General John J. Pershing resisted calls from the British and French to insert incoming American units as replacements for existing units.  Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson both wanted American units to fight as an amalgamated unit on the Western Front.  They wanted a true American army to provide a backbone for the future.  But then came the German Spring Offensives of 1918.  These offensives shook the Allied front, then threatened to push the British back to the Channel Coast and the French beyond Paris.  Considering this emergency, Pershing relented, finally allowing some of his units to fight with the French and the British.  Some of the consequences of their work with the British are in evidence here at Somme ABMC Cemetery – American Battlefields and Monuments Commission.

The politics involved bringing American forces to fight alongside British and Commonwealth units is the stuff for another post.  Today, we concentrate on the end results – the cemetery.