ABSTRACT
As Ludendorff readied a third drive on land, US Army divisions were at last in the line. The British and French had wanted to use the Americans as replacements. Pershing, with the support of President Wilson and Secretary of War Newton Baker, insisted on an independent American army holding a sector of the front. Given the emergency, on 28 March Pershing agreed to place his divisions under Foch’s command to be used where needed. On 28 April the US 1st Infantry Division took up active fighting positions in Picardy.38
