Creating An American Army - John J. Pershing I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1? (Mei 2024)
John J. Pershing, voluit John Joseph Pershing, bijgenaamd Black Jack, (geboren 13 september 1860, Laclede, Missouri, VS - stierf 15 juli 1948, Washington, DC), generaal van het Amerikaanse leger die het bevel voerde over het Amerikaanse expeditieleger (AEF)) in Europa tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog.
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Pershing studeerde in 1886 af aan de Militaire Academie van de Verenigde Staten in West Point, New York. Hij kreeg de aanstelling van een tweede luitenant en werd toegewezen aan de 6e Cavalerie, die vervolgens operaties uitvoerde tegen Geronimo en de Chiricahua Apache in het zuidwesten. In 1890 diende Pershing in de campagne om de Ghost Dance-beweging en een opstand onder de Sioux in het Dakota-gebied te onderdrukken, maar zijn eenheid nam niet deel aan het bloedbad bij Wounded Knee. In 1891 werd hij instructeur militaire wetenschappen aan de Universiteit van Nebraska, Lincoln. Daar behaalde hij ook een diploma rechten (1893). Hij werd in 1897 aangesteld als instructeur in tactiek op West Point.
De Spaans-Amerikaanse oorlog bood Pershing een kans op snelle promotie. Hij diende in Cuba via de campagne van Santiago (1898) en werd benoemd tot geschutsbeambte met de rang van majoor van vrijwilligers. In juni 1899 werd hij adjudant-generaal. Hij organiseerde het Bureau voor Insulaire Zaken van het Ministerie van Oorlog en trad enkele maanden op als hoofd van dat bureau. Pershing werd in november 1899 als adjudant-generaal van het departement Mindanao uitgezonden. Hij werd in 1901 kapitein in het reguliere leger en voerde tot 1903 een campagne tegen de Moros. In 1905 werd hij als militair attaché naar Japan gestuurd de Amerikaanse ambassade, en tijdens de Russisch-Japanse oorlog verbleef hij enkele maanden als waarnemer bij het Japanse leger in Mantsjoerije. Als erkenning voor zijn dienst in de Filippijnen, heeft US Pres.Theodore Roosevelt promoveerde Pershing tot brigadegeneraal vanuit de rang van kapitein in 1906, waarbij hij meer dan 862 hogere officieren overnam. Pershing keerde terug naar de Filippijnen en bleef daar tot 1913 als commandant van het departement Mindanao en gouverneur van de provincie Moro. Vervolgens kreeg hij de aandacht als commandant van de strafexpeditie tegen de Mexicaanse revolutionaire Pancho Villa, die in 1916 Columbus, New Mexico had binnengevallen. Na de dood van generaal-majoor Frederick Funston in 1917 volgde Pershing hem op als commandant van de VS. -Mexicaanse grens.Vervolgens kreeg hij de aandacht als commandant van de strafexpeditie tegen de Mexicaanse revolutionaire Pancho Villa, die in 1916 Columbus, New Mexico had binnengevallen. Na de dood van generaal-majoor Frederick Funston in 1917 volgde Pershing hem op als commandant van de VS. -Mexicaanse grens.Vervolgens kreeg hij de aandacht als commandant van de strafexpeditie tegen de Mexicaanse revolutionaire Pancho Villa, die in 1916 Columbus, New Mexico had binnengevallen. Na de dood van generaal-majoor Frederick Funston in 1917 volgde Pershing hem op als commandant van de VS. -Mexicaanse grens.
After the United States declared war on Germany (April 1917), Pres. Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American troops being sent to Europe. The transition from the anti-insurgency campaigns that had characterized much of Pershing’s career to the vast stagnant siege of the Western Front was an extreme test, but Pershing brought to the challenge a keen administrative sense and a knack for carrying out plans in spite of adversity. With his staff, Pershing landed in France on June 9, 1917, and that month he submitted a “General Organization Report” recommending the creation of an army of one million men by 1918 and three million by 1919. Earlier American planning had not contemplated such a large army. Having assumed that the AEF could not be organized in time to support military operations on the Western Front, the Allies had asked only for financial, economic, and naval assistance. Pershing’s recommendations regarding the numbers and disposition of troops prevailed, however, especially after Allied fortunes worsened during 1917. By early 1918, American plans had called for concentrating an independent army on the Western Front, which Pershing hoped would spearhead a decisive offensive against Germany.
The exhaustion of the Allies, stemming from the setbacks of 1917, increased their dependence on U.S. arms. It also engendered pressure on Pershing to condone the “amalgamation” of small units of American troops into European armies, as the Allies desperately wanted replacements for their depleted formations to resist expected attacks. From the start, Pershing insisted that the integrity of the American army be preserved, making a firm stand against French tutelage and the French desire to infuse the new American blood into their ranks. Pershing also opposed proposals to divert some U.S. troops to secondary theatres. The Supreme War Council, an institution established to coordinate the political-military strategy of the Allies, continually recommended amalgamation and that diversionary operations be conducted elsewhere than in France, but Pershing remained unmoved. If Pershing’s stance imposed a strain on the exhausted Allies, it was justified by the oft-cited warning against “pouring new wine into old bottles.” Pershing also felt that such an arrangement would represent an unprecedented sacrifice of national prestige. He argued that the fielding of an independent American army would be a serious blow to German morale and provide a permanent uplift to American self-confidence.
The disasters of early 1918 seemed to demonstrate the great risk that had been taken in pursuit of Pershing’s ideal. The Germans, their Western Front armies having been strongly reinforced because of the armistice recently concluded between the German-led Central Powers and Russia, embarked on a fresh wave of attacks designed to break the Allies’ will before the Americans could deploy in strength. At the Second Battle of the Somme, German armies advanced 40 miles (64 km) and captured some 70,000 Allied prisoners. When the German offensives of March–June 1918 threatened Paris, Pershing placed all his resources firmly at the disposal of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. These pressures subsided when the Allies assumed the offensive during the summer, however, and Pershing reverted to his previous policy.
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 following month.
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, on September 1, 1919, he 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, had come to signify his stern bearing and rigid discipline. His determination and dedication had gained him the respect and admiration of his men, if not their affection. Eschewing politics, Pershing remained in the army, serving 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).
