*&*nr*HsmisMHuw^amimito**M-*am fwwfaajs** YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WAR WITH GERMANY A STATISTICAL SUMMARY "By LEONARD P. AYRES Colonel, General Staff CHIEF OF THE STATISTICS BRANCH OF THE GENERAL STAFF Second Edition with data revised to August 1, 1919 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 LETTER OF INSTRUCTION. War Department, Washington, Moyy 10, 1919. Sir : Now that the negotiations of the peace commission are draw ing to a close there is general desire for a stock-taking of the efforts made and the results achieved by the United States in the war. In addition to the other reports being prepared by the different divisions of the War Department there is need for a statement which shall set forth the significant facts and figures with respect to those major steps in our military preparation and action which, taken together, constitute the record of our participation in the war. These main steps are not difficult to distinguish from the innumer able details connected with them. They include such major enter prises as raising the men, training them, transporting them overseas, furnishing small arms, artillery, and airplanes, conducting battle operations, and caring for the sick and wounded. It is important that there should be available at an early date an authoritative ac count giving the important facts about these consecutive operations of the war so that the more detailed reports that are beginning to appear may be judged in their proper setting and perspective. For these reasons I wish you would have prepared as promptly as possible a brief and simple statistical report showing what was, ac complished by the department and the cooperating agencies during the war. Very truly, yours, Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. Col. Leonard P. Attses, Chief of the Statistics Branch of the General Staff. 3 LETTER OF TRANSMISSION. War Department, Washington, May SI, 1919, Sir: In accordance with your instructions there is transmitted herewith a statistical summary of the larger steps in the military preparation and action of the United States in the late war. The data presented have been compiled by the several sections of the Statistics Branch of the General Staff. In the main they set forth facts taken from the reports made by the Branch each week during the war to the President, to yourself, and to the Chief of Staff. These have been supplemented by facts and figures secured from the offices of the Statistics Branch maintained during the war at General Headquarters and at the headquarters of the Services of Supply in France. Some of the data have also been secured from the office of the Statistics Branch maintained at the headquarters of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in Paris. Other data have been taken from the reports of the Interallied Bureau of Statistics, of which the Statistics Branch has been the American agency, and from the files of the Supreme War Council at Versailles with which tha Branch has maintained close contact. While it is still impossible to secure final figures on some points or entirely reliable. ones on others, care has been taken to insure such degree of reliability in the data presented as is reasonably feasible. Since most of the data have been taken from compilations which have been currently maintained for many months, and which have been subjected to repeated checking and revision, it is believed that they are in the main fairly trustworthy. Very truly, yours, Leonard P. ArRES, Colonel, General Staff, Chief of Statistics Branch. Hon. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Letter of instruction 3 Letter of transmission 4 List of diagrams " 8 List of tables 9 List of maps 10 Figures of American participation in the war 11 Chapter I. Four million men : The men who served 13 The American Expeditionary Forces and the British Ex peditionary Forces 14 Army at home and in France 15 The selective service 17 Rejections for physical reasons 20 200,000 officers 21 The share of each State 22 Summary 22 II. Six months of training: The average man 25 The divisions . _ 25 Camps and cantonments 28 Instructors for training 4,000,000 men 29 French and British instructors 31 Length of training 32 Summary 35 III. Transporting 10,000 men a day : Sending the troops overseas 37 Growth of the transport fleet 38 Where the ships came from 39 Embarkation and debarkation 40 Help from the Allies 41 Cargo movement 44 Losses at sea 47 Return of troops 47 Summary 48 IV. Food, clothing, and equipment : The problem of purchase 49 Machinery of distribution 52 Narrow-gauge railways and motor trucks 54 47,000 telegrams a day 57 Construction in the United States 57 Construction in the A. E. F 59 Food and clothing at the front T 60 Summary 61 5 b table of contents. Chapter V. Springfields, Enflelds, and Brownings : Pag«. Rifles , 63 Machine guns 65 Rifles and machine guns used in France 68 Pistols and revolvers 69 Small-arms ammunition 69 Arms and the men 69 Preparing for the campaign of 1919 71 Summary 72 VI. Two thousand guns on the firing line ; Artillery 73 Artillery ammunition 75 British and American artillery production 77 Smokeless powder and high explosives 77 Toxic gases 78 Tractors and tanks 80 Our artillery in France 80 Guns needed v. guns available 82 Summary 83 VII. Airplanes, motors, and balloons : Prewar equipment 85 Training 85 Training planes and engines 87 Service planes 88 Service engines 90 Raw materials 91 Accessories 92 Balloons , 93 Forty-five squadrons in action 94 Important operations 96 Chateau-Thierry 96 St. Mihiel 97 Meuse-Argonne 97 The test of battle- 98 Summary 99 VIII. Two hundred days of battle : Two out of three 101 Tipping the balance of power 103 Thirteen battles 105 German offensives 106 Allied offensives 107 Battle of St. Mihiel 109 Battle of Meuse-Argonne 111 Records of 29 combat divisions 113 Summary 118 IX. Health and casualties : The deadliest war 119 Battle deaths by services 121 Wounded, prisoners, and missing 122 Battle and disease losses 123 The control of disease 125 Venereal disease 127 Hospitalization 128 Summary 129 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Chapter X. A million dollars an hour : Page. Total war expenditures 131 Army expenditures , 133 Where the dollar went 134 Permanent assets • 134 War expenditures of all nations 134 Summary 135 Some international comparisons : Duration of war 137 Cost of war 138 Battle deaths 139 Per cent of front held by each army 140 Ration strength - 141 Guns organized in batteries 142 Airplanes in each army 143 Airplanes per 100,000 men 144 Production of ordnance 145 Merchant shipping lost 146 Merchant shipping before and after the war 147 National debts 148 Comparative strength of armies 149 Index 151 DIAGRAMS, TABLES, AND MAPS. LIST OF DIAGRAMS. Page. Diagram 1. British and American forces on western front 14 2. Thousands of soldiers in Army each month 15 3. Sources of the Army i6 4. Male population registered and not registered 18 5. Thousands of men drafted each month 19 6. Sources of the commissioned personnel- 22 7. Soldiers furnished by each State 23 8. Composition of National Guard divisions 27 9. Officers commissioned from training camps, by ranks 30 10. Officers commissioned from training camps, by services 30 11. French instruction officers 31 12. British instruction officers 31 13. Time from organization of divisions to entering line 33 14. Monthly sailings to France and home 37 15. Growth of the trans-Atlantic fleet 39 16. Growth of the cross-Channel fleet 40 17. American troops carried by ships of each nation 43 18. Turnarounds of transports 44 19. Cargo shipped by months 45 20. Cargo carried by corps 46 21. Time for converting cargo ships to troop transports 47 22. American production and Army purchases 50 23. Motor trucks needed and available 55 24. Costs of construction 58 25. Stocks of food in France 60 26. Springfields and Enflelds 64 27. Machine guns made in America 67 28. Small arms available 70 29. Artillery made in America , . 75 30. Artillery ammunition made in America 76 31. British and American artillery production 77 32. Gas ,_ 2 79 33. Artillery available 82 34. Flying officers 86 35. Training planes and engines 88 36. Service planes : 89 37. Service engines 91 38. Observation balloons 93 DIAGRAMS, TABLES, AND MAPS. 9 Page. Diagram 39. Battle squadrons 95 40. Planes sent to zone of advance 96 41. Hours of flying 98 42. Airplanes and balloons brought down in action 99 43. Divisions in France 102 44. Front line held by each army 103 45. Rifle strength 104 46. Divisions in quiet and active sectors L 114 47. Kilometers advanced against the enemy 115 48. German prisoners captured 116 49. Casualties by divisions 117 50. Battle deaths each week 120 51. Death rates of officers and men 121 52. Men missing in action 123 53. Total deaths 123 54. Disease and battle deaths 124 55. Deaths by kinds of disease 126 56. Deaths fron> disease, weekly rates 127 57. Venereal diseases 128 58. Hospital beds in France 129 59. Cost of war per day 132 60. Where the dollar went 133 6L Cost of the war by nations 138 62. Battle deaths by nations 139 63. Per cent of front held by each army 140 64. Ration strengths of each nation 141 65. Artillery of each nation 142 66. Airplanes of each nation 143 67. Airplanes per each 100,000 men 144 68. Production of munitions . 145 69. Shipping lost 146 70. Merchant fleets of the nations 147 71. National debts 148 72. Comparative strengths of the armies 149 LIST OF TABLES. Page. Table 1. Men registered and inducted 17 2. Organization and sources of divisions 26 3. Clothing produced for the Army 51 4. Machine guns produced * 68 5. American machine guns used in France 68 6. American artillery in France 81 7. Thirteen American battles 105 8. Data of the Meuse-Argonne battle 113 9. Battle deaths of the nations 119 10. American battle casualties 122 11. Hospital construction 129 12. Army expenditures 133 13. War expenditures of the nations 135 14. Duration of the war 137 10 DIAGRAMS, TABLES. AND MAPS. LIST OF MAPS. Page. Map 1. Results of physical examinations, by States 20 2. Camps and cantonments 28 3. Where the ships came from 41. 4. Embarkation and debarkation 42 5. American supply lines in France 53 6. American telegraph and telephone lines in France 56 7. Construction projects in the United States 57 8. Construction projects in France 59 9. German offensives 106 10. Allied offensives 108 11. Battle of St. Mihiel 110 12. Battle of the Meuse-Argonne 112 FIGURES OF AMERICAN PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR. Total armed forces, including Army, Navy, Marine Corps, etc.- 4, 800, 000 Total men in the Army 4,000,000 Men who went overseas 2,086,000 Men who fought in France 1, 390, 000 Greatest number sent in one month 306,000 Greatest number returning in one month 333, 000 Tons of supplies shipped from America to France 7, 500, 000 Total registered in draft 24,234,021 Total draft inductions 2,810,296 Greatest number inducted in one month 400,000 Graduates of Line Officers' Training Schools 80, 568 Cost of war to April 30, 1919 $21,850,000,000 Cost of Army to, April 30, 1919 $13,930,000,000 Battles fought by American troops 13 Months of American participation in the war 19 Days of battle 200 Days of duration of Meuse-Argonne battle 47 Americans in Meuse-Argonne battle 1,200,000 American casualties in Meuse-Argonne battle 120, 000 American battle deaths in war _ 50,000 American wounded in war 206,000 American deaths from disease 57, 500 Total deaths in the Army 115, 500 11 Chapter I. FOUR MILLION MEN. THE men who served. About 4,000,000 men served in the Army of the United States dur ing the war (Apr. 6, 1917 to Nov. 11, 1918). The total number of men serving in the armed forces of the country, including the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the other services, amounted to 4,800,000. It was almost true that among each 100 American citizens 5 took up arms in defense of the country. During the Civil War 2,400,000 men served in the northern armies or in the Navy. In that struggle 10 in each 100 inhabitants of the Northern States served as soldiers or sailors. The American effort in the war with Germany may be compared with that of the Northern States in the Civil War by noting that in the present war we raised twice as many men in actual numbers, but that in proportion to the population we raised only half as many. It would be interesting and instructive to make comparisons be tween the numbers in the American armies during the present war and those of France, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany, but unfor tunately this is most difficult to do fairly and truly. The reason for the difficulty lies in the diverse military policies of the nations. It was the policy of France, for example, to mobilize and put into uniform most of the able-bodied men in the population who were not beyond middle age. Some of these were sent into the combatant forces and services of supply of the active armies. Thousands of others were put at work in munitions factories. Others worked on railroads or cultivated their farms. In genteral, it was the policy of the Government to put its available man power into uniform and then assign these soldiers to the work that had to be done, whether it was directly military in nature or not. In the United States it was the policy to take into the Army only those men who were physically fit to fight and to assign them, save in exceptional cases, only to work directly related to the ordinary duties of a soldier. The work of making munitions, running railroads, and building ships was done by men not enrolled in the armed forces of the Nation. 13 14 THE WAR WITH GERMANY The policies of the other Governments were all different from the two just described. These are the reasons why accurate international comparisons of armies will not be possible until figures are available showing the numbers and lengths of service of the men in the com batant forces of the different nations rather than the figures now at hand showing the total numbers called to the colors and placed on the rolls. . THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION ART FORCES AND THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. There is, however, one comparison which may fairly be made. This is the comparison between the American Expeditionary Forces Troops 2.500,000 2,000,000 1,600,000 1,000,000 500,000 ,*" ~~ / t f ' 1 « ¦4 < 1 / / / / m^m A 1915 1916 1918 1917 Diagram 1. — British and American Expeditionary Forces on the western front. I and the British Expeditibnary Forces. Both countries devoted theip major efforts to building up and maintaining their armies in France. The results are set forth in diagram 1, which shows the strength of the two forces at different dates. The British curve mounts rapidly at first and falls off in the latter part of the period. The American starts slowly and then shoots up very rapidly. The British curve is in general convex in shape and the American is concave. The British sent to France many more men in their first year in the war than we did in our first year. On the other hand, it took FOUR MILLION MEN. 15 England three years to reach a strength of 2,000,000 men in France and the United States accomplished it in one-half of that time. It must, however, be borne in mind that the British had to use men from the beginning to fill gaps caused by casualties, while the American forces were for many months built up in strength by all the new arrivals. see S7B S79 730 442 ZOO 290 390 500 551 £91 946 1100 JI89 1325 1462 1639 1796 1953 2112 2360 2658 3001 3433 3934 3623 3000 2624 2323 2054 1754 IJ06 936 575 APR.tW jurt JUL MS 3EPT OCT MOV DEC J/tft fCa HAH APR hAV JUH JUL AU6 SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN TO MAR APR IW JUh JUL AUC Diagram 2.— Thousands of soldiers in the American Army on the first Of each month. ARMY AT HOME AND IN FRANCE. The most difficult feature of the American undertaking is to be found in the concentration of the major part of the effort into the few months of the spring and summer of 1918. When the country entered the war it was not anticipated in America, or suggested by France and England, that the forces to be shipped overseas should even approximate in numbers those that were actually sent. 16 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. It was not until the German drive was under way in March, 1918, that the allies called upon America for the supreme effort that car ried a million and a half soldiers to France in six months. Diagram 2 shows the number of soldiers in the American Army each month from the beginning of the war and the number of them who were overseas. When war was declared there were only 200,000 in the Army. Two- thirds of these were Regulars and one-third National Guardsmen who had been called to Federal service for duty along the Mexican border. When the war ended this force had been increased to 20 times its size and 4,000,000 men had served. s» APRIL 191? TOTAL FOR WAR Diagram 3. — Sonrces of the Army. After the signing of the armistice, demobilization of troops was begun immediately. As diagram 2 indicates, more than 600,000 were discharged during December. Forces in this country were at once cut to the lowest point consistent with carrying on the storage of equipment and settlement of contracts, and the discharge of men returning from overseas. In spite of the time necessary for return of overseas forces, demobilization was carried forward more rapidly in proportion to the number under arms thanin any previous Ameri can war. Diagram 3 shows the three sources from which the Army came. More than half a million came in through the Regular Army. Almost 400,000 more, or nearly 10 per cent, entered through the National Guard. More than three-quarters of all came in through the selective service or National Army enlistments. Of every 100 FOUR MILLION MEN. 17 men 10 were National Guardsmen, 13 were Regulars, and 77 be longed to the National Army, or would have if the services had not been consolidated and the distinctions wiped out on August 7, 1918. THE SELECTIVE SERVICE. The willingness with which the American people accepted the universal draft was the most remarkable feature in the history of our preparation for war. It is a noteworthy evidence of the enthusiastic support given by the country to the war program that, despite previous hostility to the principle of universal liability for military service, a few months after the selective service law was passed, the standing of the drafted soldier was fully as honorable in the estimation of his companions and of the country in general as was that of the man who enlisted voluntarily. Moreover, the record of desertions from the Army shows that the total was smaller than in previous wars and a smaller percentage occurred among drafted men than among those who volunteered. The selective service law was passed on May 19, 1917, and as subsequently amended it mobilized all the man power of the Nation from the ages of 18 to 45, inclusive. Under this act, 24,234,021 men were registered and slightly more than 2,800,000 were inducted into the military service. All this was accomplished in a manner that was fair to the men, supplied the Army with soldiers as rapidly as they could be equipped and trained, and resulted in a minimum of disturbance to the industrial and economic life of the Nation. The first registration, June 5, 1917, covered the ages from 21 to 31. The second registration, one year later (June 5, 1918 and Aug. 24, 1918), included those who had become 21 years old since the first reg istration. The third registration (Sept. 12, 1918), extended the age limits downward to 18 and upward to 45. The total number regis tered with the proportion who were actually inducted into the service is shown in Table 1. Table 1. — Men registered and inducted. Registration. Age limits. Registered. Inducted. Per cent inducted. 21 to 31 / 18to20 \ 32 to 45 18 to 45 10,679,814 | 13,228,762 325, 445 2,666,867 120,157 23,272 25 1 7 Total 18 to 45 24,234,021 2,810,296 12 132966° 18 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. At the outbreak of the war, the total male population of the coun try was about 54,000,000. During the war some 26,000,000 of them, or nearly half of all, were either registered under the selective-service act or were serving in the Army or Navy without being registered. Diagram 4 shows the percentages of the male population who were included in each of the registrations and the proportion who were not registered. The experience of the Civil War furnishes a basis for comparing the methods used and the results obtained in the two great struggles. This comparison is strikingly in favor of the methods used in the present war. During the Civil War large sums were paid in bounties Coo°'o0° Diagram 4. — Male population registered and not registered. in the hope that by this means recourse to the draft might be made unnecessary. This hope was frustrated and the draft was carried through by methods which were expensive and inefficient. This may be summed up by noting that during the War with Germany we raised twice as many men as^we raised during the Civil War, and at one-twentieth of the cost. This does not mean one-twentieth of the cost per man, but that 20 times as much money was actually spent by the Northern States in the Civil War in recruiting their armies as was spent for the same purpose by the United States in the War with Germany. In this war 60 per cent of all armed forces were secured FOUR MILLION MEN. 19 by the draft as compared with 2 per cent in the case of the Civil War. Diagram 5 shows the number of men inducted through the draft each month. The columns and the figures of the diagram illustrate the manner in which the men came into the service. In the fall of 1917 the first half million came in rapidly. During the winter the accessions were relatively few, and those that did come in were largely used as 401 373 297 302 283 263 249 174 164 36 ¦ MM 64 132 Sep Oat Hot Dee Jmn Feb Mar Apr 1917 Jun Jul tog Sep Pot Hot 1918 Diagram 5. — Thousands of men drafted each month. replacements and for special services. In the spring of 1918 came the German drive and with it urgent calls from France for unlimited numbers of men. Then over a period of several months the num bers of new men brought into the service mounted into the hundreds of thousands, and reached their highest point in July, when 400,000 were inducted. During the succeeding months the numbers fell off considerably on account of the epidemic of influenza, and with November the inductions ceased entirely due to the unexpected ending of the war. 20 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. REJECTIONS FOR PHYSICAL REASONS. Under the operation of the draft, registrants were given physical examinations by the local boards in order that those men who were not of sufficient physical soundness and vigor for military life might be sorted out. After those who were found to be qualified for serv ice had been sent to camp, they were given another examination by the Army surgeons, and additional men were rejected because of defects which had not been discovered in the first examination. An attempt has been made to compute from the records of these two sets of physical examinations data which will show how the men from the different States compared in their physical qualifica- 70 TO 80 WMM 65 TO 69 r777l 60 70 64 ¦¦ 50 TO 59 Map 1. — Per cent of drafted men passing physical examination, hy States. tions. Results are presented in map 1 on this page which shows four classifications of the States. First come those States which are indicated in outline. These are the States which sent men of so high an order of physical condition that from 70 to 80 per cent of them survived the two examinations and were accepted into the military service. It is noteworthy that these States constitute about one-quarter of all and are mostly located in the Middle West. Next come the States from which 65 to 69 per cent of the applicants were accepted, and these are indicated by light cross hatching. This group is about equal in numbers with the first, and most of them are contiguous to the first group either FOUR 'MILLION MEN. 21 on the east or west. The third group makes still poorer records. Here from 60 to 64 per cent of the young men passed the tests. The States are indicated by heavy diagonal bars. Most of them were in the South and far West. Finally, there is a group of States, includ ing, like each of the other groups, about one-quarter of all, and indi cated on the map in solid black. Here are the States from which 50 to 59 per cent of the candidates were accepted. They are found in the Northeast and the far West, especially in those portions of the West which have in recent years become popular as health resorts and so have attracted large numbers of physically subnormal people. In general, it is noteworthy that the best records are made by those States that are agricultural rather than industrial and where -the numbers of recently arrived immigrants are not large. Conversely, most of the States making low records are preeminently manufac turing States and also have in their populations large numbers of recently arrived immigrants. Further analysis of the records of physical examinations shows that the country boys made better records than those from the cities ; the white registrants better than the colored ; and native-born better records than those of alien birth. These differences are so consider able that 100,000 country boys would furnish for the military service 4,790 more soldiers than should an equal number of city boys. Simi larly, 100,000 whites would furnish 1,240 more soldiers than would an equal number of colored. Finally, 100,000 native-born would yield 3,500 more soldiers than would a like number of foreign-born. The importance of these differences may be appreciated by noting that 3,500 men is equivalent to an infantry regiment at full war strength. 200,000 OFFICERS. About 200,000 commissioned officers were required for the Army. Of this number, less than 9,000 were in the Federal service at the beginning of the war. Of these, 5,791 were Regulars and 3,199 were officers of the National Guard in the Federal service. Diagram 6 shows with approximate accuracy the sources of the commissioned strength of the Army. The figures show that of every six officers one had had previous military training in the Regular Army, the National Guard, or the ranks. Three received the training for their commissions in the officers' training camps. The other two went from civilian life into the Army with little or no military training. In this last group the majority were physicians, a few of them were ministers, and most of the rest were men of special business or technical equipment, who were taken into the supply services or staff corps. 22 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. THE SHARE OF EACH STATE. A summary of the results attained is shown in diagram 7 on page 23, which gives the number of soldiers (not including officers) fur nished by each State. The bars are proportionate in length to the total number of men furnished, whether by volunteering in the Regu lar Army, coming in through the National Guard, or being inducted through the draft. SUMMARY. 1. The number of men serving in the armed forces of the Nation during the war was 4,800,000, of whom 4,000,000 served in the Army. 2. In the War with Germany the United States raised twice as many men as did the Northern States in the Civil War, but only half as many in proportion to the population. 3. The British sent more men to France in their first year of war than we did in our first year, but it took England three years to Diagram 6.— Sources of the commissioned personnel. reach a strength of 2,000,000 men in France, and the United States accomplished it in one-half of that time. 4. Of every 100 men who served, 10 were National Guardsmen, 13 were Regulars, and 77 were in the National Army (or would have been if the services had not been consolidated). 5. Of the 54,000,000 males in the population, 26,000,000 were registered in the draft or were already in service. 6. In the physical examinations the States of the Middle West made the best showing. Country boys did better than city boys; whites better than colored ; and native born better than foreign born. 7. In this war twice as many men were recruited as in the Civil War and at one-twentieth of the recruiting cost. 8. There were 200,000 Army officers. Of every six officers, one had previous military training with troops, three were graduates of officers' training camps, and two came directly from civil life. FOUR MILLION MEN. 23 Haw York Pennsylvania Illinois Ohio Texas Michigan Massachusetts Missouri California Indiana Hew Jersey Minnesota Iowa Wisconsin Georgia OklahomaTennessee Kentucky-AlabamaVirginiaH. Carolina Louisiana Kansas Arkansas W. Virginia MississippiS. Carolina ConnecticutNebraska Maryland Washington MontanaColorado FloridaOregon 3. Dakota Ii. Dakota Maine Idaho UtahRhode Island Porto Rico Dist. of Col. H. Hampshire Hew Mexico <• Wyoming ArizonaVermontDelawareHawaii Uevada Alaska A.E.F.Hot allocated Philippines Total Kien 367,864 297,891 251,074 I 200,293 " 161,065135,485 132,610 128,544112,514106,581 105,207 99,11698,78198,211 85,506 80,169 75,62575,04374,67873,06273,003 65,98863,42861,027 55,77754,29553,482 50,069 47,80547,054 45,154 36,29334,39333,33130,11629,68625,803 24,252 19,01617; 361 16,86116,538 15,93014,374 12,439 "11,393 10,492 9.338 3,757,624 Per oent 19.79 U4.29 I 5.33 6.68 i 7.93 Diagram 7. — Soldiers furnished »y each State. Chapter II. SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. THE AVERAGE MAN. The average American soldier who went tp France received six months of training in this country before he sailed. After he landed overseas he had two months of training before entering the battle line. The part of the battle line that he entered was in a quiet sector and here he remained one month before going into an active sector and taking part in hard fighting. The experiences of thousands of soldiers differ widely from the typical figures just presented, but a careful study of the training data of nearly 1,400,000 men who actually fought in France gives the average results" shown above. In summary they are that the average Ameiican soldier who fought in France had six months of training here, two months overseas before entering the line, and one month in a quiet sector before going into battle. THE DIVISIONS. The Infantry soldier was trained in the division, which was our typical combat unit. In the American Army it was composed of about 1,000 officers and 27,000 men. Training and sorting organiza tions of about 10,000 men, known as depot brigades, were also utilized, but as far as possible the new recruits were put almost im mediately into the divisions which were the organizations in which they would go into action. Before the signing of the armistice there were trained and sent overseas 42 American divisions. The training of 12 more was well advanced, and there were 4 others that were being organized. The plans on which the Army was acting called for 80 divisions overseas before July, 1919, and 100 divisions by the end of that year. Table 2 lists the divisions that were organized and trained before the signing of the armistice. The different columns show the num ber by which each division was designated, the camp where it was trained, and the States from which its members came at the time of organization. In many cases the original composition was after wards greatly changed by bringing in replacements to make up for losses. 25 26 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. Table 2. — Place of organization of divisions and sources by States. Division. Camp. States from which drawn. Regulars: 1st Regulars. Regulars. Regulars.Regulars.Regulars.Regulars.Regulars. 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th McClellan, Ala 7th MacArthnr, Tex 8th i.. 9th 10th 11th Regulars. 12th 13th Lewis, Wash 14th 15th .. Regulars. 16th . 17th 18th 19th 20th Regulars. National Guard: 26 th 27th Wadsworth, S. C New York. 2R<;ri 30th Sevier, S. C Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina. 31st. Georgia, Alabama, Florida. 32nd MacArthur, Tex Michigan, Wisconsin. 33rd Illinois. 34th .. Cody,N. Mex Nebraska, Iowa, S. Dakota, Minnesota, N. Dakota. 35th Missouri, Kansas. 36th Texas, Oklahoma. • 37th Ohio. 38th Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia. 39th Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana. California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico. 40th :. Kearny, Calif Fremont, Calif Mills, N. Y 41st Various States. National Army: 76th Dovens, Mass Upton, N. Y Dix,N. J New England, New York. 77th New York City. Western New York, New Jersey, Delaware. 78th 79th Northeastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Co lumbia. 81st... North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Porto liico. 82nd Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee. 83rd 84 th • Zaehary Taylor, Ky . . . . Kentucky, Indiana, Southern Illinois. 85th 86th Grant, 111 87th Pike, Ark 8Sth 89th 90th 91st 92nd Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Utab. 93rd Stuart, Va The divisions are in three groups. The Regular Army divisions, numbered from 1 to 20, were originally made up from Regular Army units plus voluntary enlistments and selective-service men. The National Guard divisions, numbered from 26 to 42, came in largely from the militia of the several States. The National Army divisions, numbered from 76 to 92, were made up almost wholly of men called in by the selective-service law. As an aid to memory it may be helpful to note that the Regular Army divisions were SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. 27 numbered below 25, the National Guard divisions from 25 to 50, and the National Army divisions between 50 and 100. All the divisions shown in the table reached France except the 12 Regular Army divisions numbered from 9 to 20. The divisions being organized at the time of the signing of the armistice were num bered 95, 96, 97, and 100. MECA- 32"* .jo** AVERAGE Diagram 8. — Composition of National Guard divisions. The sources of the National Guard divisions are shown in diagram 8. The black portion of each circle shows the part of each division drawn from the National Guard; the shaded portion represents troops drawn from the National Army and other sources; and the unfilled gap in each circle represents the number of troops that the division was short of its authorized strength when it sailed. 28 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. Reference to the lower right-hand circle in the diagram shows that the average composition of these National Guard divisions was one made up of about two-thirds State troops and one-third other troops. This illustrates the noteworthy fact that one tendency of the methods of divisional organization was to produce composite divisions made up of men from most varied sources. The Forty-second Division, called because of its composite char acter the " Rainbow Division," was made up of selected groups from over the entire country and sent to France early. The Forty-first, called the " Sunset Division," was a composite of troops from many Map 2 — Camps and cantonments. Western States. Four divisions were made up from one State each : the Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-third, and Thirty- seventh. CAMPS AND CANTONMENTS. To carry forward the training program, shelter was constructed in a few months for 1,800,000 men. For the National Guard and National Army divisions, 16 camps and 16 cantonments were built. National Guard units being organized rapidly during the summer of 1917 were put under canvas in camps throughout the South. The cantonments were largely in the North for the National Army called in the fall of 1917. The location of these 32 training areas is shown in map 2 on this page. SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. ' 29 One National Guard division, the Rainbow, required no training field, for it was assembled directly at Camp Mills for early trans portation to France. Two National Army divisions, the Ninety- second (colored) and the Ninety- third (colored), were trained in separate units at various camps. The headquarters of the Ninety- second were at Camp Funston and those of the Ninety-third at Camp Stuart. The remaining 16 National Guard and 16 National Army divisions began their training in the camps and cantonments in the summer and fall of 1917. The building of the cantonments was authorized in May, 1917 ; the last site was secured on July 6, and on September 4 accommodations were ready for 430,000 men. This capacity was shortly increased to 770,000, an average capacity per cantonment of 48,000. Construction of the camps went forward at the same rapid pace. Although tents were provided for housing the soldiers, a considerable number of wooden buildings were necessary, as well as water supply, sewerage, electric light, and roadway construction. The capacity of the camps reached 684,000, giving a total camp and cantonment capacity of nearly a million and a half. The Regular Army divisions were trained in part at one or another of these 32 centers, in part as separate units at various Army posts. Troops had to be accommodated at many other points besides the 32 camps and cantonments. There were schools for training men for special services, such as the Artillery, Aviation, Engineer Corps, Chemical Warfare, Tank Corps, Quartermaster Corps. There were proving grounds and testing fields. There were also large embarka tion camps at New York and Newport News. For these purposes housing was constructed with a capacity for more than 300,000- men. INSTRUCTORS FOR TRAINING 4,000,000 MEN. In the American Army there is one' officer for each 20 men. This means that 200,000 officers were required for the army of 4,000,000 men. But when war was declared there were only 6,000 officers in the Regular Army. The National Guard divisions were fortunately able to furnish most of their own officers. After this source of sup ply had been exhausted, however, it was still necessary to secure some 180,000 officers elsewhere. The officers' training camp was the instrumentality that really solved the problem of securing the commissioned personnel of the American Army. The successful precedents of the Plattsburg camps were followed. Candidates for the camps were selected after rigid tests as to physical and mental qualifications, many Reserve Corps officers being included. Three months of intensive training put the prospective officers through all the tasks required of the enlisted man 30 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. and the duties of the platoon and company commander. This type of training camp furnished the Army with nearly half its total number of officers and more than two-thirds of those for line service. Diagrams 9 and 10 show some details about the graduates of these training camps. Diagram 9 shows the ranks of the commissions granted. By far the largest number of graduates were given the grade of second lieu- Bomber Bank commissioned Per cent Colonels Lieutenant Colonels Majors CaptainsFirst Lieutenants 12,397 Mgt?l 15.4 Second Lieutenants 62.445 QB ¦ 77.5 Total Diagram 9. — Officers commissioned from training- camps, by ranks. tenant, but exceptional ability, coupled with previous military train ing, was singled out in the first series of camps for more advanced commissions. Diagram 10 shows the numbers of officers commissioned in each branch of the service. Infantry and Artillery absorbed seven-eighths of the graduates with the Infantry taking more than twice as many as the Artillery. The total of 80,568 is not the grand total of gradu- Branch ITumber of Service commissioned ?*r 09n* Infantry 48,960 «EggM^Baii_ll .wMa^ 60.7 Field Artillery 20,291 HBMUBBnEH 25 . 2 Quartermaster 3,067 Hi 3.8 •Coast Artillery 2,063 ¦ 2.6 Cavalry. 2,032 ¦ 2.5 Engineer 1,966 ¦ 2.4 Signal 1,262 I 1.6 Ordnance 767 1 1.0 Statistical 152 I .2 Total 80,568 Diagram 10. — Officers commissioned from training camps, by services. ates of officers' training schools but only of schools training officers for line duty. After the close of the second series of schools in November, 1917, it was found desirable for various staff corps and departments to conduct separate specialized schools for training their officers and many commissions were granted in these staff schools in addition to those shown in the diagram. The Quartermaster, Engi neer, Signal, Ordnance, and Statistical officers shown in diagram 10 were all graduated from the first two series of schools. SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. 31 FRENCH AND BRITISH INSTRUCTORS. Shortly after the first of the new camps were established France and England sent to the United States some of their ablest officers who had seen service on the western front to bring to our training approved methods developed in the war. These instructors were not Sumber of Subject of instruction instructors Per oent Artillery 71 — BflBB— i —II 24.9 LiaisonMinor tactics Portlfioations Automatic rifles Hand grenades Field and staff officers' course Miscellaneous Total _ 286 Diagram 11. — French instrnction officers. numerous but the aid they rendered was of the first importance. Diagrams 11 and 12 show how the subjects of instruction were divided among them. Diagram 11 gives the information for the French officers, who were 286 in number. Their major specialties were Artillery and staff work. Corresponding details for the English officers are shown Bomber of Subject of Instruction instructors Per oent Physical training and bayonet ~ " Machine gon Sniping 38 on 36 HBi ¦as 14.6 Willi lii 118 13.6 Trench mortar 34 9B KB— 'nl 13.0 Company commanders1 course 21 ¦ ¦91 6.0 Miscellaneous 14 ¦ ¦ 5.4 Artillery 1 | .4 Total 261 Diagram 12. — British instrnction officers. in diagram 12. These military specialists were 261 in number and much of their effort was devoted to instruction in gas and physical training. In addition to the officers shown, the British also detailed 226 non commissioned officers as instructors, who were assigned to different subjects in about the same ratio as the officers. These groups of foreign instructors attached to training schools, divisions, and other units, rendered service out of all proportion to their number. They were a significant contribution to our training program. 32 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. I/ENGTH OF TRAINING. Of the 42 American divisions which reached France, 36 were organ ized in the summer and early autumn of 1917. The other 6 were or ganized as divisions by January, 1918, but had been in training as separate units months before that time. Although the average American soldier who fought in France had been under training only six months before sailing, the figure for the training of the divisions is greater than that. The main reason for the difference is that gaps in the divisions were filled by men who had received much less training than the original troops of the organiza tion. The average division had been organized eight months before sail ing for France and its period of training was further lengthened by a two months interim between the time the division-landed in France and the time it entered the line. Diagram 13 shows these periods for each of the 42 divisions. Each division is represented by a horizontal bar. The hollow part shows the period from organization to arrival of headquarters in France; the lightly hatched part, the time in France before entering line; the heavily hatched part, the time be tween entering the line for the first time and engaging in combat in an active sector; and the solid portion the length of service as an active battle organization. The First and Second Divisions left this country as separate units and were organized in France. The troops of which they were com posed were mostly thoroughly trained men of the Regular Army. The Second Division also included two regiments of Marines. The next three, while their stay in this country as organized divisions was short, were composed of selected units of the National Guard, most of which had seen service on the Mexican border and could be counted as well-trained bodies of troops. All the other divisions. show extended periods of training in this country. The Regular Army divisions show the shortest periods, but were made up of the most experienced soldiers. It is noticeable that all but two of the National Guard and Na tional Army divisions were organized in August and September, 1917. The two exceptions to the rule were the Twenty-ninth, whose records show that it started the process of reorganization a few days ahead of schedule, and the Ninety-second (colored) Division which for a number of months trained in separte units at a number of different camps. The conclusion to be drawn from the diagram would seem to be that the average American division entered battle only after 10 or SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. 33 Divi-r 26th42nd 41st 32nd 3rd 77 th 5th 27 th 35th82nd 4th 28th 30 th 33rd80 th 78th 83rd92nd 89th90th37th29th91st 76th79th 6th 36th65th 7th ei»t 88th 40th39th87th86th84th 34th 38th31st 8th I I Organization to arrival in France W77\ Arrival in France to entering line BUI Entering line to active battle service H| Service as active combat division Diagram 13 — Time from organization or divisions to entering line. 132966.°— 19 3 34 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 11 months of thorough training. This is true of the skeletons of divisions, but it is not true of all the men who made up their strength. There are two reason for this. In the first place, some weeks or even months usually elapsed from the time a division was organized to the time when it reached full strength. In the second place, troops were frequently taken from one division to bring up to strength another which was sailing, or to be sent overseas to replace losses. The train ing of individual enlisted men was therefore less than for the divi sions as organizations. The length of training of the men can be got at in another way. By September, 1917, we had 500,000 men in this country training for overseas duty. We did not have 500,000 men in France until May, 1918, or eight months later. It is probable that the millionth man who went overseas began training in December, 1917. He did not reach France until July, 1918, after seven months of training. Evidence of this character goes to show that for our first million men the standard of seven months' training was consistently maintained as an average figure. In June with the German drives in full swing, the Allies called on us to continue the extraordinary transportation of troops begun in April. The early movement had been met by filling up the divisions that sailed with the best trained men wherever they could be found. Divisions embarked after July 1 had to meet shortages with men called to the colors in the spring. By November the average period of training in the United States had been shortened to close to four months, and the average for the period July 1 to November 11 was probably five months. Seven months may then be taken as the average training figure for the first million men, five months for the second million, an average of six months before reaching France. After reaching France an average of two months' training before go.ing into front-line trenches was maintained, although the experience of divisions used as replace ments in the last months was under this figure. There were of course many cases in which the training was under these averages. To make these cases as few as possible a number of safeguards were set up. In this country a careful system of reporting on training was arranged so that only the better trained divisions might be sent forward. At the replacement centers in France the men who had slipped through without sufficient training were singled out and put through a 10 days' course in handling the rifle. In the last months of the war, the induction of men was carried forward at top speed and every device was used for hastening train ing. The result fully justified the effort. Into the great Meuse- Argonne offensive we were able to throw a force of 1,200,000 men SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING. 35 while we had many thousands of troops engaged in other parts of the line. Our training-camp officers stood up to the test; our men, with their intensive drilling in open-order fighting, which has charac terized American training, routed the best of the German divisions from the Argonne Forest and the valley of the Meuse. SUMMARY. 1. The average American soldier who fought in France had six months of training here, two months overseas before entering the line, and one month in a quiet sector before going into battle. 2. Most soldiers received their training in infantry divisions which are our typical combat units and consist of about 1,000 officers and 27,000 men. 3. Forty-two divisions were sent to France. 4. More than two-thirds of our line officers were graduates of the officers' training camps. 5. France and England sent to the United States nearly 800 spe cially skilled officers and noncommissioned officers who rendered most important aid as instructors in our training camps. Chapter III. TRANSPORTING 10,000 ,MEN A DAY. SENDING THE TROOPS OVERSEAS. During the 19 months of our participation in the war more than 2,000,000 American soldiers were carried to France. Half a million of them went over in the first 13 months and a million and a half in the last 6 months. Within a few weeks of our entrance into the war we began, at the earnest request of our co-belligerents, to ship lo France rrTl S in CO in o * § ¦l|l|lVllIIIIS^^?Erfe^"«H^»*»'"'''i 2644 liar. 1 1 BBgSM^HHBI^ffi^liisMHBBBMI 2591 , Apr. 1 1 1 'Hii 1 ' BBMMHWBEiBMHBai 2126 May 1 1 ¦¦KSSfiSSpSBiSBB 1839 Troop Cargo Diagram 15.- — The trans-Atlantic fleet in thousands of deadweight tons. and steel vessels built by the Emergency Fleet Corporation at the yards of the Great Lakes and along the coast. WHERE THE SHIPS CAME FROM. In building up our trans- Atlantic and Channel fleets every possible source of tonnage had to be called on for every ship that could be se cured. The first great increment was the seized German vessels, which 40 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. came into service during the fall of 1917. The taking over of Dutch steamers in the spring of 1918 and the chartering of Scandinavian and Japanese tonnage accounted for great increases in the cargo fleet. Map 3, on page 41, shows the amounts of tonnage that were secured for our Army fleet from the different countries of the world. The most ample credit must be given to the Emergency Fleet Cor poration, which turned over nearly a million tons of new ships, and to the Shipping Control Committee, which stripped bare of all suit able vessels our import and export trades and turned over for Army 130 American " Swedish llorwegian Diagram 16. — The cross-Channel fleet, in thousands of deadweight tons. use nearly a million and a half tons of ships. The Army vessels also came from 12 other nations well scattered over the globe and shown in the figures of the map already referred to. EMBARKATION AND DEBARKATION. Most of the troops who sailed for France left from New York. Half of them landed in England and the other half landed in France. Most of those who landed in England went directly to Liverpool and most of those who landed in France went to Brest. While these statements are valid generalizations, they fall short in showing what happened in detail. The principal facts of the east ward troop movement are shown in map 4, on page 42. TRANSPORTING 10,000 MEN A DAY. 41 Troops left America from 10 ports, as shown in the little table in the left of the map. In this table the several ports of Hoboken, New York, and Brooklyn have all been included in one, and the same thing is true of the different ports at Hampton Roads, which have been shown under the heading of Newport News. While 10 American ports were used, including 4 in Canada, more than three-quarters of all the men went from New York. The ports of arrival are given in the tables on the right of the map, which show that the ports of debarkation in Europe were even more nu merous than those of embarkation in America. HELP FROM THE ALLIES. Credit for the troop movement must be shared with the Allies, and with the British in particular, since approximately half of the Map 3. — Deadweight tons of American Army shipping secured from different . countries. troops were carried in their ships. This is shown by the figures of diagram 17. Among every hundred men who went over, 49 went in British ships, 45 in American ships, 3 in those of Italy, 2 in French, and 1 in Russian shipping under English control. Part of the explanation for the large numbers of troops carried in American ships is to be found from the fact that under the pressure of the critical situation on the western front, ways were found to increase the loading of our own transports by as much as 50 per cent. In addition, our trans ports exceeded those of the Allies in the speed of their turnarounds. The facts as to the average number of days taken by the ships to ~-*- — — *._ GLAS&OW 45000 ANCHESTER 4000 VERPOOL 844000 //BRISTOL PORTS 11000 '//FALMOUTH 1000 '//PLYMOUTH WOO //SOUTHAMPTON 57000 /LONDON 6 a OOP / lo^sooo 1 >Le,h'avr^ : ' i3'ob,o:, ~ -BR£ST :¦. 7>91 000 \"STNA2A.IRE 138 OOO •4.A ?}\VACt ^OOO •--BOROEA'J'X SOOOO W 3 3 o tsl 12! Map 4.— Troops sailing from American ports and landing In France and England. TRANSPORTING 10,000 MEN A DAY. 43 to go to Europe, aischarge their cargo and troops, come back, take on another load, and start for France once more, are shown in Diagram 18. The cycle of operations is termed "a turnaround," and it is not complete until the vessel has taken its load over, discharged it, returned, reloaded, and actually started on another trip. When our ships began operations in the spring - of 1917 the average turn around for the troop ships was 52 days, and that for the cargo ships 66 days. These performances were improved during the summer months, but became very much longer during the excep tionally cold winter of 1917. During the spring, summer, and fall of 1918 the performances of both cargo and troop ships became BnsBian (British control) - 20,000 .. 1% French - 47,000 - 8jJ-\ \ Italian - 65,000 - 3$ -^ \ \ Total - 2,086,000 Diagram 17. — American troops carried "by ships of each nation. standardized at about 70 days for cargo ships and 35 days for troop ships. In noting these facts, as presented in the figures of the diagram, it is to be borne in mind that the figures refer to the lengths of the turnarounds of all the ships sailing from American ports in one month. Thus the high figure of 109 days for the cargo ships means that 109 days was the average time required for all the cargo ships leaving American ports in November to complete their turnarounds and start on their next trips. These vessels made their trips in the exceptionally cold months of December, January, and February. *¦ 44 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. The fastest ships have averaged under 30 days. During the spring and summer of 1918 the Leviathan, the former Vaterland, has aver aged less than 27 days, as has the Mount Vernon, the former Kronprinsessen Cecelie. These turnarounds, made under the em barrassment' of convoy, are much quicker than anything attained in commercial operation. During the summer the Leviathan has transported troops at the rate of over 400 a day, and so has landed 1918 1919 Diagram 18. — Average turnarounds of troop and cargo transports in days. the equivalent of a German division in France each month. Two American ships, the Great Northern and Northern Pacific, have averaged 25 and 26 clays, respectively, and have each made turn arounds in 19 days. CARGO MOVEMENT. The first shipment of cargo to support the forces abroad was made in June, 1917, and amounted to 16,000 tons. After the first two TRANSPORTING 10,000 MEN A DAY. 45 months the shipments grew rapidly and steadily until they were in excess of 800,000 tons in the last month of the war. These facts are shown in diagram 19. The shipment of cargo differs from that of troops in that it was done almost entirely by American ships. Less than 5 per cent of the cargo carried was transported in allied bottoms. The great bulk of the cargo was carried in the cargo ships shown in diagram 15 on page 39. Relatively small amounts were carried in the troop ships. 629 760 681 672 Figures in Thousands of Short Tons 450 587 363 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Not Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Hot Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr - 1917 1918 1919 Diagram 19. — Tons of Army cargo shipped to France -each month. After the signing of the armistice every ship was withdrawn from the service as soon as it could be spared and put back into trades or the carrying of food for relief work in Europe. By April the total cargo fleet was only a third as large as it had been five months before. The cargo carried for the American Army consisted of thousands of different articles of the most varied sort. Something of this variety is revealed by diagram 20, which shows the number of short tons carried for each of the Army supply services and for the special 46 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. agencies. Nearly one-half of all consisted of quartermaster material, largely composed of food and clothing. The next largest elements were engineering and ordnance supplies. All together, from our en trance into the war through April, 1919, the Army shipped from this side of the Atlantic nearly seven and a half million tons of cargo. Included in the cargo shipment were 1,791 consolidation loco motives of the 100-ton type. Of these, 650 were shipped set up on their own wheels, so that they could be unloaded on the tracks in France and run off in a few hours under their own steam. Ship ment of set-up locomotives of this size had never been made before. Special ships with large hatches were withdrawn from the Cuban ore trade for the purpose and the hatches of other ships were spe- Short tons Quartermaster 3,606,000 Engineer 1,606,000 Ordnanoe 1,189,000 Pood relief 285,000 Motor Transport 214,000 French material 208,000 Signal Corps 121,000 | 1.62 Medical 111,000 9 1.43 Aviation 61,000 | .82 Bed Cross 60,000 | .81 Y.M.O.A. 45,000 | .60 Miscellaneous 35,000 . | ,47 Chemical Warfare 11,000 | .is Total 7,452,000 Diagram 20 — Tons of cargo shipped for each Army snpply service to April 30, 1919. cially lengthened, so that when the armistice was signed the Army was prepared to ship these set-up locomotives at the rate of 200 a month. The Army also shipped 26,994 standard-gauge freight cars, and at the termination of hostilities was preparing to ship flat cars set up and ready to run. Motor trucks to the number of 47,018 went forward, and when fighting ceased were being shipped at the rate of 10,000 a month. Rails and fittings for the reinforcing of French railways and for the construction of our own lines of communica tions aggregated 423,000 tons. In addition to the tons of cargo men tioned above the Army shipped 68,694 horses and mules, and at the cessation of hostilities was shipping them at the rate of 20,000 a month. The increase in the shipment of cargo from the United States was consistently maintained from the start of the war, and ai; its cessation was undergoing marked acceleration. TRANSPORTING 10,000 MEN A DAY. "47 Aside from the cargo shipped across the Atlantic, Gen. Pershing imported large amounts from European sources, the chief item being coal from England. In October he brought into France by means of his cross-Channel fleet a total of 275,000 tons of coal and other commodities. LOSSES AT SEA. During the whole period of active hostilities the Army lost at sea only 200,000 deadweight tons of transports. Of this total 142,000 tons were sunk by torpedoes. No American troop transport was 55 53 43 37 35 Bee 1918 Jan Feb Mar Apr 1919 Diagram 21.— Average days required to convert cargo ships to troop transports. lost on its eastward voyage. For this splendid record the Navy, which armed, manned, and convoyed the troop transports, deserves the highest commendation. RETURN OF TROOPS. In diagram 14, on page 37, figures are presented showing the num ber of troops brought back to the United States from France each month since the signing of the armistice. The figures mount even more rapidly and reach higher totals than those of the eastward journeys. As soon as the armistice was signed preparations were made for returning the troops to the United States in the shortest possible time. This was rendered difficult by the fact that for the eastward move- 48 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. ment we had relied largely on the British, who carried approximately half of all the troops. After the signing of the armistice the British needed these ships for the return of their own colonial troops, to Canada, Australia, and South Africa. This situation was met by the Army Transport Service, which immediately began the conversion of our large cargo ships into troop- carrying vessels. Diagram 21 shows the number of days that were required to convert cargo ships into troop-carrying transports. The upright columns of the diagram are proportional to the number of days required. The ships upon which work was begun in December were not ready for the first trips as troop carriers until 55 days later. During the following months the work went forward more and more rapidly, as is shown by the shortening lengths of the columns in the diagram. By April the time required for converting cargo ships to troop carriers had been almost cut in two and was approximately one month. By means of these converted cargo ships, by the assignment of German liners, and also by the great aid rendered by the Navy, which put at the Army's disposal cruisers and battleships, the Army is being brought back home even more rapidly than it was taken to France. SUMMARY. 1. During our 19 months of war more than 2,000,000 American soldiers were carried to France. Half a million of these went over in the first 13 months and a million and a half in the last 6 months. 2. The highest troop-carrying records are those of July, 1918, when 306,000 soldiers were carried to Europe, and June, 1919, when 364,000 were brought home to America. 3. Most of the troops who sailed for France left from New York. Half of them landed in England and the other half landed in France. 4. Among every 100 Americans who went over 49 went in British ships, 45 in American ships, 3 in Italian, 2 in French, and 1 in Russian shipping under English control. 5. Our cargo ships averaged one complete trip every 70 days and our troop ships one complete trip every 35 days. 6. The cargo fleet was almost exclusively American. It reached the size of 2,700,000 deadweight tons and carried to Europe about 7,500,000 ions of cargo. 7. The greatest troop-carrier among all the ships has been the Leviathan, which landed 12,000 men, or the equivalent of a German division, in France every month. 8. The fastest transports have been the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific, which have made complete turnarounds, . taken on new troops, and started back again in 19 days. Chapter IV. FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. THE PROBLEM OF PURCHASE. In the spring of 1917 there were in the United States some 4,000,- 000 young men who were about to become soldiers, although they little suspected the fact. Before they entered the Army, as well as after they were in it, these men consumed such ordinary necessities of life as food, coats, trousers, socks, shoes, and blankets. These simple facts lead directly to the mistaken conclusion that the problem of supplying the necessities of life for the soldiers in the Army was the comparatively simple one of diverting into the camps substantially the same amounts of food and clothing as these young men would have used in their homes if there had been no war. These men constituted about one twenty-fifth of. the population of the country and undoubtedly consumed before the war more than one twenty-fifth of the food and clothing used in the United States. But after every possible allowance has been made for the require ments of youth and the wastefulness of war, the figures of Army purchases still present surprising contrasts with those of civilian use in normal times. Some of these contrasts are shown in diagram 22, which compares total American production of blankets, wool gloves, wool socks, and men's shoes in 1914, as given in the census of manufactures, with Army purchases of the same articles in 1918. The first two columns of the diagram relate to blankets. They show that the Army purchases in 1918 were two and one-quarter times as great as the entire American production in 1914. To put it another way, the figures mean that the blankets bought in one year for the use of 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 soldiers would have been sufficient to make good the actual normal consumption of blankets by 100,000,- 000 American civilians for two and a quarter years. From the data of the other columns of the same diagram similar, if not equally sur prising, comparisons may be made. The reasons for the enormous figures of Army purchases are not far to seek. In the first place, men who went to camp received complete equipment of new articles, whereas ordinary production in peace time 132966°— 19 4 49 50 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. goes mainly to replace articles that have been worn out. In the sec ond place, the supplies required for an army increase in proportion to the distance that separates the army from its home base. In the third place, the consumption in action is three or four times the peace rate. The stream of supplies going forward to an army may be likened to the water delivered against a fire by an old-fashioned bucket bri gade. For every pailful thrown on the fire there must be many that have been taken from the source of supply and are on the way. As 96 figures in mill ions 8 18 .total: :made-', 1914 . Blankets 13 Wool glores Wool aoclta 19 Shoes Diagram 22.— Total American production of four articles compared with Army purchases. the distance from the source increases this supply in transit con stantly grows. When an army is 3,000 or 4,000 miles from its sources of supply the amounts of supplies in reserve and in transit are enor mous as compared with the quantities actually consumed each month. The rule generally followed for clothing was that there should be for each man at the front a three months' reserve in France, another two or three months' reserve in the United States, and a third three months' supply continuously in transit. Wool coats, for example, FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 51 last about three months in active service. Hence for every coat on a man's back at the front there had to be a coat in reserve in France, a coat in transit, and a coat in reserve in the United States. For every man at the front four coats were needed, and needed as soon as he went overseas. Two million men overseas required something like 8,000,000 coats, and required them immediately. The same thing was true for other supplies and munitions. The need for reserves and the time required for transportation called for the supply of enormous quantities and called for it at once. The im mediate needs for each man sent forward were in fact far in excess of the later requirements. For munitions difficult' to manufacture, such as artillery and ammunition, the problem presented by this necessity for reserves and large amounts in transit, in addition to the actual equipment of troops, was almost insuperable. The initial need is so great in a situation of this character that it can only be met in one of two ways ; either by having the initial equip ment available at the outbreak of war, or by immediately securing such an enormous productive capacity that it is larger than is required for maintaining the establishment later. In supplying food and clothing and other articles which are mat ters of common commercial production, the problem was not as difficult as with ordnance, but the large needs for initial equipment did put an enormous strain upon the industries concerned. A list of the total deliveries during the war of some of the common articles of clothing shows the size of the task. They are given in Table 3. The cost of the articles listed was more than $1,000,000,000. Table 3.—Clotlihi(7 delivered to the Arm jf April 6, 1911, to May 31, 1918. Articles. Wool stockings pairs. Undershirts , Uhderdrawers Shoes pairs . Flannel shirts Total delivered. 131,800,000 85,000,000 83,000,00080,700,000 26,500,000 Articles. Blankets f Wool breeches . . . Wool coats Overcoats Total delivered. 21,700,000 21,700,000 13,900,000 8,300,000 All these garments could be made in ordinary commercial fac tories, but their quantity was so enormous that at a number of times during the war it was feared that the demand would run ahead of the supply. When the troop movement was speeded up in the spring of 1918 the margin on woolen clothing was dangerously narrow. To secure these and other articles in sufficient quantity it was found necessary in many cases for the Army to take control of all stages of the manufacturing process, from assembling the raw material to inspecting the finished product. For many months 52' THE WAR WITH GERMANY. preceding the armistice the War Department was owner of all the wool in the country. From September, 1918, to June, 1919, if the troop movement had continued, Army needs were estimated at 246,000,000 pounds of clean wool, while the amount allotted to civilian needs was only 15,000,000 pounds. The British Army had in a similar way some years before taken control of the English wool supply in order to meet army and navy needs. Their require ments were, however, less than ours, to the extent that they did not need such a large reserve in France and practically none in transit. Their requirements per man for equipment were for this reason about two-thirds as great as ours. Something the same story might be told for about 30,000 kinds of commercial articles which the Army purchased. Purchases included food, forage, hardware, coal, furniture, wagons, motor trucks, lumber, locomotives, cars, machinery, medical instruments, hand tools, machine tools. In one way or another the Army at war drew upon almost every one of the 344 industries recognized by the United States Census. In some cases readjustments of machinery for a slightly modified product were necessary. In many an improved product was demanded. In practically all an enor mous production was required. In the cases of some articles all the difficulties of quantity production were combined with the prob lems of making something not before manufactured. Typical in stances are the 5,400,000 gas masks and the 2,728,000 steel helmets produced before the end of November, 1918. MACHINERY OF DISTRIBUTION. For those supplies that were to a certain degree articles of com mercial manufacture, the problem of distribution was fully as diffi cult as procurement. For production, machinery already in existence could be utilized ; for distribution, a new organization was necessary. In this country the problem was not hard for there were ample rail way facilities; an abundance of motor transportation could be requisitioned if necessary ; and the troops were near the sources. In France, a complete new organization was necessary whose main duty it was to distribute munitions and supplies. It was called the Services of Supply, the S. O. S., and had its headquarters at Tours. It was an army behind the Army. On the day the armistice was signed, there were reporting to the commanding general of the Services of Supply, 386,000 soldiers besides 31,000 German prisoners, and thousands of civilian laborers furnished by the Allies. At the same time there were in the zone of the armies 160,000 noncombatant troops, the majority of whom were keeping in operation the lines of distribution of supplies to the troops at the front. The proportion FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 53 of noncombatants in the American vArmy never fell below 28 per cent. In the British Army it often ran higher. Even when there was the greatest pressure for men at the front, the work back of the lines took roughly one man out of every three. Distributing supplies to the American forces in France was in the first place a problem of ports, second a problem of railroads, third A pouts • GENERAL STJRACE DEPOTS PRINCIPAL RAILWAYS USED Mail 5. — Seaports, storage points, and supply lines of the American Army in France. a problem of motor and norse-drawn transportaion, and fourth a problem of storage. The ports and railroads of France were crowded with war traffic and fallen into disrepair. It was not necessary to build new ports, but American engineers added 17 new berths, together with ware houses and dock equipment." It was not necessary to build new rail roads, for France already had a railway net denser per square mile than that of the United States, but it was desirable to increase the carrying capacity by nearly 1,000 miles of new trackage, and by switching facilities at crucial points, by new repair shops and round- 54 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. houses, and by new rolling stoek. These things were done by the Engineers. The problems were not wholly solved. There were never enough docks to prevent some loss of time by vessels waiting to dock, but the capacity for handling American cargo was tripled from 10,000 tons per day in the spring of 1918 to 30,000 tons by November 11 and the waiting time of ships was shorter than in commercial prac tice. There were never wholly adequate railway facilities, but with the help of locomotives and freight cars shipped from this side freight was carried inland about as fast as it was landed. Map 5 shows the main railway lines used by the overseas forces. They con nect the principal ports at which the Army fleet docked with the headquarters of the Services of Supply at Tours and with the Toul- Verdun sector, where the American armies operated. The dots rep resent the principal storage depots of the transportation service. NARROW-GAUGE RAILWAYS AND MOTOR TRUCKS. Railroads carried American supplies from the ports in France to intermediate or advance depots. As map 5 shows, railroad lines roughly paralleled the front. Spurs led up to the front, but beyond a certain distance the standard-gauge railroad did not go. Where the danger of shelling began or where the needs changed rapidly as the battle activity shifted from this front to that, the place of the heavy railway was taken by other means of distributing supplies. First came the narrow-gauge railroad, with rails about 2 feet apart, much narrower than the usual narrow-gauge road in this country. American engineers built 125 miles of these roads, for which 408 narrow-gauge locomotives and 2,385 narrow-gauge cars were shipped from this country, in addition to the standard-gauge equipment. Beyond the range of the narrow-gauge railway came the motor truck. The truck could go over roads that were under shell fire. It could retire with the Army or push forward with advancing troops. Trucks were used on a larger scale in this war than was ever before thought possible. The American Infantry division on the march with the trucks, wagons, and ambulances of its supply, ammunition, and sanitary trains stretches for a distance of 30 miles along the road. The 650 trucks which the tables of organization of the division pro vide are a large factor in this train. The need for trucks increased moreover during the latter months of the war as trench warfare gave place to a war of movement. As the forces moved forward on the offensive away from their railway bases, niore and more trucks were demanded. The Army overseas never had all the trucks it needed during the period of hostilities. Diagram 23 shows how the supply, month by FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 55 month, measured up to the numbers called for in the tables of organi zation. The dash line shows the truck tonnage needed and the heavy line the amount available. The supply was least adequate during the last four months of the war, when the shipment of trucks fell behind the accelerated troop movement. The difficulty was almost entirely a shortage of ships. At practically all times there were quantities of trucks at the ports of embarkation, but trucks take enormous amounts of cargo space on ships. It is slow and difficult work to load them, and time after time embarkation officials were forced to leave the trucks standing Tons 75000 50000 25000 *> \ vS * v/ s. < . / v> «•> / N ^ 1*v «£ > 4 V 1 fi 7 ' J / + X ; / 7f s / A / MOTO hy* ¦)¦ ' AC / *, f "V /. / f y s s ^* ** ^ ^ Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 3ep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb 1919 1918 Diagram 23.— Motor-truch tonnage needed and available in the Amer ican Expeditionary Forces. at the ports and load their ships rapidly with supplies needed still more urgently overseas. In October and November more ships were pulled out of the trades and the trucks were shipped even at the expense of other essential supplies. The shipment kept pace with the troop movement, but the initial shortage could not be overcome until February. The .number of trucks sent overseas prior to the armistice was 40,000 and. of these 33,000 had been received in France. The trucks ranged in size from three-quarters of a ton to 5 tons. 56 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. Beyond the range of the motor truck the horse and wagon were the means of supply distribution. Here again the American armies made an inadequate equipment do the work that was required. The shipment of animals overseas was discontinued early in 1918 on the information that horses could be purchased overseas. Then in the fall when every ton of shipping was precious, the supply of foreign horses proved inadequate and 23 of the best of the Army's, cargo jo unarm _^^" atf"/^ \ W^Cb g CTrtt^v. j^ J - ¦"¦ — LONVoofi ^~---^C \S '—^syr ^^"V ^^^Sli^VtJ u ylUOBlINI ix — "— ^ yK H3^~~v N^v^->i ff X^flrttj'^^N ~~ TVnfT 3. *V^s^ ^"\ — x — — -^hi*' — / II \ ^^- ^s>cchh|K7>< 1 3T NAZAIBE ^e^J^^T ^J™rM»fl 1 \ / v~- ~~£_ / ¦— y r 1^ LA PALUtEO|><1^ / fl rS. J/ rs ^ t. \ yj <£ ^ i \ LEASED FROM ALLIES OB TAKEN \- >v _^^ ^-^jWBSUD^I OVER FROM GERMANS \ ^T U.S WIRES —— >'"N"<»,>.'"*'N.^ ) ^¦V J N»^.^"-J Map 0, — American telephone and telegraph lines in France. England, and Germany. vessels had to be converted to animal transports. About 500 horses and mules were embarked in September and 17,000 in October. The shipments could not, however, be started soon enough to prevent a shortage. A horse uses as much ship space as 10 tons of cargo, but in the latter months the need for animals was so great that this sacrifice was made. In general, it may be said that the Army 'overseas never had enough means of transportation. It may also be said that they had very large quantities and that they produced remarkable results with the supply they had. FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 47,000 TELEGRAMS A DAY. 57 In order to operate the transportation of supplies in France, a new system of communication had to be set up; so the Signal Corps strung its wires over nearly every part of France. This is shown in map 6. The heavy lines indicate telephone and telegraph lines wholly con structed by Americans or wires strung on French poles. The light lines are wires leased from the French or taken over from the Ger mans. Trunk lines led from all the principal ports to Paris, to Tours, and to general headquarters (G. H. Q.) back of the Ameri can battle areas. The lines running to Coblenz for the army of Map 7.— Construction projects of the Army in the United States. occupation were takeiL over from the Germans. At the time of the signing of the armistice the Signal Corps was operating 282 tele phone exchanges and 133 complete telegraph stations. The tele phone lines numbered 14,956, reaching 8,959 stations. More than 100,000 miles of wire had been strung. The peak load of operation reached was 47,555 telegrams a day, averaging 60 words each. CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. To build factories and storage warehouses for supplies, as well as housing for troops, 200,000 workmen in the United States were kept continuously occupied for the period of the war. The force of workers on this single activity was larger than the total strength of 58 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. both southern and northern armies in the Battle of Gettysburg. The types of construction included cement piers and warehouses, equip ment for proving grounds, plants for making powder and explo sives, repair shops, power plants, roads, and housing for troops. Building was required in every State of the Union, as shown in map 7. Each dot represents a construction project. • The region of greatest activity was the Northeast, at once the most densely populated section and the center of munitions production. Housing constructed had a capacity of 1,800,000 men, or more than the entire population of Philadelphia. The operations of the Rational Amy cantonments Ordnance Dept. projects Hiscel. camps and cantonmentsQuartermaster Corps projects national Guard camps Millions of dollars 199 Per cent of total 24 137 HospitalsRegular Army postsCoast artillery posts Aviation & Signal Corps projects 23 HHi 22 H 13 BH 2 8 ¦ 1 Other construction 40 Total 818 Diagram 24. — Costs of construction projects in the United States. Construction Division constituted what was probably the largest con tracting business ever handled in one office. The total expenditures in this enterprise to November 11, 1918, were, in round numbers, $800,000,000, or about twice the cost of the Panama Canal. The per cent of the total which was allotted to various purposes is shown in diagram 24. The largest single item is the cost of National Army cantonments which was nearly one- quarter of the total. Ordnance Department projects, including the building of enormous powder, high-explosive, and loading plants, come second. The costs of construction were probably higher than they would have been for slower work. The outstanding feature of the accom- FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 59 plishment was its rapidity. Each of the cantonments was completed in substantially 90 days. It was this speed that made it possible to get the draft army under training before the winter of 1917 set in and made it available just in time for the critical action of the summer of 1918. CONSTRUCTION IN THE A. E. F. The conduct of the war in France necessitated a construction pro gram comparable in magnitude and number of projects with that in the United States. Less new building was required for shelter and ^A \ 1 f^ *-, \ Vl ^ r is. 1 /" d&sr ¦^hWRE pari* ;.• *v \) BRESTTgSJ •ft* A ST NAZAIREUfJ» • • *•• • \^« •• V • U PALLICE?!** • •• • *r \ >•' • • • • • / • \ 1 *"¦•' «*5«» • • • >-^ /•• • / • • •y r v*^->-.* *5 MARSEILLE~V*v^ CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF SCALE. .. ««, . ,» MILES THE A.E.F. Map 8. — Construction projects of the Army in France. for the manufacture of munitions, but more for the development of port and railroad facilities and for the repair and operation of the complicated equipment of a modern army. The storage space constructed in France was more than nine- tenths as large as the amount built at home. Hospital capacity con structed in France was twice the new capacity at home. All construction work in France was performed by the Corps of Engineers under the Services of Supply. The labor force consisted largely of American soldiers and German prisoners, although French 60 the war With Germany. and English civilians and Chinese coolies were used wherever avail able. To economize tonnage materials were obtained in Europe as far as possible, sometimes at high prices. The Engineer Corps ran its own quarries and its own logging camps and sawmills. Only such materials as could not be obtained abroad — chiefly machinery and steel products — were purchased in the United States. Up to the signing of the armistice construction projects had been undertaken by the Corps of Engineers to the number of 831. Their Diagram 25.— Days supply of Army rations on hand in the American Expeditionary Forces each month. distribution over France is shown in map 8, in which every dot represents a place at which one or sometimes several projects were undertaken. The A. E. F. left its trail in the shape of more or less permanent improvements over the greater part of France. The proj ects cluster most thickly around the ports used by American forces and the American area on the southern end of the battle line. FOOD AND CLOTHING AT THE FRONT. The real test of the efficiency of the supply service comes when an army engages in battle. Measured by that test the work of feeding, clothing, and equipping the American Army was well done for, in FOOD, CLOTHING, AND EQUIPMENT. 61 the main, the expeditionary forces received what they needed. Within the limits of this report no account can be given in detail of how fully the supplies received overseas met the needs of the troops. A few typical and fundamentally important items only can be selected. Food and clothing are the most essential. At no time was there a shortage of food in the expeditionary forces. Soldiers sometimes went hungry in this as in all other wars, but the condition was local and temporary. It occurred because of trans portation difficulties during periods of active fighting or rapid move ment when the units outran their rolling kitchens. The stocks of food on hand in depots in France were always adequate. This is illustrated in diagram 25. The columns show the stocks of food in depots on the first of each month in terms of how many days they would last the American forces then in France. During the winter and spring of 1918 the amounts on hand rose steadily. On May 1, about the time when American troops were en tering active fighting for the first time, they were well over the 45- day line, which was considered the required reserve during the latter months of the war. For a time efforts were made to build up a 90- day supply in order that the overseas forces might continue to oper ate for some months, even if the lines of supply across the ocean were cut. As the menace of the submarine becomes less acute, and as the need of ship tonnage for other supplies became more pressing, the required reserve was cut to 45 days. It will be seen from the dia- , gram that at no time during the period of active operations did the reserve fall below this line. In the matter of clothing also, the supply services rose to the emer gency of combat. There were periods in the history of many individual units when needed supplies could not be immediately obtained but, as in the case of food, the difficulty was one of local transportation. The records of the Quartermaster show that during the six months of hard fighting, from June to November, the enlisted man in the A. E. F. received on the average : Slicker and overcoat, every 5 months. Blanket, flannel shirt, and breeches, every 2 months. Coat, every 79 days. Shoes and puttees, every 51 days. Drawers and undershirt, every 34 days. Woolen socks, every 23 days. SUMMARY. 1. The problems of feeding and clothing the Army were difficult because of the immense quantities involved rather than because of the difficulty of manufacturing the articles needed. 62 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 2. Requirements for some kinds of clothing for the Army were more than twice as great as the prewar total American production of the same articles. 3. To secure the articles needed for the Army the Government had to commandeer all the wool and some other staple articles in the United States and control production through all its stages. 4. The distribution of supplies in the expeditionary forces re quired the creation of an organization called the Services of Supply, to which one-fourth of all the troops who went overseas were as signed. 5. American Engineers built in France 17 new ship berths, 1,000 miles of standard-gauge track, and 125 miles of narrow-gauge track. 6. The Signal Corps strung in France 100,000 miles of telephone and telegraph wire. 7. Prior to the armistice 40,000 trucks were shipped to the forces in France. 8. Construction projects in the United States cost twice as much as the Panama Canal, and construction overseas was on nearly as large a scale. 9. The Army in France always had enough food and clothing. Chapter V. SPRINGFIELDS, ENFIELDS, AND BROWNINGS. RIFLES. During the years immediately preceding our entrance into the war there was much discussion within the War Department, as well as in the country at large," of the need for increased military preparedness. Reference to the department reports for 1914, 1915, and 1916 shows that what was then considered as the best military and civilian opinion was agreed that the army that would have to be called into the field in any large emergency was one of 500,000 men. In these reports attention was called to the fact that while our available resources in trained men, in airplanes, and in machine guns were entirely inadequate, our reserve stocks of rifles and small-arms ammunition were sufficient for even a larger Army than the half million suggested. On the outbreak of hostilities there were on hand nearly 600,000 Springfield rifles of the model of 1903. This arm is probably the best Infantry rifle in use in any army, and the number on hand was sufficient for the initial equipment of an army of about 1,000,000 men. What no one foresaw was that we should be called upon to equip an army of nearly 4,000,000 men in addition to furnishing rifles for the use of the Navy. The emergency was met in several different ways. The available Springfields were used to equip the Regular Army and National Guard divisions that were 'first organized. In addition to these rifles we also had in stock some 200,000 Krag-Jorgensen rifles that had been stored for an emergency and were in sufficiently good condition to be used for training purposes. In addition, efforts were made to speed up the manufacture of new Springfields. It was soon found, however, that manufacturing difficulties would make-it impossible to increase the output of Springfields to much be yond 1,000 per day, which was clearly insufficient. At this juncture decision was reached to undertake the manufacture of an entirely new rifle to meet the deficiency. Fortunately, there were in this country several plants which were just completing large orders for the Enfield rifle for the British Government. A new rifle' — the model 1917 — was accordingly de- 63 64 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. signed. This rifle resembled the British Enfield sufficiently so that the plants equipped for Enfield production could be rapidly con verted to its manufacture, but it was chambered to use the same am munition as is used in the Springfield and in the machine guns and automatic rifles of American manufacture. Diagram 26 shows the number of Springfields and Enflelds ac cepted to the end of each month from the beginning of the war up wo WM^S?3556 PRELAW SEPT OCT MOV OEC JAM FEBrWAPRMWJUM JUL AU6 SOT OCT NOV PECJAIt TO MWAPR WAR 1917^ 1918 1919 Diagram 26.— Thousands of Springfields and Enflelds accepted to the end of each month. to the end of April, 1919. The figures include the prewar stock of Springfields. Beginning with slightly less than 600,000 Springfields at the out break of the war, the total at the end of the war had increased to nearly 900,000. The Enfields first came into production in August, 1917. After their manufacture had actually begun the output in creased rapidly until it totaled at the end of the war, in November, 1918, nearly 2,300,000. SPRINGFIELDS, ENFIELDS, AND BROWNINGS. 65 During the entire period the production of spare parts for the Springfield rifles was continued at an increased rate. The first di visions sent to France were equipped with this rifle. It is a fact that about half the rifle ammunition used against the enemy by United States troops was shot from Springfield rifles, The test of battle use has upheld the high reputation of the Springfield, and has dem onstrated that the American Enfield is also a weapon of superior quality. The American troops were armed with rifles that were superior in accuracy and rapidity of fire to those used by either their enemies or the Allies. MACHINE GUNS. The use of machine guns on a large scale is a development of the European war. This is demonstrated by the records of every army. In the case of the American forces the figures are particularly im pressive. In 1912 Congress sanctioned the allowance of the War De partment of four machine guns per regiment. In 1919, as a result of the experience of the war, the new Army plans provide for an equip ment of 336 machine guns per regiment. The second allowance is 84 times as great as the one made seven years earlier. In the annual report of the Secretary of War for 1916, transmitted in the fall of that year, attention was called to the efforts then being made to place our Army on a satisfactory footing with respect to machine guns. The report says : Perhaps no invention has more profoundly modified the art of war than the machine gun. In the European War this arm has been brought into very great prominence. * * * When the Congress at the last session appropriated $12,- 000,000 for the procurement of machine guns, it seemed important, for obvious reasons, to free the air of the various controversies and to set at rest in as final a fashion as possible the conflicting claims of makers and inventors. A board was therefore created. * - * A preliminary report has been made by this board, selecting the Vickers-Maxim type for heavy machine guns, recommending the purchase of a large supply of them, and fixing a date in May at which time exhaustive tests to determine the relative excellence of various types of light machine guns are to be made. In accordance with these recommendations, 4,000 Vickers machine guns were ordered in December, 1916. By the end of the next year 2,031 of them had been delivered. In further accord with the recom mendations of the board, careful tests were held in May, 1917, of various types of heavy machine guns, and also of light machine guns, which have come to be known as automatic rifles. Rapidity of fire, freedom from stoppage and breakage, accuracy, weight, ease of manu facture, and other factors were all carefully examined. The Vickers gun justified the good opinion previously formed of it, but it was clear that it could not be put on a quantity-production 132966°— 19 5 66 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. basis because of technical difficulties in manufacture. Fortunately, a new gun well adapted to quantity production was presented for trial. This gun, the heavy Browning, performed satisfactorily in all respects and was adopted as the ultimate standard heavy machine gun. The light Browning, designed by the same expert, was easily in the lead as an automatic rifle, weighing only 15 pounds. The Lewis gun, too heavy for satisfactory use as an automatic rifle and not capable of the long- sustained fire necessary in a heavy gun, was very well suited, with slight modification, for use as a so-called flexible gun on aircraft. A small number (2,500) of these guns were ordered for training purposes for ground use, but the bulk of the possible produc tion of this gun was assigned to aircraft purposes. In addition to the flexible type, airplanes require also a synchronized gun ; that is, a gun whose time of firing is so adjusted that the shots pass between the propeller blades. The Vickers gun had been used successfully for this purpose in Europe and the call was insistent for their diversion to this use, both for our own planes and for those of the French. After many trials and adjustments, however, the Marlin gun, a de velopment of the old Colt, was adapted to this purpose, releasing part of the early production of Vickers guns for ground use. A sub sequent development was the design of a modified form of the heavy Browning for aircraft use as a synchronized gun. Production of all the types mentioned was pressed and the advan tages of preparedness illustrated. The placing of the order for 4,000 Vickers in 1916 enabled 12 of our early divisions to receive that weapon as their heavy machine gun. The thorough trial given in May, much earlier than would have been possible except for previous plans, made possible a selection of suitable types for every purpose and the completion of the first light Brownings in February, 1918, and the first heavy Brownings in April of the same year. The remarkable rise in the rate of production is shown by months in diagram 27. The rise was broken only in September, the month of the influenza epidemic. The earliest needs of our troops in France were met by French Hotchkiss machine guns and Chauchat automatic rifles. A little later, divisions going over were provided with Vickers heavy guns and Chauchat automatic rifles. After July 1, divisions embarking were equipped with light and heavy Brownings. Both Browning guns met with immediate success and with the approval of foreign officers as well as with that of our own. Although the light and the heavy Browning guns were brought into production in February and April of 1918, they were not used in battle until September. This was not because of any shortage of supply in the later summer months but because of a deliberate and most significant judgment on the part of Gen. Pershing. After SPRINGFIELDS, ENFIELDS, AND BROWNINGS. 67 careful tests of "the new weapons had been made in Europe the American commander in chief decided that the two new Brownings were so greatly superior to any machine guns in use by any of the armies on either side that the wisest course would be to wait until several divisions could be equipped with them and a plentiful future supply assured before using them in battle at all. What he feared was that if the first of the guns to reach the expe ditionary forces were used in battle there would always be some » 227 178 TOTAL ACCEPTED 227,000 LJMJ Accepted to date (whole column] U Accepted during month FIGURES IK THOUSANDS 121 86 61 48 35 26 13 19 , . 143 201 1 a To Jan Feb Har Apr Kay Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Hot Bee Dec 31 — 1917 1918 Diagram 27.— Thousands of American machine guns produced to the end of each month. chance that one might be captured by the Germans. If this should happen it was possible that with their quick recognition of the im portance of any military improvement and the demonstrated German industrial capacity for quantity production, they might begin the immediate manufacture of German Brownings. In this event the advantage of the possession of large numbers of greatly improved types of machine guns and automatic rifles would be partly lost to the American forces. 68 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. For these reasons the Brownings were not used in combat until they were used in large numbers in the Meuse-Argonne battle. There they amply justified the faith of the American commander and the Ordnance Department in their superior qualities. The total number of machine guns of American manufacture pro duced to the end of 1918 is shown in Table 4. In addition there were secured from the French and British 5,300 heavy machine guns, of which nearly all were French Hotchkiss guns, and 34,000 French Chauchat automatic rifles. Table 4. — Machine guns produced to the end of 1918. Heavy Browning field 56, 612 Vickers field 12, 125 Other field 6,366 Lewis aircraft 39,200 Browning aircraft _ 580 Marlin aircraft 38,000 Vickers aircraft 3, 714 Light Browning 69,960 Total 226,557 RIFLES AND MACHINE GUNS USED IN FRANCE. When troops embarked for France they carried with them their rifles, and sometimes their machine guns and automatic rifles. If appropriate allowance is made for such troop property in addition to what was shipped in bulk for replacement and reserves, it is found that about 1,775,000 rifles, 29,000 light Brownings, and 27,000 heavy Brownings, and 1,500,000,000 rounds of rifle and machine-gun ammunition were shipped to France from this country before No vember 1. These supplies were supplemented by smaller amounts re ceived from the French and British, as already mentioned. The actual use of American-made machine guns and automatic rifles in France is summarized in Table 5. Table 5. — Use of American-made automatic arms in France. Used at the front. Total, including training. Light Browning Heavy Browning Vickers ground gun . Lewis aircraft Marlin aircraft Vickers aircraft 4,608 1,168 2,340 1,393 1,220 1,320 17,664 3,5282,8603,9303,084 1,625 SPRINGFIELDS, ENFIELDS, AND BROWNINGS. 69 PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS. From the beginning of the war the call for pistols was insistent. In this case the American Army was fortunate in having in the Browning-Colt a weapon already in production and more effective than the corresponding weapon used by any other army. But while there never was any question as to the quality of the pistol, there was much trouble in securing them in numbers adequate to meet the de mands. To help meet the situation a revolver was designed using the same ammunition, and placed in production in October, 1917. As a result the troops in France who were likely to require them for close combat were supplied with one or the other of these weapons so far as possible, but full equipment was never secured. SMALL-ARMS AMMUNITION. A sufficient supply of small-arms ammunition has always been available to provide for troops in service. The complication due to the use of machine guns and automatic rifles of French caliber has been successfully met. To meet the special needs of the Air Service and of antiaircraft defense, new types of ammunition have been de signed and produced, the purposes of which are indicated by their names — armor piercing, tracer, and incendiary. Before the end of the war American production of small arms ammunition amounted to approximately 3,500,000,000 rounds, of which 1,800,000,000 were ship ped overseas. In addition, 200,000,000 rounds were secured from the French and British. ARMS AND THE MEN. Diagram 28 is an^§ttempt to answer in graphic form the question "To what degree did the different elements of our troop program and our small-arms program move forward in company front ? " The upper heavy black line represents the number of men in the American Army from month to month. The lower black line repre sents similarly the strength of the Army in France. On the same scale are drawn four other lines indicating widely fluctuating quantities for the different months. The lowest of these represents the size of army that couhi have been equipped, accord ing to the tables of organization, with the number of pistols and revolvers actually on hand each month. The diagram shows that we never had nearly enough of these weapons to equip fully our entire Army, and only during part of the months of the war were there enough for the full equipment of the troops in France even if all the pistols and revolvers had been there and issued. 70 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. The line for automatic rifles shows an adequate supply for all troops only in the last two months of the war. That for machine guns shows inadequate supplies up to July and then so enormous a Millions of men N 7 6 4 3 ^ • fjBr W^* • /W ' ^rr^^/l_^^flDi)'M 0 SSSWK !« AlWsK&lSHI APR MAY JUN JUL AU& SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUS SEP OCT NOV 1917 1918 Diagram 28. — Smnll avns available eaeli month. production as to be sufficient before the end of the war for an army of nearly 8,000,000 men. The line for rifles shows relatively close agreement during the entire period. There was an initial surplus, then a deficit for six months, and after that a consistent surplus. In the cases of automatic rifles, machine guns, and rifles there was always a supply on hand in excess of what would have been required for the equipment of the expeditionary forces alone. SPRINGFIELDS, ENFIELDS, AND BROWNINGS. 71 In making the computations for all these comparisons an appro priate allowance has been made in every case for reserves, wastage, and time lost in transit. The curves represent as nearly as it has been possible to make them the actual balance each month between the number of men and the total equipment available. They can not, of course, take into account any shortages that may have resulted in specific localities through failures in distribution. Only the Springfield and Enfield rifles are included in the compu tation of available rifles, although hundreds of thousands of Krag- Jorgensen and Russian rifles and some Canadian Ross rifles were used for training purposes. The rapid rise of the lines representing the men that could have been equipped with machine guns and automatic rifles in the later months is due to the heavy production of Brownings. In fact, this production was one of the striking features of our war effort. It would have resulted, if the fighting had been prolonged, in a. greatly increased volume of fire on the part of the American troops. PREPARING FOR THE CAMPAIGN OF 1919. At this point it is appropriate to comment on the *f act that there are many articles of munitions in which American production reached great amounts by the fall of 1918 but which were not used in large quantities at the front because the armistice was signed before big supplies of them reached France. In the main, these munitions are articles of ordnance and aviation equipment, involving such tech nical difficulties of manufacture that their production could not be improvised or even greatly abbreviated in time. As the production figures are scrutinized in retrospect, and it is realized that many millions of dollars were spent on army equip ment that was never used at the front, it seems fair to question whether prudent foresight could not have avoided some of this expense. Perhaps the best answer to the question is to be found in the record of a conference that took place in the little French town of Trois Fontaines on October 4, 1918, between Marshal Foch and the Ameri can Secretary of War. In that conference the allied commander in chief made final ar rangements with the American Secretary as to the shipment of American troops and munitions in great numbers during the fall and winter preparatory for the campaign of 1919. This was one day before the first German peace note and 38 days before the~end of the war, but Marshal Foch was then calling upon America to make her great shipments of munitions and her supreme contribution of man power for the campaign of the following year. 72 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. SUMMARY. 1. When war was declared the Army had on hand nearly 600,000 Springfield rifles. Their manufacture was continued, and the Ameri can Enfield rifle designed and put into production. 2. The total production of Springfield and Enfield rifles up to the signing of the armistice was over 2,500,000. 3. The use of machine guns on a large scale is a development of the European war. In the American Army the allowance in 1912 was four machine guns per regiment. In 1919 the new Army plans provide for an equipment of 336 guns per regiment, or eighty- four times as many. 4. The entire number of American machine guns produced to the end of 1918 was 227,000. 5. During the war the Browning automatic rifle and the Browning machine gun were developed, put into quantity production, and used in large numbers in the final battles in France. 6. The Browning machine guns are believed to be more effective than the corresponding weapons used in any other army. 7. American production of small arms ammunition amounted to approximately # 3,500,000,000 rounds, of which 1,800,000,000 were shipped overseas. 8. Attention is directed to diagram 28, on page 70, comparing numbers of men under arms each month with numbers for which equipment of pistols, rifles, automatic rifles, and machine guns were available. Chapter VI. TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE FIRING LINE. ARTILLERY. It was true of light artillery as it was of rifles, that the United States had, when war was declared, a supply on hand sufficient to equip the Army of 500,000 men that proponents of preparedness had agreed might have to take the field in the event of a large emer gency. There were 900 pieces of field artillery then available. The gun on hand in largest quantities was the 3-inch fieldpie.ce, of which we had 544. As 50 of these are required for 1 division, this was a sufficient number to equip 11 divisions. When the emergency ar rived, however, it was far larger than had been foreseen even by those who had been arguing that we needed an army several times as large as the one we then had. The initial plans called for the formation of 42 divisions, which would require 2,100 3-inch field- pieces almost at once. In addition, these divisions would require for active operations in France a repair shop reserve, a replacement reserve, and a stream of guns in transit which would increase their initial requirements to about 3,200. To keep this army going would only require a production of about 100 guns per month, but to get it going within a reasonable length of time would have required a productive capacity of 300 or 400 guns per month, depending on how soon it was imperative for the army to be in action. The great difference between the manufacturing output necessary to get an army going quickly and that required to keep it going after it has been equipped, explains the enormous industrial disadvantage suf fered by a nation which enters a war without its stocks of military supplies for initial equipment already on hand. To meet the situation the decision was made in June, 1917, to allot our own guns to training purposes and to equip our forces in France with artillery conforming to the French and British standard calibers. The arrangement was that we should purchase from the French and British the artillery needed for our first divi sions and ship to them in return equivalent amounts of steel, copper, and other raw materials so that they could either manufacture guns for us in their own factories or give us guns out of their stocks and proceed to replace them by new ones made from our materials. 73 74 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. The plans then formulated further provided that, with our initial requirements taken care of in this way, we should at once prepare to manufacture in our own plants artillery of these same cali bers for the equipment of later divisions. In general, it may be truly said that these plans were carried through successfully along the lines originally laid down. With no serious exceptions, the guns from British and French sources were secured as needed, but our own plants were slower in producing complete units ready for use than had been hoped and planned. In our factories the 3-inch guns of improved model which had been ordered in September, 1916, were changed in caliber to use standard French ammunition, and became known as 75 mm. guns, model 1916. The British 18-pounder then being produced in this country was similarly redesigned, and became known as the 75 mm. gun, model 1917. Work was immediately begun also on the plans for the French 75 mm. gun so as to make it possible to produce it in American factories. For this gun, however, it was necessary to develop new manufacturing capacity. In the case of other calibers of artillery, the same means in gen eral were taken to secure a supply. Material previously on order was adapted to meet the new conditions ; capacity actually engaged on production for the French and British was utilized to as great an extent as possible, and foreign plans were adapted to American practice and new plants erected to push production. It was neces sary, of course, in all this work not to interfere with American pro duction for the Allies. Of the enormous amount of equipment made necessary by the expansion of the Army from its first strength to the contemplated force of 5,000,000 men, the artillery and artillery ammunition could be improvised with the least facility, for the necessary processes of its manufacture involved irreducible periods of time. In spite of all these handicaps, the record of actual pro duction on United States Army orders only, is 1,642 complete units of artillery before the armistice was signed. The total production of complete units of artillery in American plants is shown by the figures of diagram 29. The data are exclusive of production for the Navy and for the Allies. In point of fact the figures showing the number of complete units produced are somewhat unfair to the American record. The diffi cult problem of planning the production of the different component parts was not satisfactorily solved until about the end of the war. The result was that by the production of a single component, after the armistice was signed, hundreds of units were completed, and the totals for the months after the armistice are as large as those before October, although the work actually done in those months was very TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE FIRING LINE. 75 much less. These facts are revealed by the monthly and total figures of the diagram. Up to the end of April, 1919, the number of com plete artillery units produced in American plants was more than 3,000, or equal to all those purchased abroad from the French and British up to the signing of the armistice. 3077 <(? 2608 ^ 2383 10 Jto Feb Bar Apr May Jm Jul Aug Sep Oct Mot Dec Jan Feb liar Apr 1918 1918 1919 Diagram 29. — Complete units of artillery made in Amei-ica. ARTILLERY AMMUNITION. In the magnitude of the quantities involved the Artillery ammuni tion program was the biggest of all. Copper, steel, high explosives, and smokeless powder were all required by the hundreds of millions of pounds. As no firms were prepared to manufacture complete rounds, it was necessary for the Ordnance Department to make con tracts for each component and to assume the burden of directing the distribution of these components between manufacturers. For the shrapnel it was possible to use the design substantially as had previ- 76 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. ously been used in this country, but the high explosive and gas shell proved more troublesome. A large supply of American shell was produced, however, before the signing of the armistice, and shipment to Europe in quantity had begun. The ammunition actually used against the enemy at the front was nearly all of French manufacture, 20326 18294 15702 TOTAL ACCEPTED 20,325,000 ^mi Accepted to date (Tsfaolo column) S8§ Accepted during month FIGURES nr THOTTSMDS 10072 7981 6896 E5S5 4361 12630 VK-hVJtM iiiyiiiii To Jan. Feb. Iter. Apr. Hay June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Hot. Sec. Dec. 31 ' — 1917 1918 Diagram 30.— Thousands of complete rounds of American artillery am munition produced. but the approaching supply from America made possible a more free use of the French and British reserves. As shown in diagram 30, our monthly production of artillery ammunition rose to over 2.000,000 complete rounds in August and over- 3,000,000 rounds in October if we include United States calibers. By the end of 1918 the number of rounds of complete artillery ammunition produced in American plants was in excess of 20,000,000, as compared with 10,000,000 rounds secured from the French and British. TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE FIRING LINE. 77 BRITISH AND AMERICAN ARTILLERY PRODUCTION. One mode of measuring our accomplishments in the way of artil lery production is to compare what we succeeded in producing in our own plants in the first 20 months after the declaration of war with what Great Britain produced in the first 20 months after her entry into the war. This comparison is made in diagram 31, which com pares for that period of time American and British production of complete units of light and heavy artillery and rounds of light and heavy shells. Antiaircraft artillery (a small item) is not included Light artillery British I 3.599~l American Heavy artillery British |_ 379 | American SftSSSflB|IHfl)WES^r?^§4;.-?j55i-'.'i','---vs- ?-..-:.-"¦."-¦ - v'HESEB Light artillery shells British £Z 23.328.0001 American 3jaiS?3*fi§^2!i! S8 9S11 S^lM^S Heary artillery shells British 11.153. 0001 •American r^^^^W- Diagram 31.— British and American production of artillery and am munition in the first 20 months of war. in either class. Canadian production of machined shell for Great Britain and the United States is included in each case. In each of the comparisons of diagram 31 the bar in outline repre sents British production over the first 20 months, and the one in solid black the American output over the first 20 months. The fig ures show that the British did better than we did in the production of light artillery, but that we excelled their record in heavy artillery and in both sorts of shell production. SMOKELESS POWDER AND HIGH EXPLOSIVES. One of the striking contributions of the United States to the cause of the Allies was the enormous quantity of smokeless powder and 78 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. high explosives produced. From April 1, 1917, to November ll, 1918, the production of smokeless powder in the United States was 632,- 000,000 pounds, which was almost exactly equal to the combined pro duction of France and Great Britain. This was not all for our own use. About half the British supply in 1917 was drawn from this country, and in 1918 over a third of the French supply was Ameri can made. This large supply was made possible in part by plants erected for the British in this country, but the American Ordnance Department also added new plants. As a result, the established rate of production in this country by the close of the war was 45 per cent greater than the combined French and British rate. The American production of high explosives — T. N. T., ammonium nitrate, picric acid, and others — was not established, when we de clared war, on so large a scale as that of smokeless powder. It was necessary therefore to erect new plants. This need, by the way, was the main reason for the restrictions on the sale of platinum, which is necessary at one point in the process of manufacture. As a result of the efforts that were made, our established rate of production of high explosives at the close of the war was over. 40 per cent larger than Great Britain's, and nearly double that of France. The aver ages for August, September, and October for the three countries were: Pounds. Great Britain 30, 957, 000 France 22, 802, 000 United States 43, 888, 000 The result of the high rate of production of both smokeless powder and high explosives was that the artillery ammunition program was never held up for lack of either the powder which hurls the bullet or shell from the gun or the high explosive which makes the shell effective when it reaches its destination. TOXIC GASES. When the clouds of chlorine suddenly enveloped the British and French lines in the Ypres salient, early in 1915, a new weapon was introduced into the war. That it was a powerful weapon is evidenced by the fact that during the year 1918 from 20 to 30 per cent of all our battle casualties were due to gas. At the time we entered the war we had had practically no experi ence in manufacturing toxic gases, and no existing facilities which could be readily converted to such use. At the signing of the armis tice, we were equipped to produce gas at a more rapid rate than France, England, or Germany. TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE FIRING LINE. 79 In the early days of our participation in the war it was hoped that concerns engaged in chemical manufacture could be, put into this new field. There were many valid objections, however, to such a plan. Many of these concerns were already crowded with war work. En tirely new equipment would have to be installed, which, in all likeli hood, would be practically worthless at the close of the war. Ex haustive investigation and experimentation would mean delay in securing quantity production. The element of danger would mean 10817 TOTAL ACCEPTED 10,817 Accepted to date (-whole column) Accepted during month FIGURES IN SHOBT TOSS 2371 1378 681 EEgg 6270 3722 i | 9907 7181 i 10 Jan Feb Max Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Hot 1918 Diagram 32— Tons of toxic Eases mannfactured each month. difficulty in securing and retaining adequate labor forces. For these reasons the Government found it necessary to build its own chemical plants and to finance certain private firms. The majority of these producing plants, together with plants for filling shells with gas, were built on a tract of land in the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., which came to be known as the Edgewood Arsenal. The auxiliary plants were also known as Edgewood Arsenal. The columns of dia gram 32 show the number of short tons of toxic gases produced in American plants each month. The increase in production was rapid 80 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. and steady during 1918 and, before the armistice, more than 10,000 tons had been manufactured. Production of gas and the capacity for filling were at all times well ahead of the supply of shell containers to be filled. In June, 1918, considerable quantities of mustard gas, chlorpicrin, and phosgene were shipped overseas for filling gas shells produced by the French. By the end of July no more French shells were available for this pur pose and the surplus gas was sold to the French and British. TRACTORS AND TANKS. An innovation in this war, development of which in the future promises to be even more important, was the increased use of motor transportation. As applied to the artillery, this meant the use of caterpillar tractors to haul the big guns, especially over rough ground. When we entered the war no suitable designs existed for caterpillar tractors of size appropriate for the medium heavy artillery. But new 5-ton and 10-ton types were perfected in this country, put into production, and 1,100 shipped overseas before November 1. About 300 larger tractors were also shipped and 350 more secured from the French and British. The tank was an even more important application of the caterpillar tractor to war uses. In the case of the small 6-ton tanks, the efforts of this country were largely concentrated on improvement of design and on development of large scale production for the 1919 campaign. Up to the time of the armistice 64 had been produced in this country, and the rate at which production was getting under way is shown by the fact that in spite of the armistice the total completed to March 31, 1919, was 799. The burden of active service in France was borne by 227 of these tanks received from the French. The efforts of this country in the case of heavy 30-ton tanks were concentrated on a cooperative plan, by which this country was to fur nish Liberty motors and the rest of the driving mechanism, and the British the armor plate for 1,500 tanks for the 1919 campaign. It has been estimated that about one-half the work on the American components for this project had been completed before November 11, and the work of assembly of the initial units was well under way. For immediate use in France, this country received 64 heavy tanks from the British. OUR ARTILLERY IN FRANCE. The most important single fact about our artillery in France is that we always had a sufficient supply of light artillery for the combat divisions that were ready for front-line service. This does not mean that when the divisions went into the battle line they TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE FIRING LINE. 81 always had their artillery with them, for in a number of cases they did not. The statement does mean, however, that when divisions went into line without their artillery this was not because of lack of guns but rather because it takes much longer to train artillery troops than it does infantry and so, under the pressure of battle needs in the sum mer and fall of 1918, American divisions were put into line a num ber of times supported by French and British artillery or without artillery. • When the armistice came in November the American forces not only had a sufficient number of 75's for the 29 combat divisions, but in addition enough more for 12 other divisions. A careful study of the battle records of all the divisions shows that if all the days in the line of all the combat divisions are added together, the total is 2,234. The records further show the number of days that each division was in line with its own artillery, with British artillery, with French^or without any. The result of the compilation is to show that in every 100 days that our combat divisions were in line they were supported by their own artillery for 75 days, by British artillery for 5 days, by French for l^days, and were without artillery for 18£ days out of the 100. Of these 18| days, however, 18 days were in quiet sectors and only one-half of one day in active sectors. There are only three records of American divisions being in an active sector without artillery sup port. The total of these three cases amounts to one-half of 1 per cent, or about 14 hours out of the typical 100 days just analyzed. The most significant facts about our artillery in France are pre sented in summary in table 6, which takes into account only light and heavy field artillery and does not include either the small 37-mm. guns or the trench mortars. Table 6.— American artillery in France — Summary. Total pieces of artillery received to Nov. 11 3, 499 Number of American manufacture 477 American-made pieces used in battle 130 Artillery on firing line 2,251 Rounds of artillery ammunition expended 8, 850, 000 Rounds of ammunition of American manufacture expended 208, 327 Rounds of American-made ammunition expended in battle 8, 400 The facts of the table can be summarized in round numbers with approximate accuracy by saying that we had in France 3,500 pieces of artillery, of which nearly 500 were made in America, and we used on the firing line 2,250 pieces, of which over 100 were made in America. r 132966°— 19 6 82 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. GUNS NEEDED V. GUNS AVAILABLE. Diagram 33 shows the degree of balance which existed each month throughout the war between the men under arms and the artillery that was available for them. The number of men in the entire Ameri can Army is shown by the upper black line and the number of these who were in France is shown by the lower black line. The upper hollow line shows the size of army that could have been fully equipped each* month with the pieces of light artillery, con- HU.U0NS OF MEN - - ofT^Sj t\ **« k: *" APR MAV JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV OK JAM FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AU& SEP OCT NOV 1917 1918 Diagram 33. — Artillery available each month. sisting of 75 mm. and 3-inch field guns, that were then actually avail able. If the supply had been fully ample this line would run some what above the upper black line, to allow for an adequate reserve and for the retirement of the less satisfactory types of guns. Ac tually the hollow line runs below the black one from September, 1917, to September, 1918, and indicates a slight deficiency in training equip ment, which was relieved in the fall of 1918 by large deliveries of the 1917 model. In a similar way the lower black line shows for each month the size of army that could have been equipped with the proper number of pieces of heavy artillery of calibers greater than 3 inches. The TWO THOUSAND GUNS ON THE -FIRING LINE. 83 measure of full equipment is based on the tables of organization adopted early in the war. These tables call for more heavy artillery for a given number of men than the French, British, or Germans actually used, and much more than had ever been thought advisable before this war. If all our heavy field artillery had been of types suitable for use in France, we should have had enough, even on this high standard, to meet the needs of the expeditonary forces. However, as we had some types that were considered suitable only for training the short age indicated by the diagram was a real one. The rapid rise in the latter months of the war shows that the great difficulties of manu facture of this type of material were being overcome toward the end of the war. In considering the facts presented by this diagram it is to be borne in mind that all suitable pieces of artillery are taken into account from the date they were produced or secured whether they were then located in America or in France. The comparison is between the men that we had and the guns that we had each month. SUMMARY. 1. When war was declared the United States had sufficient light artillery to equip an army of 500,000 men, and shortly found itself confronted with the problem of preparing to equip 5,000,000 men. 2. To meet the situation it was decided in June, 1917, to allot our guns to training purposes and to equip our forces in France with artillery conforming to the French and British standard calibers. 3. It was arranged that we should purchase from the French and British the artillery needed for our first divisions and ship them in return equivalent amounts of steel, copper, and other raw materials so that they could either manufacture guns for us in their own fac tories or give us guns out of their stocks and replace them by new ones made from our materials. 4. Up to the end of April, 1919, the number of complete artillery units produced in American plants was more than 3,000, or equal to all those purchased from the French and British during the war. 5. The number of rounds of complete artillery ammunition pro duced in American plants was in excess of 20,000,000, as compared with 10,000,000 rounds secured from the French and British. 6. In the first 20 months after the declaration of war by each country the British did better than we did in the production of light artillery, and we excelled them in producing heavy artillery and both light and heavy shells. 7. So far as the Allies were concerned, the European war was in large measure fought with American powder .and high explosives. 84 THE. WAR WITH GERMANY. 8. At the end of the war American production of smokeless pow der was 45 per cent greater than the French and British production combined. 9. At the end of the war the American production of high explo sives was 40 per cent greater than Great Britain's and nearly double that of France. 10. During the war America produced 10,000 tons of gas, much of which was sold to the French and British. 11. Out of every hundred days that our combat divisions were in line in France they were supported by their own artillery for 75 days, by British artillery for 5 days, and by French for 1$ days. Of the remaining 18£ days that they were in line without artillery, 18 days were in quiet sectors, and only one-half of 1 one day in each hun dred was in active sectors. 12. In round numbers, we had in France 3,500 pieces of artillery, of which nearly 500 were made in America, and we used on the firing line 2,250 pieces, of which over 100 were made in America. Chapter VII. AIBPLANES, MOTOBS, AND BALLOONS. PREWAR EQUIPMENT. When war was declared in April, 1917, the United States had two aviation fields and 55 serviceable airplanes. The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, which had been conducting a scientific study of the problems of flight, advised that 51 of these airplanes were obsolete and the other 4 obsolescent. This judgment was based on the operations in Mexico, which had demonstrated serious defects in the designs of American planes used there. It was well known that improved types had been developed in the European conflict, but the details of their design were carefully guarded and withheld from neutrals. Immediately following the declaration of war, the Allied Gov ernments, particularly the French, urged the necessity of sending 5,000 American aviators to France during the first year, if supe riority in the air were to be insured. This request emphasized the need of speed. The European instructors who came over later to assist in the training work made no pretense that the 5,000 schedule was practicable. The problem was to approximate it as nearly as possible. Public expectation was greatly exaggerated, due to the general ignorance, shared by even the best informed American authorities on aviation, as to the requirements, other than simple .flying ability, which this service exacts. There were three primary requisites for bringing into existence an elementary aviation service. These were training planes, aviators, and service planes. All of them had to be created. TRAINING. For the task of training, as well as that of securing the necessary planes and motors, there existed in our Army no adequate organiza tion of qualified personnel. Before the war our air service had been small, struggling, and unpopular. Aviation was restricted to un married officers under 30 years of age, and offered no assured future as a reward for success. It had made its greatest appeal to the younger and more daring types of line officers, and was not an or ganization on which a great industrial expansion could be built, 85 86 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. or from which any large numbers of qualified instructors could be drawn. Training for aviation divides itself into three stages — elementary, advanced, and final. Elementary training, given to all candidates alike, includes physical training, hygiene, various practical and theoretical military subjects, the study of the structure and mecha nism of airplanes and engines, signaling, observation, ground gun- L.E.V. TJ.3JU Apr Hay jun Jul Aug Sep Oot Hot Deo Jan Feb Ear Apr Kay Jon Jul Aug Sep Oct Uov 1917 iiiii Diagram 34.— Flying officers in the Army each month. nery, and elementary flying to the point of doing simple flying alone. Advanced training consisted in the specialized work necessary to qualify the student as a well-prepared all-around pilot or observer, as the case might be, ready to take up and master quickly any type of machine or any kind of observation or bombing duty which the exi gencies of the service might necessitate. Final training, given in Europe, was a short intensive specializar tion on the particular type of machine, or the particular military problem to which the pilot or observer was finally assigned. AIRPLANES, MOTORS,, AND BALLOONS. • 87 The initial shortage of instructors and the opening of new fields made it necessary to retain a considerable proportion of the early graduating classes as instructors. At the date of the armistice there were 27 fields in operation, with 1,063 instructors; 8,602 men had been graduated from elementary training, and 4,028 from advanced training. There were then actually in training 6,528 men, of whom 59 per cent were in elementary, and 41 per cent in advanced train ing schools. There had been sent to the expeditionary forces more than 5,000 pilots and observers of whom, at the date of armistice, 2,226 were still in training, and 1,238 were on flying duty at the front. Diagram 34 shows the number of flying officers in the Army from month to month. The columns show the whole number in service each month and the upper portions the numbers of those who were in service over seas. The total personnel of our Air Service, including flying and nonflying officers, students, and" enlisted men, increased from about 1,200 at the outbreak of the war to nearly 200,000 at the close. • TRAINING PLANES AND ENGINES. With 5,000 aviators demanded and only 55 training planes on hand, the production of training planes was the problem of greatest immediate concern. A few planes provided for in the 1917 fiscal appropriation were on order. Other orders were rapidly placed. Deliveries of primary training planes were begun in June, 1917. To the date of the armistice over 5,300 had been produced, including 1,600 of a type which was abandoned on account of unsatisfactory engines. Advanced training planes reached quantity production early in 1918; up to the armistice about 2,500 were delivered. Approxi mately the same number were purchased overseas for training the units with the expeditionary force. Diagram 35 shows the pro duction of training planes and engines by months. European experience had demonstrated that the maintenance of a squadron, whether in training or in service, requires more engines than planes for replacements. Pending the results of American ex perience, British figures, requiring an average production of two engines per plane, were adopted as standard for American computa tions. Extensive orders were placed for two types of elementary and three types of advanced training engines. The upper line in the diagram shows that quantity production of training engines was reached in 1917, and that by the end of Novem ber, 1918, a total of nearly 18,000 training engines and more than 9,500 training, planes had been delivered. Of the engines, all but 1,346 88 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. were built in the United States; and of the 9,500 training planes, more than 8,000 were of American manufacture. SERVICE PLANES. As soon as war was declared it became possible for American offi cers and engineers to learn the secrets of the great improvements that had been developed during the war in the design of airplanes used in battle service. A commission was immediately sent abroad to 2,000 1,600 1,200 400 • j f 4 / # £ / ' \ v£ p> '*/ 22 & ^* $ & 1 ir,ers 9,5031 May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Hot Bee Jan Feb Mar Apr Bay Jun Jul Aug Sep Pot Jot 1917 — 1918 Diagram 35.— Production of training planes and engines to the end of each month. select types of foreign service planes for production in the United States. A controlling factor in their selections was the necessity of rede signing the models so as to take American-made motors, as foreign engine production was insufficient to meet even the needs of the Allies. Because of this and because of the rapidity with which the designs of the smaller planes were changing, the best allied authorities urged the concentration of American production on the more stable obser vation and bombing machines, leaving the production of pursuit AIRPLANES, MOTORS, AND BALLOONS. 89 planes to the European factories, which were in closer contact with the front. In the case of any plane selected only an estimate could be made as to its probable adaptability to a new type of motor, this engineering risk being less in the more conservative types of design. This consideration, together with the imperative need for quick large- scale production, led to the selection of four types for this experi ment : The De Havilland-4 (British) observation and day-bombing 7889 From foreign sources Sep Oct Hov Doc Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nor 1917 1918 Diagram 36. — Production of service planes to the end of each month. machine, the Handley-Page (British) night bomber, the Caproni (Italian) night bomber, and the Bristol (British) two-seater fighter.. This selection was approved by the French and British authorities. The redesigned De Havilland-4 proved to be a good, all-round plane of rather poor visibility, with a tank design which increased the danger in case of a crash, but with these defects more than com pensated by unusually good maneuver ability, and great speed. The De Havillands were acknowledged to be the fastest observation and bombing planes on the western front. At the time of the armistice this plane was being produced at a rate of over 1,100 per month. A 90 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. total of 3,227 had been completed, 1,885 had been shipped to France, and 667 to the zone of the advance. The Handley-Page was rede signed to take two high-powered American motors, passed its tests, and on the date of the armistice, parts for 100 had been shipped abroad for assembly. Delay in the receipt of plans for the Caproni greatly retarded the redesign of this machine. Successful tests of the new model were, however, completed previous to the armistice. The Bristol fighter was a failure. The changes necessary to accommodate the American engine so increased the total weight as to render the maehine unsafe. Diagram 36 shows the production of service planes from American and foreign sources. The total at the end of November, 1918, was nearly 7,900, of which nearly 4,100 were of American manufacture, and remaining 3,800 were of foreign manufacture. In other words, of every 100 battle planes which we received up to the end of Novem ber, 1918, 52 were of American manufacture and 48 were made in foreign factories. Two new models — the Le Pere two-seater fighter, and the Martin bomber — were designed around the standard American motor, and in tests prior to the armistice each showed a performance superior to that of any known machine of its class. Neither, however, was completed in time for use in actual service. SERVICE ENGINES. The rapid development of the heavier types of airplane, together with the pressing need for large scale production, made necessary the development of a high-powered motor adaptable to American methods of standardized quantity production. This need was met in the Liberty 12-cylinder motor which was America's chief contribu tion to aviation. After this standardized motor had passed the ex perimental stage production increased with rapidity, the October output being over 3,850. The total production of Liberty engines to the date of the armistice was 13,574. Of this production 4,435 were shipped overseas to the expeditionary forces and 1,025 were* delivered to the British, French, and Italian air services. It is noteworthy that at the present time the British are requesting the delivery of Liberty motors to them in accordance with arrangements made dur ing the war. Other types of service engines, including the Hispano-Suiza 300 horsepower, the Bugatti, and the Liberty eight-cylinder, were under development when hostilities ceased. The Hispano-Suiza 180 horse power had reached quantity production ; 469 of this type were pro duced, of which about one-half were shipped overseas for use in for eign-built pursuit planes. AIRPLANES, MOTORS, AND BALLOONS. 91 The columns of diagram 37 indicate the total number of service engines produced for the Army to the end of each month, and show how many of them came from American factories and how many from foreign ones. . Up to the end of November, 1918, the total number of service en gines secured was in excess of 22,000. Of this number more than 16,000, or 73 per cent, were from American sources and less than 6,000 from foreign sources. 2il04 From foreignsources Sep Oct. Hot Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov ~ 1917 1918 Diagram 3T. — Production of service engines to the end of each month. RAW MATERIALS. The American and allied airplane programs called for quantities of certain raw materials, which threatened to exhaust the supply. This was true of spruce and fir, lubricating oils, linen, dopes, and mahogany. In order to meet the spruce and fir shortage labor battalions were organized and placed in the forests of the west coast, loyal organiza tions of civilian labor were fostered, new kiln processes were devel oped which seasoned the lumber rapidly, without loss of strength and 92 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. resiliency. These methods solved the problem. Approximately 174,000,000 feet of spruce and fir were delivered, of which more than two-thirds went to the Allies. Castor «oil was at first the only satisfactory lubricant for airplane motors. The limited supply was far short of the prospective demand, but the situation was met by planting a large acreage of castor beans and the development of a mineral oil substitute. To meet an acute shortage of linen for the wings of planes a fabric of long fiber cotton was developed which proved superior to linen. The standard " dope " used by the Allies to cover the wings of their planes, making them air and water tight, was limited in supply and highly inflammable. A substitute dope, far less inflammable and of more plentiful basic materials, was produced. Mahogany for propellers was partially replaced by walnut, oak, cherry, and ash, and by improved seasoning processes excellent results were secured. ACCESSOREES. Few facilities and little experience existed at the beginning of the war for the development of many of the delicate instruments and intricate mechanisms required in the equipment of service planes. Intensive research brought some notable results, of which several de serve especial mention. These are: The oxygen mask, equipped with telephone connections which en abled the flyer to endure the rarified air at any altitude which his plane could reach without losing speaking contact with his com panions. The military parachute, which was developed to unprecedented safety. This was used principally for escape from burning balloons, and was improved so that it would bring down safely the entire balloon basket with its load. During the entire war there was not an American casualty due to parachute failure. The electric-heated clothing for aviators on high altitude work. The. electric suit, developed in the latter months of the war and used at the front, was lined with insulated coils through which current was driven by means of a small dynamo actuated by a miniature propeller driven by the rush of the plane through the air. Long-focus, light-filtration cameras by which good photographs could be taken through haze from altitudes of 3 miles or more. Pri mary credit for this belongs to Europe, but America improved the mechanism and standardized the design for quantity production. AIRPLANES,, MOTORS, AND BALLOONS. 93 The wireless telephone, by which the aviator is enabled to converse easily with other planes and with ground stations. This development came too late to be of any substantial use at the front, but its value for peace as well as for any future war is obvious. BALLOONS. Diagram 38 shows the total number of observation balloons manu factured and the number that were shipped overseas. 800 600 ,400 200 • 642' / front and a more extended period of time, against an enemy who had improved his distribution of air force along the entire southern section of the front, no such heavy instantaneous concentration of planes as was made at St. Mihiel was possible. In this operation^ moreover, less assistance was rendered by French and British flyers. The American . force used during the engagement was considerably larger than at St. Mihiel. 132966°— 19 7 98 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. During the six weeks' struggle, the losses were heavy, but re placements were brought forward so rapidly that at the last stage of the action the available American strength was greater than at the start. As shown by diagram 41, American air activities continued during the Argonne fighting on the same scale as during the St. Mihiel offensive. axjumt8,000 2,0001,000 0 K 5 IH r IEI 1 1 MEUS 1 :a 1G 1 ON* It t -V J 5 1 c ¦ < J ? IC c H/> T£ At 11 * :k ff . ' 2 P 9 hhb 5 12 19 26 3 10 1731 & 7 kilZ&i li 182^5 M l'fife&ld lil20Z74 li 16251 ft 152295 ttki8 5 ii APR rW jun JUL SEFT OCT rtov DFX JAM FEB MAR APR 1918 1919 Diagram 41.— Hours spent in the air each week by American service planes at the front. STRENGTH AT ARMISTICE. At the signing of the armistice, there were on the front 20 pursuit squadrons, 18 observation squadrons, and 7 squadrons of bombers; with 1,238 flying officers and 740 service planes. There were also 23 balloon companies. THE TEST OF BATTLE. The final test of the American Air Service is the test of battle. The final record is the record of the results of combat. Casualty AIRPLANES, MOTORS, AND BALLOONS. 99 figures are an important part of the record. American aviators brought down in the course of their few months of active service 755 enemy planes. Our losses in combat were 357 planes. This is illus trated in diagram 42. The record of our balloon companies shows a somewhat less favorable comparison between our own and enemy AIRPLANES 755 BET BALLOONS 48 toy Jneriem Bieray by Americaa .American fcy enemy American by ttaenry Diagram 42.— Airplanes and balloons brought down in action. losses, the figures being 43 American and 71 German balloons de stroyed. SUMMARY. 1. On the declaration of war the United States had 55 training airplanes, of which 51 were classified as obsolete and the other 4 as obsolescent. 100 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 2. When we entered the war the Allies made the designs of their planes available to us and before the end of hostilities furnished us from their own manufacture 3,800 service planes. — 3. Aviation training schools in the United States graduated 8,602 men from elementary courses and 4,028 from advanced courses. More than 5,000 pilots and observers were sent overseas. 4. The total personnel of the Air Service, officers, students, and enlisted men, increased from 1,200 at the outbreak of the war to nearly 200,000 at its close. 5. There were produced in the United States to November 30, 1918, more than 8,000 training planes and more than 16,000 training engines. 6. The De Havilland-4 observation and day bombing plane was the only plane the United States put into quantitjr production. Be fore the signing of the armistice 3,227 had been completed and 1,885 shipped overseas. The plane was successfully used at the front for three months. 7. The production of the 12-cylinder Liberty engine was America's chief contribution to aviation. Before the armistice 13,574 had been completed, 4,435 shipped to the expeditionary forces, and 1,025 de livered to the Allies. 8. The first flyers in action wearing the American uniform were members of the ¦ Lafayette Escadrille, who were transferred to the American service in December, 1917. 9. The American air force at the front grew from 3 squad rons in April to 45 in November, 1918. On November 11 the 45 squadrons had an equipment of 740 planes. 10. Of 2,698 planes sent to the zone of the advance for American aviators 667, or nearly one-fourth, were of American manufacture. 11. American air squadrons -played important roles in the battles of Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne. They brought down in combat 755 enemy planes, while their own losses of planes numbered only 357. Chapter VIII. TWO HUNDBED DAYS OF BATTLE. TWO OUT OP THREE. Two out of every three American soldiers who reached France took part in battle. The number who reached France was 2,084,000, and of these 1,390,000 saw active service in the front line. American combat forces were organized into divisions, which, as has been noted, consisted of some 28,000 officers and men. These divisions were the largest on the western front, since the British division numbered about 15,000 and those of the French and Ger mans about 12,000 each. There were sent overseas 42 American divisions and several hundred thousand supplementary artillery and service of supply troops. Diagram 43 shows the numerical designa tions of the American divisions that were in France each month. The numbers in the columns are the numbers of the divisions in France each month, and in every case the numbers of those arriving during the month are placed at the top of the column, while those designating the divisions already there are shown below. Of the 42 divisions that reached France 29 took part in active combat service, while the others were used for replacements or were just arriving during the last month of hostilities. The battle record of the United States Army in this' war is largely the history of these 29 combat divisions. Seven of them were Eegular Army divisions, 11 were organized from the National Guard, and 11 were made up of National Army troops; American combat divisions were in battle for 200 days, from the 25th of April, 1918, when the first Eegular division after long train ing in quiet sectors, entered an active sector on the Picardy front, until the signing of the armistice. During these 200 days they were engaged in 13 major operations, of which 11 were joint enterprises with the French, British, and Italians, and 2 were distinctively American. At the time of their greatest activity in the second week of October all 29 American divisions were in action. They then held 101 miles of front, or 23 per cent of the entire allied battle line. From the middle of August until the end of the war they held, during the 101 102 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. greater part of the time, a front longer than that held by the British. Their strength tipped the balance of man power in favor of the Allies, so that from the middle of June, 1918, to the end of the war the allied forces were superior in number to those of the enemy. 8 ~ 3831 • 80 3033 6 27 4 2635 82 2937 9092 8983 78 60 3033 6 27 4 28 35 62 36 917976 29 379092 89837860 3033 6 27 4 28 35 82 4039 88 81 7 85369179 7629379092898378 80 30 33 6 27 4 283582 34 34 66 86 84 84 67 87 40 40 39 39 88 88 81 81 7 7 86 86 36 36 91 91 79 79 76 76 29 29 37" 37 90 90 92 92 89 89 83 83 78 78 80 80 30 30 33 33 6 6 27 27 4 4 28 28 35 35 82 82 77 77 77 77 77 77 77 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 L 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nor Dec | Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 1917 . 1916 Diagram 43.— Numerical designations of American divisions in France each month. The total battle advances of all the American divisions amount to 782 kilometers, or 485 miles, an average advance for each division of 17 miles, nearly all of it against desperate enemy resistance. They captured 63,000 prisoners, 1,378 pieces of artillery, 708 trench mor tars, and 9,650 machine guns. In June and July they helped to shatter the enemy advance toward Paris and to turn retreat into a triumphant offensive. At St. Mihiel they pinched off in a day an TWO HUNDRED DAYS OF BATTLE. 103 enemy salient which had been a constant menace to the French line for four years. In the Argonne and on the Meuse they carried lines which the enemy 'was determined to hold at any cost, and cut the enemy lines of communication and supply for half the western battle front. The maps and diagrams in this chapter show in more detail the part American troops played in the allied endeavor, something of 854 654 Hot. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. I 31 28 21 10 10 10 10 10 10 xu u Diagram 44. — Kilometers of front line held by armies of each nation. the scale and character of their operations, and several comparative records of the 29 combat divisions. TIPPING THE BALANCE OF POWER. The place American troops took in the allied undertaking is illustrated in diagram 44, which shows in kilometers the length of front line held by the armies of each nation on the allied side during the year 1918. In January American troops were holding 10 kilometers, or 6J miles, of front in quiet sectors. In April their line had lengthened to 50 kilometers. In July this figure was 104 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. doubled and in September tripled. The high point was reached in October, with 29 divisions in line, extending over a front of 162 kilometers, or 101 miles, nearly one-quarter of the entire western front. These changes are shown on the diagram in the upper portions of the columns in solid black. The length of front shown as occupied by the French includes the lines held by the Italian Second Army Corps. On November 11, 1918, the Italians held 14 kilome'ters, or 2£ per cent, of the western front. The fluctuations in the heights of the columns show how the allied lines gradually lengthened as the five German offensives bei- 2,000,000 GERMAN I.60ft000^— ^ ^39,000 LSWrCW L572.000 Lge^ooo ALL ED L6B4.0W ALLIED 1,343,000 ,49fJ,C00 \ i^ia^oo^ L396,000 1339,000 GEftMAM ** ^"^^i UM6.000 1,233.000 \ • \ 0 L4flS, 1 16,117 28 th ¦M 1 13.980 42nd ¦*¦¦ 1 13,919 26 th m 113.460 32nd ¦¦ — - - 1 13.393 4th ¦l^nS 1 12.504 77 th ¦^¦V 1 10,497 27 th ¦Mi 1 8,986 30th Bi 1 8,954 5th ¦M 1 8,840 82nd ¦¦ ' IVtb46 89 th 35 th 90th 33rd 78th 79 th ¦ 17,291 17,283 ¦ " 17,277 |7,25517,245 1 6,750 80th ¦¦ Z3 6,i32 91st ¦¦ 115,778 37 th ¦ ] 5,243 29th ¦ ] 5,219 36 th 7th 92nd 81st 6th 88th ¦ZZ12.5. 01,693CHI, 642 ? 1,224 Q 546 0118 28 Total Others 47,205 3,075 198,056 7,634 Grand total 50,280 205,690 Diagram 49 Casualties suffered by each division. Hence the papers involved in their transfer had been completed. they were reported in their original organizations. Among the 10,709 " other " casualties there is one most interest ing and not inconsiderable group, some of the members of which are included in " troops not in divisions," and the rest among the casualties of replacement and depot divisions. These are the men who deserted to the front. They went A. W. O. L. (absent without leave) from .their organizations in the zone of supplies or in the training areas, and found their way up to the battle line, where many of them took part in the fighting and some of them were killed or 118 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. wounded. These cases were so numerous that Gen. Pershing made special arrangements by which trained men who had rendered good service behind the lines could, as a reward, secure opportunity to go to the front and take part in the fighting. In the next chapter a more careful analysis is made of American casualties, and the battle and disease deaths in this war are com pared with the records of the United States and other nations in previous wars. SUMMARY. 1. Two out of every three American soldiers who reached France took part in battle. The number who reached France was 2,084,000, and of these 1,390,000 saw active service at the front. 2. Of the 42 divisions that reached France 29 took part in active combat service. Seven of them were Eegular Army divisions, 11 were organized from the National Guard, and 11 were made up of National Army troops. 3. American divisions were in battle for 200 days and engaged in 13 major operations. 4. From the middle of August until the end of the war the Ameri can divisions held during the greater part of the time a front longer than that held by the British. 5. In October the American divisions held 101 miles of line, or 23 per cent of the entire western front. 6. On the 1st of April the Germans had a superiority of 324,000 in rifle strength. Due to American arrivals the allied strength exceeded that of the Germans in June and was more than 600,000 above it in November. 7. In the Battle of St. Mihiel 550,000 Americans were engaged, as compared with about 100,000 on the Northern side in the Battle of Gettysburg. The artillery fired more than 1,000,000 shells in four hours, which is the most intense concentration of artillery fire re corded in history. 8. The Meuse-Argonne Battle lasted for 47 days, during which 1,200,000 American troops were engaged. 9. The American battle losses of the war were 50,000 killed and 206,000 wounded. They are heavy when counted in terms of lives and suffering, but light compared with the enormous price paid by the nations at whose sides we fought. Chapter IX. HEALTH AND CASUALTIES. THE DEADLIEST WAR. Of every 100 American soldiers and sailors who took part in the war with Germany, 2 were killed or died of disease during the period of hostilities. In the Northern Army during the Civil War the number was about 10. Among the other great nations in this war, between 20 and 25 in each 100 called to the colors were killed or died. To carry the comparison still further, American losses in this war were relatively one-fifth as large as during the Civil War and less than one-tenth as large as in the ranks of the enemy or among the nations associated with us. The war was undoubtedly the bloodiest which has ever been fought. One possible competitor might be the Crimean War, in which the casualty rate per 100 men was equally heavy. The Brit ish forces in the Crimean War lost 22 of every 100 men, the French 31, the Turkish 27, and the Eussian 43. More than four- fifths of the losses were, however, deaths from disease, while in the recent war with Germany disease deaths were inconsiderable as compared with battle deaths. The forces engaged in the Crimean War were, moreover, much smaller. Tabee 9. — Battle deaths in armies engaged in present war, 1914-1918. Russia 1, 700, 000 Germany 1, 600, 000 Trance 1, 385, 300 Great Britain—' T___ 900, 000 Austria l 800,000 Italy 364,000 Turkey . 250,000 Serbia and Montenegro 125,000 Belgium 102,000 Roumania 100, 000 Bulgaria 100,000 United States 50, 300 Greece ^ 7,000 Portugal 2, 000 Total 7, 485, 600 119 120 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. The total battle deaths in the recent war were, greater than all the deaths in all wars for more than 100 years previous. From 1793 to 1914 total deaths in war may safely be estimated at some thing under 6,000,000. Battle deaths alone from 1914 to 1918 totaled about 7,500,000. An estimate of the losses of the principal nations engaged is shown in Table 9. As the final records are not yet wholly complete, these figures are approximate in some cases. Only deaths MEUSE -ARGOMNE 1918 Diagram 50. — Battle deaths each week. resulting directly from action are included. The total deaths from all causes is very much larger, as some of the armies lost more heavily from diseases and privation than from battle. The table shows tha.t Eussia had the heaviest losses, in spite of the fact that she withdrew from the war after the fall of 1917. Amer ican losses are third from the bottom of the list. German losses were thirty-two times as great as the losses of the United States, the French twenty-eight times, and the British eighteen times as large. HEALTH AND CASUALTIES. 121 That American losses were not more severe is due to the fact that our armies were only in heavy fighting for 200 days. Diagram 50 shows the number of battle deaths occurring each week through 1918. The first rise in the columns, the last part of May, reflects the battle of Cantigny. The second rise, in July, indicates the heavy losses which took place when American divisions were thrown in along the Marne salient at the beginning of the allied offensive. The heaviest losses were in the Meuse-Argonne drive from the last week of September until November 11. The weekly deaths during a part of that period were around the 6,000 mark. infantry . Muh.Oun ^l08r" Kg^™^^ Air Service ¦aglneor Corp* Sank Corns Artillery Signal Corps Medical Department Ojiartezoaster Cavalry Ordnance Officers V////////////MZ2Za 33.3 Ken I .6 Officers Y//////X 11.5 Hen Hi 6.5 Officers Y/////A 11.5 Hen tm 5.4 Offioere V777A 6.1 Hen tm 5.6 Of floors E) 3.8 Hen ¦¦ 7,8 Offioere Q 1.7 Hen | 1.9 Offioere 0 1.7 Hen I .3 Of floors 0 Hen I1.4 Officers 0 Hen I .1 Diagram 51. Battle deaths among each thonsand officers and men -who reached France. BATTLE DEATHS BY SERVICES. The chances of death are much heavier in the Infantry than in any other branch of the service. Diagram 51 compares the various services in respect to the chances of death in each. The bars show how many battle deaths there were among eaeh 1,000 men in the various services who reached France. Of each 1,000 enlisted men in the Infantry 52 were killed in action or died of wounds. The officers show a higher rate. The most striking difference between the death rates of officers and men appears in the Air Service. Here the casualties among officers are much higher than among men because in our service all aviators are officers. 122 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. WOUNDED, PRISONERS, AND MISSING. For every man who was Milled in battle, six others were wounded, taken prisoner, or reported missing. The total battle casualties in the expeditionary forces are shown in Table 10. The number who died of wounds was only 7 per cent as large as the number who were wounded. The hospital records show that about 85 per cent of the men sent to hospitals on account of injuries have been returned to duty. About half the wounded were reported as slightly wounded and many of them would not have been recorded as casualties in pre vious wars. Except for 373 who died, all the prisoners shown in the table have now been returned. Table 10. — Battle casualties in the American Expeditionary Forces. Killed in action 35, 560 Died of wounds 14, 720 Total dead 50, 280 Wounded severely 90, 830 Wounded slightly 80, 480 Wounded, degree undetermined * 34, 380 Total wounded 205, 690 Missing in action (Aug. 1, 1919) 46 Taken prisoner 4, 480 Grand< total 260,496 The number of men reported as missing has been steadily reduced from a total of 78,000 to the figure 46 shown in the table. This reduc tion has gone on without clearing any case" as dead except on evidence establishing the fact of death. The total number of cases cleared as presumed dead will be about 1,550. The results of clearing up the records of more than 21,000 cases, exclusive of prisoners, which were reported in the casualty cables to this country, are shown in diagram 52. The largest number have been found in hospitals, while a con siderable number have returned to duty after being lost from their units. The work of the Central Eecords Office of the American Expedi tionary Forces in clearing up the cases of men listed as missing has been more successful, than that done in any of the other armies or in any previous great war. The missing lists of the other nations still run into the hundreds of thousands. The most recent figures for France and Great Britain are 264,000 and 121,000, respectively. HEALTH AND- CASUALTIES. BATTLE AND DISEASE LOSSES. 123 The total number of lives lost in both Army and Navy from the declaration of war to July 1, 1919, is 125,500. Deaths in the Army, including marines attached to it, were 115,660. About two-thirds Diagram 52.— Final disposition of cases of men reported missing In action. of these deaths occurred overseas. Diagram 53 shows the propor tion which occurred in the United States and overseas, and also the proportion which disease deaths bore to battle deaths. Under TOTAL 115,660 TOTAL 115,660 Diagram 53.— Total deaths. "Other" are included deaths from accident. There were 768 lost at sea, of whom 381 are included under battle deaths, since their loss was the direct result of submarine activity. Almost exactly half the losses were from disease. If the comparison between dis- 124 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. ease and battle losses is limited to the expeditionary forces, battle losses appear more than twice as large as deaths from disease. This is the first war in which the United States has been engaged that showed a lower death rate from disease than from battle. In previous wars insanitary conditions at camps and the ravages of epidemic diseases have resulted in disease deaths far in excess of the number killed on the battle field. The facts are shown in dia gram 54. In order to make a fair comparison the figures used are the numbers of deaths each year among each 1,000 troops. Since DISEASE DISEASE BATTLE | BATTLE I BATTLE 15 33 Mexican War 1846-48 Civil War (North) 1861-65 DISEASE BATTLE m Spanish War 1898 DISEASE I 53 FBESEHT WAB to Hot 11 1918 Diagram 54.— Disease and battle deaths. the time of the Mexican War a steady improvement has been made in the health of troops in war operations. The death rate from dis ease in the Mexican War was 110 per year in each 1,000 men; in the Civil War this was reduced to 65 ; and in the Spanish War to 26; while the rate in the expeditionary forces in this war was 19. The battle rate of 53 for the overseas forces is higher than in any previous war. It is higher than in the Civil War because all of the fighting was concentrated in one year, while in the Civil War it stretched over four years. The rates in this war for the total forces HEALTH AND CASUALTIES. 125 under arms, both in the United States and France from the beginning of the war to May 1, 1919, were 13 for battle and 15 for disease. THE CONTROL OF DISEASE. Some of the outstanding causes of the remarkably low disease death rate in the war against Germany are: (1) A highly trained medical personnel, (2) compulsory vaccination of the entire Army against typhoid fever, (3) -thorough camp sanitation and control of drinking water, and (4) adequate provision of hospital facilities. There were at the beginning of the war 2,089 commissioned medi cal officers, including the Eeserves. During the war 31,251 physicians from civil life were commissioned in the Medical Corps. This num ber included leaders of medical science who have not only made pos sible the application of the most recent advances of medicine in the prevention and cure of disease, but have themselves made new dis coveries during the course of the war, resulting in great saving of life in our own and other armies. The intestinal diseases such as dysentery, the typhoids, bubonic plague, cholera, and typhus, have ravaged and even obliterated armies in the past. During the Spanish- American War typhoid fever alone caused 85 per cent of the total number of deaths. In the War with Germany these diseases have been practically eliminated as causes of death. Diagram 55 shows the relative proportion of deaths caused by principal diseases. During the entire war up to May 1, 1919, a total of only 2,328 cases of typhoid fever have been reported and only 227 deaths from this cause. The result is due to the compulsory vaccination of every man who entered the Army and to excellent sanitary conditions. The other intestinal diseases are similarly of little effect as causes of death or have not occurred at all. It was to be expected that with careful control exercised, epi-" demies of these diseases would be avoided in the United States ; but in the Expeditionary Forces, where troops were quartered in tem porary camps, billeted with civilians, or actively engaged in pro longed battle, the reduction of these diseases is a notable achievement in sanitary control. It is evident from the diagram that pneumonia has been the great est cause of death. More than 40,000 died of the disease. Of these, probably 25,000 resulted from the influenza-pneumonia pandemic which swept through every camp and cantonment in this country and caused thousands of deaths in the expeditionary forces. Up to September 14, 1918, only 9,840 deaths from disease had occurred in the Army, and the death rate for the period of the war up to that "time was only 5 per year for each 1,000 men. During the eight weeks 126 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. from September 14 to the 8th of November 316,089 cases of influenza and 53,449 of pneumonia were reported among troops in this country. The explosive character of the epidemic is shown in diagram 56. The curve in the diagram shows the weekly death rate for each 1,000 troops in this country during the year 1918. The curve starts to rise sharply during the third week in September. It reached its high point the second week in October, when 4 out of each 1,000 troops under arms in this country died. The rate subsided at the end of October, but during the succeeding months remained somewhat higher than it had been previous to the epidemic. -Z% -3% MEASLES SCARLET FEVER— ORGANIC HEART DISEASES-^ APPEMDICITI5 AX PERITONITIS -5 TYPHOID .5 BRIGHT!s DISEASE 5EPTCEMIA E.MPYEMIA Diagram 55.— Deaths by principal diseases. Two other diseases which offered difficult problems for the medical force were measles and spinal meningitis. Measles was prevalent during the first year of the war and was particularly dangerous as the predecessor of pneumonia. After vigorous efforts to control it, the number of cases was greatly reduced. Meningitis has caused nearly 2,000 deaths, ranking next to pneumonia as shown in diagram 55. Both of these contagious diseases were largely the result of bringing numbers of men together in the confinement of camps and cantonments where the control of contagion is difficult. In the case of measles, men from rural communities who had not been im munized by previous exposure were particularly susceptible. HEALTH AND CASUALTIES. VENEREAL DISEASE. 127 Great success has also been experienced in the control of the venereal diseases. A comprehensive program of education, to gether with medical prophylaxis, has produced unusual results. While these diseases have continued to be the most frequent cause of admissions to the sick report, and the greatest source of nonef- 3 21 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR 1918 1919 Diagram 56.— Deaths per 1,000 soldiers each week in the United States, showing effect of influenza epidemic. fectiveness in the Army, a large proportion of the cases were con tracted before entering the Army. A special study of all new cases of venereal diseases reported at five large cantonments, Lee, Va. ; Dix, N. J. ; Upton, N. Y. ; Meade, Md. ; and Pike., Ark., during the year ended May 21, 1919, shows that of 48,167 cases treated, 96 per cent were contracted before entering the Army and only 4 per cent after. 128 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. The record for the forces overseas has been particularly note worthy. There, few fresh recruits entered the Army from civil life, and hence the conditions more accurately show the effects of the Army control exercised. Up to September, 1918, there was steady reduction of noneffective- ness from venereal diseases in the Army overseas. At the begin ning of that month there was less than one venereal patient in hos pitals among each 1,000 men. Diagram 57 shows the number of 90 75 60 45 30 15 gov Pee Jan Peb liar Apr Bay Jnn Jul Aug Sep Oct Hot- Bee Jan Feb Mar Apr May 1917 ~ " 1918 ~ " 1919 Diagram 57. — Venereal cases in hospitals among each 10,000 men in the American Expeditionary Forces. venereal patients in hospitals at the beginning of each month per 10,000 troops in the expeditionary forces. While the relative num ber of patients has increased since hostilities stopped, the record is still excellent. Eegular weekly inspections, covering about 85 per cent of the total number of troops overseas, have disclosed during six months since the armistice less than one new case in each thousand men examined weekly. The actual average was one new case each week among each 2,630 men examined. HOSPITALIZATION. At the beginning of the war what was then considered an extrava gant program of hospital construction was entered upon, with the l* \ \ \ \ 33 30 4C . 39 2T jl £0 J6 16,"^ ^* 28, ^2 l?"*" J3 9^< 11 T3 HEALTH AND CASUALTIES. 129 intent that in no case should the Army lack facilities for the care of its sick. Table 11 summarizes the hospital construction in the-United States. Table 11. — Army hospital construction in the.J3ni%ed. States. Number. Normal bed capacity. New hospitals Leased buildings and converted Army posts Post hospitals remodeled Total 83,46829,383 6,056 123,907 The figures are exclusive of very numerous small hospitals already in Army use. In addition more than 200 hospitals were put in oper- Beda 250,000 200,000 250,000 100,000 50,000 A-r ii _M — Jfc. - __. JP if'^K \ J A *Vv..s £y v-\^ l?' 18 25 1 8 15 22 89 5 B 19 i JUL AU6SCPT 1 3 10 17 K 31 7 14 21 26 E ft 19 28 t 9 16 23 30 8 13 20 27 8 13 20 27 OCT MOV DEC JAM FEB MAB 1918 1913 Diagram 58.— Beds available and occupied in the American Expedi tionary Forces. ation overseas. On December 1, 1918, there were available in Army hospitals 399,510 beds, or 1 bed to every 9 men in the Army. Of these, 287,290 were overseas and 112,220 were in this country. Diagram 58 shows the number of patients at the end of each week in the American Expeditionary Forces compared with the beds avail able. The hospital capacity was exceeded in this country only dur- 132966°— 19 9 130 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. ing the influenza epidemic, when it became necessary to take over barracks for hospital purposes. The overseas record was even bet ter. Except during two weeks in October, at the height of the at tack on the Hindenburg line, the number of patients did not exceed the normal bed capacity of the hospitals, and at that time there were approximately 60,000 unused emergency beds. Over 130,000 patients have been evacuated from the expeditionary forces to hospitals in this country. They have been distributed to hospitals in this country in accordance with a twofold plan permit ting the specialization of hospitals for the most efficient treatment of the various kinds of cases and placing the convalescents near their homes. SUMMARY. 1. Of every 100 American soldiers and sailors, who served in the war with Germany, two were killed or died of disease during the period of hositilties. 2. The total battle deaths of all nations in this war were greater than all the deaths in all the wars in the previous 100 years. 3. Eussian battle deaths were 34 times as heavy as those of the United States, those of Germany 32 times as great, the French 28 times, and the British 18 times as large. 4. The number of American lives lost was 125,500, of which about 10,000 were in the Navy, and the rest in the Army and the marines attached to it. 5. In the American Army the casualty rate in the Infantry was higher than in any other service, and that for officers was higher than for men. 6. For every man killed in battle six were wounded. 7. Five out of every six men sent to hospitals on account of wounds were cured and returned to duty. 8. In the expeditionary forces battle losses were twice as large as deaths from disease. 9. In this war the death rate from disease was lower, and the death rate from battle was higher than in any other previous American war. 10. Inoculation, clean camps, and safe drinking water, practically eliminated typhoid fever among our troops in this war. 11. Pneumonia killed more soldiers than were killed in battle. Meningitis was the next most serious disease. 12. Of each 100 cases of venereal disease recorded in the United States, 96 were contracted before entering the Army and only 4 afterwards. 13. During the entire war available hospital facilities in the Amer ican Expeditionary Forces have been in excess of the needs. Chapter X. A MILLION DOLLARS AN HOUR. • TOTAL WAR EXPENDITURES. For a period of «25 months, from April, 1917, through April, 1919, the war cost the United States considerably more than $1,000,000 an hour. Treasury disbursements during the period reached a total of $23,500,000,000, of which $1,650,000,000 may be charged to the normal expenses which would have occurred in time of peace. The balance may be counted as the direct money cost of the war to the end of April, 1919, a sum of $21,850,000,000. The figure is 20 times the prewar national debt. It is nearly large enough to pay the entire costs of our Government from 1791 up to the outbreak of the Euro pean war. Our expenditure in this war was sufficient to have carried on the Revolutionary War continuously for more than a thousand years at the rate of expenditure which that war actually involved. In addition to this huge expenditure loans were advanced to the Allies at the rate of nearly half a million dollars an hour. Congress authorized for this purpose $10,000,000,000, and there was actually paid to various Governments the sum of $8,850,000,000. Of the United States Government war costs, the Army was respon sible for the expenditure of 64 per cent, or just short of two-thirds of the entire amount. Through April 30, 1919, there had been with drawn from the Treasury on the Army account $14,244,061,000. If there is deducted from this figure what would be the normal expedi- ture for a peace-time Army for a similar period there remains a total of $13,930,000,000 directly chargeable to the war. The rate of expenditure for the Army and for the entire Govern ment increased rapidly as the war progressed. This is illustrated in diagram 59, which compares the daily rates of expenditure for the first three months of the war, the fiscal year entirely included in the war, and the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. The total height of the columns shows the daily rate of expenditure for the whole Government and the solid portion of the column the rate for the Army. During the first three months war expenditures were at the rate of $2,000,000 per day. During the next year they averaged more than $22,000,000 a day. For the final 10 months of the period the 131 132 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. daily total reached the enormous sum of over $44,000,000. The very high daily average in the last period, most of which is in the months after the termination of hostilities, is surprising until we consider that the building of ships for the Emergency Fleet Cor poration, the construction and operation of naval vessels, the food, *4*,700,000 #22,600,000 $2,000,000 ARMY April 6,1917 July 1,1917 July 1,1918 to to to June 30,1917 June 30,1916 Apr 30,1919 Diagram 59.— Cost per day of the Government and of the Army. clothing, pay, and land and ocean transportation of the Army have had to go forward at about the same rate as during the war. The great flow of munitions and supplies for the Army and Navy could not, out of regard for the industrial balance of the country, be stopped with too great abruptness. A considerable number of war time activities and purchases had still to be paid for as well. A MILLION DOLLARS AN HOUR. 133 ARMY EXPENDITURES. Table 12 shows the amounts expended by each important Army bureau. The Quartermaster Corps, which paid the soldiers and furnished them with food, clothing, equipment, and miscellaneous supplies, spent the most. The Ordnance Department was next in order, with over $4,000,000,000 for munitions, more than half of its expenditure being for artillery ammunition. Table 12. — Expenditures t>y Army bureaus. Expended to Apr. 30, 1919. Per cent. Quartermaster Corps: Pay ol the Army, etc Other Quartermaster Corps appropriations. Ordnance Department Air Service Engineer Corps Medical Department Signal Corps Chemical Warfare Service Provost Marshal General Secretary's office and miscellaneous $1,831, 6,242, 4,087, 859,638,314, 128, 83, 124, 273,000 745,000347,000 291,000 974,000544,000920,000 299,000 301,000367,000 12.943.8 28.7 6.0 4.52.2 .17 .23 Total.. 14,244,061,000 100.00 ' Figures are for Dec. 31, 1918. Expenditures since that date for these purposes have been small compared with other items in table. Diagram 60.— Where the Army dollar went. The total of our Army expenditures shown in Table 12 about equals the value of all the gold produced in the whole world from the discovery of America up to the outbreak of the European war. The single item of pay for the Army is larger than the combined salaries of all the public-school principals and teachers in the United States for the five years from 1912 to 1916. 134 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. WHERE THE DOLLAR WENT. Diagram 60 shows the relative amount of the Army expenditures spent for different purposes. It does this by dividing the typical dollar into sectors, showing the number of cents of each dollar that went for each purpose. PERMANENT ASSETS. As a result of the war efforts large quantities of munitions, sup plies, and equipment have been secured which will be of value for many years to come. The Army now owns some of the finest docks in the world. The 16 National Army cantonments and 3 of the National Guard camps will be retained permanently as training camps. A number of first-class aviation fields and depots and bal loon schools will be a permanent asset. We have stocks of most articles of clothing sufficient to last our Army for a number of years. There is a large supply of standardized trucks. As to rifles and machine guns and their ammunition, light and heavy artillery and ammunition, tanks and tractors, of these we have a supply more than sufficient to equip fully an army of a million men and maintain them in active combat for six months. These munitions are of the best quality and latest design — Springfield and Enfield rifles; Browning machine guns and automatic rifles; field guns and howitzers of tried French design. Articles of miscellaneous equipment are available in like quantity and quality. Thousands of Liberty motors and service planes are immediately available for any emergency. Engineer, signal, and medical equip ment is on hand to the value of millions of dollars. All these are lasting assets which we have as a result of war ex penditures. They give us a most valuable equipment for prepared ness in the Military Establishment. WAR EXPENDITURES OF ALL NATIONS. Table 13 gives the figures showing the war expenditures of all nations up to May, 1919. It is as yet too soon to present figures that are entirely accurate, but these data have been carefully compiled and are believed to be substantially reliable. A MILLION DOLLARS AN HOUR. 135 Table 13. — Estimated total war expenditures of principal nations to Apr. 30, 1919. [All figures in billions of dollars and excluding normal expenses and loans to allies.] Country. Billions of dollars. Oreat Britain and Dominions France United States Russia Italy Belgium, Roumania, Portugal, Jugo-Slavia. Japan and Greece Total allies and United States Germany. Austria-Hungary Turkey and Bulgaria Total Teutonic allies Grand total 3826 22 18 13 51 123 21 3 63 186 The total direct war costs amount to about $186,000,000,000, and of this sum the enemy countries spent about one-third and those on the allied side about two-thirds. Germany spent more than any other nation, and was closely followed by Great Britain, whose ex penditures include those of her colonies. The figure for France is $12,000,000,000 less than that for Great Britain, and our own figure is below that for France. The Austrian expenditure was almost equal to that of the United States. It is noteworthy that the United States spent about one-eighth of the entire cost of the war and something less than one-fifth of the expenditures on the allied side. SUMMARY. 1. The war cost the United States considerably more than $1,000,000 an hour for over two years. 2. The direct cost was about $22,000,000,000, or nearly enough to pay the entire cost of running the United States Government from 1791 up to the outbreak of the European war. 3. Our expenditures in this war were sufficient to have carried on the Revolutionary War continuously for more than 1,000 years at the rate of expenditure which that war actually involved. 4. In addition to this huge expenditure nearly $10,000,000,000 have been loaned by the United States to the Allies. 5. The Army expenditures have been over $14,000,000,000, or nearly two-thirds of our total war costs. 6. During the first three months our war expenditures were at the rate of $2,000,000 per day. During the next year they averaged more 136 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. than $22,000,000 a day. For the final 10 months of the period, from April, 1917, to April, 1919, the daily average was over $44,000,000. 7. Although the Army expenditures are less than two-thirds of our total war costs, they are nearly equal to the value of all the gold produced in the whole world from the discovery of America up to the outbreak of the European war. 8. The pay of the Army during the war cost more than the com bined salaries of all the public-school principals and teachers in the United States for the five years from 1912 to 1916. 9. The total war costs of all nations were about $186,000,000,000, of which the Allies and the United States spent two-thirds and the enemy one-third. 10. The three nations spending the greatest amounts were Ger many, Great Britain, and France, in that order. After them come the United States and Austria-Hungary, with substantially equal ex penditures. 11. The United States spent about one-eighth of the entire cost of the war, and something less than one-fifth of the expenditures of the allied side. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. Table 14. — Duration of the war. Allied and associated nations. War declared by Central Powers. War declared against Cen tral Powers. Duration of war. Years. Months. Days. July 28,1914 Aug. 1,1914 Aug. 3,1914 Aug. 4,1914 Nov. 23, 1914 Aug. 9,1914 Aug. 27,1914 Mar. 9, 1916' Aug. 9,1914 Nov. 3,1914 Aug. 3,1914 Apr. 7,1917 Aug. 4,1914 Aug. 6,1914 Aug. 23,1914 Nov. 23, 1914 May 23,1915 June 6, 1915 Aug. 27,1916 Nov. 23, 1916 Apr. 6, 1917 Apr. 7, 1917 Apr. 7, 1917 July 22,1917 Aug. 4,1917 Aug. 14,1917 Oct. 26,1917 Apr. 21,1918 May 6, 1918 July 12,1918 July 19,1918 43444 4 4 33 31 1 111 . 1111 373 3 3 3 2 11 55 6 11 77733 2 14 3 8 7 7 5 19 19 9. Italy 19 4 Aug. 29,1916 10 18 13. United States 5 4 15. Cuba 4 20 8 28 16 6633 21 5 30 23 i Treaty Mar. 3, 1918. 2 Treaty Mar. 6, 1918. 137 138 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 38 26 22 BfLUOAfS OfOOU/lffS 5P£MT IB 13 /// i / /2V5« £XP£A/0/rM£S 4/86,004000,000 Diagram 61.— Billions of dollars spent by each nation for direct war expenses to the spring of 1919. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. 139 iroo 11 I V// 1385 eoo I ¦ 364 F/KH//f£S w r/fotfsmos / / -V of <*» 6* >/ ^ ^7/72? l&IT/tS ar/?fiM£S £A/G/IG£0 /A/ M£S£Afr WAX Z46S.OOO Diagram 62.— Thousands of men killed In action and died of wounds. 140 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. BfLSIAM Jan. 31 Feb. 28 liar. 21 liar. 30 Apr. 10 Apr. 20 Apr.. 30 ffl&y 10 May 20 May SO June 10 June 2Q June 30 July 10 July 20 July 30 Aug. 10 Aug. 20 Aug. 30 Sept. 10 Sept. 20 Sept. 30 Oat. 10 Oat. 20 Oct. 30 Nov. 11 FREMCH BglTISH AMFBlCATf 35 ^^^^^. f* ^^^ES » yy//yy///////////yy//y///,-ti w///s//sss/ss/ss//////a"^^_ s k^^^^^ iif^^^^^^^ m K^%%^^^^ 17 s \M^imim>smm.n ^ss/^/^//^//ss/a - » sl^^m^^^yii^^m^^a^g: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ±M 4 \y/////x/y////^/////y/^^ "zmgmzmmL 4 t^^^^ 1 1 . • • ¦• g r 5 tg%^?%^^^^63^^^ 5 t^%^%%j^^58 ^/////y^arnx* s r%^%^%^%^58 y/////^///#ty////A 5 \y/////////////////A*s wi#mm?m' 5 K^%*^?ft%S^M%^^ 6 r^^^Z^^^SS %^%^^%^J HI21 31 Diagram 63 Per cent of Western front held by each army during 1918. The Italian troops are Included with the French and the Portuguese with the British. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. 141 6.427,100 AMERICAN 1.950,100 BRITISH AND PORTUGUESE 1718,000 3,562,180 BELGIAN AMD' ITALIAN 200,000 TRENCH 2,559,000 ALLIED GERMAN Diagram 64. — Ration strength of the allied and enemy forces on the Western front at the time of the armistice. 142 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 11,638 3,006 FRENCH ITALIAN BRITISH AMERICAN Diagram 65 — Gnns organized in batteries at the date of the armistice. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. 143 s.sa 2,730 1,758 812 740 FRENCH GKHBAH BBIIISH MATJAN JHBRICAV An3TBIAH BKLGIAIC Diagram 66 — Number of battle airplanes in each army at the date of the armistice. 144 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. 130 77 38 FREHGH BRITISH AMERICAN Diagram 67.- -Nnmber of battle airplanes per each 100,000 men in each army at the date of the armistice. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. 145 Blfles Great Britain- France United States 1,963,5141,396,938 2,505,910 Machine Guns and Automatic Rifles Great Britain 179,127 ¦ France 223,317 ¦ United States 181,662 ¦ Blflo and Machine Gun Anmunitlon Great Britain 3,428,195,000 Franoe 2,959,285,000 United States 2,879,148,000 anotelesa Powder - Pounds Great Britain 291,706,000 Franoe 342,155,000 United States 632,504,000 High BxploalTss - Great Britain France United States Pounds 765,110,000 702,964,000 375,666,000 Diagram 68.— Production of articles of ordnance by Great Britain, France, and the United States during the 19 months of American participation from Apr. 6, 1917, to Not. 11, 1918. 132966°— 19 10 146 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. Great Britain i H Norway J 1,177 France | 889 Italy Hii 846 United State« i | 396 Greece | 346 Demnarlr. | 241 Holland 1 203 Sweden |201 Germany |l67 Eusaia |l83 Spain I 168 Japan 1 120 Portugal • | 93 Belgian u Brazil u Austria 1X5 7,757 Others 16 Diagram 69.— Thousands of gross tons of merchant shipping? lost throueh acts of war. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. TOTAL— ?42.615.000 147 MEOTRAL MATIOMSENEMY NATIONS OTHER ALUE5 6,640,000 \ 39,605,000 ^-^ 5,786,000 SS6,325,000\S 7,6r5,ooo S§4,3fi0,000Vl 1 5,719,000 OMITED STATES 1 1,8*5,000 \ ^ UNITEP KINGDOM 20,100,000 16,900,000 JOiy 1 DEC. 3] 1914 1918 Diagram 70.— Seagoing merchant shipping;, of the world measured in gross tons on Jnly 1, 1914, and Dec. 31, 1918. 148 THE WAR WITH GERMANY. HATIMU1 WB1LTE, FBB-VAB DS39I, ABU POM-TAB MM ' 1 ZZZ2ZZ2Z2ZZZZZZa In Billions of Dollar* B5 78 67 16 0 11 2.91 lS I 1 I1-:! 89 34 3.5 I LazaMU 24 1.3 Italy Franoe Germany United Kingdom United States Diagram 71.— Estimated prewar national wealth, prewar national debts, and postwar national debts of five nations in billions of dollars. SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS. 149 west Front, Hov. 11, 1918. *** cent ot total for t^roe nations French British American Ration strength length of front held Artillery in batteries Airplane strength t^^MMI *e HUM l«»W«*^ 19 | ^^^?i^^^ zz B ^»^^^^^^ 30 Biifl All Fronts, Year 1918 Artillery amsunltion fired, including training Small arms ammunition fired. Including training *l£ 37 '££ 43 45 Diagram 72.— Comparative strength of French, British, and American Armies at the signing of the armistice and comparative expenditures of ammunition during 1918. INDEX. Page. Airplanes 85 Airplane strength 143, 144, 149 Ammunition : Artillery 75, 149 Small arms 69, 145, 149 Argonne battle =. 34 Artillery 73, 149 Artillery ammunition 75, 149 Artillery in batteries 142, 149 Atlantic fleet 39 Balloons 93 Battle deaths 120, 121, 123, 124, 139 Blankets 50,51 Breeches * 51 Bristol planes . 89 British expeditionary forces 14 British instructors 31 Browning machine guns 66 Bugatti motors 90 Camps and cantonments 28 Cantigny 107 Cantonments and camps 28 Caproni planes '. 89 Cargo movement . 44 Casualties 1 115, 122, 123 Channel fleet 40 Chateau-Thierry 96, 107 Chauchat automatic rifles 66 Civil War 13, 18, 19, 110, 112, 119, 124 Clothing 60, 61 Clothing consumed 61 Coats „ 50, 51 Colt machine guns 66 Commissioned personnel 22 Construction projects 57, 58, 59 Conversion of cargo ships 47,48 Crimean War 119 Cross-Channel fleet 40 Daily cost of war 132 De Havilland planes , 89 Deaths : Battle 120, 121, 123, 124, 139 Disease 123, 124 151 152 INDEX. . Page. Debarkation, ports of 42 Depot brigades 25 Disease 125, 126 Deaths 123, 124 Venereal 127, 128 Divisions 25 Composition 26 In France 102 National Guard 27 Training of 32 Draft 17 Duration of war 137 Dutch ships 1 40, 41 Embarkation, ports of 42 Enfield rifles '. 63 Engineer Corps 60 Expenditures 131, 138 Explosives, high 77, 145 Field artillery 73 Flying officers 86 Food -_ 60 France, military policy 13 Freight cars 46 French instructors 31 Front line held 103,104,149 Gas 78 Gas masks 52 German ships 37 Gettysburg 110 Gloves 50 Great Northern 44 Handley-Page planes 89 Helmets 52 High explosives 77, 145 Hispano-Suiza motors 90 Horses and mules 46, 56 Hospitals 128 Induction 18, 19 Influenza 125, L27 Instructors 29 Italian Army 104 Japanese ships 40,41 Kilometers advanced 115 Krag-J8rgensen rifles 63 Le Pere planes 90 Lewis machine guns 68 INDEX. 153 Page. Leviathan 44 Liberty motors 90 Locomotives 46 Losses at sea 47 Machine guns 65, 145 Marines 32 Marlin machine guns 66 Martin planes : 90 Meuse-Argonne 34, 97, 103, 111, 113 Mexican War 124 Missing 122,123 Motor trucks '. 46, 54 Mount Vernon 44 Mules and horses 46, 56 National Army 16, 26, 28 National debts 148 National Guard 16, 26, 28 Divisions 27 Officers 21 National wealth 148 Northern Pacific 44 Offensives, allied 107,108, 109 Offensives, German ' 106 Officers 21 Physical examinations 20 Pistols 69 Ports of embarkation and debarkation 42 Prisoners 122 Railroads in France 53 Railways, narrow gauge 54 Rainbow Division 28 Rations 60 Ration strength 141, 149 Registration 17,18 Regular Army 16, 26, 29 Reserve Corps : 29, 125 Return of troops 47 Revolutionary War 131 Revolvers 69 Riifles 63,145 Rifle strength 104 Ross rifles 71 Seaports in France 53 Selective service 17 Service planes . 88 Services of Supply 52 Shipping lost 146 Shipping of the world 147 154 INDEX. Page. Ships, source of 39, 41 Shirts 51 Shoes ^ 50,51' Small-arms ammunition 69 Smokeless powder 77, 145 Socks 50", 51 Spanish War , 124 Springfield rifles 63 Squadrons, air 94 St. Mihiel 97, 102, 109 States : Physical examinations 20 Soldiers furnished 22 Storage in France 53 Strength : Of Army , IS Ration 141,149 Rifle 104 Sunset Division 28 Supply, Services of . 52 Swedish ships 41 Tanks 80 Telegraph and telephone lines 56,57 Tonnage of fleet 38 Torpedoing of ships 4T Tractors , 80 Training, air 85 Training camps, officers from 21 Training engines 87 Training, length of 32 Training planes 87 Trans-Atlantic fleet • 39 Transportation of troops 37 Transport fleet 38 Trucks, motor 46, 54 Turnarounds 43 Venereal disease 127, 128 Vickers machine guns 65 Wilderness 112 Wool 52 Wounded 122 1218 r~