On behalf of the British Empire, I heartily congratulate you on the brilliant achievement of the American and Allied troops under the leadership of General Pershing in the St. Mihiel salient.
The far-reaching results secured by these successful operations, which have marked the active intervention of the American army on a great scale under its own administration, are the happiest augury for the complete, and, I hope, not far-distant triumph of the Allied cause.
President Wilson cabled to General Pershing:
Please accept my warmest congratulations on the brilliant achievements of the army under your command. The boys have done what we expected of them and done it in the way we most admire.
We are deeply proud of them and of their chief. Please convey to all concerned my grateful and affectionate thanks.
Frank H. Simonds, the famous military critic, says:
In our own national history, therefore, as in world history, the Battle of St. Mihiel will have an enduring place. To the world it announced the arrival of America in her appointed place in the battle line of civilization.... The road from Concord Bridge to the heights above the Meuse is long, but it runs straight, and along it men are still led by the same love of liberty and service of democracy which was revealed in our first battle morning nearly a century and a half ago.
At the beginning of October, 1918, the Allies were everywhere successful, in Palestine, in the Balkans, in northern Russia, in Siberia, and on the western front. The world was proving again that deceit and violence always lose in the long run.
THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE WAR
In July, 1918, the western battle line, running from the North Sea to Switzerland, was, in general, a huge curve bending into France. Germany had been working on interior lines on this western front—that is, as her forces were needed to defend or to attack, she moved them from place to place on the inside of the circle. The Allies were obliged to work on the outside of the circle and were therefore at a considerable disadvantage.