OUR GREATEST BATTLE
FREDERICK PALMER
THE VAGABOND
WITH KUROKI IN MANCHURIA
THE LAST SHOT
MY YEAR OF THE GREAT WAR
MY SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR
WITH OUR FACES IN THE LIGHT
AMERICA IN FRANCE
OUR GREATEST BATTLE
OUR GREATEST BATTLE
(THE MEUSE-ARGONNE)
BY
FREDERICK PALMER
Author of "The Last Shot," "America in France," etc.
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1919
By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc.
TO THE READER
During the war we had books which were theproduct of the spirit of the hour and its limitations.Among these was my "America in France," whichwas written, while we were still expecting the war tolast through the summer of 1919, to describe thegathering and training of the American ExpeditionaryForces, and their actions through the Château-Thierryand Saint-Mihiel operations. Since the warand the passing of the military censorship, we havehad many hastily compiled histories, and many"inside" accounts from participants, including commanders,both Allied and enemy, whose specialpleading is, to one familiar with events, no less evidentin their lapses than in their tone.
This book, which continues and supplements"America in France," is not in the class of the jerry-builthistories or the personal narratives. It aims,as the result of special facilities for information andobservation, to give a comprehensive and intelligentaccount of the greatest battle in which Americansever fought, the Meuse-Argonne.
In the formative period of our army, I was theofficer in charge of press relations, under a senior[vi]officer. I was never chief censor of the A. E. F.: Ihad nothing to do with the censorship of the soldiers'mail. After we began operations in the field, mylong experience in war was utilized in making me anobserver, who had the freedom of our lines and ofthose of our Allies in France. Where the averageman in the army was limited in his observations tohis own unit, I had the key to the different compartments.I saw all our divisions in action and all theprocesses of combat and organization. It was gratifyingthat my suggestions sometimes led to a broaderpoint of view in keeping with the character of theimmense new army which was being filled into themold of the old.
Friends who have read the manuscript complainthat I do not give enough of my own experiences,or enough reminiscences of eminent personalities;but even in the few places where I have allowed thepersonal note to appear it has seemed, as it would toanyone who had been in my place, a petty intrusionupon the mighty whole of two million American soldiers,who were to me the most interesting personalitiesI met. The little that one pair of eyes couldsee may supply an atmosphere of living actuality notto be easily reproduced from bare records by futurehistorians, who will have at their service the increasingaccumulation of data.
In the light of my observa