René Radiguet
Former Commander of the 21st Division (Marne), French Army
THE MAKING OF
A MODERN ARMY
AND
ITS OPERATIONS IN THE FIELD
A STUDY BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THREE
YEARS ON THE FRENCH FRONT
(1914–1917)
BY
RENÉ RADIGUET
GÉNÉRAL DE DIVISION, ARMY OF FRANCE
TRANSLATED BY
Henry P. du Bellet
FORMERLY AMERICAN CONSUL AT RHEIMS
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1918
Copyright, 1918
BY
RENÉ RADIGUET
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
A l’Honorable Newton D. Baker,
Ministre de la Guerre,
Washington, D. C.
Excellence:
Vous avez bien voulu m’autoriser à vous dédiercette étude.
Veuillez y voir l’hommage d’un vieux soldat deFrance pour le talent et l’énergie que vous avez deployésdepuis cinq mois pour hâter l’envoi sur le frontfrançais des troupes Américaines.
Veuillez agréer, Excellence, l’expression de monplus profond respect.
Général Radiguet.
New York,
November, 1917
v
FOREWORD
Divers missions sent to the United States bythe Allied armies are now giving the benefit oftheir practical experience to the American army.These missions are imparting to the officers ofevery arm the knowledge of the details it is necessaryfor them to acquire.
The purpose of this book is to show to theAmerican officers, and also to the civilians who takean interest in war matters, how a large army onthe European Front in the last quarter of the year1917 is made up.
In the course of general considerations we haveexplained what is meant by the words “strategyand tactics”; we have described those interiorlines which have been of such powerful assistanceto Germany; we have dwelt on the compositionof the large units of an army, and more especiallyon that of a division as a fighting unit.
We have next examined the question of thevicommand, and we have attempted to define itsduties as well as those of the staffs.
We have then devoted special chapters tothe study of Aviation, the Field Fortifications, theArtillery, the Supply of Munitions, and theInfantry.
It is not at random that we have placed thevarious topics in this sequence. It will facilitatethe comprehension of the last chapter, in whichwe describe, with examples, how an attack is tobe prepared and by what means its success can beassured.
We have deemed proper to close with a fewremarks on the discred