During America's
participation in World War I, 1917-1918, only a single
commander of a division,
William M. Wright, is known to have kept a diary. In it,
General Wright
relates his
two-month experience at St. Mihiel and especially the Meuse-Argonne, the largest and most costly battle in American history. The diary shows the exacting attention that was necessary to keep such a large, unwieldy mass of men in motion. It also shows how the work of the two infantry brigadiers and of the two supporting artillery brigades required the closest attention. Robert Ferrell skillfully supplements the diary with his own narrative, making use of pertinent manuscripts, notably a memoir by one of Wright's infantry regiment commanders.
"As our only document of its kind, Wright's diary shows in detail how a division headquarters operated and what its commander did day by day, how he kept informed about the qualities of his principal subordinates, assessed their performances, and guided and sometimes dismissed them. While Wright was an assertive individual, the diary is informative also in showing how limited were the decision-making options of even such a character in the highly structured American Expeditionary Forces. . . . The diary also candidly reflects the weaknesses of the young American Army of 1918."--Russell Weigley.
Price: $29.00
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