During the eight months from March’s arrival to the end of the war, the size of the U.S. Army more than doubled, to about 3.7 million. In that period, more men, almost 1.8 million, went to France than were in the entire army on March 1. This enabled the AEF to commit large numbers of troops to battle, and they played a significant role during the fighting in the summer and fall of 1918. Secretary Baker summed up March’s role: The war was won by days. Your energy and drive supplied the days necessary for our side to win.

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As he celebrated the great victory in France, John J. Pershing was not pleased with March. He could see the fruits of his accomplishments, but he was infuriated by March’s different conception of the role of chief of staff. He had also come to fear that March wanted to replace him. Their most significant disagreement was over the power of the chief of staff. Pershing, who had given himself the title of commander in chief of the AEF, assumed that his position resembled that of the commanding general as held by Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. The commanding general, who actually had limited power in peacetime, was traditionally the dominant leader in war. The previous chiefs of staff in the early months of the war had accepted this concept. March, however, believed that the chief of staff was the dominant army officer, and he spelled this out in General Order No. 80 in August 1918. The fact that he considered the national war effort as a whole rather than simply that of the AEF also irritated Pershing.

Pershing’s staff customarily planned for a strength larger than the War Department thought possible. In the climactic summer months, when the tide of the war on the Western Front began to turn for the Allies, Pershing sent a plan for a buildup of the AEF to one hundred divisions, a force he reckoned would be five million men. Astounded by this huge number, General Staff planners studied the problem and concluded that the maximum force the nation could sustain in France was eighty divisions — which was, they estimated, some 1.6 million men fewer than Pershing’s figure. Despite this, the AEF continued to base plans and manpower and supply requests on a force of more than 4.7 million. This led to frustration on both sides during the war and recriminations afterward.

Soon after March returned to the States in the spring of 1918, James G. Harbord, Pershing’s chief of staff, fueled his general’s suspicion that March wanted ultimately to replace him as the AEF commander. The first cause came when the new chief of staff asked for a few AEF officers to serve on the General Staff and in other stateside units. Pershing was not too concerned about this, but later he was furious about March’s handling of recommendations for promotion to general. Pershing recommended AEF officers for all of the available slots. March’s predecessors had always accepted the recommendations, but March made some recommendations of his own. When the affronted AEF commander asked about this change, March replied that he had to consider the entire army rather than just the AEF. That was reasonable, but March was probably wrong in promoting some AEF officers, including Douglas MacArthur, whom Pershing had not recommended.

The crux came in the summer, when the great flow of men and materiel to France seemed to overwhelm the AEF commander. The British proposed to Woodrow Wilson that Pershing be relieved of responsibility for logistics. Secretary Baker and March agreed and proposed that Goethals take over the AEF supply operation. Pershing understandably saw this as an attempt to undermine him, and both he and Harbord suspected that March was using this as a steppingstone to the command of the AEF. He promptly relieved his Services of Supply commander and replaced him with his most loyal subordinate, Harbord, who was then commander of the 2nd Division, and informed the secretary that this was the appropriate solution. Baker acceded to his request, but early that fall during his visit to France he rejected Harbord’s and Pershing’s views of March’s intentions and their suggestions that he be relieved.

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