John J. Pershing

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• Born: 13 September 1860
• Birthplace: Laclede, Missouri
• Died: 15 July 1948
• Best Known As: Commander of American armies in Europe during World War I

A school teacher when he went off to West Point military academy in 1882, John Joseph Pershing became the commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I and ended up being one of the most celebrated soldiers in United States history. After graduation from West Point (1886), Pershing distinguished himself in Indian campaigns and in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, where he was in the 10th U.S. Cavalry, the African-American unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers (the association earned him the nickname "Black Jack" Pershing). He commanded forces in the Philippines from 1899 to 1905, then did duty as a military attaché to Japan and an observer in the Russo-Japanese War (1905-06). President Theodore Roosevelt promoted Pershing from captain to brigadier general (over 862 officers senior to him) and sent him back to the Philippines, where he served until reassigned to the Mexican border in 1914. In 1915 his wife and three daughters died in a fire -- only his son, Warren, survived. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson sent Pershing after Mexican general Pancho Villa, who had attacked Columbus, New Mexico and killed 17 civilians. For ten months Pershing pursued Villa into Mexico, but was ordered home in 1917 without capturing him. A few months later Pershing was appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) and was sent to France to guide American armies in World War I. A national hero when he returned in 1919, Pershing was given the title General of the Armies, once held exclusively by George Washington. Pershing retired in 1924 and published his memoirs in 1931 (his book My Experiences in the World War won a 1932 Pulitzer Prize).

Pershing had a tremendous influence on other famous soldiers in the United States, including George S. Patton, Jr. and George C. Marshall.

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John J. Pershing, 1917. (credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

(born Sept. 13, 1860, Laclede, Mo., U.S. — died July 15, 1948, Washington, D.C.) U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and served on the western frontier (1886 – 98), in the Spanish-American War, in the Philippines (1899 – 1903, 1906 – 13), and as commander of a punitive raid against Pancho Villa (1916). During World War I he was appointed commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). He maintained the AEF as an independent army of two million men and resisted Allied efforts to use U.S. forces as replacement units for French and British troops. He led the successful assault of the St. Mihiel salient in September 1918 and helped defeat German forces in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He was promoted to general of the armies in 1919 and was army chief of staff from 1921 to 1924. His nickname, "Black Jack," derived from his service with an African American regiment early in his career (see buffalo soldier). His memoirs, My Experiences in the World War (1931), won a Pulitzer Prize.

For more information on John Joseph Pershing, visit Britannica.com.

Pershing, Gen John Joseph ‘Black Jack’ (1860-1948). One of the very few US five-star generals of the army, Pershing's life spanned the American civil war to WW II and he served in most of the US wars in between. In 1886 he graduated from West Point, where he later returned as an instructor, and served in the Plains Indians and Spanish-American wars. He was military attaché in Japan and an observer of the Russo-Japanese war, and later served with such distinction at the end of the Philippines insurrection that Pres Theodore Roosevelt promoted him from captain to brigadier general, bypassing 862 other candidates. He was the commander of the last expedition by the traditional US Cavalry against Pancho Villa in northern Mexico in 1916-17 and after the US declaration of war on the Central Powers in April 1917, Pres Wilson appointed him to command the American Expeditionary Force, initially to be based on the National Guard structure. In June he shook the political establishment with a report requiring an army of one million men by 1918 and three million by the following year which was, nonetheless, accepted.

The next two years were a test of his drive and tenacity, for he was initially pressured to feed American divisions as they arrived into the existing western front command structure, to which his government would have acquiesced and which would have enabled them to gain combat training and experience from veterans. Although dependent on the French for much of his equipment, Pershing was determined that the (white) US army should only take the field unified under his command, while releasing African-American troops who performed with distinction under French tutelage. He did release white troops to help the French stem the German MICHAEL offensive of March-April 1918, and it was not until 12 September 1918 that he was able to direct 500, 000 men of the First US Army in the battles of Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. He, his staff, his unit commanders, and his men all learned the hard way the lessons that the battered British and French might have taught them at very much lesser cost. The domestic impact of these casualties was magnified by the fact that National Guard units were recruited from individually limited geographical areas, thus certain communities suffered disproportionately. The influx of fresh and ignorantly enthusiastic troops was nonetheless felt on both sides of the front, and contributed significantly to the Germans' reluctant acceptance of the need to seek terms.

It is not easy to acquit Pershing of putting his pride and desire for glory above the lives of his men, and the beautiful cemeteries on the Meuse-Argonne would have been smaller if he had behaved differently. It was a rare lapse in the US tradition of civilian control that permitted him to define US military policy. MICHAEL was launched nearly a year after the US entry into the war and was postulated on getting in a killer blow before the US presence could make itself felt, eloquent comment on the effects of Pershing's policy. He was nonetheless fêted on his return home in September 1919, awarded five-star rank and served as COS between 1921-4 before retirement.

— Peter Caddick-Adams/Hugh Bicheno

Cavalryman Pershing served in various Indian campaigns in the West and then became professor of military science at the University of Nebraska in the 1890s, where he took a law degree and thought of another profession. But he stayed in the army and in the black Tenth Cavalry.

Staff assignment to army headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1896 was followed by appointment to the tactical staff at West Point in 1897. There, Pershing's discipline and his African American regiment earned him the nickname “Black Jack” among the cadets.

In the Spanish‐American War, Pershing distinguished himself in Cuba. Sent to the Philippines in 1899, he led important expeditions against hostile Moros. In 1905, Captain Pershing became military attaché in Tokyo and observed the Russo‐Japanese War.

These services induced President Theodore Roosevelt to promote Pershing to brigadier general in 1906. Becoming governor of the Philippine Moro province in 1909, he subdued the warlike people by 1913. While at Fort Bliss, Texas, Pershing lost his wife and three daughters in a fire at San Francisco's Presidio, 27 August 1915—only his son, Warren, survived.

Throwing himself into work, Pershing led the Punitive Expedition into Mexico in pursuit of Francisco (Pancho) Villa's irregulars in March 1916. Pershing did not capture Villa but did drive away his bands and restore peace to the border. In February 1917, Major General Pershing and his troops were withdrawn from Mexico.

With America's entry into World War I, April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson bypassed several more senior officers and selected Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Forces. Given wide authority by Wilson and Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, Pershing was to build a separate American army as soon as possible.

Pershing's duties in France were heavily managerial. He had to organize, train, and supply an army that finally numbered more than 2 million men. He waged two wars—one against the Germans, the other against Allies who tried always to siphon his men into their woefully depleted ranks. Pershing stressed “open warfare” tactics in training, as opposed to the trench warfare favored by the Allies. Historians argue whether he was right, but when the western front broke open in late 1918, events seemed to validate his program. There is no doubt that his discipline, organization, and iron will made the AEF a vital factor in the final victory. Pershing thought the Allies should push on to Berlin, convince Germany of defeat, and perhaps forestall another war, but he accepted Wilson's decision for an armistice in November 1918.

Congress created the rank of “General of the Armies” for Pershing in 1919. Pershing accepted a five‐star insignia but declined the option of wearing it. He served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1921 until his retirement from the service in 1924.

[See also Academies, Service: U.S. Military Academy; Army, U.S.: 1900–41; World War I: Military and Diplomatic Course.]

Bibliography

• John J. Pershing, My Experience in the World War, 2 vols., 1931; repr. 1995.
• Donald Smythe, Guerrilla Warrior: The Early Life of John J. Pershing, 1973.
• Frank E. Vandiver, Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing, 2 vols., 1977.
• Donald Smythe, Pershing: General of the Armies, 1986

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.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

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).

(1860-1948), army commander. Pershing became the most famous American soldier of the World War I era because of his successful command of the American Expeditionary Forces (aef) in France.

Pershing was born in Missouri and graduated from West Point in 1886. Prior to his baptism of fire at San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War, he saw frontier duty as a cavalry officer, taught at and earned a law degree from the University of Nebraska, and served briefly at West Point. Although he impressed superiors with his bravery in Cuba, it was not until his service in 1899-1903 against the Moros on Mindanao in the Philippines that he distinguished himself as a commander. Because of this, he won a rare promotion from captain to brigadier general in 1906. His next great opportunity came in 1916 when he led an eleven-thousand-man punitive expedition into Mexico in pursuit of the Mexican leader Pancho Villa, who had raided an American outpost in New Mexico. Although the expedition did not catch Villa, it probably deterred similar raids, at least during the eleven months the troops were in Mexico.

When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Pershing was a major general and the only officer of that rank who had held a semi-independent command. When Secretary of War Newton D. Baker selected him to command an expedition to France, no one knew how large the army would be or how it would coordinate with the Allied forces. Pershing, accompanied by a small staff, sailed for France in May 1917. In his talks with the Allied leaders, he quickly grasped the desperation of the French situation after a great defeat that spring and called for a much larger force than the War Department had deemed possible. With the failure of a British offensive and the collapse of Russia in the fall, the Allies realized that more American troops would be necessary, and the British offered to supply the required shipping. But they wanted the Americans to serve as replacements in their ranks. Pershing argued forcefully with both the British prime minister David Lloyd George and the French premier Georges Clemenceau that the American troops should fight as a separate army under its own flag. In several conferences, the argument continued until the great German offensives in the spring of 1918 forced the issue.

Ultimately 2 million Americans served under Pershing's command in the aef. It is a tribute to Pershing that the foundation he and his staff had so carefully laid was able to sustain such a huge force. In the summer of 1918, the aef went on the offensive. From September 26 to November 11, it fought the greatest battle in American history to that point in the Meuse-Argonne campaign; it proved to be a major contribution to the Allied victory. Pershing's achievement rested on his ability to pick and command the loyalty of good subordinates, his organizing and managerial skills, and his iron will.

After the war, Congress promoted him to the unique rank of general of the armies, and he served as chief of staff of the army from 1921 to 1924. His memoir, My Experiences in the World War (1931), won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1932.

Bibliography:

Donald Smythe, Pershing: General of the Armies (1986); Frank E. Vandiver, Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing, 2 vols. (1977).

Author:

Edward M. Coffman

See also World War I.

A military leader of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1916, General Pershing commanded the United States troops that pursued the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa into Mexico. In 1917, he was made commander of the United States troops sent to Europe to fight in World War I.