'
An interview with the late Marshal
Foch, commander in chief Of the allied
armies. was published in Paris last
Thursday, by the interviewer, Raymond
Racouly. 1t disclosed what purported to
be Marshal Fochs refusal Of Premier
Clemenceau's demand that Gen. Per-
shing be rejected by the commander in
chief of the allied forces as head OF the
American forces, because, according to
Clemenceau, Gen. Pershing was unwill-
ing to scatter the American forces as
replacements In the armies of the al
lies, particularly the French, but in
sisted "stubbornly" In maintaining an
autonomous American Army, under
American control.
4 +
Even after the American victories at
Chateau Thierry and st. Mihiel, ac-
cording to the Foch interview, Premier
Clemenceau wrote on october 81, 1913
three weeks before the armistice-to
Marshal Foch, urging that If PershinS
was still stubborn about melting the
Americans into requirements in the
other armies, he should dismiss" him
and appeal to President Wilson for an
other commanding officer, but Foch
objected and declared that his method
of commanding, based upon persuasion.
much more than upon severity, was a
good one, the only good one" and so he
resolved to carry 1t out to the end
From other sources appears evidence
that both Clemenceau and Foch had
something to learn from the COM
mander of the American Expeditionary
ID. IH 1nk
eide as to whether 1t was Clemencsau
or ,Foch-or both-who threatened Gen.
Pershing, although their combined bluff
failed to impress him. Today, former
Premier Clemenceau doth protest too
much" how friendly he Is toward Gen.
Pershing, and always has been.
y y
History records Gen. Pershing's ia
nous offer to Marshal Foch when the
Germans had almost captured Amiens.
which would have completely separated
the French and British armies and
made a path open to Paris. and the
Big Bertha tgreat gum March %. 1918,
had begun bombarding Paris from a
distance of 20 miles. Quoting from "A
Guide to American Battlefields OF
Europe" prepared by the American
Monument Commission, of which Gen.
Pershing is head. the story is told of
Gen. Pershing's offer Of American aid
at AmienS:
Gen. Pershing, appreciating the
gravity of the allied position and de-
ferring for the moment the execution
of his plan of forming an American
Army. went to Gen. Foch while his
first drive was In progress and said:
"T have come to say to you that the
hold n q fyrQaf
honor for our troops, were they engaged
in the present battle. I ask 1t of you
in my name and in that of the Amer
lean people There Is at this moment
no other question than that Of fight
ing. Infantry, artillery. aviation-aH
that we lave-are yours to dispose OF as
YOU viii. Others are coming who will
be as numerous as may be necessary.
have come to say to you that the
American people would be proud to be
engaged in the greatest battle OF his
tory"
The book further says: This mes
sage. expressing confident optimism and
real desire to cooperate, Is a true
indication of the splendid spirit which
characterised the whole American Army
In France throughout the war"
At that date, there were only 100000
Americans in France.
The present writer holds in vivid
memory how the stories of that battle
of Amiens came to the headquarters Of
the I'd Army Corps, at Fruge Northern
Franco, telling how the battle victims
Law In windrows against the wire en-
tanglements so that regiments charged
over them, as over bridge. And few
DAYS later the shells exploded in Paris
within few rods from the Care du
Nord, causing Parisians to shrug
shoulders as at fate staring them in
the face, and with cynical smile,
exclaim, "Ah, Ia Bertha!"
The book continues: THE battle near
AnienS had scarcely died down. when
on April 9, the Germans broke through
the British lines on front of about
20 miles, along the Lys River near
Armentieres. Their initial advantage
was not well exploited, although they
did succeed In capturing Mont KENNEL.
which was then occupied by French
troops and advancing II miles into the
British lines"
Was it then the only solution Of how
to fight, that the inexperienced
Americans" must be used as replace
mchto "a ,oAoVVehCu 1AcuCA VI oilteu
armies?'
Even before the battle of An,iens
came this incident: A French officer
had witnessed the first advance of
American soldiers against the enemy.
and to the writer ne exclaimed in
linbounded enthusiasm and hope:
"Oh. those Americans! They go
right ahead; they never stop; they
never turn back. They have-what you
Yankees call it-they have cheek
They go always ahead! The French
and British, maybe see great forces
In front, and they hesitate: they may
stop. But not so the Americans; they
push on--and on-they never stop" =
H* 4
When that story has been told, some
times the reply has come that that was
due to the inexperience. Of the untried
Americans who did not realize the
danger they were running into. Maybe
so; maybe not so. But never was there
a 2O-mile gap cut by the enemy through
the American lines, under American
officers. Not at Cantigny, captured by
Americans q month after Arliens, nor
at Chateau Thierry captured by Ameri-
cans, May 81, nor ut st. Mihiel, nor at
Eeileau Wood, Bouresche nor Vaux In
June, nor In the Meuse-Argonne which
ended the war.
The high command Of the German
army published this warning to its own
force Of artillery: 1.-The moral effect of
our own gunfire cannot seriously impede
the advance Of the American Infantry"
+ \
Why2 It was because the Pershing
tactics were absolutely different from
those OF Europe. Pershing was fighting
open warfare, not defensive trench
waiting. The Americans went ahead;
they never stopped" The best defense