Paris: July 4, 1917—The Yanks Arrive—A Roads Classic

Witnessed by Major Harvey Cushing, MD

Vive l'Amérique! An historic day to have arrived in Paris—though a bad one for my particular quest on this very account. After a real bath at the Crillon, I met the Strongs hustling about—must go immediately to Les Invalides—they have tickets—special seats—Pershing—American troops—Fourth of July—punctually at nine—great doings, and so forth. So, breakfast-less, I joined them and we rushed off in a decrepit taxi, but soon became so mixed up in the crowd we never got to our seats—merely saw between people's heads the bayonets of our boys squared up in the inner court. The corridors were jammed with poilus and others, frantically cheering while General Pershing received two banners from the descendants of men who had fought with Lafayette.  I escaped back to breakfast and was just opening an egg when they came marching across the Place de la Concorde—about a battalion, I should think, of not especially well-set-up or well-drilled troops—newly enlisted men of the 16th Infantry, I believe —marching in squads.

I left the egg and joined the excited populace, which was fairly mobbing the men, covering them with flowers—quite thrilling. In the midst of it all a daring aviator swooped into the square—down, it seemed, almost to the people's heads, certainly below the level of the obelisk-turned corners standing on one wing, then on the other—rose again, dived down and up once more—looped the loop once or twice—then climbed up and was away to the south. A most daredevil, Gallic performance. Guynemer, they said it was—an ace—many German planes to his credit—in a new Hispano-Suiza machine [SPAD] capable of 200 km. an hour.  I walked back to the Crillon wondering about my egg, when some American Ambulance people insisted that I go with them to the ceremony at the Picpus. The cemetery where Lafayette is buried is in a remote part of Paris, and we reached there some half hour before the battalion arrived. Though allowed in the churchyard, we were held up at the entrance to the small enclosure where is Lafayette's tomb, surrounded by an old crumbling wall about ten feet or so in height.

Later That Day at Picpus Cemetery

At Lafayette's Tomb

At this juncture various kinds of people—newspaper photographers, some blessés (not very blessé), and some French people of neither military age nor military sex—began to scale the wall with the aid of a ladder procured from somewhere. A Frenchwoman, well astride, beckoned to Mrs. Rhodes that there was room beside her, and up she went without a moment's hesitation. So I followed and straddled the wall. . . we had the best possible view of the ceremonies below us and hope we were not in range of the movie cameras going off like a barrage on all sides.

Many dignitaries were grouped about the tomb, "Papa" Joffre among them, and I may add that he had to be pushed forward into the front row, for, though he has been kicked upstairs by an unappreciative government, the people still adore him. Mr. Sharp spoke at length. Brand Whitlock read at still greater length many pages about civilization and humanity—very immaculate, in eye-glasses with a heavy black braid and in spats—both the speech and B.W. Then Colonel [Captain at the time] Charles E. Stanton, U.S.A., brief and to the point. Finally, le Général Pershing s'avance à la tribune "without the intention of speaking"; but he did, briefly—a fine-looking man with a square chin and proper shoulders. Then followed more in French by M. Painlevé, Minister of War, and finally the Mayor of Puy wound up with an hommage or something of the sort to Lafayette. Thereupon we climbed down, or rather fell off, into the cabbage garden on the side we had ascended, and took our way back to the Crillon, seeing the flower-bedecked battalion pass by with their escort of French cavalry.

Charles Stanton: He Actually Uttered
the Words "Lafayette—We Are Here!"

I regret I cannot speak to the good people of France in the beautiful language of their own fair country.

The fact cannot be forgotten that your nation was our friend when America was struggling for existence, when a handful of brave and patriotic people were determined to uphold the rights their Creator gave them—that France in the person of Lafayette came to our aid in words and deed.

It would be ingratitude not to remember this and America defaults no obligations...

Therefore it is with loving pride we drape the colors in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great Republic, and here and now in the shadow of the illustrious dead we pledge our hearts and our honor in carrying this war to successful issue.

LAFAYETTE — WE ARE HERE !

Captain Charles E. Stanton, GHQ, 4 July 1917, Paris

Sources: Text from the Letters of Dr. Harvey Cushing, who was a great neurosurgeon of the day.  Photos from the Lafayette University website.

The Completed A Soldier's Journey Is on Its Way Home to America

Protective Coating Applied & Final Loading

After the last finishing touches at the Pangolin Editions foundry in the UK, including the application of a protective patina by sculptor Sabin Howard, the sculpture A Soldiers Journey has been disassembled and begun its trip back to the United States for installation at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC. Packed into several shipping containers at the foundry (bottom), the sculpture, like the World War I Doughboys it portrays, will cross the Atlantic by ship. Once back "over here" the sculpture will be brought to the nation's capitol, reassembled on its waiting pedestal at the memorial site, and presented to the nation by the "First Illumination" event on 13 September 2024. When in place at the memorial, the sculpture will be the largest freestanding high-relief bronze in the Western Hemisphere.

Artist Howard Sabin at an Early Phase of the Project

Sabin Howard, the sculptor, describes his concept: 

The figures are super dynamic and they’re all emotional, telling a story about a father, a soldier, and an allegory of the United States.

You walk from left to right and the story unfolds [in five stages].

• In the departure, the soldier’s daughter hand him his helmet, while his wife touches him with a restraining arm, as if to hold him back as he answers the call to battle— representing the debate over American involvement in the war. In the initiation, the soldier joins the parade to war, as the United States joins the epic battle in Europe.

• The parade, and the work as a whole, includes all the ethnic groups who answered their country’s call.

• In the middle scene, the ordeal, the parade devolves into the tension before the charge and then the tumult of desperate and violent combat. At the center, our hero calls his comrades into battle, illustrating the famous American battle cry from Belleau Wood: “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”

• The aftermath depicts the physical and mental wounds of the fighters. Here are represented American women who served at home and on the fighting front. Here the turbulent, left-to-right narrative pauses, as the hero stops and looks directly at the viewer. The soldier’s look of shock and loss—the thousand-yard stare—along with the empty helmets piled at his feet, invite the viewer to stop and contemplate with him the costs of war.

• In the return, the soldier rejoins the homecoming parade. One figure look back with pride, while a flag bearer leads the country forward into “the American century.” Our soldier returns home and hands his helmet back to his daughter. She looks into the helmet and sees World War II, the war that will bring America back to Europe little more than 20 years later.

How the Sculpture Will Appear at the 

World War One National Memorial

(Display=580px Click to View 1200px)

Thanks to the Doughboy Foundation for making most of the above information available.  MH

The British Way of War: Julian Corbett and the Battle for a National Strategy

Click HERE to Purchase This Work

by Andrew Lambert

Yale University Press, 2021

 

Leading historian Andrew Lambert shows how, as a lawyer, civilian, and Liberal, Julian Corbett (1854–1922) brought a new level of logic, advocacy, and intellectual precision to the development of strategy. Explaining why this gifted strategist's ideas were catastrophically ignored in 1914—but later shaped Britain’s success in the Second World War and beyond is the purpose of this work. 

Historian Hew Strachan has written:  "Julian Corbett's Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, published in 1911, is the single most important contribution to strategic thought in the English language. It introduced the idea of grand strategy. . .; it described how sea power could fight a limited war in a continental conflict; in defining command of the sea, it prioritized economic pressure over 'decisive battle'; and it acknowledged that, in ward waged by developed states, their citizens played a vital role — both as political participants and as potential targets of the blockade.  Professor Lambert shares the importance Sir Julian placed on history, as a tool in the intellectual armour of militaries, and his mastery in garnering useful insight from studying Britain’s military past to create a national strategy for Britain.

Although Corbett would eventually fall from recognition, a century on, Lambert argues, Corbett’s importance as a historian and strategist is finally being recognised more and made accessible to the public.  Lambert  shares the importance Sir Julian placed on history, as a tool in the intellectual armour of militaries, and his mastery in garnering useful insight from studying Britain’s military past to create a national strategy for Britain.

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Sir Julian Corbett

Corbett skillfully integrated classical strategic theory, British history, and emerging trends in technology, geopolitics, and conflict to prepare the British state for war. He emphasized that strategy is a unique national construct, rather than a set of universal principles, and recognized the importance of domestic social reform and the evolving British Commonwealth. Corbett's concept of a maritime strategy, dominated by the control of global communications and economic war, survived the debacle of 1914–18, when Britain used the German "way of war" at unprecedented cost in lives and resources. It proved critical in the Second World War, shaping Churchill’s conduct of the conflict from the Fall of France to D-Day. And as The British Way of War shows, Corbett’s ideas continue to influence British thinking.

Sources:  Yale University, King's College Interview with the author; Hew Strachan Review, Sage Journal, Vol. 29, #4

Remembering: 108 Years Ago Today—The Battle of the Somme Begins

 

The River Somme Looking North Toward the Battlefield

Today is the 108th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.  Here is a "Roads Classic" with 30 of my favorite articles on the great struggle that I've published over the years. It's an expanded version from the 1 July 2021 presentation. Just click on the title to access the article. MH

Images from the First Day on the Somme

Ten Quotes About the Battle of the Somme

My Battle of the Somme Slide Show, Part I

My Battle of the Somme Slide Show, Part II

France and the Battle of the Somme

The German Experience at the Battle of the Somme

The View from Leipzig Salient, Thiepval Ridge, 1 July 1916

Interviewing Martin Middlebrook

The Battle of the Somme: The First Proving Ground for British Air Power?

What Happened at Gommecourt on 1 July 1916

One Pals Battalion and One Man's Story from 1 July 1916

Just Where Did Those "Soccer Balls of the Somme" Get Kicked?

Remembering a Veteran: Hero, General and Fatality of the First Day on the Somme – Bertie Prowse

Devonshire Cemetery & "Before Action"

Alan Seeger Meets His Redezvous with Death

14 July 1916—British and Indian Cavalry Attack High Wood

Machine Gun Lessons from the Somme

The First Tank Attack

The Pozières Tank Corps Memorial

Beaumont Hamel? It Was All About Y-Ravine

After the Mine Exploded, What Happened on Hawthorn Ridge, 1 July 1916?

Hard Slogging on the Somme: The Guards Division at Lesbœufs, September 1916

Kiwis at the Somme Remembered

The Canadian Corps Takes Courcelette

South Africa on the Somme:   The Battle for Delville Wood

Gueudecourt: The Royal Newfoundland Regiment's Second Battle at the Somme

Ten Almost Random Thoughts on the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme: Part I

Ten Almost Random Thoughts on the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Part II

After 142 Days the Battle of the Somme Ends

Rancourt and Its Chapel of Remembrance