biography
| name: |
Pershing, John J(oseph)
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nickname Black Jack
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1860–1948)
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| biography:
| US soldier, born near Laclede, Missouri, USA. The son of a railroad worker turned merchant, he trained at West Point (1886), and after several years of cavalry service on the frontier he taught military science (and fencing) at the University of Nebraska. He then went to teach at West Point, where he gained his nickname because he had commanded a black cavalry unit in Montana. He left West Point to fight in Puerto Rico and Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898, and in 1899–1903 he fought in the Philippines. Rising rapidly, he became a brigadier-general (1906), promoted over the heads of 800 senior officers, and spent some years serving in the Philippines (1906–14). At his next assignment in San Francisco, his wife and three of his four children perished in a fire (1915). This left him a grave and taciturn man, but he pursued his profession assiduously, leading the expedition against Pancho Villa (1916–17). He became commander of the American Expeditionary Force (26 May 1917) and led the build-up and training of American forces in France. Against intense pressure from the British and French commanders, he also insisted that the American troops should remain intact as units to fight independently and with their own tactics. By September 1918 he launched the US First Army against Saint-Mihiel in the first independent offensive by American forces, and then co-operated in the Meuse–Argonne offensive that led to the collapse of the Germans and the armistice. He returned to the USA, and in September 1919 was named general of the army and served as chief-of-staff until his retirement (1921–4). He also served as chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission and in several honorary diplomatic positions. His memoir, My Experiences in the World War ( 1931), won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Although too old to take any active role in World War 2, he did consult with chief-of-staff George Marshall. A child in the Civil War, he was the first of the modern American generals, excelling in personnel, supply, and finance as well as battlefield tactics. |
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