Friday, March 29, AD 2024 2:15am

May 10, 1917: Pershing Appointed to Lead the AEF

After the death of Frederick Funston on February 19, 1917, it was inevitable that the newly promoted Major General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing would command the American Expeditionary Force that would be sent to France.  It must have seemed somewhat dizzying to him.  Nineteen years before he had been an overage thirty-eight year old First Lieutenant who would be lucky to make Major before retirement.  In 1893 he obtained a law degree in case he decided to leave the Army, fed up by the slow promotions offered by the minuscule peace time Army.

The Spanish-American War and Theodore Roosevelt made him.  At the battle of San Juan Hill he made a lifelong friend of Theodore Roosevelt.  Under fire he was as “cool as a bowl of cracked ice”, as one observer noted.  Rising to the temporary rank of Major of Volunteers he gained a reputation as a good combat officer in both Cuba and the Philippines and would serve as Adjutant General of the Philippines Department.

After the Spanish-American War he reverted to the regular army rank of Captain.  In 1905 Captain Pershing was promoted to Brigadier General Pershing by President Roosevelt over the heads of 835 officers more senior than him.  Surprisingly there was not much animosity over this, Pershing enjoying a reputation of extreme professional competence in the Army, a soldier’s soldier.

The Villa expedition, although unsuccessful in not catching Villa, gave Pershing valuable experience in mobilizing and commanding a large force and integrating National Guard units with regular Army units and officers.  In retrospect his entire career had seemed crafted to fit him for this moment.  The man and the hour had met.  In Pershing the AEF did not gain a brilliant commander, but an able and determined one.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Pat_H
Wednesday, May 10, AD 2017 6:14am

I’ve posted on this event today as well: http://lexanteinternet.blogspot.com/2017/05/john-j-perhsing-informed-he-is-to-lead.html

Is there a Catholic connection with this story? I’m not criticizing the entry, I’m just not seeing one and wondered if there was one.

Tim Quinlan
Tim Quinlan
Thursday, May 11, AD 2017 5:23am

The 79th division was ordered to attack German positions without a proper rolling barrage,They took Montfalcon 3 days late with nothing but rifles and raw courage at a terrible blood price.Young men from Pennsylvania and Maryland are buried in France as a result of the rush to attack.

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top