American Expeditionary Force
| American Expeditionary Forces | |
|---|---|
Officers of the American Expeditionary Forces and the Baker mission.
|
|
| Active | 1917–1920 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch | United States Army |
| Size | c. 2,000,000 men were in France by the Armistice |
| General Headquarters | Chaumont, France |
| Engagements | |
| Disbanded | August 31, 1920 |
| Commanders | |
| Commander in Chief | Gen. John J. Pershing |
The American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) was the expeditionary force of the United States Army during World War I. It was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing. During the United States campaigns in World War I it fought, alongside French and British troops, against the German Empire. Some of the troops fought alongside Italian forces in that same year, against the Austro-Hungarian Army. It helped the French Army on the Western Front during the Aisne Offensive (at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood) in June 1918, and fought its major actions in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives in late 1918.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson initially planned to give command of the A.E.F. to Gen. Frederick Funston, but after Funston's sudden death, Wilson appointed Major General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing in May 1917; Pershing remained in command for the entire war. Pershing insisted that American soldiers be well-trained before going to Europe. As a result, few troops arrived before 1918. In addition, Pershing insisted that the American force would not be used merely to fill gaps in the French and British armies, and he resisted European efforts to have U.S. troops deployed as individual replacements in decimated Allied units. This attitude was not always well received by the Allied leaders who distrusted the potential of an army lacking experience in large-scale warfare. In addition the British tried to bargain their spare shipping to make the US put its soldiers into British ranks.
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