100 Facts About John Pershing

General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing, nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer.

John Pershing served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during World War I, from 1917 to 1918.

John Pershing allowed American all-Black units to be integrated with the French Army.

John Pershing was of the opinion that the war should continue and that all of Germany should be occupied in an effort to permanently destroy German militarism.

John Pershing is the only American to be promoted in his own lifetime to General of the Armies, the highest possible rank in the United States Army.

John Pershing was criticized by some historians for his actions on the day of armistice as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force.

John Pershing did not approve of the armistice, and despite knowing of the imminent ceasefire, he did not tell his commanders to suspend any new offensive actions or assaults in the final few hours of the war.

John Pershing's mother died during his initial assignment in the American West.

John Pershing attended a school in Laclede that was reserved for precocious students who were the children of prominent citizens, and he later attended Laclede's one-room schoolhouse.

John Pershing performed well on the examination, and received the appointment from Congressman Joseph Henry Burrows.

John Pershing later admitted that he had applied not because he was interested in a military career, but because the education was free and better than what he could obtain in rural Missouri.

John Pershing was sworn in as a West Point cadet in the fall of 1882.

John Pershing was selected early for leadership positions and became successively First Corporal, First Sergeant, First Lieutenant, and First Captain, the highest possible cadet rank.

John Pershing graduated in the summer of 1886 ranked 30th in his class of 77, and was commissioned a second lieutenant; he was commended by the West Point Superintendent, General Wesley Merritt, who said John Pershing gave early promise of becoming an outstanding officer.

John Pershing briefly considered petitioning the Army to let him study law and delay the start of his mandatory military service.

John Pershing considered joining several classmates in a partnership that would pursue development of an irrigation project in Oregon.

John Pershing ultimately decided against both courses of action in favor of active Army duty.

John Pershing reported for active duty on September 30,1886, and was assigned to Troop L of the 6th US Cavalry stationed at Fort Bayard, in the New Mexico Territory.

Between 1887 and 1890, John Pershing served with the 6th Cavalry at various postings in New Mexico, Arizona, and South Dakota.

John Pershing became an expert marksman and won several prizes for rifle and pistol at army shooting competitions.

John Pershing formed a drill company of chosen university cadets, Company A In March 1892, it won the Maiden Prize competition of the National Competitive Drills in Omaha, Nebraska.

John Pershing maintained a close relationship with John Pershing Rifles for the remainder of his life.

On October 20,1892, John Pershing was promoted to first lieutenant and in 1895 took command of a troop of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments composed of African-American soldiers under white officers.

In 1897, Pershing was appointed to the West Point tactical staff as an instructor, where he was assigned to Cadet Company A Because of his strictness and rigidity, Pershing was unpopular with the cadets, who took to calling him "Nigger Jack" because of his service with the 10th Cavalry.

John Pershing was commissioned as a major of United States Volunteers on August 26,1898, and assigned as an ordnance officer.

John Pershing was honorably discharged from the volunteers and reverted to his permanent rank of first lieutenant on May 12,1899.

John Pershing was again commissioned as a major of Volunteers on June 6,1899, this time as an assistant adjutant general.

On November 27,1900, John Pershing was appointed adjutant general of his department and served in this posting until March 1,1901.

John Pershing was cited for bravery for actions on the Cagayan River while attempting to destroy a Philippine stronghold at Macajambo.

John Pershing added that "it was not pleasant [for the Army] to have to take such measures".

Historians do not believe that John Pershing was directly involved with such incidents, or that he personally gave such orders to his subordinates.

Letters and memoirs from soldiers describing events similar to this do not have credible evidence of John Pershing having been personally involved.

On June 30,1901, John Pershing was honorably discharged from the Volunteers and he reverted to the rank of captain in the Regular Army to which he had been promoted on February 2,1901.

John Pershing served with the 1st Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines.

John Pershing later was assigned to the 15th Cavalry Regiment, serving as an intelligence officer and participating in actions against the Moros.

In June 1903, John Pershing was ordered to return to the United States.

President Theodore Roosevelt, taken by John Pershing's ability, petitioned the Army General Staff to promote John Pershing to colonel.

At the time, Army officer promotions were based primarily on seniority rather than merit, and although there was widespread acknowledgment that John Pershing should serve as a colonel, the Army General Staff declined to change their seniority-based promotion tradition just to accommodate John Pershing.

In 1904, John Pershing was assigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff of the Southwest Army Division stationed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Since Roosevelt could not yet promote John Pershing, he petitioned the United States Congress to authorize a diplomatic posting, and John Pershing was stationed as military attache in Tokyo after his January 1905 War College graduation.

Also in 1905, Pershing married Helen Frances Warren, the daughter of powerful US Senator Francis E Warren, a Wyoming Republican who served at different times as chairman of the Military Affairs and Appropriations Committees.

In skipping three ranks and more than 835 officers senior to him, the promotion gave rise to accusations that John Pershing's appointment was the result of political connections and not military abilities.

In 1908, John Pershing briefly served as a US military observer in the Balkans, an assignment which was based in Paris.

The last of John Pershing's four children was born in the Philippines, and during this time he became an Episcopalian.

In 1913, John Pershing was recommended for the Medal of Honor following his actions at the Battle of Bud Bagsak.

John Pershing wrote to the Adjutant General to request that the recommendation not be acted on, though the board which considered the recommendation had already voted no before receiving Pershing's letter.

In 1922 a further review of this event resulted in John Pershing being recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross, but as the Army Chief of Staff John Pershing disapproved the action.

In 1940 Pershing received the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism at Bud Bagsak, with President Franklin D Roosevelt presenting it in a ceremony timed to coincide with Pershing's 80th birthday.

On December 20,1913, John Pershing received orders to take command of the 8th Brigade at the Presidio in San Francisco.

On March 15,1916, John Pershing led an expedition into Mexico to capture Pancho Villa.

John Pershing was officially installed in the position on May 10,1917, and held the post until 1918.

John Pershing bypassed the three star rank of lieutenant general, and was the first full general since Philip Sheridan in 1888.

John Pershing was keenly aware of logistics, and worked closely with AEF's Services of Supply.

Baker, cognizant of the endless problems of domestic and allied political involvement in military decision making in wartime, gave John Pershing unmatched authority to run his command as he saw fit.

In turn, John Pershing exercised his prerogative carefully, not engaging in politics or disputes over government policy that might distract him from his military mission.

John Pershing removed the stars and flag from his car and sat up front with his chauffeur while traveling from his AEF headquarters to visit her by night in her apartment on the rue Descombes.

In 1946, at 85, John Pershing secretly wed Resco in his Walter Reed Hospital apartment.

The day before the attack was scheduled to commence, John Pershing learned of the plan and ordered the withdrawal of six American companies.

Monash sent the 33rd Division's commander, Bell, his personal thanks, praising the Americans' gallantry, while John Pershing set out explicit instructions to ensure that US troops would not be employed in a similar manner again.

Under civilian control of the military, Pershing adhered to the racial policies of President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of War Newton D Baker, and southern Democrats who promoted the "separate but equal" doctrine.

The American Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions were the first American soldiers to fight in France in 1918, but they did so under French command as John Pershing had detached them from the AEF to get them into action.

When General John Pershing met General Petain at Compiegne at 10:45pm on the evening of March 25,1918, Petain told him he had few reserves left to stop the German Spring Offensive on the Western Front.

John Pershing appointed his former West Point classmate and non-aviator, Major General Mason Patrick as the new Chief of Air Service.

In October 1918, John Pershing saw the need for a dedicated Military Police Corps and the first US Army MP School was established at Autun, France.

John Pershing was forced to reorganize the AEF with the creation of the Second Army, and to step down as the commander of the First Army.

When he arrived in Europe, John Pershing had openly scorned the slow trench warfare of the previous three years on the Western Front, believing that American soldiers' skill with the rifle would enable them to avoid costly and senseless fighting over a small area of no-man's land.

Second, John Pershing sent an unsolicited letter to the Allied Supreme War Council, demanding that the Germans not be given an armistice and that instead, the Allies should push on and obtain an unconditional surrender.

John Pershing controversially ordered his troops to continue fighting before the signed Armistice took effect.

John Pershing doubted the Germans' good faith, and most of his contemporaries took the view he expressed to the House Committee on Military Affairs in his testimony on November 5,1919:.

John Pershing rode his horse, Kidron, in the Paris victory parade in 1919.

John Pershing was authorized to create his insignia for the new rank and chose to continue wearing four stars for the rest of his career.

In 1919, John Pershing created the Military Order of the World War as an officer's fraternity for veterans of the First World War, modeled after the Military Order of Foreign Wars.

In 1921, John Pershing became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, serving for three years.

John Pershing created the Pershing Map, a proposed national network of military and civilian highways.

On his 64th birthday, September 13,1924, John Pershing retired from active military service.

On November 1,1921, John Pershing was in Kansas City to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Liberty Memorial that was being constructed there,.

John Pershing laid the cornerstone of the World War Memorial in Indianapolis on July 4,1927.

On October 2,1922, amid several hundred officers, many of them combat veterans of World War I, John Pershing formally established the Reserve Officers Association as an organization at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC ROA is a 75,000-member, professional association of officers, former officers, and spouses of all the uniformed services of the United States, primarily the Reserve and United States National Guard.

In 1924, John Pershing became a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

John Pershing was an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati and a Veteran Companion of the Military Order of Foreign Wars.

On January 5,1935 John Pershing was designated a Military Order of the World Wars Honorary Commander-in-Chief for Life.

John Pershing served on a committee of the Sons of the American Revolution to establish and recognize Constitution Day in the United States.

In 1940, before and after the Fall of France, John Pershing was an outspoken advocate of aid for the United Kingdom during World War II.

In 1944, with Congress' creation of the five star rank of General of the Army, John Pershing was still considered to be the highest-ranking officer of the United States military as his rank was General of the Armies.

In July 1944, John Pershing was visited by Free French leader General Charles de Gaulle.

On July 15,1948, John Pershing died of coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure at age 87 at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, DC, which was his home after 1944.

John Pershing lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda and following a state funeral, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The law creating the five-star rank stipulated that John Pershing was to be considered senior to the five-star generals of World War II.

In 1940 General John Pershing was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action leading an assault against hostile Moros at Mount Bagsak, on the island of Jolo in the Philippines on June 15,1913.

John Pershing personally assumed command of the assaulting line at the most critical period when only about 15 yards from the last Moro position.

John Pershing was a Freemason, a member of Lincoln Lodge No 19, Lincoln, Nebraska.

John Pershing was father to two sons who both served in Vietnam War, Colonel John Warren Pershing III and Second Lieutenant Richard W Pershing.

John Pershing III served in the Army from 1964 to 1967 and Army Reserve from 1967 to 1999.

John Pershing attained the rank of colonel, and his assignments included special assistant to Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R Sullivan.

Richard John Pershing served as a second lieutenant in the 502nd Infantry and was killed in action on February 17,1968, in Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War.

In 1917, two years after the deaths of his wife Helen and three daughters, Pershing courted Anne Wilson "Nita" Patton, the younger sister of his protege, George S Patton.

John Pershing met her when she traveled to Fort Bliss to visit her brother, and he introduced them.

Nita Patton never married, while John Pershing remained unmarried until he secretly wed Micheline Resco in 1946.

John Pershing had wartime affairs, including one with French-Romanian artist Micheline Resco, and he later expressed regret that he had let Nita Patton "get away".

In 1946, John Pershing secretly wed Resco in his Walter Reed Hospital apartment.