Will's Offer to the Big Five

Mrs. Stroock is getting around better.

We have a slight foot problem brought on, we think, by wearing out our sneakers. So between that and Mrs. Stroock's Appendicitis we haven't been to the gym. Ugh, we feel like a CNN Potato. 

It's unseasonably cool here in northern New Jersey, 56 degrees F. (we refuse to use Celsius. We can't. We won't). Normally by this time of year the mornings would be warm, with a touch of haze in the air. What's up with that?

We took youngest daughter to the pool yesterday. Of course we were the best looking dad there. We saw they have one of those take one/leave one libraries. Guess who's gonna be dropping off some lit later. Copies of all our books? Too much? 

Overall, Pershing in Command went all the way to number 6 in Amazon's World War One category. We are amongst, and even ahead of some huge Great War historians. Thanks, Helen's Page. That's Helen Smith, as in Mrs. Instapundit. We like to be vague about sales numbers, but what the heck, this is interesting. In 24 hours we sold 42 Kindle copies of PiC. Those above mentioned historians will also be moving physical books at Barnes and Noble while we will not. We sold a few hard copies. 

We think (hope) there's some snooty editor at one of the snooty Big Five publishers wondering who the hell we are. Dear publishers, if you want Pershing in Command, you can have it in exchange for 50% of the royalties and a substantial signing bonus. We have a number in mind, no we won't tell you what it is. It'll be up to you to figure it out. That number was calculated using the very latest Faucian science. 

It's non negotiable and paid up front. In cash. I mean a guy in a suit shows up at our door with a briefcase full of cash, opens it, closes it, and leaves it on the doorstep. Check that. Not a guy in a suit. A 25 year oldish blonde in business attire, hair in a bun, glasses. Russian, yes, make her Russian. And she doesn't walk away but comes inside. Her name is...Tatiana. No, Svetlana. Her official title is 'Editorial Assistant'.

Pershing et al

We're working on a Pershing short story for an alternate history compilation about the Great War. Ours is about the planned AEF offensive for 14 November, 1918. 

This is a character study about Pershing and his generals, Liggett, Bullard, Dickman, each commanding an army, and also Harbord, who commanded the Service of Supply.

The offensive is recounted from the POV of Colonel Walker, a fictional aide-de-camp to Pershing. We'll discuss the details of the offensive from on high, almost like a history. 

Two thousand words, so far.

Pershing on the 11th

Pershing in Command's openner is all about the 11th hour. A bit:

A few miles north of Verdun the gunners of the 101st Field Artillery, 26th (Yankee) Division, bombarded German positions on the Woëvre Plain. A historian of the 101st describes the scene as the hour approached 11:00 A.M., 'The breech blocks closed with a sharp, metallic snap. The empty shell cartridges clanked and clattered on the trials. The odor of powder and of hot metal and of oil hung on the cool, motionless air.'[1] News of the armistice reached the 101st at 8:42 A.M. Most of the gunners refused to believe it, brushing off the news as another rumor. Finally convinced of the truthfulness of the message, the artillerymen got on with it. The subsequent deluge seemed bizarre, as men who had mastered the complicated military specialty of gunnery realized that soon they would have no need for that skill, though they would carry it with them the rest of their lives. The Massachusetts men simply went about their jobs, performing their tasks by rote. Finally, someone shouted, 'Hey, for Christ's sake, what time is it?' Realizing that the 11th hour approached, many crews quickly fitted their guns with long lanyards so that the entire crew could grab on and fire their piece's last round. At 11:00 A.M. it all stopped. Artillerymen accustomed to the constant drum of their guns looked about in confusion in the silence of the 11th hour. What now? It seemed to many a terrible, cruel pause. Some waited for the German fire to resume. Eventually the gunners realized that the armistice would hold. Some sang, others asked when they would eat. One man dryly commented 'it sure was a great little war while it lasted.'[2]

Pershing's War

Our contribution for To Slip the Surly Bonds, the second volume of the Phases of Mars series, is part of our Pershing's War universe and will eventually be part of the novel.

We're also thinking of doing the same with the land warfare volume.

So as planned we are sneaking in and wrapping up Pershing's War this summer.

We opened Pershing's War this morning. It's been so long it took us a few minutes to find the doc. In fact, we hadn't opened Pershing's War since November.

We've read the first few chapters and things are looking pretty good.

The US Army is Always Wrong

Pursuant to our discussion yesterday about US Army thinking going forward, we concluded that the mere fact the US Army thinks what it thinks means the US Army thinks wrong.

Has the US Army ever gone into a war without its head up its butt, tactically speaking?*

After Bunker Hill George Washington thought all he needed to do was dig in and wait for the Bloody Backs to come to him, to which General Howe replied, 'Let me introduce you to the flanking maneuver, Mr Washington, Esquire, etc etc.. It always worked splendidly against the French.'

We have chronicled here before how catastrophically wrong Pershing was about Open Warfare. The British tried to warn him, 'My dear General Pershing. Arraying a battalion in lines of companies and having them walk toward the German trenches is...Sorry I am trying to think of the proper word...suicidal...yes I know Trench Warfare is a long slog but we have these trenches for a reason. Don't you boast about being no stranger to trenches owing to your own Civil War? Vicksburg, Petersburg, all that?...You know about the Somme, right?'

Going into Double-U Double-U Eye, Eye, the US Army believed in attack the diversionary effort should be on the flank and the main effort on the front. Also, tanks shouldn't fight other tanks, hence the Sherman and the Priest. Again, the British, 'Excuse me, Cigar Chomping American general....yes, prim and posh British General here...splendid thank you...Yes it is good of you to win this war for us too...Thanks so much...I am told you are launching a frontal assault against Jerry's position over there. Have you heard of Jerry's 88 mm field gun? Oh you haven't?...Well...you're going to do it anyway...I shall send my graves registration unit over to help...Yes you do that...Cheers.'

Then there's Vietnam. 'Ah...mons General, qu'est-ce que c'est, Eastmoreland? Your firepower is of virtually know use when trying to win les hearts and minds of les publique...ah oui of les victore nou know petit...As you wish.' When the French are telling you how to lose a war, believe them. They know of what they speak.

Which just goes to show that the Army, America really, has a staggering consistent record of ignoring sound advice.

*Desert Storm, obviously.

The AEF 100 Years On

Pershing's grand offensive into the Rhine and Saar valleys would have begun 100 years ago today.

Everything he'd been working for built up to this point.

Pershing was now an army group commander on par with Haig and Petain. In the north General Hunter Liggett's First Army had cleared the Meuse Argonne and established several bridgeheads on the east bank of the river. In the south General Robert Lee Bullard's Second Army had steadily pushed east across the Meuse Heights. Before the Second Army lay the Woevre Plain and the fortress city of Metz. As word of the armistice reached his headquarters at Chaumont Pershing was dispatching five divisions to reinforce Bullard for his drive on the city.

Alas it was not to be. 

Pershing's grand offensive that never was. He speculated about what might have been till the of his days.

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 8-26-18

From now through September we'll be prepping the AEF compilation book, so fair warning, Debbie. 

Yesterday we went over the chapter on the 42nd Rainbow Division on the Marne. We are generally happy but we need to remove 'speed bumps' or bad sentences. We're rearranging paragraphs.

We last read this chapter sometime in the spring. Given the long interlude we have a fresh perspective.

And that is the reason why we do things the way we do things.

Pershing and the Marines

Valued reader and Marine Corps veteran Donald Harris asks about Pershing and the United States Marines.

Legend has it that Pershing loathed the Marines.

Now during the war the Marines were brigaded and combined with an army brigade to form the Second Division. Marine Corps Legend John Lejeune eventually commanded.

In our research on Pershing we never found anything to indicate Pershing didn't like the Marines and as mentioned above Lejeune would command the 2nd Division. This is important becuase Pershing had absolute control over the American Expeditionary Force and only Pershing men commanded divisions, corps and armies. He knew a stunning proportion of those commanders from West Point Days.

The only statements we've found from Pershing about the Marines are complimentary, at least according to the marines, heh.

The Great War made the Marine Corps what is today. One of their most famous battles came at Belleau Wood. Here the last great German offensive of 1918 slammed into the marine brigade. As he formed the AEF Pershing insisted upon marksmanship, something the British and French had moved away from. Here it paid off as the Marines made mincemeat of the attacking Germans. Soon after the Marines went on the offensive and cleared the wood. As they were a group distinct from the army, the press played up the Marine angle in their accounts of the battle. Thus a legend was born.

Pershing in Command

When we originally wrote Pershing in Command we planned on a narrative broken up by chapters describing some aspect of the AEF. These chapters covered things like the Civil War's legacy, the army in 1917, the young Pershing, the 79th Division at Montfaucon and the 89th Division.

After going through the MS we think these chapters distract from the narrative and should be removed. Tis' better to get to A to B to C without delay, no? That leaves us with a quandary. These chapters made Pershing in Command somewhat different than other histories. Without them, what's the point?

Here's the clean chapter list:

Intro
11/11/11
The Old Army
Early Battles
The Bureaucratic 
Slug up the Marne
St Mihiel
Meuse-Argonne: John J Pershing
Meuse-Argonne: Hunter Ligget
Conclusions

We must contemplate this upon the Tree of Woe.

Trump and Pershing

So the president tweeted something to the effect that Pershing had his men dip bullets in pig blood before executing Moro prisoners.

Alert readers will recall that we have written widely on General John J. Pershing.

A bit of background is in order.

Mindanao is the mountainous southern island of the Philippines. The violently Islamic Moro tribe lived in the central highlands. When Pershing took command of the island he inherited and Islamic insurgency.

Pershing waged classic COIN. He made a show of strength against the Moros defeating them in several battles. Once he made his point he met with Moro chieftains and made it clear he didn't care what they did so long as they didn't make trouble. But when they did:

 'These Juramentado attacks were materially reduced in number by a practice the army had already adopted, one that Muhammadans held in abhorrence. The bodies were publicly buried in the same grave with a dead pig.

John J Pershing, Pg 285, on his dealings with Moros, Pershing's memoirs, My Life Before the Great War, pg 285.

So far I can't find anything on the pig blood, bullet thing.

Video: AEF, the First Fights

New Youtube video.

New video on Pershing and Amalgamation:

Pershing and the AEF arrive in France