Ohio History Journal

AN OHIO ARMY OFFICER OF WORLD WAR I:

MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH T. DICKMAN

 

by SISTER MARY CLEMENT STUEVE, C.PP.S.*

 

The various political and economic upheavals which invariably

follow major wars often tend to obscure the history of the men

who were personally engaged in the conflicts. And men who gave

their entire life to a military career and who are necessarily absent

from boyhood surroundings are sometimes quickly forgotten by

their native localities. Joseph Theodore Dickman, born and reared

in Ohio, gave forty years of his life to the service of his country.

Ohioans should be the first to recall the labors and achievements

of their native soldier-son, Major General Dickman, who climaxed

his career with distinguished service in World War I.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, on October 6, 1857, Joseph Theodore

Dickman was the eldest son of Theodore Dickman and Mary

Weinmar. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, when

her husband was called to service, Mrs. Dickman, together with her

two small sons, Joseph and John, and an infant daughter, Mary,

left for Minster, Ohio, in Auglaize County. Friends in that village

welcomed Mrs. Dickman and her little ones, and there the family

continued to reside even after Captain Dickman's release from

service. There the children attended the village school, and upon

the completion of the elementary grades Joseph was sent to St.

Mary's Institute, now the University of Dayton, where he studied

for one year. In 1873 the elder Dickman was elected sheriff of

Auglaize County, and the family moved to Wapakoneta, Ohio, the

county seat. Joseph graduated with honors from the Wapakoneta

public high school in 1874.

Following his graduation, Joseph taught for one year in a little

country school near Minster. In April 1875 he left for the United

States Military Academy, West Point, after taking the competitive

 

* Sister Mary Clement Stueve, C.PP.S., teaches at Regina High School, Norwood

Ohio. Her article is based on a master's thesis done at the University of Notre Dame

in 1943.

34

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I              35

 

examination and receiving an appointment through General A. V.

Rice, a member of congress from the Lima, Ohio, district.

A series of reforms had been introduced at West Point at this

time which placed stern restrictions on hazing. Balancing himself

on a chair in his room and peering through the transom at the

initiation in the hall below was considered sufficient cause for

suspension, and Joseph Dickman, suspended for such conduct, re-

turned to Ohio and to teaching for another year in a red brick

schoolhouse north of Wapakoneta. In 1877, however, he resumed

his studies at West Point and was graduated on June 11, 1881,

with the assignment of second lieutenant, 3d Cavalry.

After two months of service beginning in September 1881 at

Fort Sanders, Wyoming, Dickman was selected by his regimental

commander to attend the infantry-cavalry school at Fort Leaven-

worth, Kansas. He graduated with honors on September 30, 1883.

During this assignment at Fort Leavenworth, Dickman married

Miss Mary Rector of Fort Smith, Arkansas, on September 26, 1882.

Two sons and two daughters were born to them. The younger son

died in infancy, but Frederick Tibault, the elder son, graduated

from West Point in 1906. Though he met a tragic death in an

airplane crash in 1919, the military tradition of the family con-

tinues in the person of his son, Joseph Lawrence, who was graduated

from West Point in 1940. The two Dickman daughters followed

their mother's lead by marrying military men.

After his graduation from the infantry-cavalry school at Fort

Leavenworth, Lieutenant Dickman served at Forts Grant and

Thomas in Arizona and at Fort Davis, Texas, from 1883 to 1885.

While stationed at the Arizona forts he joined in the famous chase

for the renowned Apache chief Geronimo, who had aroused the

Indians against the federal government. In his diary for the year

1885 Lieutenant Dickman recorded the total distance personally

marched and scouted on the Geronimo campaign as 443 miles.1

 

1 Extracts from the Diary of Second Lieutenant Joseph T. Dickman, 3d Cavalry, for

the Year 1885. General Dickman's papers are the property of his daughter, Mrs.

Charles W. Foster of San Francisco, California. They are at present in the hands of

the author. All manuscript and similar materials cited hereafter are in the Dickman

papers.

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36      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

Assignments at various posts in Kansas and western Texas oc-

cupied Dickman until the summer of 1891, when he was detailed

by General D. S. Stanley to assist in the annual military encampment

at Hyde Park near Austin, Texas. Then followed a few months on

regimental recruiting service in Texas, but in January 1892 he

asked to be relieved in order to join his troop in the field at

Los Angeles, Texas.

In this vicinity Caterino E. Garza with his band of outlaws had

become a menace to the inhabitants. Garza was the son-in-law of

Alejandro Gonzales, another dangerous bandit, also sought by the

United States troops. Their home, the Palito Blanco Ranch, was

the objective of a march in which Dickman participated in February

1892. The result was the capture of Gonzales and two other members

of the band, Manuel Canales and his son, but Garza was still at

large. An attempt to pursue him proved unsuccessful, because

Garza and his brother, assisted financially by Gonzales and Canales,

escaped to New Orleans, where they seem to have disappeared.

A rumor circulated later that Garza was killed in South America.

Dickman placed the blame for the unsuccessful Garza campaign

on the lack of knowledge of the lay of the land and the lack of

directness of purpose. Most of all, he said that there was no chief

in the field to issue orders to troops operating in the area.²

Within a few months other Mexican bandits led by General

Francisco Benavides and Colonel Prudencio Gonzales crossed the

Rio Grande into Texas, where they committed several outrages.

The 3d Regiment of cavalry was called to the area and Lieutenant

Dickman's Troop K engaged in scouting and policing the roads

and country. As time wore on and nothing happened, knowledge

of the country seemed the only gain. The two bandits, however,

were gathering forces evidently in preparation for a raid. One of

Dickman's squads came upon two mounted Mexicans who gave

him their names--Benavides and Gonzales. On the following day,

January 25, 1893, Dickman himself captured a bandit who gave

his name as Juan Guerra, but who was identified by Benavides as

 

2 Personal Memoirs.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War 1          37

 

Cecilio Eschevarria, one of the worst desperadoes in the whole

country.3

Twenty-five years later First Lieutenant Dickman, as major

general, was commanding the I Corps of the American First Army

in France. After successes at the Marne, St. Mihiel, and Sedan,

Colonel Edward B. Clark, who had been with the 3d Cavalry along

the Rio Grande in the 1890's, approached the general to recall the

early days: "General, you do not seem half as elated with all this

battle accomplishment as you did when, as a First Lieutenant, you

brought in three marauding ruffians in Texas." Dickman's answer

was: "No, those were the days of youth."⁴

Assignments 1894-98

In 1894, when business depression and labor difficulties had

spread into various sections of the United States, the American

Railway Union, on behalf of the four thousand members of the

union employed by the Pullman Palace Car Company at Pullman,

Illinois, near Chicago, sought to submit the case of a cut in wages

to arbitration. When the company refused to arbitrate, the union

placed a boycott on Pullman cars in twenty-seven states and

territories, making Chicago the center of the strike. Governor Altgeld

of Illinois was ready to send state troops whenever necessary, but

no Chicago authorities appealed to him. President Grover Cleveland,

however, was persuaded by the attorney general in Washington to

rush federal troops to Chicago. Among them were two trains of

artillery and cavalry from Fort Riley, Kansas, which proceeded to

Chicago on July 8, 1894. Lieutenant Dickman was an officer on

the second train.

In his "Comments" on the Pullman strike Lieutenant Dickman

cited some unpleasant situations which arose in Chicago. He stated

that the language of the women and boys directed against the

presence of the federal troops aroused pity or laughter rather than

anger and not a single soldier showed resentment. A smile or joke

baffled the offenders. The command displayed a sense of power

 

3 Report to the Commanding Officer, Camp on the Arroyo Baluarte, January 23, 1893.

4 The Watch on the Rhine (November, 1927).

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38      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

which would not permit any trifling on the part of the populace.

"We shall cease to be efficient as a scarecrow," wrote Lieutenant

Dickman, "unless some evidence of power is occasionally pro-

duced."⁵ Nevertheless, the conservative-minded people of Chicago

welcomed the troops and the protection which they afforded. In

the lieutenant's mind, however, participation in the Chicago Pullman

strike did not rate very highly. Here is his summary of the results

professionally speaking:

 

Military service, nil

Instruction, nil

Experience in camping, limited.

Show of force, afterwards spectacular

displays,

pleasant social affairs, unlimited

newspaper gush.⁶

 

When Lieutenant Dickman's period of service ended in Chicago

in the fall of 1894, he was transferred to Fort Ethan Alien,

Vermont, where he would spend a busy year until November 1895.

He was appointed post adjutant and assistant to Major Lewis T.

Morris, with whom he had been associated in Texas, Kansas, and

Chicago. In addition to this work he was occupied with his pen.

The Boston Herald had printed an article in December 1894 on

"Injustice to the Cavalry Officers," to which Dickman wrote an

answer to the editor. He pointed out the work of the cavalry as

especially important in the area west of the Mississippi River where

they had engaged in campaigns against Indians and bandits and

had scouted more country than the artillery and infantry combined.

He included a defense of the officers in the Civil War who should

have been advanced to a higher grade than captain before retire-

ment. He also predicted an increase in the usefulness of the cavalry

in a few years: "Those who imagine that the usefulness of the

cavalry has diminished or that they will be but little needed in

future will be undeceived within a few years; even now the delegate

 

5 Comments, "Chicago Riot."

6 Ibid.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                39

 

from Oklahoma (Mr. Flynn) is calling for them       in the halls of

Congress."7

About the same time, the Burlington Free Press printed an article

announcing that the German Kaiser had decided to abolish the

cavalry in the German army. When a denial of this decision was

later reported, the Vermont paper printed Dickman's letter to the

editor on January 17, 1895:

 

After the Franco-Prussian War the Germans greatly increased their

cavalry. They take part in all the maneuvers and are simply indispensable.

I know that there has been some talk about the wonders to be accomplished

on bicycles. But let a rain come up, covering the plains with puddles of

mud and water, and softening the soil; or let them be required to pass over

stretches of sandy country, or over fields of snow, and you will soon see

where they are. The same way for balloons for reconnaissance. The weather

is foggy, wind tears up the balloon and then there is only one thing left to

do, fall back on the cavalry for information.

Some day about the year 2,000 when aerial navigation shall have been so

developed that armies shall fight each other in the clouds; when Captain

Lightflyer, aide-de-camp, shall be sent to General Breezey with orders to

come out from behind his nimbus and advance to the attack, we shall begin

to discuss the propriety of abandoning cavalry in warfare, but not before.

These points in addition to those already covered will furnish the lay

reader with the idea of the manner in which the cavalry is regarded by

military authorities in the United States.⁸

 

An appointment to the staff of the infantry-cavalry school at

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as head and instructor of the depart-

ment of military art, necessitated another move in November 1895.

This work enabled the future general to make practical use of his

experiences since he left West Point and to prepare himself better

by the study of military art and history for successive assignments.

 

The Occupation of Cuba

At the outbreak of hostilities with Spain in 1898 the 3d Cavalry

was ordered to Chickamauga, Tennessee, where Lieutenant Dickman

7 Clipping from the Boston Herald, December 21, 1894.

8 Clipping in the Dickman papers.

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40      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

was attached to his original Troop K. Soon after, the regiment

left for Tampa, Florida, arriving there on May 13, 1898. General

Joseph Wheeler asked him to take a position as adjutant general

of the division of regular cavalry, which Dickman accepted without

hesitation. Wheeler also recommended him for higher grade in the

service and permanent assignment as adjutant general of the cavalry

division. News of his promotion to captain reached him late in

July when he was at work in Cuba, where he had joined General

Wheeler's headquarters at Sevilla, acting as chief commissary, bring-

ing in rations, and directing pack trains and supply wagons for the

command. When the American troops advanced to El Caney and

El Poso Hill on June 30, 1898, Dickman was among them. San

Juan Hill fell and soon after Santiago surrendered, for the dis-

mounted cavalry had done its work well. In a letter to his friend

Captain William Manning, Dickman wrote that he had lost twenty

pounds, but was in "fine trim." His horse had been slightly wounded

and his mule had his leg broken.⁹

On July 20, accompanying General Joseph C. Breckinridge, Dick-

man sailed for the States. After a brief visit with his family in

Kansas, Captain Dickman returned to Cuba for occupation duty.

From November 1898 to August 1899 he scouted more than one

thousand miles of the interior of Cuba with troops of the 8th

Cavalry. In correspondence from Puerto Principe, Cuba, in January

1899 with his brother-in-law, the late Judge Clement A. Stueve of

Wapakoneta, Ohio, he gave many observations of the people in-

habiting the island, as well as conditions generally. He went on to

say that the army officers would have liked to see Puerto Rico, the

Philippines, and Cuba given up by the American government, be-

cause they entailed years of service for army men in semi-barbarous

tropical countries away from home and friends. So long as they

were retained, the service man must accept these burdens and

duties.10

Promotion to the rank of major, 26th Infantry, U. S. Volunteers,

resulted from his faithful service in Cuba, and with this promotion

 

9 Joseph Dickman to William Manning, July 11, 1898.

10 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, January 25, 1899.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I             41

 

orders came for his return to the United States in August 1899.

On August 5, 1899, after a very short visit with his wife and

children, the major joined his regiment at Plattsburg, New York,

where on September 13 he received another promotion to lieutenant

colonel, 26th Infantry, U. S. Volunteers, and almost immediately

departed with his volunteer regiment for an indefinite period of

service in the Philippines.

 

The Philippine Insurrection

Before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, General

Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Philippine insurrectionists, had

been exiled, making his home for a time in Hongkong, where he

eventually made contact with Admiral Dewey. Aguinaldo hoped to

establish an independent Philippine government with the help of

the United States. Supported by Dewey, he returned to the islands

and took an important part in the Spanish defeat, but his hopes

were dashed when he learned that the United States intended to

keep the Philippines. He then turned his insurgents against the

United States control.

As soon as the volunteer regiments from the United States began

to arrive in the Philippines, the commanding officer, General

Robert P. Hughes, divided his command into three parts, sending

a defensive column of two battalions under Lieutenant Colonel

Dickman to hold the towns of Jaro, Molo, and Iloilo on the southern

part of the island of Panay. Unable to reach his objective, Dickman

decided to take the offensive against a strong enemy position on

the Jaro River. With determination he pushed his line forward

against the insurgents until their line finally gave way and was

completely disorganized. Dickman's account of the battle in a

letter to William Manning is interesting:

 

Left a company to occupy position. The remainder of the command got

back in time for breakfast. My dear William, I have planned and conducted

many exercises in Minor Tactics, but never had one to work out as well as

this one. It was a model operation. Colonel Quintin Salas, the rebel com-

mander, says I am no gentleman for I don't fight fair. His diary, corre-

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42      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

spondence, wardrobe, and breakfast fell into our hands. If I have no other

opportunities, I have at least initiated, planned, commanded, and won one

battle. My loss was one man killed and five wounded.11

In the ensuing months Dickman led his forces in successive cam-

paigns against the insurgents at Jaro, Sara, and especially at Pototan.

A difficult task was that of hunting out the insurgents in the

mountains and in secret hiding places where they were keeping up

a semblance of revolution.

Following a brief respite, fighting was resumed in June with

skirmishes in various areas. Atrocities committed against the Amer-

ican soldiers were promptly and effectively avenged. Annoyed by

one of these attacks, Dickman cleared out the natives and burned

the town in which insurgents had mutilated the body of a corporal

which had been buried the day before. Later, Dickman burned the

town of Dumangas on Panay and all the suburbs within a radius

of five miles, which action cleared out the insurgents under the

notorious leader Quintin Salas. Then Lieutenant Colonel Dickman

set to work to establish civil governments in the conquered towns.

A dispatch from General Hughes on July 26, 1900, discontinued

this work, for he received orders to report to Major General Adna

Chaffee in China. Two days later the lieutenant colonel was on

his way.12

The China Relief Expedition

The voyage from Manila to Nagasaki, Japan, took five days. A

six-day delay in the Japanese port afforded opportunity to visit

interesting places in that city and the vicinity. Then on a "slow

tub," the Indiana, he continued his journey to Taku, a distance of

seven hundred miles. From Taku, a large lighter, Foochow, took

passengers and cargo the last ten miles on the Pei-ho River to

Tong-Ku. Proceeding by rail to Tientsin, a large city of one million

inhabitants, Dickman saw plentiful evidences of the attack made

against the city by the "Boxers."

In the spring of 1899 the "Ih-hwo-chuan," a group of fanatic

11 Joseph Dickman to William Manning, December 22, 1899.

12 Joseph Dickman to William Manning, August 22, 1900.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I          43

 

revolutionists, more generally known as the "Boxers," encouraged

by the dowager empress, had begun a period of bloody lawlessness

in North China. Native Christians were the principal victims of

their attacks, but, as time passed, European missionaries were

murdered and others were forced to take refuge in foreign con-

cessions or in Peking. Failure on the part of the Chinese govern-

ment to provide protection for the diplomatic body led to further

tragedies, and in Tientsin the foreign consulates had been destroyed

with great loss of life before help came from Taku. There followed

a series of atrocities climaxed by the murder of Baron von Ketteler,

the German minister to China.

As the British legation was most strongly fortified, all the foreign

diplomats took refuge there. Attempts by European nations to

break through to Peking were futile until late in July, when re-

inforcements came in, and General Chaffee, who had assumed

command of the American troops, called for a conference of the

generals of the other nations. As a result of this conference on

August 1, a march on Peking with about fourteen thousand troops

of the allied forces began on August 5. Various encounters on the

way delayed the march; furthermore, the lack of a commander for

the whole force was felt.

When he arrived at the walls of Peking on August 23, Lieutenant

Colonel Dickman reported immediately to General Chaffee's head-

quarters. At the meeting of the generals of the allied armies of

August 25, 1900, Dickman was introduced as the American chief-of-

staff. Although he had arrived too late for most of the operations

connected with the Boxer Rebellion, he was convinced that he had

not missed much. He was able to visit the various allied head-

quarters making particular notes on the information acquired

at each.

General Hughes requested that Dickman return to the Philippines,

and that request induced Dickman to reject General Chaffee's in-

vitation to remain as chief-of-staff. Accordingly, he left Peking on

November 19, 1900. A pamphlet, Experiences in China,¹³ and his

13 Joseph Dickman, Experiences in China (n.p., n.d.).

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44      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

correspondence with Captain Manning contain criticisms and im-

pressions of the people as well as the military operations.

Upon his return to Manila on December 9, 1900, Lieutenant

Colonel Dickman was made chief-of-staff of the military infantry

division for the Philippine department. He was also in charge of the

captured records until March 1901, when he and his regiment were

ordered back to the United States. While crossing the Pacific on

board the Garonne, he wrote a regimental history of the 26th In-

fantry, U. S. V.14 Upon arrival the regiment was mustered out in

San Francisco and Lieutenant Colonel Dickman, 26th Infantry, U. S.

Volunteers, reverted to his former grade, captain of cavalry in the

regular army.

Various Assignments

The years from 1901 to 1917 are not well covered in General

Dickman's personal papers. The only available sources are a letter

to the editor of the New York Sun on "Army Reserves" and

correspondence with his brother-in-law, Clement A. Stueve of

Wapakoneta, Ohio.

In 1902-3 Captain Dickman was again at the infantry-cavalry

school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as instructor. His students

found him to be a close observer and an excellent judge of men.

Basing his judgments on human values as well as intellectual

ability, Dickman could discern an officer's capacity and special talent

with accuracy. His special capability was recognized when he was

chosen a member of the first general staff; he also saw duty in

the war department, and graduated from the war college in

Washington in 1905. During the years 1903-5 and on into the early

part of 1906 he was engaged in some controversial writing in de-

fense of the regular army.

A bill presented in the senate was intended to promote the

establishment of a reserve force. Again Captain Dickman took up

his pen, writing to the editor of the New York Sun defining a

reserve:

A reserve is composed of regularly enlisted men previously trained and

14 Writings of Colonel J. T. Dickman, 2d Cavalry.

• 11
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                45

 

disciplined, who in time of peace are on indefinite furlough and pursue

their usual occupation in civil life, but who are bound by their oath of en-

listment and the law of the land to respond to a call made by the govern-

ment in time of actual or threatened war.¹⁵

 

Then Dickman proceeded to explain the need of a reserve, which

was not in existence at the time of the Spanish-American War.

As a result three months elapsed before enlisted men were ready

for service. This situation would occur again unless the emergency

were foreseen. Another question would be the money appropriated

by congress to cover expenditures.

The question of economy had led all the great countries of the

world to adopt the reserve system. The United States stood alone

as the only great nation without a reserve army. The mobilization

of a military force is its transition from a peace to a war-time

footing. Everything needed for war operations is ready and no

delay is experienced. But the regular army could not be mobilized

because there was no reserve. Experience in the Spanish-American

War had proved that recruiting is a doubtful procedure.

 

It is desirable to have both the regular army and the National Guard in

a high state of efficiency in time of peace; but the prize object of these

institutions, after all, is efficiency in time of war. . . . Within one month

after landing in Cuba the regular army was a wreck and it did not recover

from this short campaign for several years....

The condition of the Volunteer Army as to equipment, armament, and

health, and its degree of fitness for the field service in the latter part of

August, is not yet ancient history. No further argument is required to con-

vince the thoughtful reader of the necessity of trained reserves, both for

the regular army and for the organized militia.

Furthermore, Captain Dickman stated in the same letter that the

regular army was so weak numerically at the time, that in case of

war, regiments of organized militia or volunteers would have to be

used to fill the ranks. No general would consider forming a reserve

of militia or volunteers unless they were equal to, or better than,

the regulars. The militia or "National Guard" would not be effi-

 

15 Clipping from the New York Sun, February 22, 1906.

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46      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

cient as national troops so long as they were "commanded by forty-

five Governors or neglected by as many changing legislatures."

Three days after the publication of this letter in the New York

Sun, the secretary of war, William Howard Taft, gave an address

to the Union League Club in Chicago. His address, said the Sun,

"practically writes the approval of the War Department on Captain

Dickman's article in the Sun of February 22.^"16

After his promotion to major, 13th Cavalry, in March 1906

Dickman went to Fort Myer, Virginia, where he was in command

until December 1908. The Chicago Evening Post of February 22,

1907, printed an article, "At the Right of the Line," in which Major

Dickman's ability and career were highly praised:

This fighting soldier is in command of a squadron of the Thirteenth

Cavalry, as fine a body of horsemen as the army holds. It is the troops of

Dickman's squadron that perform weekly the drill feats that are the wonder

of Washington. Major Dickman has had an active field career and his

service life has been of the kind that people call picturesque. . . . For

several years he was a member of the general staff and it is more than

probable, in fact, one possibly won't go astray in making the statement,

that many of the plans that will be of service to this country in case of

future wars were in considerable part the work of Dickman's head and hand.

Again to the Philippines

The peaceful life with his family at Fort Myer was not to con-

tinue long, because early in 1909 he left for a second term of

service in the Philippines.

The two years spent as inspector general of cavalry in Manila

and Zamboanga were busy ones. He made an inspection of the

American Gibraltar, the defensive works of Corregidor. "By the

time Uncle Sam puts in twenty-five millions on fortifications and

the Naval Base the prospect for immediate independence will be

remote," he wrote his brother-in-law.17

The major's headquarters were at Zamboanga on the island of

Mindanao. The inspection of fortifications in and around Manila

 

16 New York Sun, February 25, 1906.

17 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, May 13, 1909.

• 13
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I            47

 

occupied four months; then a trip to Fort Pikit in the southern part

of Mindanao enabled him to inspect the fortifications in that area.

He expressed the opinion that independence would cause this part

of the archipelago to revert to piracy, and it would be necessary for

Germany, Britain, and Japan to police the territory. But since he

considered independence as far away as the second coming of

Christ there was no use in giving it further thought.18

Early in February 1910 Dickman left Zamboanga for maneuvers

at Manila. As his work progressed he visited many recently es-

tablished stations for troops. He was eager to finish his inspection

so he could leave for home in March 1911. The offer of a position

under the civil government did not tempt him, because he felt that

duty to his family required his return to the States.¹⁹ Accordingly,

with the completion of his work in March 1911, he and his family

enjoyed a visit to Japanese cities and on May 20 they sailed on the

Sherman from Nagasaki for the United States.

 

The Years 1911-18

Assignments for Major Dickman in the years 1911 to 1914 in-

cluded that of inspector general of the department of Missouri

and the central division with headquarters at Chicago; the 12th

Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska; the cavalry board and a tour

of inspection of the cavalry in Russia, Germany, Italy, Austria,

France, and England; and finally the 2d Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen,

Vermont, upon his return from Europe. He had been promoted to

lieutenant colonel of cavalry on February 29, 1912, and in December

1914 he received the rank of colonel. On February 12, 1915, he

was placed in command of the fort.

The time spent at Fort Ethan Allen was replete with professional

and social activities. Colonel Dickman's popularity earned for him

the honor of commander of the Vermont Commandery of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion; and in 1917 the University of

Vermont conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of laws.

18 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, September 15, 1909.

19 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, November 10, 1910.

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48       Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

The war which had begun in Europe in August 1914 furnished

him with subject matter for publication in the Burlington Free Press,

in which he made some predictions about the war and its con-

duct. Having so recently returned from the tour of inspection of

cavalry in the warring powers, his knowledge of conditions was

valuable. He compared contending forces in the past with the fifteen

millions of soldiers of the modern nations, and he predicted that

there would be fighting in the air, underground sieges, and sub-

marine warfare. He believed that the main theaters of the war

would be the open fields of eastern Prussia and the north of France.

Regarding the financial resources of the European nations he wrote:

The financial resources of the Triple Entente are greatly in excess of

those of the Dual Alliance. France and England are the wealthiest countries

of Europe, and Russia is in good financial condition, thanks to its enormous

territory and population. Austria is a financial cripple and the German war

chest will not reach far in this titanic struggle.²⁰

Colonel Dickman was promoted to brigadier general in May

1917, one month after the United States entered World War I.

When he was advanced to the rank of major general in the same

year, he was placed in command of Camp Custer, Battle Creek,

Michigan. Consultations and physical examinations to determine

his fitness for service abroad soon followed, and in November he

had telegraphic orders to proceed to Camp Greene, North Carolina,

and to assume command of the 3d Division. These happenings

indicated early service in France.

In France

The 3d Division arrived in France late in April. Intensive train-

ing in trenches occupied the soldiers during May, while the general

was busy reviewing the troops and directing affairs, visiting all

the sections and making preparations for the advance to the front.

He himself took part in daily gas mask drills.²¹

 

20 Burlington Free Press, August 3, 1914.

21 Joseph Dickman to his wife, May 12, 1918. General Dickman's letters to his

wife and his relatives in Ohio; a personal diary which he began on February 1, 1918;

and his book, The Great Crusade, which D. Appleton & Company published in 1927,

furnish a full and vivid account of the twenty-eight months he spent in Europe.

• 15
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I               49

 

The reputation which the 3d Division acquired even at army

headquarters afforded General Dickman much pleasure and satis-

faction. He tried to instill into his men sound principles of courage,

honesty, and uprightness, and he expected his men to show off to

advantage at the front. Following a field exercise display, General

Pershing expressed himself as well pleased.

Since the Germans at this time were making their great drive

toward Paris, the 3d Division was ordered to prepare for imme-

diate field service and advance to Chateau-Thierry.²² Late in the

afternoon of June 1 units of the division, under French command,

launched attacks against the Germans and stopped them north of

the town. This performance pleased the French and effected more

cordial relations with them than had heretofore existed. General

Dickman for his part was given the unique honor, never before

granted an American general, of commanding French troops, who,

together with some American units, composed the reserve of a

French corps. He wrote to his wife that the American soldiers put

the European troops to shame.²³

The American generals in France were greatly dissatisfied with

French management of the American troops. They objected to the

American units being distributed among the French and the glory

of a victory being attributed solely to the Allies. They reasoned

that the American soldiers could do better work independent of

the French. The officers had been trying to have the American

army separated for some time. The Diary entry for June 27, 1918,

states:

Colonel P. Brown C. of S. 2d Division says our secret service has written

evidence that the reason English and French try to prevent us from having

Corps and Army organization is that a victorious American Army would

have too much influence in the peace negotiations. I asked Gen. [Hunter]

Liggett whether the time had come for us to speak out a little. He said

wait. Corps and Army organization for the Americans can only be a question

of time. As our divisions go on the line in greater numbers, we must be

put on our own, away from apron strings and condescension. All our

generals are talking that way and the press will take it up before long.--I

22 The Great Crusade, 47.

23 Joseph Dickman to his wife, June 15, 1918.

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50      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

am asserting two facts: 1. That the Americans are the best soldiers in

Europe. 2. That their respect for women, protection of property, sanitation,

and general discipline are in marked contrast with most of the European

troops.²⁴

 

In an address at a Fourth of July celebration General Dickman

had said that the Americans had come to deliver powerful blows

against the invading hordes, and eleven days later the first of the

great blows fell.

 

The Second Battle of the Marne

A great German offensive was expected to fall on July 9, accord-

ing to the report of a deserter,²⁵ and from that date there was a

continuous round of daily inspections of trenches and visiting vari-

ous detachments until July 14, when the big clash finally came.

At midnight July 14 the enemy crossed the Marne and early in the

morning started a powerful attack with their best troops. They tried

desperately to break through the lines but they were repulsed.

In the Diary and The Great Crusade and a letter on August 5

to Clement A. Stueve, are detailed accounts of this Second Battle

of the Marne. All the German artillery had opened fire at 12:10 A.M.

of July 15, and continued for two hours and forty minutes. Then

the Germans began to cross the river, but in the 3d Division area

American machine guns prevented their advance. All who did make

any advance were either killed or taken prisoner.²⁶ The Diary

gives a vivid account of the events of July 15:

 

125th Fr. Division on our right quit early. Their art'y hitched up and

retreated 55 minutes after firing commenced, followed soon by Inf. & M. G's.

One Co L of 55' Brig 28' Div U. S. held hill at Varennes for a while but

followed the French. Enemy offered a beautiful target advancing across

open carrying their machine guns but nobody tried to stop them. Our right

was thus in the air early in the game. McAlexander [commanding Dickman's

38th Infanty Regiment] did not shift until midnight[,] his right flank

being exposed for over 12 hours, with nothing behind him for about 6 km.

²⁴ Diary, 32.

25 Ibid., 34.

26 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, August 5, 1918.

• 17
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                51

 

The 3d division with a front of 11 km and no flank protection put up a

wonderful fight against Germany's best troops. Their artillery is very good,

but in a rifle fight our men can beat them 2 to 1. At 6 p.m. Fr had not

started counterattack, but at 8:00 p.m. it was under way proceeding very

slowly towards N. E. from Conde.²⁷

 

General Dickman wrote later that had it not been for the resolute

stand of the 3d Division at Chateau-Thierry, the war might have

been won by the Germans in their final drive for Paris.²⁸

On July 30 General Dickman and his 3d Division went into

a much-needed rest period south of the Marne. His casualties were

more than 5,000, and many good officers had fallen. He had written

to Mrs. Dickman on July 26 that his division had defeated two

German divisions and that he would receive the croix de guerre

in recognition of his services. At the time of writing he was ex-

pecting a German counterattack, in the face of which he feared his

troops would collapse from exhaustion. As for himself, he wrote:

I sleep from two to four hours a day and don't expect to have my clothes

off for a month. I bathe one foot at a time so as to be able to respond quickly

in case of alarm, and always sleep in clothes and boots. I feel that I am

living at the rate of a month a day.²⁹

After the rest period General Dickman was given command of

the IV Corps with headquarters at Toul. He took command on

August 18.

 

I was sorry [he wrote his wife] to leave my old division, the 3d, to which

I had become attached. My job now is about four times as big. I hope my

good luck will continue. In six weeks I shall be 61, about old enough to

quit and rest awhile.

We have many capable young generals in the army and as soon as the

old ones pass out there are others equally as good to take their places.³⁰

The St. Mihiel Salient

Plans for the St. Mihiel salient were advancing, and on the

 

²⁷ Diary, 38-39.

28 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, August 5, 1918.

29 Joseph Dickman to his wife, July 26, 1918.

26 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, August 5, 1918.

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52       Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

afternoon of September 11 the general attended a conference of

generals to arrange the final details for the big battle. Despite

the bad weather on the morning of September 12 the bombardment

by eight hundred guns opened at 1:00 A.M. At five o'clock the

infantry jumped out of the trenches and began a steady advance.³¹

It may be interesting to know just what a general, with the

responsibility of one hundred thousand or more lives on his hands,

does during an operation such as the St. Mihiel. General Hunter

Liggett wrote in his book A. E. F. that the hour after an attack

begins is a trying time at headquarters. If the commanding officer

has done his duty, everything for the attack has been arranged that

could be; whereas, if he has not, it is now too late to be concerned.

The nervous strain is difficult.

I have learned [he says] to have two packs of cards by me and to lay

them out in double solitaire positions when an attack has started. This is

as good an anodyne as I know. It saves you from nail-biting and pacing the

floor until your nerves are shot. General Dickman is a fellow addict of

this narcotic.³²

 

As the enemy did not expect the attack at that time, they lost

control under our heavy artillery fire and were driven out of their

caves and trenches, where they had lived for four years.

He [the enemy] had gardens, log cabins, officers' clubs, macadam roads,

bridle paths, moving picture theaters, target ranges and children. In the

town of Vigneulles there were said to be 200 children with German

fathers. . . .

The morale of the German army is very low. Another good blow or two

will cause them to crumble rapidly.³³

 

The successful battle ended on September 16. The greatest result

was that it raised the morale of the Allied forces, while the Germans

 

31 Diary, 53.

32 Hunter Liggett, A. E. F., Ten Years Ago in France (New York, 1928), 174-175.

General Dickman had several solitaire problems worked out and pasted in one of his

scrapbooks. They are dated 1895 and 1905--the years when he was a first lieutenant

and a captain.

33 Joseph Dickman to his wife, September 15, 1918.

• 19
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I               53

 

were correspondingly discouraged and began to realize that they

would be defeated.³⁴

Although the St. Mihiel salient was a decisive victory for the

Allies, the orders issued by Marshal Foch prevented as great a

gain as might have resulted. General Dickman said that he would

always regard the failure to push forward as a strategical blunder,

for which Marshal Foch and his staff were responsible. It was an

example of the "fallacy of the policy of limited objectives."³⁵

The Meuse-Argonne and Sedan

On September 26 another great operation was begun--the Meuse-

Argonne. Dickman's corps was not in the heavy fighting at first,

but he awaited orders at any time. Daily he made automobile trips

among his troops. The following entry in his Diary for September 30

indicates the anxiety experienced during those days:

News from Argonne front not so favorable. Definite decision as to forma-

tion of 6th Corps expected. 60 casualties in Dieulovard bombardment by

Germans as balloons saw streets filled with soldiers. Expensive lesson, but

preaching is useless.³⁶

 

Another interesting story is found in the entry for October 5, in

which he tells that he had lunch with Generals Pershing and Petain

on the former's private train on that day. All seemed satisfied with

American progress, which was holding many German divisions

from other fields. Attacks were continuing all along the line. Yet

General Dickman's dissatisfaction with the French is evident from

the October 5 comment in the Diary:

General Petain displeased with Pres't Wilson's refusal to let the Japs

go across Siberia. American Army appears to be under Petain's command.

It should be on the same footing as the British, and must be so eventually. . . .

Eventful day--10:00 p.m. report in detail that Germany had sued for

peace, acceding to all of Mr. Wilson's principles. Should this be favorably

considered, there will be great disappointment among the French who are

34 The Great Crusade, 158.

35 Liddell Hart, Through the Fog of War (London, 1938), 340.

36 Diary, 59.

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54      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

thirsting for a chance to do a little looting and devastating on the other

side of the Rhine.37

Even though news of a possible armistice was spread, the

American headquarters did not discontinue plans for fighting. On

October 11 General Dickman received orders to assume command

of the I Corps, which assignment placed him on combat duty again

with living quarters in a dugout. Late in October he was informed

by General Pershing that terms of an armistice had been sent to

the Germans, but all were keen to go in for a "final push" to

capture Sedan.³⁸

The great attack before Sedan opened on November 1 with the

I Corps in the lead. Advance was slow, but on the second day

results were better. About noon a report came in that the Kaiser

had abdicated. On November 3 the general wrote to his wife that

he had celebrated her birthday (November 1) with a big battle;

they were still pursuing the Germans and would continue to do

so until either an armistice or a strong defense would stop them.³⁹

The following incident of the campaign can hardly be over-

looked because of the importance it had in the life of General

Dickman. The area which was assigned to the I Corps (Dickman's

command) was cut off on the north from Sedan by that of the

Fourth French Army. As a result American troops could not be

first to enter Sedan; nevertheless, General Dickman received the

following orders:

Received, 18:30, Nov. 5, '18

MEMORANDUM FOR COMMANDING GENERALS 1ST

CORPS, 5TH CORPS.

Subject: Message from the Commander-in-Chief.

1. General Pershing desires that the honor of entering Sedan

should fall to the 1st American Army. He has every confidence that

the troops of the 1st Corps, assisted on their right by the 5th Corps,

will enable him to realize this desire.

2. In transmitting the foregoing message your attention is in-

vited to the favorable opportunity now existing for pressing our

37 Ibid., 60.

38 Ibid., 68.

39 Joseph Dickman to his wife, November 3, 1918.

• 21
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                55

 

advance throughout the night. Boundaries will not be considered

as binding.

By command of Lieutenant General Liggett:

H. A. Drum,

Chief of Staff40

Since General Dickman did not consider the help of the V

Corps necessary in this advance, he did not send word to General

Summerall, who was in command. Also, General Dickman and the

other generals assumed that the Fourth French Army, which cut

off the I Corps from Sedan on the north, had been informed of

the movement by the French high command. But such orders had

not been issued--or, at least, not received--as events proved later.

Early in the evening General Drum visited General Dickman's

headquarters, urging the advance to Sedan regardless of bound-

aries.41 But the 1st Division of the V Corps was crossing the I Corps

lines, and with urging on his right and protesting on his left, the

action was becoming decidedly interesting. Evidently, the V Corps

had orders directly from the commander-in-chief. The Diary nota-

tions give details of the movements on November 6:

Advance continues N. At 4 p.m. our troops are reported entering Foret de

la Haye, W of Raucourt. French liaison officer here, 10hr. to protest by

4th Fr. Army against encroachment on its area. Orders from Gen Liggett

directed us to proceed to Sedan saying "Boundaries will not be considered

as binding".--At 16:30 airplane reports us as passing Chehery, Bulson, and

Haracourt. Chehery 3 km out of our bounds. Ordered 42d Div to get back

into limits, 16:30 Gen. Brewster I. G. drops in at 4:00 p.m. 80th Div is

out of line assembling in back area. 18:50 orders again rec'd to make Sedan

regardless of bounds--from Col. Grant. Gen. Drum arrives 7 p.m. Re-

iterates orders for advance on Sedan, regardless of bounds. Lt. Blanquet,

liaison Fr. army, says Gen. Petain was at 9th Corps, Fr. Hq and they are

all much worried by our encroachment on their sector.

First Division crossed our Corps area in five columns, bound for Sedan.

Its orders must have come from C-in-C. This is most extraordinary and

some day is bound to create disaster, especially as he [Pershing] did not

notify me.⁴²

40 The Great Crusade, 181.

41 Diary, 71.

42 Ibid., 71.

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56      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

A veritable hornet's nest existed at I Corps headquarters when

General Liggett arrived. Immediately orders were dispatched in

all directions in an effort to prevent a possible mistaken identity

which might draw fire on the Americans. Fortunately, the Germans

did not make a counterattack. In The Great Crusade General

Dickman expresses his opinion more fully, attributing the escape

to the staff, to the good sense of the junior officers, "and, perhaps,

as Colonel A. L. Wagner used to say in the Spanish-American War,

to the fact that there is a Providence which looks after the United

States."⁴³

Involved in the confusion of orders was Brigadier General

Douglas MacArthur. In his book entitled A. E. F. General Liggett

relates that MacArthur, then commanding the 42d Division, affected

a peculiar cap similar to those worn by German officers. He and

some of his staff were studying a map on this particular night when

some members of the 1st Division burst in and captured him and

his party, mistaking them for a German division command.⁴⁴ General

Dickman notes: "Our Staff officers had a hard time to clear up the

tangle. Gen. MacArthur was arrested at the point of a pistol by

patrol of 1st Div."⁴⁵

In the final check-up on the Memorandum Order, General

Pershing stated that the march resulted from a "misconception in

the Fifth Corps of the exact intent of the orders."⁴⁶ And then

General Pershing decided to let the French have Sedan!47

General James Harbord relates this incident in his account of the

World War, The American Army in France, 1917-1919, and ex-

presses himself as thinking that General Liggett and General Dick-

man were justified in their anger:

The test of an order is not can it be understood but can it be mis-

understood? By this test the Memorandum Order of November 5th is bound

to be condemned. Yet it was drawn by experienced officers and issued to

43 P. 191 et seq.

44 P. 229.

⁴⁵ Diary, 72.

46 James G. Harbord, The American Army in France, 1917-1919 (Boston, 1936),

459.

⁴⁷ Diary, 73.

• 23
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I               57

 

others equally experienced--all of them supposed to be familiar with at

least the elementary principles of warfare. They knew each other. They

had been taught in the same schools. Generals Liggett and Dickman were

much incensed and outraged by what had happened. Dickman went to his

grave embittered and unforgiving. Liggett, with his fine mind clouded by

remorseless age, cannot be heard. He was not aware of the existence of

the Memorandum Order of November 5th until about noon November 7th.

Rumors were current at the time and still run as to what lay behind the

Memorandum Order. History will find it difficult in deciding why the Fifth

Corps was included in the Memorandum Order, if only military con-

siderations governed. General Pershing by his statement quoted above prac-

tically repudiates any mandate in the Order to justify the march of the First

Division--but within two weeks he so forgave it as to praise the Division

from G. H. Q. in a highly eulogistic order.⁴⁸

 

The command of the Third Army was Dickman's next order on

November 8, and he hoped that nomination as lieutenant general

would soon follow. Two days later the news of the armistice came,

with orders to cease operations at 11:00 A.M. on November 11.

General rejoicing followed; the war was actually over! Dickman

wrote to his brother-in-law⁴⁹ and later to his wife that he was glad

that the war was over. He seemed quite pleased that he would

command the American army on the Rhine.⁵⁰ He was glad too

because it was his last war.

After the Armistice

At a conference at Chaumont on November 13 Major General

Dickman was given command of the Third Army, consisting of six

divisions. This was the army which would be the American army

on the Rhine. Its duties were to follow the retreating German

forces; to see that the terms of the armistice were observed; and to

occupy the bridgeheads on the east bank of the river. The divisions

selected were those which had performed conspicuous service in the

war. This was a reward for valor during the hard weeks of fighting.

Early in the morning of November 17 the Third Army started

on the first lap of the long march to the Rhine. It was an im-

 

48 Pp. 459-460.

49 Joseph Dickman to Clement A. Stueve, November 12, 1918.

50 Joseph Dickman to his wife, November 15, 1918.

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58      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

pressive spectacle, each soldier feeling that he was participating

in a great historical event. Along the way at Longuyon a delegation

awaited the general and after an expression of welcome and grati-

tude for deliverance presented him with a laurel wreath.⁵¹ He

always treasured the tri-colored ribbon which had adorned the

wreath. After reviewing the troops at Longuyon, General Pershing

expressed his pleasure with the progress of the army. Dickman

wrote to his wife that these were great days.⁵² In Luxembourg the

grand duchess met Dickman at the palace.

The esteem with which his men regarded General Dickman is

illustrated in a simple incident which happened along the way. The

army was plodding along a rutted road in a cold December rain,

when from the rear a cry rang out, "Way to the right!" The men

moved to the right and prepared themselves to receive another mud

shower as another staff car would whiz by. But this time the car

with the flag of a major general kept well to the left as its driver

steered it slowly along the marching 38th Infantry without splash-

ing one of the column. Then a mighty cheer came rolling up the

lines from the rear, and a roar of acclaim was given the smiling

officer in the rear seat. "Such an ovation could have been given the

American Commander-in-Chief," thought a young private near the

head of the column. A lower rank officer would not have been so

considerate. A sergeant on the youth's right then informed him:

"We didn't cheer him for that," declared the old timer. "He could've

splashed us plenty, an' we'd take it. But he ain't that kind of hombre,

soldier. If you wasn't a replacement who's just joined us, you'd know. That

was our old skipper. The man who brought this division overseas from

Camp Greene and led us at the Marne in July. That was "Uncle Joe,"

soldier, General Joseph T. Dickman--a soldier's soldier!⁵3

 

Difficulties with the French arose because Marshal Foch was at-

tempting to mix French troops with the American army. In an

interview on his train at Luxembourg station, General Pershing

told General Dickman that he (Pershing) was opposed to having

 

51 Diary, 75.

52 Joseph Dickman to his wife, November 20, 1918.

53 Herbert Smith, "Uncle Joe," Ohio Guardsman, V (1939), 2.

• 25
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                59

 

any French troops joined to the Americans in Germany. Pershing

tnought that if this happened the American army would go back

with bitter feelings toward the French army. He also said that

Foch had tried to break up the American army and to scatter the

divisions among the French corps, but Pershing had opposed bitterly

and refused saying that he would appeal to President Wilson.⁵⁴

Dickman went on to note in his Diary previous and current

differences with the French:

It is stated the G. H. Q. has original letter of instructions from Foch to

hold Americans down to command of divisions. King Albert assumed

command of his army & dismissed DeGoutte. Fr. tried to force DeGoutte

on us as C. of S. Reported that Foch ordered all American troops back of

post line to begin reconstructing French roads and villages. Gen. Pershing

says Fr. 48th Div & D. C. P. are not to form part of 3rd Army. They

the Divs) say they have orders assigning them to us, but we have nothing

from G.H.Q. On acct of difficulty in supply and because 48th Div. Colonials

are 1/3 colored, Sen[e]galese, we do not wish to be associated with them.

Unpleasant incidents are likely to arise because of their treatment of women

and children. In case of mistreatment in their presence American soldiers

could take prompt summary action. We hope also that our 90th Div. will

be taken away from the French on our right.

Feeling at G. H. Q. appears to be bitter against the French and nearly

11 officers feel the same way. When they get back to the U. S. will tell

some truths as to how Uncle Sam has been used. Octroi taxes have been

paid on the same rations three times--each time they were moved to another

town. Sec'y Baker's brother reported this to him.⁵⁵

While marching through the German villages, the American

soldiers noticed no traces of hostility on the part of the German

civilian population and the returned soldiers. The burgomaster at

??rier told General Dickman that the Germans placed absolute con-

fidence in the Americans, who, he thought, were their only hope.⁵⁶

But with the French the situation was quite different. A French

captain acting as an interpreter at the Bitburg headquarters, had

pulled the ears of a German civilian mail carrier and struck him.

Since this was an open violation of American orders, the French

 

54 Diary, 78, 79.

55 Ibid., 79, 80.

56 Ibid., 80.

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60      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

officer was immediately dismissed.⁵⁷ Accordingly, Major Kann, the

French liaison officer, retorted that the position of the French on

duty with the Third Army had become intolerable. Apparently the

French wanted to see the Germans oppressed and mistreated, and

they were greatly disappointed that the Germans received friendly

treatment from the American soldiers.⁵⁸ General Dickman insisted

on this policy and even wrote to General Pershing urgently recom-

mending no change, since this policy was proving so successful with

the Third Army.⁵⁹

Seemingly, as a result of the difficulty with the French, all the

American plans for the occupation of the bridgehead at Coblenz

were changed by the French. The American army lost about half

of the territory originally assigned to it. Resentment among the

American divisions was universal and appeal to the president was

threatened.60

Again in his entry in his Diary for December 13 General Dickman

refers to the increasing indignation and resentment in the American

Army against treatment by the French. He devoted three pages to

this summary of grievances which the Americans had against the

French:

 

1. Assumption by Fr. that Americans were volunteers or conscripts, hence

ignorant of things military. Not aware to date that American Army is nothing

but expanded regular army--command and staff nearly all regulars.

2. Apparently did not know about W. P., service schools at Riley, Ft.

Worth and Monroe, and War College, & started to instruct us on that

basis. Were ignorant of our service text books.

3. False doctrine as to trench warfare, use of grenades and abandonment

of rifle instruction as paramount basis of infty efficiency.

4. Insistence on keeping American units down to a division and scatter-

ing our troops among the French. We have received a copy in writing of

such instructions.

5. Putting of American troops into the most difficult and disagreeable

areas.

6. Assigning of our troops to positions of greatest danger (Argonne).

 

57 Ibid., 82.

58 Ibid., 82.

59 The Great Crusade, 218 et seq.

60 Diary, 83.

• 27
 

An Ohio Army Officer of World War I                61

 

7. Instructions to Fr. press to minimize participation of U. S. troops in

operation reports.

8. Many news reports and signed articles in Fr. papers, claiming Fr.

victories in operations where Fr. failed and the successful work was done

by our troops.

9. Habitual hanging back on the flanks with American troops in a salient

pushing the enemy.

10. Rushing up of Fr. troops & claiming the victory as soon as U. S.

troops had cleared an area or forced enemy retreat.

11. The 3d Div after losing 6500 casualties on the Marne, Vesle, &

Ourcq was assigned a rest area consisting of graveyards, battlefields and

ruined villages, just S of Marne E. of Chateau-Thierry, small area including

but little of plateau with farms & villages.

12. Embargo on railroad after advance to Rhine was underway.

13. Attempt to force 48th colonial Fr & 2d Cav Div on foot into

American sector of occupation, the former being 1/3 colored troops.

14. Cutting down to almost half of the American sector assigned on the

Rhine at the last hour after all arrangements were made.

15. 90th Div assigned to 4th Fr. Army for occupation. Changed under

our protest.

16. Attempt to force un-American restrictions as to our treatment of non-

combatants, women & children in occupied territory.

17. Maj. Kann liaison officer said position of his detachment was in-

tolerable because of liberality of Americans toward German women and

children. He has not left though we would be glad to see him go. We

applied for relief of all interpreters, liaison, etc., except one at Corps &

Army Hqrs.

If selfish, ungenerous attitude of French Army & gov't continues a break

is inevitable. Maj. Geiger, Br. officer with us says he realizes the situation

and fears the Americans will feel more friendly to the Germans than to

the French. When the 2,000,000 Americans get back they will tell many

hard truths. There is danger that France will lose the affection of the

Americans unless a change is made and she stops hogging the whole thing.

18. On the Marne the 3d Div occupied 11 kilo-meters of front, facing

the enemy. In the present occupation of 400 kilometers of Rhine front, the

Army of 2,000,000 Americans hold 30 kilometers, about 1/13 instead

of 1/4.61

The headquarters of the Third Army was moved to Coblenz on

December 15. General Dickman was billeted in the home of a

61 Ibid., 84-87.

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62      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

multimillionaire. On the same day he received the croix de guerre

and he was told that he had been recommended for the Legion

of Honor.

Apparently in an effort to relieve the situation further, the French

general, Mangin, invited Dickman to Mayence for lunch on the

day after Christmas. Dickman was met by a guard of honor. During

the lunch and entertainment General Mangin toasted the Third

Army, expressing the hope that no difference would disturb the

good feeling between the armies. Dickman replied in French re-

assuring Mangin that our affection for France could not be broken

by slight causes.⁶²

New Year's Day was spent in pleasurable entertainment, with a

dinner, a reception for all officers, and a dance for Lieutenant

General Robert L. Bullard at the club. On this occasion Bullard

told Dickman that promotions had been reopened for the latter's

benefit.⁶³

These were weary months of waiting, but the general and his

staff tried to arrange the program of training, drill, and work to

end at noon, so that the afternoon could be given over to various

diversions. One of the most popular places was the bulletin board,

where schedules of departing divisions were posted from time to

time. In March General Pershing made an extended tour of in-

spection of the Third Army. On this occasion General Dickman

received the Distinguished Service Medal. He had already been

decorated with the Belgian decoration of Grand Officer of the

Order of Leopold I, and in April 1919 he received the English

honor Knight Commander of the Bath.

Lieutenant General Liggett was appointed to succeed Major

General Dickman as commanding officer of the Third Army. Notice

of this change reached Dickman on April 13 and became effective

on April 28. He was then detailed at Chaumont as president of a

board of officers on the lessons of the war, and his report became

the basis for reorganization of the army.⁶⁴ He felt that since con-

62 Ibid., 91-92.

63 Ibid., 94.

64 Joseph Dickman to his wife, April 19, 1919.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I          63

 

ditions in the Third Army were at the peak of excellence this was

a good time for the new detail. Furthermore, the delay in peace

negotiations, weariness of the long occupation, and homesickness

among the soldiers tended toward future difficulties in manage-

ment. He could go without regrets, for he felt there was nothing

more to do unless war operations were resumed.⁶⁵

On his way to Chaumont on April 28 Marshal Petain conferred

on General Dickman the French Cross of Commander of the Legion

of Honor at Trier. The scope of his work on the board of officers

led the general to think that the work would be completed in about

one month and then he hoped to go home. Late in May he was

obliged to move again-this time to Trier, where he lived in General

Pershing's house, which the latter turned over to Dickman for use

during sessions of the board. At Chaumont on June 6 Dickman

received the decoration of Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy.

Board work continued until July 1, when the commander-in-chief

was informed that the report on "tactics and organization" in con-

nection with the lessons of the war was completed.⁶⁶ Then Dickman

awaited orders to return home.

When the treaty of peace was signed and the report completed,

there was nothing more for General Dickman to do in Europe.

On July 8 he received orders to return to America, and soon after,

he left for Brest, France, from which port he sailed on the Aquitania

on July 14, arriving in New York on July 20. He immediately re-

tired with his family to Burlington, Vermont. His "Great Crusade"

was finished.

The long-anticipated vacation and rest was of short duration,

for it came to an abrupt end on July 27, six days after his return,

when General Dickman was called to Washington for a conference

with the secretary of war, Newton Baker, and the chief-of-staff,

General Peyton March. Dickman was ordered to the southern de-

partment with headquarters at San Antonio, Texas. So back to San

Antonio he went after an absence of twenty-six years, and on

August 11 he assumed command of the department.

 

65 Joseph Dickman to his wife, April 25, 1919.

66 Diary, 117.

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64      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

Border trouble was soon settled, and then Dickman proceeded

to make tours of inspection throughout the southern department.

After he had made a visit to Del Rio, Texas, the West Texas News

carried the following item:

 

The work of General Dickman as one of the famous division commanders

of the A. E. F. will always be remembered. He is a man of large frame

with a square jaw and a face that suggests power and determination tempered

with kindliness. Hindenburg has the face of a great soldier; so has Dickman;

but whereas Hindenburg excites repulsion, Dickman attracts. After all, it

is a pity that Hindenburg never came under the humanizing influence of

American institutions.⁶⁷

Similar tours of inspection took Dickman into New Mexico and

Arizona. Armistice Day 1919 was celebrated in San Antonio with

a parade led by General Dickman and the 2d Division.

Rumors of promotion were spread again, but the final outcome

was Dickman's nomination to the permanent rank of major general,

which was approved by the senate on December 19, 1919. During

1920 the general was not engaged in any outstanding military tasks,

but his duties obliged him to travel extensively in his department.

General and Mrs. Dickman made visits to various parts of the

country just before his retirement in October 1921. Starting early

in September, their tour extended from California to West Point

to Charleston, South Carolina, to Ohio and Arkansas, and finally

back to San Antonio in November. In June 1922 the Dickmans

moved East and settled in Washington, D. C., in the fall.

After retirement General Dickman served as a member of the

army elimination board until January 1923. In June 1923 he de-

livered the commencement address at the University of Dayton

and at the same time he received the honorary degree of doctor of

laws. In the address to the graduates he gave expression to the

idea that the United States should keep free from the cunning of

European diplomacy, which might eventually destroy our liberty

He warned against European propagandists who were trying to

convince America to join the League of Nations. That modern

67 August 29, 1919.

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An Ohio Army Officer of World War I               65

 

inventions had brought the United States in closer proximity to

Europe was not a forceful argument. "And if there is anything in

the saying, 'If you want to lose a friend, lend him money,' are our

relations likely to be more cordial with the nations who have

borrowed huge sums from us and are making no effort to pay

even the interest?"

The general continued with an explanation of our strategical

position and then spoke of the internal situation in this country.

He was very conscious of the millions of dollars which Russia was

spending to spread communist propaganda while her own people

were starving. Societies were at work to undermine the patriotism

of the people and the authority of the government of these United

States.

I do not wish to spoil any illusions that some of you may be harboring as

to everlasting peace, if we consider the World War as but under the law

of averages, even a double-header, most of the young men in this audience

will live to see another war. . . . You can add greatly to our national

security by insisting on the reduction of our national debt, thus building up

a tower of reserve strength, beyond the reach of accidental crop failures,

industrial disturbances and temporary hard times, which the most powerful

enemy would hesitate to attack.⁶⁸

In The Great Crusade he wrote that every reduction of the

national debt added to our financial reserve strength; and that at

the rate of debt reduction (1927) in twenty years our financial

strength would be a bulwark against any combination of nations.

Yet in spite of this possible strength it was necessary to maintain

an efficient navy and adequate army for national policy purposes.⁶⁹

During the years after retirement General Dickman's pen was

busy. The Great Crusade was his crowning task. Its publication in

1927, just a few months before his sudden death, told the story of

the World War as he had lived it. He does not seem to have in-

dulged in much controversial writing as he did in the early 1900's,

but he was ready to give his opinion whenever it was asked. In

 

68 Address at the University of Dayton, June, 1923.

69 The Great Crusade, 276.

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66      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

January 1923 a Washington, D. C., newspaper printed his fears for

Germany under communist influence. There was at that time possi-

bility of a coalition with Russia, and unless French pressure was

modified, he feared that another war with Germany would result.

England would try to influence France, but she would certainly not

have joined France against the coalition. This Franco-German diffi-

culty naturally resulted from the bitterness of the French toward

the German people and the French policy to impose regulations

restricting civilian affairs. "The breaking point certainly cannot be

far away. If the break comes--well--I fear France will lose all she

has gained or stands to gain."

Conformable to an army rule during the war, reports from the

battlefronts in France gave divisions engaged but not the names

of the commanders. The rule was a necessity then, but not after the

war. At the time of General Dickman's retirement, the war depart-

ment said only a few words about his excellent record, and the press

recorded that he had withdrawn from active service, and that was

all. High French and British military authorities held that General

Dickman was the foremost American soldier who saw service on

European soil. An edition of the Chicago Post in 1921 stated:

"Dickman commanded a division, a corps, and an army, in suc-

cession, and yet, he was never made a lieutenant general as nearly

everybody, war department officials included, knew should have

been the case."

Final taps for General Dickman sounded at his home on the

morning of October 23, 1927, following a heart attack. A large

delegation of the 3d Division attended the funeral of their wartime

leader, "Daddy Dickman," as his Marnemen called him. Full

military honors were accorded him, his funeral being one of the

most impressive ever conducted in Arlington cemetery.

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