Scope and Content Note
The papers of James Guthrie Harbord (1866-1947) span the years 1886-1938, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1917-1919. The collection consists of correspondence, personal diary, confidential cables, administrative memoranda of General John J. Pershing, records of conversations, clippings, scrapbooks, operational maps, barrage charts, sketches, a portrait, records of the United States Army 2nd Division, a portrait, translations of war diaries of the German army, and other papers pertaining to Harbord's career in the United States Army. Featured are Harbord’s service as Pershing's chief of staff during World War I; as commander of a marine brigade during the battle of Chateau-Thierry, France, in 1918; commander of the 2nd Division in the Soissons offensive; and commander of the American Expeditionary Forces Service of Supply, 1918-1919. Also documented is Harbord’s service as chief of the American Military Mission to Armenia in 1919 as well as his postings prior to World War I, especially as assistant chief of the Philippine Constabulary. The papers are organized by topic or type of material.
Subjects include political and administrative issues within the military, Newton Diehl Baker's activities as secretary of war during World War I, and the relationship between Harbord and Baker until the latter’s death in 1938. Secretary Baker’s two visits to Europe, one during the war in 1918 and one in 1919 while the Peace Conference was in session at Paris, are briefly described, with accounts by Harbord on his conversations with the secretary. Contained in a volume of Harbord-Pershing correspondence are copies of Pershing’s administrative memoranda as well as Harbord’s own letters and communications. A volume of personal miscellany contains a note from J. C. Grew, enclosing to Harbord a ticket of admission to the Salle des Glaces in the Palace at Versailles, to witness the signing of the treaty of pace with Germany on June 28, 1919.
Correspondents in addition to Baker and Pershing include Harry Hill Bandholtz, Tasker Howard Bliss, Jean Degoutte, Earl Douglas Haig, W. W. Harts, Herbert Hoover, Hugh S. Johnson, Peyton Conway March, Frank Ross McCoy, Frank McIntyre, John McAuley Palmer, Philippe Pétain, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Leonard Wood.