April 1, 1918 - Don Martin makes day trip near front, but no action

Don Martin diary entry for Monday, April 1, 1918:

Went to Menil la Tour and Ansauville with [Edwin] James [New York Times]. Visited several interesting spots en route and passed miles and miles of Americans, some moving from the big battle front and some to relieve others. Was within couple miles of the front, but saw no excitement as action temporarily is all on the big front. Information is a bit more encouraging. 

(National Archives photo no. 111-SC-10353, Menil-la-Tour, April 1, 1918)

Got back to Neufchateau at 5:30. Wrote two stories for Paris and N.Y. Got letter from Dorothy. Says one of her wisdom teeth has been pulled but she says not a word whether it hurt. Had dinner with Junius Wood [Chicago Daily News], George Patullo [Saturday Evening Post], Lincoln Eyre [New York World] and Sam Johnson.

Weather miserable – rainy but not cold.

  Don Martin cabled a second report of his interview with Secretary Baker, complementing his article published in the New York Herald on March 31. This was published on Monday, April 1, 1918.In it, he trumpets the Paris Herald's success with the American forces.

BAKER TELLS CONFIDANT ALLIES WILL WIN BATTLE

Army’s Joy at Getting Into Conflict Increases His Optimism

By DON MARTIN

[Special Despatch to the Herald via Commercial Cable Company’s System]

AMERICAN FRONT in France, Sunday (delayed)

     Newton D. Baker, America’s Secretary of War, is not at all alarmed by the situation resulting from the German drive. He became even more confidant when he saw the joy with which officers and men of the American army received the news that they were to join the French and British in the great battle.

     Mr. Baker had just finished a long conference, with General Pershing in the library of a chateau where the American staff makes its headquarters, when he saw me. He had commended General Pershing for offering the support of the American forces to General Foch and was very much pleased.

Anxious to Return to America

     The Secretary is anxious to return to Washington to make quickly available the information he has gathered. He said he had been accorded exceptional opportunities to see the war situation in all its phases, and it is quite proper to state that he is confident of the outcome.

     After the Germans began their drive, Mr. Baker was along the British front and saw the refugees streaming away from villages taken by the enemy.

     At a point where his automobile stopped for a railroad crossing he saw in an ambulance two nurses whom he took to be Americans.

     “I told them I felt it almost my duty to speak to American women in such circumstances,” said Mr. Baker.

     “Well, we’re not Americans; we’re English, but it amounts to the same thing,” they replied.

     The Secretary added that he constantly met the same spirit along the front.

The Herald Carries First News

     The first information the American soldiers had that they were to be used in the gigantic conflict raging north and east of Paris was contained in the European edition of the New York HERALD, and when bundles of that newspaper reached the various American camps there was a tremendous demand for them by officers and men.

     The troops broke into cheers, joined hands and danced around like children. They wanted nothing more. The only disappointment will be among those troops that are not sent into the battle with the French and British.

     It has not been announced to them just what they are to do, but it is known that they will play a much more important role than hitherto. It is probable that those American troops that have had months of intensive training at the front will be employed in the battle, and it is certain they will welcome the opportunity.