John Joseph Pershing
By name BLACK JACK, U.S. Army general who commanded the
American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I.
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Brief background
Graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in
1886, Pershing served in several Indian wars, in the Spanish-American
War (1898), as brigadier general in the Philippine Islands (1906-13),
and as commander of a punitive raid against the Mexican revolutionary
Pancho Villa (1916). He also was a military instructor at the
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and at West Point.
After the United States declared war on Germany (April 1917),
President Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American
troops being sent to Europe. In June he submitted a "General
Organization Report" recommending an army of 1,000,000 men by 1918
and 3,000,000 by 1919. Though early U.S. planning had not included
such a large force, Pershing's recommendations prevailed.
Pershing going ashore in Cherbourg, France
Pershing was determined to maintain the integrity of the AEF as an
independent army, despite pressure from the Allied high command to
use U.S. troops as replacement units in European divisions, many of
which were exhausted from the setbacks of 1917. Pershing largely
resisted these pressures, although, during the March-June 1918 German
offensive threatening Paris, he was finally persuaded to release his
troops temporarily to the inter-Allied commander Marshal Ferdinand
Foch.
Marshal Foch and General John J. Pershing
Pershing's army never became entirely self-sufficient, but it
conducted two significant operations. In September 1918 the AEF
assaulted the Saint-Mihiel salient successfully. Then, at Foch's
request, later that month Pershing quickly regrouped his forces for
the Meuse-Argonne offensive, despite his original plans to advance
toward Metz. Though incomplete preparations and inexperience slowed
the Meuse-Argonne operations, the inter-Allied offensive in France
destroyed German resistance in early October and led to the Armistice
the next month.
General Pershing crossing Rio Grande chasing Pancho
Villa
Pershing was criticized for operational and logistic errors, but
his creation of the AEF was a remarkable achievement. He returned
home with a sound reputation and in 1919 was given the rank of
general of the armies of the United States. Pershing's nickname,
Black Jack, derived from his service with a black regiment early in
his career; it came to signify his stern bearing and rigid
discipline. Eschewing politics, Pershing remained in the army and
served as chief of staff from 1921 until his retirement three years
later.
Pershing's memoirs were published as My Experiences in the World
War, 2 vol. (1931).
The following is General Pershing's speech at the
dedication of the Camp Merritt Memorial Monument at Dumont,
Cresskill, Bergen County, New Jersey, May 30, 1924 as reported in the
Bergen Evening Record, may 31, 1924.
"Our monuments are erected to commemorate the acts of men and the
significance of events in our national history. By this means we
symbolize the patriotism and the sacrifices of our people and record
the struggles through which our ideals and our institutions have been
made secure. Today we gather around this beautiful monument which we
solemnly dedicate to the memory of those loyal men and women who gave
their lives in the World War while on duty at this camp.
Well do I remember General Merritt, whose name it bears. It was
while he was Superintendent that I spent my four years of
apprenticeship at the Military Academy. He brought to that position
the prestige of his meritorious conduct and superior leadership in
the War of the States, and his high character left an indelible
impression upon those of us who were fortunate enough to be under his
command. The memory of this distinguished soldier links the names of
those who served here with those who fought to preserve the
Union.
It is of especial significance to note that this camp was the
main gateway through which the larger part of our forces passed to
and from the fields of battle in Europe. From these historic
surroundings our men were hurried across the seas, and on many a day,
during the critical period of the War, there sailed away a larger
army than that which followed Washington in his retreat across this
State.
The imagination thrills at the picture of that gallant
Continental Army of a century and a half ago, and equally so when we
think of the men of our day as worthy sons of such an heroic
ancestry. The aims and purposes of Washington's army and of our
armies of yesterday were the same. The former, on this side of the
Atlantic, struggling to establish liberty; and the latter, on the
other side, to maintain it. The inspiring words of Thomas Paine, then
an Aide on General Green's staff, became an encouragement to
Washington's troops as they met and defeated the enemy in the Battle
of Trenton, and these same sentiments filled the breasts of those who
passed this spot to battle against tyranny beyond the seas.
He said: 'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer
soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from
the service of his country, but he that stands it now deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered. Yet, we have this consolation with us. That the harder the
conflict, the more glorious the triumph, what we obtain too cheaply
we redeem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its
value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it
would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should
not be highly rated.'
The men of both these armies set aside their peaceful occupations
to support a just cause; all were willing to pay the price of
freedom; all submitted to the same discipline; and were subjected to
the same hardships. Camp Merritt was not a training camp or a
battlefield, but an intermediate point in the hasty process of
mobilization, for which we were unprepared. Only a small proportion
of our citizens had received even the rudiments of training either as
leaders or soldiers in the ranks and the inevitable confusion and
delay that resulted, required the enforcement of the strictest
discipline by those who were called upon to institute order from
apparent chaos.
Here, under the stress of emergency, many for the first time had
to learn the most elementary lessons of obedience. Here in a few
crowded days or hours they faced most trying concentration of
administrative detail and classification under adverse circumstance.
But Camp Merritt was only one example of the result of inadequate
preparation during peace to meet the exigencies of war, a fact all
too forcibly borne in upon the minds of our troops as time went
on.
What must have been the feelings of uncertainty of these young,
untrained and untried officers and men as they wrote their final
farewells to family and friends and bravely set out on their crusade
for civilization! How often must each have wished for better
knowledge of his duties and his tasks! All honor to these patriotic
men who served with such patient loyalty and devotion, and who in the
end, in spite of losses, carried our banners to victory, but shame be
upon us as a people for the serious lack of foresight that during the
first year of the War resulted in such an utter absence of plan or
system.
Fortunately there exists today on our statute books provisions of
law which, if reasonably carried out, would prevent a recurrence of
such bitter experiences. Through the application of this law we may
enroll and train the framework of a citizen army, with officers
prepared for their work, and thus not be left at the mercy of chance.
Shall we, then, as a people, grasp the importance of some provision?
Shall we profit by the lessons of all our wars, lessons most vividly
presented during the World War, still fresh in our minds?
Or, on the other hand, shall we continue to indulge in false hope
and vain delusion and allow ourselves to drift back into the old
attitude of inertia? Shall we, like irresponsible parents, leave our
children untaught and untrained to meet the difficult problems,
perhaps too late, that have proved s o costly to us in precious lives
and staggering indebtedness?
I shall reply by saying that if we are not to heed these lessons
which we have so recently passed, if we are not to take c council
together as to the future, then our meeting here today is a
meaningless sham, our sentiments for those we mourn insincere, and we
shall be unworthy as a people of the heritage their sacrifices have
saved for us.
Rather, then, let us at the foot of this shrine, as we praise the
valor and the sacrifices of our soldier dead, realize the price of
liberty and firmly resolve that all of our youth shall receive a
measure of training to prepare them to protect our beloved land so
necessary to the fulfillment of our national destiny."
General Pershing, Mrs. Merritt and Governor Silzer of New
Jersey at the
dedication of the Camp Merritt Memorial Shaft
The Camp Merritt Memorial Shaft dedication in the
presence of a huge crowd
by General Pershing, May 30, 1924.
A one reel, 16 mm movie, (silent) of General Pershing in Fort Lee
and Cresskill was made by Francis Doublier, a motion picture pioneer
and maker of the first film documentary. The original film of this
event is owned, as of April 25, 1975, by Edward Doublier, 32 Coleman
Terrace, Tenafly, NJ. The film is about 15 minutes in length.
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