General John (1860-1948) Appointed to command the American Expeditionary Force in May 1917, he aroused Allied hostility - particularly from the French prime minister, Clemenceau - for his unbending refusal to deploy American troops in large numbers on the Western Front until a very late stage in the war. The first major American offensive did not take place until the attack on the St Mihiel salient in mid-September 1918.