 The activation of the French First Army left Seventh Army with only one corps. Devers asked for IV Corps to be transferred from Italy, but Wilson argued that this would adversely affect operations in Italy against the Gothic Line, and the Combined Chiefs agreed. Instead, Devers proposed on 26 September that Major General Wade H. Haislip's XV Corps to be transferred from Patton's Third Army, which had severe logistical difficulties, to the Seventh Army. Devers argued that they could better be supported over the 6th Army Group's line of communications from the Mediterranean. Eisenhower agreed, and further ordered that three more divisions scheduled to join Bradley's 12th Army Group in northern France, but unlikely to do so until the supply and transport situation improved, be diverted to Marseilles, and join the 6th Army Group. Haislip was a good choice for the 6th Army Group. He spoke French fluently, having fought in France during World War I and attended the Ecole Superieure de Guerre from 1925 to 1927, and was attuned to French sensibilities. Above all, Haislip got along well with Major General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the mercurial commander of the French 2nd Armored Division. Devers was shocked when Leclerc informed him that he and his men wanted to serve with the American Army, not the French First Army, which he considered dominated by Vichy French traitors.
