The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-04-30
CHAPTER VIII

AS the details Of our mission abroad
developed it soon became evident that
in all that pertained to the mainte-
nance and supply of our armies as dis
tinguished from the purely military
task, men with expert knowledge and
broad experience in business, industry
and transportation would be needed.
In the technical branches of the
army there were many officers with
! theoretical training In special lines.
but with some notable exceptions they
generally lacked broad constructive or
administrative experience. From the
very start l determined to otiain the
! best talent available, and was fortu-
nate in practically every field to find
able men who were anxious to do their
part.
The earliest application Of the prin-
ciple was in connection with timber
and lumber procurement. The call for
lumber would be enormous, and since
it would be impossible with our limit
ed tonnage to bring a great quantity
across the Atlantic, most of it would
have to be obtained in Europe.
A cable to the War department early
in July, 1917, recommended the imme-
date organization Of forestry serv-
ice, consisting of Sawmill units. to be
composed Of experienced lumbermen
and 5000 to 10000 unskiIled laborers
to build roads and transport lumber.
Special request was made for the ap-
pointment Of Prof. Henry Graves, chief
Of the United States forestry service,
who was then on the ground, as the
man to take charge Of this service. A
number of other specially qualified
men were requested as we entered the
task of building up the supply service,
but as this was the first intimation
given to the War department that such
force would be needed naturally It
was some time before it was actually
at work.
Heavy Work for the Staff.
During the first two months in
France the work imposed upon the few
staff officers who had accompanied me
was very heavy. After urgent and re-
peated requests l was fortunate in
having at my disposal later in the sum-
mer a small group of men which in
cluded some Of the most brilliant and
highly educated officers in the army.
In addition to those already with
me, the officers included in the follow
ing cable l regarded as especially
fitted for the duties for which they
were desired
Request Robert c. Davis, adjutant
general, be sent these headquarters
earliest date. Request Frank Moor
man or ]. o. Mauborgne be sent these
headquarters earliest date for duty as
code expert. Request Samuel T. Hub
bard. Jr., signal corps, now here, be
called to active service and ordered
to report to me. Request ten Of fol-
lowing named officers be sent to report
to me by second convoy for general
staff duty: Frank R. Mccoy, George
Van Horn Moseley, Malin Craig. AL
fred w. Bjornstadt, II. B. Fiske, Allen
J. Grear, Paul B. Malone, Edgar T.
Collins, Samuel r. Gleaves, Laurence
Halstead, Nicholas w. Campanole. A.
r. Moreno, Preston Brown, Leroy r.
Eltinge, w. B. Burt, Frank T. Hines,
Edward L. King, J. p. McAdams, W.
G. Sweeney, ]. B. Barnes, Kerr T.
Riggs, w. II. Winters, Wait c. John
son, Stuart HeintZelman, Upton Birnie,
Kirby Walker, Berkeley Enochs. :"
Having this nucleus and selecting
the best features Of the French and
British systems, general staff Organi-
cation was created, which efficiently
met every demand made upon it
throughout the war and which remains
today as a model for present and fu-
ture guidance.
Source of Guns a Problem.
The question of artillery procure
ment caused me much concern. The
almost negligible amount on hand
when we went to war consisted mostly
of field guns of the tree-inch type, then
largely in the hands of troops in the
Philippine islands and elsewhere and
unavailable for ISSUE Moreover, for
calibers heavier than the three-inch
type our ordnance department had
adopted nothing which was really up
to date.
The enormous proportion of both
light and heavy guns used by both
sides, the knowledge of our deficiency
and the realization of the length Of
time that must elapse before we could
manufacture and deliver them made it