Review: History of the First Div in WWI

My great-grand-uncle Thomas Jodon was a part of the First Division during World War I. He was drafted in summer 1918, got to France in September, and was probably assigned to the division in October, just in time for the last few weeks of the war. I bought this book to learn about his experiences during the war, and learned that he probably took part in the push to Mouzon, the march to Sedan, and the Occupation near the Koblenz bridgehead.

The book was written *by* soldiers in the First Division, *for* the soldiers of the First Division. As such, it has a lot of details about the war that you don't get from other sources. The division was the first to arrive in France in 1917, and it was the last divisional unit to leave in 1919.

The book itself is not impressive. It's not a reprint of the original 1922 publication. Rather, it's a bound stack of photocopies of the New York Library's copy of the book. Because of that, the pictures are barely intelligible.

It is also suspiciously wrong in a number of its details. Its honor roll section lists the men who died, what unit they were in, and what they died from (KIA, disease, etc). In looking up some of the names from my uncle's unit, though, it turns out they were in a different unit. For example, CPT John Bryan Tomlinson is listed as the only captain from Company M, and has him dying from wounds. However, his grave site at Arlington has him assigned to Company K, and having died from disease (and given the date, 14 October 1918, it was probably influenze). [Source]

It's an understandable error, but it calls into question the book's authority.

A third criticism is that it is -- essentially -- a panegyric. Written as it was *by* First Division soldiers *for* First Division soldiers, it is a record of what they did and how awesome they were. And in some places, the authors lay it on a little too thick. In reflecting on their experience, "One almost wonders if ... those stalwart American soldiers, who could be tender with children and who could look unflinchingly in the face of death, really performed those wondrous deeds of heroism and sacrifice; if they dashed with unparalleled impetuosity across stream and trench and wire, by battery and machine gun next, under the hitherto unconquered Mont Sec...."

I get it -- that was simply the style at the time -- but I didn't need the paeans.

There are two sections that I find particularly interesting. The first is at the beginning, where the book quotes a Chicago Tribune article from June 9th, 1917. Back then, the experience of the British Expeditionary Force was fresh on everyone's minds, and the public expected the same fate would meet the First Division. Although the BEF was composed of enlisted volunteers and highly professional, it was decimated by Germany's draft-based army.

In "An Epitaph for an Army of Mercenaries," AE Housman paid honor to those men who, in 1914, stood firm against the invasion of France while the draft divisions trained up.

These, in the days when heaven was falling, The hour when earth's foundations fled, Followed their mercenary calling And took their wages and are dead. Their shoulders held the sky suspended; They stood, and the earth's foundations stay; What God abandoned, these defended, And saved the sum of things for pay. [Source]

As expressed in the Chicago Tribune on June 9th, 1917,

“Pershing’s men to the Germans are these forerunners of a new enemy. They appear at the top of the hill, few in numbers, not tangibly menacing, but terribly suggestive. It is not what they can do which will be significant. It is what they mean, what they promise, and what they threaten. In numbers they are less than Gen. French’s ‘miserable little army.’ But Germany has met the great armies which followed those British troops. The miserable little army was sacrificed, but the ground where these men died will, we think, see other British soldiers, and the German mind may comprehend that millions if needed, carrying the same flag that Pershing takes to France, will see the ground where his men die. It is with unashamed emotion that we think of Pershing’s men. They are our first sacrifices.” [Source]

The second section that's interesting is what happened after the armistice. While other divisions moved west toward Brest for a quick demobilization, the First marched east, through Luxembourg, toward Koblenz. There, it occupied the city, not just on the west bank, but also in a 30km radius on the east bank. This was called the Koblenz bridgehead. For the First Division, occupation duties lasted less than a year, but the soldiers seemed to have used their time well. They set up a newslette, sponsored a theater production, used passes to visit cultural sites, and set up education opportunities. When the Treaty of Versailles was signed that summer, the First Division began packing up to return to the U.S. As they landed in Hoboken in September, New York City hosted a parade for them on September 10th. Washington, DC, did the same on September 17th. At that point, the division turned in their equipment and was demobilized.