icans.

Foch, patiently biding his time, elected to halt the German drive with
Americans. The Marines of the United States forces were given the post
of honor, and at Chateau-Thierry the counter-thrust of Foch was
commenced by a complete defeat of the Prussian Guard and other crack
German regiments, by the untried soldiers of America.

From Chateau-Thierry to the armistice which went into effect at eleven
o'clock on November 11th was only a short span of time, but in it was
compressed the humiliation of arrogant Teutonic imperialism, the
destruction of militaristic autocracy, and the liberation of the world.

CHAPTER LVII

BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE

GENERAL MARCH'S OWN STORY OF THE WORK OF THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
DIVISION--OF THE WAR PLANS DIVISION--OF THE PURCHASE AND TRAFFIC
DIVISION--HOW MEN, MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES REACHED THE WESTERN FRONT.

It is important that a general summary of America's military
preparations, a detailed description of the operations behind the battle
line and a detailed chronology of America's principal military
operations in France during the year 1918 should be presented to the
reader. Such a summary is afforded by the report of General Peyton C.
March, Chief of Staff, United States Army, for the last year of the war.
Addressing the Secretary of War, General March wrote in part:

The signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, has brought to a
successful conclusion the most remarkable achievement in the history of
all warfare.

The entry of the United States into the war on April 6, 1917, found the
Nation about as thoroughly unprepared for the great task which was
confronting it as any great nation which had ever engaged in war.
Starting from a minimum of organized strength, within this short period
of sixteen months the entire resources of the country in men, money, and
munitions have been placed under central control, and at the end of this
period the Nation was in its full stride and had accomplished, from a
military standpoint, what our enemy regarded as the impossible. The most
important single thing, perhaps, in this record of accomplishment, was
the immediate passage by Congress of the draft law, without which it
would have been impossible to have raised the men necessary for victory.
In organizing, training, and supplying the vast numbers of men made
available by the draft law very many changes have been made necessary in
the organization of the War Department