American Expeditionary Forces
American Expeditionary Forces | |
---|---|
Active | 1917–1920 |
Disbanded | August 31, 1920 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Army |
Role | Command and control |
Size | 2,057,675 men (1918) |
General Headquarters | Chaumont, France |
Nickname(s) | AEF |
Engagements | World War I |
Commanders | |
Army Air Service | Major General Mason M. Patrick |
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
Formation
President Woodrow Wilson initially planned to give command of the AEF to Gen. Frederick Funston, but after Funston's sudden death, Wilson appointed Major General John J. Pershing in May 1917, and Pershing remained in command for the rest of the war. Pershing insisted that American soldiers be well-trained before going to Europe. As a result, few troops arrived before January 1918. In addition, Pershing insisted that the American force would not be used merely to fill gaps in the French and British armies, and he resisted European efforts to have U.S. troops deployed as individual replacements in depleted Allied units. This approach was not always well received by the western Allied leaders who distrusted the potential of an army lacking experience in large-scale warfare.[2] In addition, the British government tried to use its spare shipping as leverage to bring US soldiers under British operational control.
By June 1917, only 14,000 American soldiers had arrived in France, and the AEF had only a minor participation at the front up to late October 1917, but by May 1918 over one million American troops were stationed in France, though only half of them made it to the front lines.[3] Since the
The first American troops, who were often called "Doughboys," landed in Europe in June 1917. However the AEF did not participate at the front until October 23, 1917, when the 1st Division fired the first American shell of the war toward German lines, although they participated only on a small scale. A group of regular soldiers and the first American division to arrive in France, entered the trenches near Nancy, France, in Lorraine.[2]
I Corps was officially activated in France, under the AEF, from 15 January 1918. It include the 1st, 2nd, 26th, 32nd, 41st and 42nd Divisions. (4th Brigade, US Marine Corps, was included as part of 2nd Division.) II Corps was activated on 24 February,[4] by which time troop numbers justified it. Initially II Corps consisted of the 27th, 30th, 33rd, 78th and 80th Divisions.
In June 1918, many component infantry units from II Corps – commanded by Maj.-Gen. George W. Read – were attached to veteran British Army or Australian Army units. This served two purposes: familiarizing the Americans with actual battlefield conditions in France, and temporarily reinforcing the British Empire units that were often severely-depleted in numbers, after more than three years of fighting. In fact, the first major operation in World War I to involve US troops concerned individual infantry platoons of the 33rd Division, which were attached to battalions of the Australian Corps for the Battle of Hamel on the 4th of July. Their involvement was voluntary and occurred despite last-minute orders from AEF headquarters, that its troops should not take part in offensive operations led by non-US generals. Thus Hamel was historically significant as the first major offensive operation during the war to involve US infantry and the first occasion on which US units had fought alongside British Empire forces.
The AEF used French and British equipment. Particularly appreciated were the French
Logistics
Logistic operations were under the direction of Chicago banker Charles G. Dawes, with the rank first of colonel and then brigadier general. Dawes reported directly to Gen. Pershing. Dawes recommended in May 1918 that the allies set up a joint logistics planning board, which was approved by the Allies in the form of the Military Board of Allied Supply (MBAS), which coordinated logistics and transportation on the Western and Italian fronts.[6]
Supporting the two million soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean was a massive logistical enterprise. In order to be successful, the Americans needed to create a coherent support structure with very little institutional knowledge. The AEF developed support network appropriate for the huge size of the American force. It rested upon the Services of Supply in the rear areas, with ports, railroads, depots, schools, maintenance facilities, bakeries, clothing repair shops (termed salvage), replacement depots, ice plants, and a wide variety of other activities.
The Services of Supply initiated support techniques that would last well into the Cold War including forward maintenance, field cooking, graves registration (mortuary affairs), host nation support, motor transport, and morale services. The work of the logisticians enabled the success of the AEF and contributed to the emergence of the American Army as a modern fighting force.[7]
African Americans
The
Actions during World War I
At the beginning, during the spring of 1918, the four battle-ready U.S. divisions were deployed under French and British command to gain combat experience by defending relatively quiet sectors of their lines. After the first offensive action and American-led AEF victory on 28 May 1918 at the Battle of Cantigny,[19] by the U.S. 1st Division, and a similar local action by the 2nd Division at Belleau Wood beginning 6 June, both while assigned under French Corps command, Pershing worked towards the deployment of an independent US field Army. The rest followed at an accelerating pace during the spring and summer of 1918. By June Americans were arriving in-theater at the rate of 10,000 a day; most of which entered training by British, Canadian and Australian battle-experienced officers and senior non-commissioned ranks. The training took a minimum of six weeks due to the inexperience of the servicemen.
The first offensive action by AEF units serving under non-American command was 1,000 men (four companies from the 33d Division), with the Australian Corps during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918. (Corporal Thomas A. Pope was awarded the Medal of Honor for this battle.) This battle took place under the overall command of the Australian Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Sir John Monash. The Allied force in this battle combined artillery, armor, infantry, and air support (combined arms), which served as a blueprint for all subsequent Allied attacks, using "tanks".[20]
U.S. Army and
Late in the war, American units ultimately fought in two other theaters at the request of the European powers. Pershing sent troops of the
Commanders and Senior Staff
Name | Photo | Date |
---|---|---|
Commander-in-Chief
| ||
General of the Armies John J. Pershing | May 26, 1917 - Aug 31, 1920 | |
Chief of Staff
| ||
Brigadier General James Harbord | May 26, 1917 - May 6, 1918 | |
Major General James W. McAndrew | May 6, 1918 - May 27, 1919 | |
Major General James Harbord | May 27, 1919 - August 12, 1919 | |
Brigadier General Fox Conner | August 12, 1919 - August 31, 1920 | |
Deputy Chief of Staff
| ||
Brigadier General LeRoy Eltinge | May 1, 1918 - June 30, 1919 | |
Assistant Chief of Staff, G1 (Administration)
| ||
Colonel James A. Logan Jr. | July 5, 1917 - August 19, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Avery D. Andrews | August 19, 1918 - April 23, 1919 | |
Colonel Charles S. Lincoln | April 23, 1919 - June 1, 1919 | |
Assistant Chief of Staff, G2 (Intelligence)
| ||
Brigadier General Dennis E. Nolan | July 5, 1917 - July 6, 1919 | |
Colonel Aristides Moreno | July 6, 1919 - August 15, 1920 | |
Assistant Chief of Staff, G3 (Operations)
| ||
Colonel John McAuley Palmer | July 5, 1917 - December 19, 1917 | |
Brigadier General Fox Conner | December 19, 1917 - August 12, 1919 | |
Lieutenant Colonel Albert S. Keugle | August 12, 1919 - August 15, 1920 | |
Assistant Chief of Staff, G4 (Supply)
| ||
Colonel William D. Connor | August 11, 1917 - April 30, 1918 | |
Brigadier General George Van Horn Moseley | April 30, 1918 - June 5, 1919 | |
Assistant Chief of Staff, G5 (Training)
| ||
Colonel Paul B. Malone | August 11, 1917 - February 14, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Harold B. Fiske | February 14, 1918 - July 10, 1919 | |
Secretary of the General Staff
| ||
Colonel Frank R. McCoy | September 3, 1917 - May 1, 1918 | |
Lieutenant Colonel James Lawton Collins | May 1, 1918 - October 23, 1918 | |
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W. Hammond | October 23, 1918 - November 2, 1918 | |
Lieutenant Colonel Albert S. Keugle | November 2, 1918 - December 10, 1918 | |
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W. Hammond | December 10, 1918 - December 28, 1918 | |
Colonel James Lawton Collins | December 28, 1918 - July 25, 1919 | |
Adjutant General
| ||
Brigadier General Benjamin Alvord Jr. | May 26, 1917 - May 1, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Robert C. Davis | May 1, 1918 - August 31, 1920 | |
Judge Advocate
| ||
Brigadier General Walter Augustus Bethel | May 26, 1917 - August 15, 1920 | |
Inspector General
| ||
Major General Andre W. Brewster | May 26, 1917 - August 15, 1920 | |
Chief Quartermaster
| ||
Colonel Daniel E. McCarthy | May 26, 1917 - August 13, 1917 | |
Major General Harry L. Rogers | August 13, 1917 - January 22, 1919 | |
Brigadier General John M. Carson Jr. | January 22, 1919 - April 10, 1919 | |
Colonel John T. Knight | April 10, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief Surgeon
| ||
Brigadier General Alfred E. Bradley | May 26, 1917 - May 1, 1918 | |
Major General Merritte W. Ireland | May 1, 1918 - October 10, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Walter McCaw | October 10, 1918 - July 16, 1919 | |
Colonel Clarence J. Manly | July 16, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief Ordnance Officer
| ||
Brigadier General Clarence C. Williams | May 26, 1917 - May 5, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Charles B. Wheeler | May 5, 1918 - October 9, 1918 | |
Brigadier General John H. Rice | October 9, 1918 - August 13, 1919 | |
Colonel Edwin D. Bricker | August 13, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief Engineer Officer
| ||
Brigadier General Harry Taylor | May 26, 1917 - July 11, 1918 | |
Major General William C. Langfitt | July 11, 1918 - July 16, 1919 | |
Colonel Thomas H. Jackson | July 16, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief Signal Officer
| ||
Brigadier General Edgar Russel | May 26, 1917 - July 11, 1919 | |
Colonel Roy H. Coles | July 11, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief of Air Service
| ||
Major Townsend F. Dodd | May 26, 1917 - June 30, 1917 | |
Lieutenant Colonel William L. Mitchell | June 30, 1917 - August 26, 1917 | |
Brigadier General William L. Kenly | August 26, 1917 - November 27, 1917 | |
Brigadier General Benjamin Foulois | November 27, 1917 - May 29, 1918 | |
Major General Mason Patrick | May 29, 1918 - August 31, 1919 | |
Provost Marshal General
| ||
Lieutenant Colonel Hanson E. Ely | July 20, 1917 - August 26, 1917 | |
Brigadier General William H. Allaire Jr. | August 26, 1917 - September 25, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Harry H. Bandholtz | September 25, 1918 - August 31, 1919 | |
General Purchasing Agent
| ||
Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes | August 30, 1917 - June 30, 1919 | |
Chief of Chemical Warfare Service
| ||
Brigadier General Amos Fries | September 3, 1917 - November 29, 1918 | |
Colonel Edward N. Johnston | November 29, 1918 - July 5, 1919 | |
Director General of Transportation
| ||
Brigadier General William W. Atterbury | September 14, 1917 - May 16, 1919 | |
Brigadier General Frank R. McCoy | May 16, 1919 - August 4, 1919 | |
Brigadier General Sherwood Cheney | August 4, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Director of Motor Transportation
| ||
Colonel Francis H. Pope | December 8, 1917 - July 9, 1918 | |
Brigadier General Meriwether L. Walker | July 9, 1918 - August 13, 1919 | |
Colonel Edgar S. Stayer | August 13, 1919 - August 31, 1919 | |
Chief of Tank Corps
| ||
Brigadier General Samuel Rockenbach | December 23, 1917 - May 24, 1919 | |
Chief of Artillery
| ||
Major General Ernest Hinds | April 29, 1918 - June 12, 1919 |
Casualties
The AEF sustained about 320,000 casualties: 53,402 battle deaths, 63,114 noncombat deaths and 204,000 wounded.[24] Relatively few men suffered actual injury from poison gas, although much larger numbers mistakenly thought that they had been exposed.[21] The 1918 influenza pandemic during the fall of 1918 took the lives of more than 25,000 men from the AEF, while another 360,000 became gravely ill.
Demobilization
After the Armistice of November 11, 1918 thousands of Americans were sent home and demobilized. On July 27, 1919, the number of soldiers discharged amounted to 3,028,487 members[25] of the military, and only 745,845 left in the American Expeditionary Forces.[26]
American Expeditionary Forces University at Beaune
The AEF established the American Expeditionary Forces University at
See also
- Bonus Army
- Formations of the United States Army during World War I
Notes
- ^ 'The military units sent overseas by the U.S. government were designated as the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in 1917. The AEF is often cited incorrectly as the "American Expeditionary Force." The AEF consisted of American troops not only on the Western Front but also in Great Britain, Italy, Poland, and Russia, hence the use of the word "Forces."[1]
References
- ^ Yockelson, p. 241.
- ^ a b c d Coffman, The War to End All Wars (1998)
- ^ Pershing, My Experiences in the World War (1931)
- ^ Yockelson, p. 34.
- ^ Wilson, Treat 'Em Rough: The Birth of American Armor, 1917–1920 (1989)
- ^ Edward A. Goedeken, "Charles Dawes and the Military Board of Allied Supply." Journal of Military History 50.1 (1986): 1-6.
- ^ Leo P. Hirrel, "Supporting the Doughboys: US Army Logistics and Personnel During World War I" Ft. Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute, 2017. Available at no cost.
- ^ African-Americans Continue Tradition of Distinguished Service; U.S. Army; Gerry J. Gilmore; February 2, 2007
- ^ Jennifer D. Keene, "Americans as Warriors: 'Doughboys' in Battle during the First World War", OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 17, No. 1, World War I (Oct., 2002), p. 17.
- ^ Kennedy (1982) 162.
- ^ Barbeau and Henri (1974); [1].
- ^ Kennedy (1982) p. 199.
- ^ Canfield, Bruce N. American Rifleman (April 2009) p. 40
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 21, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "3dpublishing.com". Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
- ^ "timesunion.com". May 14, 2015.
- ^ Coffman 1998, p. 233.
- ^ Leonard P. Ayers, online The war with Germany: a statistical summary (1919) p. 105
- ^ Matthew Davenport, "First Over There", 2015, Thomas Dunne Books
- ^ Roland Perry, Monash – The Outsider Who Won a War, 2007, Random House, Sydney, pp. 349–352
- ^ a b Venzon, ed. The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1995)
- ^ Robert L. Willett, Russian Sideshow, pp. 166–167, 170
- ^ E.M. Halliday, When Hell Froze Over (New York City, ibooks, inc., 2000), p. 44
- ^ "Congressional Research Service, American War and Military Operations Casualties:Lists and Statistics" (PDF). fas.org.
- ^ Richmond Times-Dispatch 1919, p. 1.
- ^ Arizona Republican 1919, p. 1.
- JSTOR 42913340.
Sources
- Arizona Republican (July 27, 1919). "Only 745,845 men in Army July 22". Arizona Republican. Phoenix, Arizona: Republican Pub. Co. pp. 1–28. OCLC 2612512. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- OCLC 9493729. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
Further reading
- Awards and Decorations: World War I Statistics Archived September 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Ayres, Leonard P, The War with Germany: A Statistical Summary Government Printing Office, 1919 full text online
- Barbeau, Arthur E. and Florette Henri, The Unknown Soldiers: Black American Troops in World War I (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974),
- Beaver, Daniel R. Newton D. Baker and the American War Effort, 1917–1919 (1966)
- CMH Pub 24-1: "Learning Lessons in the American Expeditionary Forces" Archived May 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- Chambers, John W., II. To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America (1987)
- Chapter 17: "World War I: The First Three Years" Archived June 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- Chapter 18: "World War I: The U.S. Army Overseas" Archived May 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0-8131-0955-8.
- Cooke, James J., The Rainbow Division in the Great War, 1917–1919 Praeger Publishers, (1994)
- Dalessandro, Robert J. & Dalessandro, Rebecca S. American Lions: The 332nd Infantry Regiment in World War I (Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2009)
- Dalessandro, Robert J., & Knapp, Michael G., "Organization and Insignia of the American Expeditionary Forces, 1917–1923" (Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2008) The best single volume on AEF unit organization.
- Dalessandro, Robert J. & Gerald Torrence, "Willing Patriots: Men of Color in the First World War" (Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2009)
- Davenport, Matthew J. "First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny America's First Battle of World War I" (New York, Thomas Dunne: 2015)
- Faulkner, Richard S. Pershing's Crusaders: The American Soldier in World War I (U Press of Kansas, 2017). xiv, 758 pp
- Freidel, Frank. Over There (1964), well illustrated
- Grotelueschen; Mark E. Doctrine under Trial: American Artillery Employment in World War I (2001) )
- Hallas, James H. Doughboy War: The American Expeditionary Force in World War I (2000)
- Heller Charles E. Chemical Warfare in World War I. The American Experience, 1917–1918. Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute, 1984.
- Hirrel, Leo P. "Supporting the Doughboys: US Army Logistics and Personnel During World War I." Ft. Leavenworth, KS Combat Studies Institute, 2017. online at no charge
- Holley, I. B. Ideas and Weapons: Exploitation of the Aerial Weapon by the United States During World War I (1983)
- Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy, 1775–1991 (1991)
- Hurley, Alfred F. Billy Mitchell, Crusader for Air Power (1975)
- James, D. Clayton. The Years of MacArthur, I, 1880–1941. (1970)
- Johnson; Herbert A. Wingless Eagle: U.S. Army Aviation through World War I University of North Carolina Press, (2001)
- Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1982)
- Koistinen, Paul. Mobilizing for Modern War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865–1919 (2004)
- Lengel, Edward G. (2008). To Conquer Hell. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-7931-9.
- Lengel, Edward G., ed. A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014). xii, 537 pp.
- Millett, Allan Reed. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps (1991)
- Pershing, John J. Pershing, My Experiences in the World War (1931)
- Smythe, Donald. Pershing: General of the Armies (1986)
- Trask, David F. The United States in the Supreme War Council: American War Aims and Inter-Allied Strategy, 1917–1918 (1961)
- Trask, David F. The AEF and Coalition Warmaking, 1917–1918 (1993) online free
- Van Ells, Mark D. America and World War I: A Traveler's Guide. (Interlink, 2014)
- Venzon, Anne ed. The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1995)
- Wilson Dale E. Treat 'Em Rough: The Birth of American Armor, 1917–1920 Presidio Press, 1989.
- Woodward, David R. Trial by Friendship: Anglo-American Relations, 1917–1918 (1993) online
- Woodward, David R. The American Army and the First World War(Armies of the Great War) Cambridge University Press, 2014. 484 pp. online review
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3919-7.
- ISBN 978-0-451-46695-2
- Zeiger; Susan. In Uncle Sam's Service: Women Workers with the American Expeditionary Force, 1917–1919 (1999)
- United States Army in the World War 1917–1919 Reports of the Commander-in-Chief, Staff Sections and Services (PDF). Vol. 15. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History. 1991.
External links
Government
General information
- American Expeditionary Forces at UASWW1.com
- Works by American Expeditionary Forces at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about American Expeditionary Forces at Internet Archive