ubt about
it at all. Not May 27th (the break through on the Aisne)--not March
21st (the break through at St. Quentin)--but May and June, 1917--'_les
mutineries dans l'armee_,' _i.e._, that bitter time of '_depression
morale_,' as another French military critic calls it, affecting the
glorious French Army, which followed on General Nivelle's campaign on
the Aisne--March and April, 1917--with its high hopes of victory, its
initial success, its appalling losses, and its ultimate check. Many
causes combined, however--among them the leave-system in the French
Army, and many grievances as to food, billeting, and the like: and the
discontent was alarming and widespread. But," said General Gouraud,
"Petain stepped in and saved the situation." "How?" one asked. "_Il
s'occupa du soldat_--(he gave his mind to the soldier)--that was all."
The whole leave-system was transformed, the food supply and the
organisation of the Army canteens were immensely improved--pay was
raised--and everything was done that could be done, while treating
actual mutiny with a stern hand, to meet the soldiers' demands. "In
our army," said General Gouraud, "a system of discipline like that of
the German Army is impossible. We are a democracy. We must have the
consent of the governed. In the last resort the soldier must be able
to say: '_J'obeis d'amitie._'"

That great result, according to General Gouraud, was finally achieved
by General Petain's reforms. He gave as a proof of it that on the
night of the Armistice, he and his Staff, at Chalons, unable to sit
still indoors, went out and mingled with the crowd in the streets of
that great military centre, apparently to the astonishment and
pleasure of the multitude. "Everywhere along the line," said the
General, "the soldiers were cheering Petain! '_Vive Petain! Vive
Petain!_'" Petain was miles away; but it was the spontaneous
recognition of him as the soldiers' champion and friend.

Gouraud did not say, what was no doubt the truth, that the army at
Chalons were cheering Gouraud no less than Petain. For one can rarely
talk with French officers about General Gouraud without coming across
the statement: "He is beloved by his army. He has done so much for the
soldiers." But not a word of his own share appeared in his
conversation with me.

The talk passed on to the German attack on the French front in
Champagne on July 15th, that perfectly-planned defence in which, to
quote General Gouraud's own stirring wo