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Sheet music for "Just like Washington Crossed the Delaware, General Pershing will Cross the Rhine"
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American Forces under General Pershing Launched First Major Offensive in WWI
September 12, 1918
In the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the combined Allied offensive against the Western Front successfully forced the German retreat. By October, Germany's defeat was certain, and the war came to an end earlier than expected. Leaders signed the Armistice on November 11, 1918.Before this outcome, Pershing spoke to American citizens at home in a recorded broadcast from the battlefields of France. He called for support in "the spirit of our forefathers." President Woodrow Wilson encouraged this call for support, because Pershing had earlier estimated the need for 3 million American troops on European soil by 1919, a larger force than Wilson intended to send. Undoubtedly, the strength of Pershing's army in 1918 saved the lives of those men who would have come after.
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