The A. E. F.: With General Pershing and the American ForcesBroun, Heywood
History
The A. E. F.: With General Pershing and the American Forces
Broun, Heywood
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Robert H. Bullard is probably the most picturesque figure in the
American army. He has a reputation as a fighter and a daredevil and he
is still one of the best polo players and broadsword experts in the
American army. They say that when a second lieutenant swore at him one
day in the heat of a game he made no complaint but laid for the young
man later on and sent him sprawling off his horse in a wild scrimmage.
He will fight broadsword duels with anybody regardless of rank if his
opponent promises to be a man who can test his mettle. And yet it was a
bit surprising that when the command of one of the crack divisions in
France was open, General Pershing chose Bullard for the command because
Major General Robert H. Bullard is perhaps the worst dressed major
general in the American army. A poilu in one of the provincial cities
mistook him for an American enlisted man and talked to him with great
freedom for more than half an hour before an excited French officer
rushed up and told him that the man with whom he was talking so
familiarly was an American general.
"Oh, that's all right," said Bullard, "I wanted to hear what he had to
say. Come around to my headquarters sometime and tell me some more."
On another occasion I saw an American captain suffer acutely because
Bullard appeared at a public Franco-American function with two days'
growth of beard. "What kind of an aide can he have," moaned the
captain. "I was on his staff for two years and I never let him come out
like that. I always had him fixed up when there was anything important
on."
Tall, spare, hawk-featured and straight, Bullard represents a type of
officer who has a large part to play in the American army. It is around
such men that tradition grows and tradition is the marrow of an army. It
was Bullard, too, who gave the best expression to the hope and purpose
of the American army which I heard in France. He had said that what the
American army must always maintain as its most important asset was the
offensive spirit and when we asked him just what that was he lapsed into
a story which was always his favorite device for exposition.
"There was once a Spanish farmer," said General Bullard, "who lived in a
small house in the country with his pious wife. One day he came rushing
out of the house with a valise in his hand and his good wife stopped him
and asked, 'Where are you going?' 'I'm going to Seville,' said the
farmer bustling right past her. 'You mean God willing,' suggested his
pious wife. 'No,' replied the farmer, 'I just mean that I'm going.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account