The Americans from Thechemin Des Dames to the Marne
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The first US troops in Soissons station, February 4, 1918. Fonds Valois - BdiC 1917-1918 AISNE The Americans from the Chemin des Dames to the Marne Grand Cerf crossroads, Villers-Cotterêts forest, July 19 1918. american supply base. America’s entry into Psychology and numbers Trucks unloading supplies. Fonds Valois - BdiC In the months preceding America’s entry into WW1, the prospec- tive involvement of American soldiers in the fighting on French soil greatly influenced the calculations of German and Allied strategists alike. Though it was inexperienced and faced organi- zational problems, the American Army numbered 200,000 men and its troops were fresh, unlike war-weary allied forces who had Mark MEIGS, in 1918. De guerre lasse, Dép.de been fighting for three years already and had experienced the l’Aisne, 2008. Translated from the French. horrors of trench warfare. American support was then crucial and likely to influence the outcome of the war. examine the various actions of the Ame- rican ships in the first months of 1917 rican Army, they do not deem them deci- that the USA could not avoid entering the sive, and hardly proportional to the num- war, there were a central Army Staff and ber of American soldiers on French soil national army officers able to implement at the end of the war, namely two million. such effort but there were inevitable blun- American actions did not decide the out- ders due to lack of coordination and to come of the war but the sheer presence the new conditions of organization and of their troops did, as all parties felt that recruitment. behind each soldier on the front line Besides, American officers ignored some there were numerous others at the rear, of the lessons of the ongoing war that ready to fight. would seem obvious to us. In professional The delayed arrival of the Americans was newspapers they argued in favor of offen- due to their unpreparedness, on various sive actions and showed scorn for defen- IN MARCH 1918, the 26th Division was in ments in the American Revolution and the levels. It was difficult for Woodrow Wilson sive positions. charge of a sector close to the Chemin des War for Independence. The troops arrived to join the allies in warfare when he had The Americans then entered the conflict Dames. Like the 1st, 2nd and 42nd Divisions, in France in the fall of 1917 and hit the 2 just won the 1916 election with a slogan without having totally solved their organi- the 26th spent the winter of 1917-1918 in road before they had received their mar- 3 reminding the Americans that he had zational problems and with a preference “quiet” sectors so as to be trained by the ching orders, an initiative Pershing did kept them out of that terrible war. While for offensive tactics, though they had led not much like. The commander of the 26th, France was fighting protracted battles to the disasters on the Somme in 1916 PUT TO THE TEST General Clarence R. Edwards, nicknamed in Verdun and on the Somme, Wilson and on the Chemin des Dames in 1917. ON THE CHEMIN DES DAMES “Daddy” by his men, had a reputation for was campaigning to organize a peace But they joined the warfare in order to lack of discipline and for being often at THE USA ENTERED THE WAR in the spring A bivouac in Jaulgonne. American sol- conference between the fighting parties. drive the Germans out of France and French Army. The 26th presented some of odds with his superiors. How such a unit of 1917, two years and eight months after diers resting. September 1, 1918. As for the American Army, it was being their shared interests and alliance with the characteristics of an American Army in would perform on the field was of utmost the fighting had begun. American troops Fonds Valois - BdiC reformed, the ones campaigning for its the French explain their preference for transition. Recruited in the New England interest to Allied and German strategists. did not make it to the front lines until the centralization, the others to preserve the offensive tactics. States, the “Yankee Division”, as it was The Germans soon put it to the test with winter of 1917-1918 and did not engage privileges of the States against the hege- If numbers were so important, how to nicknamed, was proud of its achieve- three raids in Bois Brûlé. The Yankees gal- in major actions until the spring of 1918. alike shared that point of view. After the mony of Washington D.C. count? Was a German soldier better lantly fought hand-to-hand and cleverly The time lag explains why American sol- war against Russia was over on the Eas- Some members of Congress, jealous of than an American soldier? The French used their artillery, which led the Germans diers’ memories and interpretations of tern front, the Germans quickly saw that their local prerogatives and distrustful of anguished over the matter and the Ger- to put and end to the hostilities on April WW1 are different from other soldiers’. they would only have a limited period the power of the President, had almost mans, arrogantly, expressed some scorn 10 after taking one prisoner and losing 40 American soldiers lived in the same mud of numerical superiority on the Western succeeded in putting an end to the set- for American soldiers. However the ac- men. The French showed their appreciation in the same trenches as other soldiers, front when a victorious outcome was ting up of a central Army Staff that could tions of American units on the Chemin by giving decorations to 117 men and offi- smelled the same smells, suffered the possible for them. The British and the plan and coordinate the human, material des Dames showed the Germans that cers. The Germans put the Division to the same wounds inflicted by the same wea- French realized that they had to main- and strategic resources of a modern army. they could not underestimate the Ameri- test again further east, on 20 April. Better pons… but they felt things differently. tain their positions until At the start of the young cans and that the psychological element prepared with artillery and elite soldiers, Despite the incompetence of some offi- they got the support of If numbers were so republic, each State had confirmed the mathematical element. the attack decimated two American com- cers who did not have time to assimilate American troops that important, how to count ? set up a militia (or natio- While taking the organizational problems panies whose men “fell dead in their ranks the rules of trench warfare, despite their would reverse the logic nal guard) recruited unit and useless losses into account, allied out of the trenches”. unpreparedness and lack of equipment, of numbers. The strategy of the Ameri- by unit, State by State, among volunteers forces and adversaries alike were bound their testimonies tend to be positive. can Army consisted in keeping defensive (with very light training). The States thus to acknowledge sheer gallantry, a quality Their words convey the feeling that the positions until they were ready to engage resisted standardization and the inclu- that had become rare in the other armies Front cover of l’illustration dated March 2, 1918 after a nightmare was about to be over and that in major actions and in waiting until 1918 sion of militias in the logic of a national so late in the war. American numerical successful action by the americans on the Chemin des they only had to arrive to transform diffi- before launching decisive offensives with army, professional and centralized. superiority was a decisive advantage for dames. CaVERnE dU dRaGon, MUsEE dU CHEMin dEs daMEs culties into victory and peace treaties. a strong and experienced army. When President Wilson was convinced af- the allied forces in the outcome of the In a sense, German and allied strategists That is the reason why, when historians ter German submarines attacks on Ame- war. The Americans on the Chemin des Dames The walls of the quarries still retain traces of the passage of UNCLE SAm’S SOLDIERS 20,000 American soldiers who came to the plateau to get ac- quainted with trench warfare. The USA was unprepared when Presi- dent Wilson declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. The American Army Guy MARIVAL, in La lettre du Chemin des supervised by French troops (64th RI in with French comrades, launch raids and numbered only 200,000 and its Dames n°13, 2008. Translated from the Braye-en-Laonnois), got acquainted with counterattacks. IN THE SERINGES-ET-NESLES experience was limited to operations French. the harsh realities of trench warfare. The From March 18 to March 21, the 26th CEMETERY, THE HEADSTONE OF against Indians and a war against sector was comparatively quiet but things Division left the Chemin des Dames to go CORPORAL HOMER J. WHEatON Spain in 1898. began to change. The Germans soon to the Toul sector. The men had spent 46 General Pershing (1860-1948) was wanted to show the newcomers that life days on the plateau with equipment that appointed commander-in-chief of the LED BY GENERAL Clarence Edwards and would not be so easy. was ill-suited to win- Born on November 11, 1885 in American Expeditionary Force and numbering more than 20,000 men, the Signs bearing the words “The French were first ter conditions. In all the State of New York, Homer J. landed in Boulogne on June 13, 1917. 26th Infantry Division was the first Ameri- “Welcome to the 26th!” amused, and then alarmed by the quarries, always Wheaton read law at the Syracuse The first troops arrived in Saint-Na- can full Division to arrive in France.