John J. Pershing was the commander of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I and one of the most important military figures in American history. He built the United States army in Europe from a small force of around 130,000 men into a fighting force of nearly two million in just eighteen months. His leadership in the final year of the war helped turn the tide in favor of the Allied nations and contributed to Germany’s defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Joseph Pershing was born on September 13th, 1860 CE near the small town of Laclede in Missouri. His father was a merchant and local businessman. The family lost most of their money during an economic depression in 1873, which forced Pershing to work on the family farm as a teenager. For a time he worked as a teacher at a school for African American students in his local community. While studying at a school in Kirksville, Missouri, he saw a notice for a competitive exam to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point. He applied, passed the exam and won a place at the academy. He graduated from West Point in 1886 and began his career as a professional soldier. As such, Pershing came from a humble background and owed his military career to his own hard work and ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After graduating from West Point, Pershing served in a series of military campaigns that gave him broad experience across very different types of conflict. For instance, he fought in campaigns against the Apache and Sioux peoples in the American West in the late 1880s. He then taught military tactics at the University of Nebraska, where he also earned a law degree. He later returned to West Point as an instructor before heading to Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War of 1898, where he served with the 10th Cavalry Regiment at the battles of Santiago and San Juan Hill and earned the Silver Star for bravery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was during this period of his career that Pershing earned his famous nickname, Black Jack. He had served as one of the first white officers to command an all-Black regiment, the 10th Cavalry, and the nickname referred to his time with that regiment. It also came to reflect his stern personality and strict approach to military discipline. After the Spanish-American War, Pershing served twice in the Philippines, where he led American forces in campaigns against local resistance movements. In 1905 he was sent to Japan as a military observer during the Russo-Japanese War. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt promoted him directly to brigadier general, jumping him over more than 800 other officers in recognition of his outstanding record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1916 CE, Pershing led a punitive expedition of nearly 12,000 soldiers into Mexico in pursuit of the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa. Villa’s forces had raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing American civilians, and President Woodrow Wilson ordered Pershing to track him down. The expedition lasted nearly a year. Pershing’s forces drove deep into Mexico and fought several engagements but failed to capture Villa. Regardless, the campaign gave Pershing valuable experience in commanding a large force in the field and brought him to the attention of Wilson as a capable and reliable general. As such, his long career of varied military service made him one of the most experienced soldiers in the United States Army by the time World War I broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States entered World War I on April 6th, 1917 CE after years of trying to stay out of the conflict. World War I had been raging in Europe since 1914. It was fought primarily between the Allied nations, including Britain, France and Russia, against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. By 1917 the Allied nations were exhausted and desperate for help. President Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American forces being sent to Europe, bypassing five more senior generals in making the choice. Pershing was given the task of building the American Expeditionary Force, which became known as the AEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Pershing and the first American troops arrived in France in June of 1917 CE, the Allied commanders expected the Americans to be split up and used as replacement soldiers in French and British units. Pershing refused to allow this. He argued strongly that American soldiers should fight together as an independent American army under American command. He believed this would be more effective and would also protect American interests. This caused tension with the British and French commanders, who desperately needed fresh troops and did not want to wait for the Americans to be fully trained and organized. Pershing held firm on this point throughout most of the war and it became one of the most significant and debated decisions of his command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American troops began fighting in earnest in the spring of 1918 CE. The Germans had launched a massive offensive in March of 1918 CE that pushed the Allied lines back significantly and threatened Paris. At this critical moment, Pershing placed all available American forces at the disposal of the Allied Supreme Commander, French General Ferdinand Foch. American soldiers helped stop the German advance at battles including Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood in the summer of 1918 CE. For instance, the fighting at Belleau Wood in June of 1918 CE showed that American soldiers could hold their own against experienced German troops and gave the AEF its first real taste of intense combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the tide turned in the Allies’ favor, Pershing’s forces played a major role in two of the most important operations of the final months of the war. In September of 1918 CE, the AEF successfully attacked and reduced the Saint-Mihiel salient, a bulge in the Allied lines that the Germans had held since 1914. It was the first large independent American military operation of the war and it succeeded. Then, in late September of 1918 CE, Pershing regrouped his forces quickly for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one of the largest military operations in American history. More than one million American soldiers took part in the fighting, which lasted until the armistice on November 11th, 1918 CE. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive pushed deep into German-held territory and played a significant role in forcing Germany to seek peace. As such, the performance of the AEF in the final months of the war was an important factor in the Allied victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the war, Pershing was promoted to General of the Armies of the United States, the highest rank in the American military. Only George Washington had previously received this honor. He served as Army Chief of Staff from 1921 to 1924 and wrote his memoirs, titled My Experiences in the World War, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1932. He lived long enough to see the United States enter World War II and served as an adviser to the government during that conflict. John J. Pershing died on July 15th, 1948 CE in Washington DC at the age of eighty-seven. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pershing is remembered as one of the greatest military commanders in American history. He built an army from almost nothing in a remarkably short time and led it to play a decisive role in winning World War I. His insistence that American soldiers fight as an independent force rather than being absorbed into Allied armies helped establish the United States as a major military power on the world stage. As such, his leadership in World War I left a lasting impact on the history of the United States and its role in international affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John J. Pershing was the commander of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I, who built the United States army in Europe into a force of two million men and played a major role in the Allied victory in 1918. This article details the life and significance of John J. Pershing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,58,19],"tags":[18,15,20],"class_list":["post-9386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biography","category-american-history","category-world-war-i","tag-biography","tag-history","tag-world-war-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9386"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9392,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions\/9392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}