America's War for Humanity Part 77

"The President directs you to say to Gen. Pers.h.i.+ng that he awards the medal to the commander of our armies in the field as a token of the grat.i.tude of the American people for his distinguished services and in appreciation of the successes which oar armies have achieved under his leaders.h.i.+p."

After reading the order General Bliss called to mind that when the first division went away many doubted if it would be followed by another for at least a year.

"But," he added, "you have created and organized and trained here on the soil of France an American army of between two and two and a half million men. You have created the agencies for its reception, its transportation and supply. To the delight of all of us you have consistently adhered to your ideal of an American army under American officers and American leaders.h.i.+p.

"And I know that I speak for our president, when I say that, as to those who have died, the good G.o.d has given eternal rest, so may He give to us eternal peace."

At a previous date, and while hostilities were still in course, Marshal Foch had conferred upon General Pers.h.i.+ng the grand cordon of the Legion of Honor. The names of these two great commanders, reflecting supreme honor upon their respective countries, have become imperishable in the records of civilization. Their careers present unusual a.n.a.logy. They were bred to the art of war, and stand among the foremost in the roll of great soldiers who have fought for and established Peace, in many lands and many ages.

PERs.h.i.+NG'S SPLENDID RECORD

John Joseph Pers.h.i.+ng was born September 30, 1860, in Linn county, Missouri, to John F. and Ann E. (Thompson) Pers.h.i.+ng. He was given the degree of Bachelor of Arts by the Kirksville (Missouri) normal school in 1880; graduated at West Point in 1886; was made Bachelor of Laws by the University of Nebraska in 1893; married Francis H. Warren, daughter of Senator Warren of Wyoming, at Was.h.i.+ngton, January 28, 1905. (His wife and two daughters perished in the fire at the Presidio, San Francisco, August 15,1915.) He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th cavalry July 1, 1886; became a captain in the 10th cavalry October 20, 1892. Pa.s.sed through the other grades up to that of Brigadier General in 1913, after the battle of Bagsag, P.I., in June of that year. Had seen service in several Indian campaigns, in Cuba and the Phillipines, and was United States military attache with the army of General Kuroko in the war between j.a.pan and Russia. Later was officer commanding at the Presidio, going thence to the Mexican border in 1913.

Was in command of the troops that went into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916. When the United States entered the European war he was placed in command. Here was displayed in full not only his genius as a soldier, but as an organizer of the very highest skill. His home is in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

HONORS TO MARSHAL FOCH

At Senlis in France on Tuesday, November 12th, the day after the armistice was signed, General Pers.h.i.+ng conferred upon Marshal Foch the American Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation was made in the name of President Wilson, at the villa where Marshal Foch had his headquarters, and was an impressive ceremony.

A guard of honor was drawn up and trumpeters blew a fanfare as Marshal Foch, with General Pers.h.i.+ng on his right, took position a few paces in front of the guard. General Pers.h.i.+ng said:

"The Congress of the United States has created this medal to be conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service to our country. President Wilson has directed me to present to you the first of these medals in the name of the United States Government and the American army, as an expression of their admiration and their confidence. It is a token of the grat.i.tude of the American people for your great achievements. I am very happy to have been given the honor of presenting this medal to you."

In accepting the decoration, Marshal Foch said:

"I will wear this medal with pleasure and pride. In days of triumph, as well as in dark and critical hours, I will never forget the tragical day last March when General Pers.h.i.+ng put at my disposal, without restriction, all the resources of the American army. The success won in the hard fighting by the American army is the consequence of the excellent conception, command and organization of the American General Staff, and the irreducible will to win of the American troops. The name 'Meuse' may be inscribed proudly upon the American flag."

MARSHAL FOCH'S RECORD

Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, was born at Tarbes in the French Pyrenees, August 4th of 1851--a year during which all Europe was agitated by the approach of war. His earlier education, largely religious, was had at the schools of Saint Etienne, Rodez and Metz. In his twentieth year he entered the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris for a course of instruction in military science, after which he was commissioned a lieutenant in the artillery branch of the French army, rising to a captaincy in 1878.

In 1892, with the rank of major, he became an instructor in the war school, specializing in military history and theory. He returned to army service as a lieutenant colonel in 1901, and in 1907 was made a general of brigade. Shortly thereafter, at the close of a term in command of artillery in the Fifth Army Corps, he was put at the head of the war school.

When war broke out in August, 1914, General Foch was in charge of the military post at Nancy, a point commanding the way between the Vosges mountains and the Duchy of Luxemburg. When the Germans came down toward the Marne and the situation in the field became very critical, his controlling doctrine of attack was brought into brilliant play.

The part of the French line under his command being endangered, he reported to Marshal Joffre: "My right wing is suffering severe pressure.

My left is suffering from heavy a.s.saults. I am about to attack with my centre."

He did. That attack stopped the German advance, turned their forces from the road to Paris, and sent them suddenly southward.

Looking back over those days, it is seen now that this action marked the shock-point of the war. It disjointed the whole German plan, saved France, and gave France and England time to raise and equip their armies, and mobilize their industrial resources. The German high command had promised the German people to finish the war in six weeks. General Foch inaugurated their finish in less than four.

His operations since that time are well remembered. Down to the day when at President Wilson's earnest urging he was placed in supreme command of the allied armies on all fronts, March 29, 1918, he had been steadily victorious. The week before, the Germans had begun their last and most powerful "drive." The manner in which General Foch sold terrain to them for the highest price they could be made to pay in German lives is understood now, and admired. When he had teased them along and worn them down, he sharply altered his strategy and attacked with a force and continuity so terrific that it practically destroyed the German armies, and compelled Germany to beg for the armistice that ended the war. From July 18, 1918, down to November 11, he pounded and powdered the enemy without cessation.

It is a matter of which Americans may well be proud that Marshal Foch, with keen judgment and knowledge of military values, selected the first and second divisions of the United States regular army to strike the first blow in that tremendous a.s.sault. The only other troops partic.i.p.ating were those of a French colonial division, from Morocco.

GENERAL PERs.h.i.+NG'S THANKSGIVING ADDRESS

Thanksgiving Day, 1918, was celebrated in the most befitting manner at the American Army headquarters in France. After Bishop Brent's benediction, a band concert was given. General Pers.h.i.+ng then addressed his victorious army as follows:

"Fellow soldiers: Never in the history of our country have we as a people, come together with such full hearts as on this greatest of all Thanksgiving days. The moment throbs with emotion, seeking to find full expression. Representing the high ideals of our countrymen and cheris.h.i.+ng the spirit of our forefathers who first celebrated this festival of Thanksgiving, we are proud to have repaid a debt of grat.i.tude to the land of Lafayette and to have lent our aid in saving civilization from destruction.

"The unscrupulous invader has been driven from the devastated scenes of his unholy conquest. The tide of conflict which during the dark days of midsummer threatened to overwhelm the allied forces has been turned into glorious victory. As the sounds of battle die away and the beaten foe hurries from the field it is fitting that the conquering armies should pause to give thanks to the G.o.d of Battles, who has guided our cause aright.

"VICTORY OUR GOAL"

"Victory was our goal. It is a hard won gift of the soldier to his country.

"In this hour of thanksgiving our eternal grat.i.tude goes out to those heroes who loved liberty better than life, who sleep yonder, where they fell; to the maimed, whose honorable scars testify stronger than words to their splendid valor, and to the brave fellows whose strong, relentless blows finally crushed the enemy's power.

"Nor in our prayer shall we forget the widow who freely gave the husband more precious than her life, nor those who, in hidden heroism, have impoverished themselves to enrich the cause, nor our comrades who in more obscure posts here and at home have furnished their toll to the soldiers at the front.

"Great cause, indeed, have we to thank G.o.d for trials successfully met and victories won. Still more should we thank Him for the golden future, with its wealth of opportunity and its hope of a permanent, universal peace."

THE HOMECOMING OF KING ALBERT

The world rejoiced with Belgium when King Albert and the Queen returned in triumph to Brussels, November 21, 1918, just a little over four years after the bodeful day when they left it, in 1914. Belgium, the first martyr to German ferocity, had come back to its own--had justified the historic words of its King to the insolent Germans, "Belgium is a country, not a road," and stood firm, a David of the Nations, against the onslaught of the most awful and b.l.o.o.d.y hordes the world has seen since Attila, the other Hun, drove with his swarming savages over Europe, centuries ago, roaring that gra.s.s would never grow again where their horses trod.

Civilization had been justified. The "sc.r.a.p of paper" had come to life.

It was a great day, an hour of right and might, a soul-stirring climax to a most stupendous drama. The hero rode in triumph; and the villain, after ignominious flight, was hiding behind the skirts of a Dutchwoman, over the border.

No finer troops marched through Brussels on this gala day than the Yanks, who were given a conspicuous place in the celebration. A battalion of infantry from the Ninety-First American Division and a battery from the Fifty-Third Brigade, fresh from the beating they had given the Huns at Oudenark a few days before, were prominent in the lines, and shared in the plaudits a liberated people showered upon their own heroic troops. Troops that had held the last strip of Belgian soil through all those bitter years with a tenacity the Huns could never shake. These Belgian soldiers, had, of course, the place of honor.

French and British troops, with bands playing and colors flying, shared in the glorious triumph.

The King and the royal family rode at the head of two Belgian divisions--a column of veterans stretching out fifteen miles. The day was like midsummer--bright and fair. All the roads leading to the Rue Royale and the Boulevard Ans.p.a.ch were packed hours before the King's arrival. At the Port de Flandre the throngs were so dense they were impa.s.sable. The whole city was gorgeously decorated. Aircraft were overhead, dropping confetti. The balconies all along the route were draped with flags and colored banners, and filled with people who, when the King and his family rode by, showered them with flowers and little flags. At one place a company of five hundred young women sang the Brabanconne, the Belgian national song, and the American, French and British national anthems.

The royal progress ended at the Palais de la Nation, where the King dismounted and entered, to address the parliament in its first a.s.sembly after the war--an historic session. Then he reviewed the troops in the great square, and thence went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the address of the Burgomaster Max, that st.u.r.dy figure, which the Germans at the height of their tyranny had not been able to budge.

AMERICA'S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES

When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men. Of these about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front. The others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other fronts. Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men each day.

Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies of every kind from home, and a transport system surpa.s.sing that of any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has ever seen.

The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American manufacture. In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars of foreign origin. To meet demands which the existing French railways were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were constructed. Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918.

The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and 140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation.

Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the Americans.

But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in figures this phase of the work of the American army.

In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required, in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions, American engineers worked day and night. The whole region behind the American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it of a character never seen before in Europe.

To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions.

The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations, had the war continued.

One ration represents the quant.i.ty of each article each man is ent.i.tled to daily. It is interesting to note the supply of some of the princ.i.p.al ration components on hand.