John Joseph Pershing

John Joseph Pershing (1860-1948) was commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I.

John J. Pershing was born at Laclede, Mo., on Dec. 13, 1860. He graduated from West Point in 1886 with an outstanding record. Assigned to the cavalry, he campaigned against the Apache Indians in the Southwest. From 1891 to 1895 he was a military instructor at the University of Nebraska, where he earned a law degree in 1893. During the Spanish-American War he served with great distinction in the campaign around Santiago, Cuba. In 1899 Pershing went to the Philippines. He served in Mindanao for 4 years during the Philippine insurrection, and his help in suppressing the Moro revolt earned the praise of President Theodore Roosevelt. The President then recommended his promotion to brigadier general despite his low seniority; the appointment, delayed for 3 years, was finally confirmed in 1906.

Meanwhile, Pershing gained valuable experience as military attaché in Tokyo and as an observer of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). In 1906 he returned to the Philippines, holding important commands there until 1914, when he assumed command at the Presidio in California. In 1915, while he was away on special assignment, his wife and three daughters perished in a tragic fire; only his son survived.

Pershing's next assignment, intensely difficult and frustrating, made the general an important public figure: he commanded the "punitive expedition" sent into Mexico during 1916 to chastise the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa. Despite his failure to capture Villa, Pershing gained considerable public commendation for his careful adherence to instructions and his dedication to duty. The expedition was withdrawn early in 1917, just prior to the American entry into World War I. Pershing was now a thoroughly experienced troop commander, although he had never held an important staff position in the War Department. A reserved and hard-bitten soldier, known as "Black Jack" to his troops, he gained their respect if not their affection.

Service during World War I

In May 1917 President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of War Newton Baker chose Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Force going to Europe in support of the Allies. Arriving in France during June, Pershing immediately began planning the organization and employment of a large American army. Pershing decided to create an independent American force commanded by its own officers with its own support echelons in a distinct sector in France. In choosing this course, he challenged various European leaders who favored "amalgamating" American troops by small units into European armies as replacements.

For over a year, despite ever-growing military crises in France, Pershing single-mindedly pursued his idea of an independent American army and in this process gained the support of the War Department and President Wilson, overcoming efforts by Allied leaders to force various forms of amalgamation. Pershing argued that national pride dictated the formation of an independent force. He also claimed that the United States could make its most effective contribution to victory by following his course.

Western Strategy

Pershing also committed himself to the "Western strategy"—the view that the Western coalition should concentrate most of its military power in France against the principal enemy, Germany, rather than expend energy in secondary theaters such as Mesopotamia or Macedonia against lesser foes such as Turkey or Bulgaria. Pershing looked with jaundiced eye upon diversionary projects in Russia and elsewhere because such endeavors seemed certain to vitiate the effort in France, where he believed the war would be won or lost.

Pershing's plan required a huge program of mobilization and training for American troops in the United States. Several million men would have to be transported to France where, after additional training, they would be maneuvered as a separate force under his command. One drawback was the limited supply of shipping, a consequence of the need to supply the Allies in the face of Germany's great undersea campaign against noncombatant vessels. In late 1917 the British and French sought to trade shipping for amalgamation, but Pershing successfully resisted, even after Germany's great "end-the-war" offensive in March 1918. The Allies helped provide shipping sufficient to transport over 2, 500, 000 American troops to France. Still, Pershing's force had to depend heavily on European arms and equipment.

Although some American units participated in battles under French or British command during the summer of 1918, it proved impossible to employ the American army as an independent unit until September, when it attacked and reduced the great German salient at Saint-Mihiel. Pershing wished to attack ahead from that position, but French marshal Ferdinand Foch, who had become generalissimo, persuaded him to shift his forces northward into the Meuse-Argonne sector in order to participate in the final assault against the crumbling German army.

For some 47 days, beginning on Sept. 26, 1918, Pershing sustained the offensive in exceedingly difficult terrain. Eventually the battle was won, but heavy casualties, problems of command, and logistical difficulties lent some substance to earlier European doubts about the Americans' ability to develop optimal combat efficiency in a relatively short time. The bravery and determination of the American "doughboys" ultimately compensated for lack of experience and proper organization. When Germany sought peace in October, Pershing advocated unconditional surrender, but President Wilson overruled him and supported an early armistice. The sudden end of hostilities on November 11 deprived Pershing of the opportunity to prove the full mettle of the American army and to vindicate his policies in battle.

Last Years

In 1919 Pershing returned to a hero's welcome and to the rank of general of the armies, the highest title ever accorded except to George Washington. In 1921 he became chief of staff and presided over important reforms in the War Department. He left active service in 1924 but continued to perform important duties, first as chairman of the commission to South America to administer the Tacna-Arica plebiscite (1925) and then as chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission that cared for military cemeteries in France. In 1931 he published a two-volume work entitled My Experiences in the World War, which earned a Pulitzer Prize (1932). He died in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 1948, one of the most honored soldiers in American history.

Further Reading

Biographies of Pershing include Richard O'Connor, Black Jack Pershing (1961), Harold McCracken, Pershing (1931), and Frederick Palmer, John J. Pershing (1948). See also Army Times, ed., The Yanks Are Coming (1960). □

PERSHING, JOHN J. 1860-1948

General, u.s. army, 19O6-1924

AEF Commander

Already well known for his masterful command of troops in Mexico in 1916, Gen. John J. Pershing led American troops in Europe during World War I, tipping the scales in favor of the Allies at a critical point in the war and thus ensuring their victory.

Early Life and Career

Born in Linn County, Missouri, on 13 September 1860, John Joseph Pershing entered West Point in 1882. During his final year he was appointed senior cadet captain and became president of his class, graduating thirtieth in his class in 1886. He served as a cavalry officer in New Mexico during campaigns against Apache chief Geronimo's warriors in 1886 and in South Dakota during skirmishes at Wounded Knee Creek against the Sioux in 1890 and 1891. In 1891-1895 he taught military tactics at the University of Nebraska, where he took a law degree in 1893. In 1897-1898 he taught at West Point, where the cadets nicknamed him "Black Jack" Pershing because of his strict disciplinary approach. He fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898, distinguishing himself on the field of battle. His colonel, T. A. Baldwin, said of Pershing that he was "the coolest man under fire I ever saw." From 1899 to 1903 and again from 1906 to 1913 Pershing served in the Philippines, where he headed American efforts to end resistance to American domination of the country by subjugating the Moros, a force of Muslim Filipinos on Mindanao Island. In 1903 he returned to the United States for service with the Army General Staff and attended the Army War College in 1904 and 1905. In February 1905 he married Frances Warren, daughter of Sen. Francis Warren of Wyoming, a member of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Pershing's new political connections helped him to secure an assignment as military attaché in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. President Theodore Roosevelt promoted Pershing to brigadier general in 1906. Pershing was tested by personal tragedy in August 1915, when a fire in the Pershings' home at the Presidio in San Francisco claimed the lives of his wife and two of his three children.

Mexico

Following Francisco "Pancho" Villa's raid across the U.S.-Mexican border in March 1916, Pershing was placed in command of the punitive expedition that pursued Villa in Mexico from 16 March 1916 until 6 February 1917. Though Pershing and his soldiers failed to capture Villa, their relentless pursuit weakened his power and ruined his chances to rule Mexico. Pershing's military competence and his capacity to carry out orders caught the attention of President Wilson, and when the United States declared war on the Central Powers in the spring of 1917, Pershing was called to Washington, D.C.

"Over There."

In May he was appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France and began overseeing the training of new military recruits and supplying them for battle. Under Pershing's command (he largely refused to allow U.S. forces to fall under the control of the British and the French) the troops of the AEF fought and died at the Marne, at Belleau Wood, at Château-Thierry, at Saint-Mihiel, and elsewhere on the Western Front. Pershing was determined to prove that his tactic of rapid movement and superior strength could break the stalemate of trench warfare, but at the Battle of Meuse-Argonne and elsewhere the lesson seemed to be that such maneuvers were ineffective against an opponent who was dug in and well-equipped. When swift movement was achieved, it often resulted in a loss of contact with supply lines. The main contribution of the AEF to the success of the Allies may have been that in a brutal war of attrition it contributed tens of thousands of fresh troops at a critical moment.

New Honors

In the aftermath of the victory in Europe, Pershing was appointed in September 1919 to the rank of general of the armies—the highest rank in the U.S. Army and one once held by George Washington. Pershing was army chief of staff from 1921 to 1924, when he retired from active service in 1924 at the age of sixty-four. In 1925 he served briefly as head of a commission seeking to resolve a boundary dispute between Peru and Chile, and during World War II he offered modest counsel to Gen. George Marshall. His Final Report (1919) and My Experiences in the World War (1931) tell the story of his war years, and the latter book won a Pulitzer Prize for history.

Sources:

Ruth Hill, John Joseph Pershing (Boston: Badger, 1919);

Richard O'Connor, Blackjack Pershing (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961);

Frederick Palmer, John J. Pershing, General of the Armies: a Biography (Harrisburg, Pa.: Military Service Publishing, 1948).

Pershing, John J. (1860–1948) commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, World War I. After service in the Spanish-American War (1898), he went to Washington, D.C., where his broad background won him appointment as head of the Bureau of Insular Affairs within the War Department. He served ably in the Philippines, combining his military, diplomatic, and administrative skills to pacify rival chieftains. President Woodrow Wilson named him to head the American Expeditionary Force when the nation entered World War I in 1917; he built a strong U.S. force and cooperated with the Allies in stopping German offensives while protecting U.S. positions, an accomplishment that won him high praise. The offensive he launched in the Meuse-Argonne region in 1918 was instrumental in convincing Germany to sue for peace. For his accomplishments, Pershing was named general of the army, an honor previously accorded only to George Washington. From 1921 to 1924 he served as army chief of staff, and he was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 1924.

Pershing was nicknamed “Black Jack” because of his service with the Buffalo Soldiers.

Pershing, John J(oseph) (known as ‘Black Jack’) (1860–1948) US general. He served in the SPANISH–AMERICAN WAR and later in the Philippines. He led the US expedition against Mexico in 1916. In May 1917 he was appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in France and his talent for organization was largely responsible for the moulding of hastily trained US soldiers into well-integrated combat troops. In 1919 he became general of the armies of the USA and from 1921 to 1924 was army chief-of-staff.

Pershing, John J[oseph] (1860–1948), Missouri‐born army officer, graduated from West Point (1886) and served in Indian campaigns, in the Spanish‐American War, in the Philippines, on the Mexican border against Villa, and as commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. His book My Experiences in the World War (1931) won a Pulitzer Prize.