Word: marshalling
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...Marne concentrated unexpectedly upon Le Petit Morin, the heights which General Foch had been assigned to defend with a pitiably small force, his brilliant "intuitive" maneuver of the 42nd Division from his left to his centre forced the enemy back and proved a paramount element in the French victory. Marshal Joseph Jacques Joffre, who had long realized the special capabilities of Ferdinand Foch, took this opportunity to send him as "Deputy Commander-in-Chief" to put himself in the closest touch with the British and Belgian commanders. His success in conciliating all with whom he had to deal led eventually...
There a newsgatherer sat last week as the Marshal reminisced of the days when his title was Generalissimo of the Allied Forces. Puffing slowly at his meerschaum he said: "You know, I never commanded in the way people imagine. What I did was to bring those about me to accept my opinions, which is quite a different thing. . . . To command is nothing. . . . What is necessary always is to get a good understanding with those with whom one has to deal, to understand them and get them to understand you. That is the whole secret, not only of successful command...
...concrete illustration Marshal Foch recalled his conference with General Pershing and General Haig on the eve of the final Allied Grand Offensive (1918). General Pershing said that his men were insufficiently trained and tried. "How can I throw them into a big offensive?" Sir Douglas (now Earl) Haig insisted that his army was "shot to pieces," asked, "How can we advance...
Commenting, last week, Marshal Foch continued: "I could have given a formal order [to Generals Pershing and Haig] but that is not how I worked. People obey badly when they obey against their will. I always preferred the role of counselor to that of chief. I preferred to convince everyone that my plan was possible, realizable and to give everyone a desire to carry it through...
This Don Quixote upon his sagging, sopping Rosinante was Josef Pilsudski, Marshal and Dictator of Poland, astride the 25-year-old mare on which he charged at the head of his Polish Legionnaires...