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Title: The Story of General Pershing
Author: Tomlinson, Everett Titsworth, 1859-1931
Language: English
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THE STORY OF GENERAL PERSHING
[Illustration: General Pershing.]
THE STORY OF GENERAL PERSHING
by
EVERETT T. TOMLINSON
Author of "Fighters Young Americans Want to Know," Etc.
[Illustration]
Illustrated
D. Appleton and Company
New York London
1919
Copyright, 1919, by
D. Appleton and Company
Printed in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE writer gratefully acknowledges the aid he has received in the
preparation of this book. To President Greene and Mr. J. E. Bell of
William Jewell College, Missouri, he is under special obligations. Mr.
Bell in order to aid the writer spent several days in Linn County,
Missouri, verifying and obtaining facts. To Mr. Herbert Putnam of the
Library of Congress, Mr. John Cotton Dana of the Newark, New Jersey,
Public Library, and to Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick of the St. Louis Public
Library he owes a special debt of gratitude for bibliographies and
carefully prepared suggestions as to sources of information. From
Cashin's "Under Fire with the 10th U. S. Cavalry," Missouri State
Historical Review, Reports of the War Department and other publications,
selections and citations have been made and from the facts contained in
dispatches from France, particularly the very excellent reports in the
New York _Times_ and New York _Sun_, the writer has obtained valuable
information. The direct aid of United States Senator Frelinghuysen in
obtaining data from the War Department and the suggestion of United
States Senator Warren have been most helpful. Replies to questions sent
to friends and relatives of the General have assisted in verifying
certain facts and figures. Many who personally knew the great commander
in his younger days have very kindly given the writer such help as lay
within their power. He gladly recognizes his indebtedness, especially to
the following persons: Mr. Charles Spurgeon, Brookfield, Mo.; Judge O.
F. Libby, Bigger, Mo.; H. C. Lomax, Esq., Laclede, Mo.; S. E. Carothers,
Waco, Tex.; Mr. Robert S. Huse, Elizabeth, N. J., whose father was the
"splendid old Caleb" of the Highland Military Academy; Hon. E. W.
Stephens, Columbia, Mo.; Mrs. Louisa D. Warren, Meadville, Mo., and Mr.
Wesley L. Love, Brookfield, Mo. Major James E. Runcie, Librarian of the
United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y., and General P. C.
Harris, acting the Adjutant General, have both been exceedingly kind in
providing and verifying certain items of information which otherwise it
would have been difficult if not impossible to obtain. The writer wishes
to thank all these good people who have helped to make even the
gathering of data an inspiration. Articles appearing in many current
magazines and newspapers have provided interesting items, but the writer
has quoted from them only after verification of certain details.
PREFACE
THE purpose of the writer of this little book is merely to tell the
story in outline of the career of the commander of the American
Expeditionary Forces in France. The modesty of General Pershing has kept
his name out of print to a greater extent than in the case of many of
our prominent men. His advancement also came rapidly in these recent
years. As a result of these two conditions many of the fellow countrymen
of the General are not familiar with the story of his early life or his
successful work in the Philippines. This they not only have a right to
know, but they ought to know.
The writer has endeavored to tell the story briefly as it has been told
him, or as it has been kept in the records of the War Department and
elsewhere. The complete biography and the analysis of General Pershing's
personality and military career he leaves to later writers. The simple
story of the struggles and achievements of a more or less typically
successful American is presented, with the hope that others also may
find in the record the inspiration and interest which the writer has
found. Sometimes fighting against obstacles that appeared almost
insurmountable, struggling to obtain an education in the schools, not
faltering when tragic sorrows came, his determination succeeding in
military campaigns where previous centuries of fighting had failed--the
career of General Pershing has been a continuous overcoming. Confidence
in a great leader is an essential condition of victory and the writer
has tried to present facts to show that the trust of the American people
in their military leader is well founded.
Some years ago a certain tight-fisted denizen of the United States
inquired sneeringly of a young man from his village, who was working his
way through college, "What do you expect to make of yourself anyway?"
Instantly came the reply, "A man." Cause and effect, aim and incentive,
object and motive alike are all slimmed up in that response. Behind the
General is the man whose story the writer has tried to tell just as he
has found it.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I A HISTORIC MOMENT 1
II BIRTH AND EARLY HOME 7
III BOYHOOD AND STUDENT DAYS 22
IV FIGHTING THE APACHES AND THE SIOUX 44
V A MILITARY INSTRUCTOR 56
VI IN THE SPANISH WAR 65
VII IN THE PHILIPPINES 86
VIII SUBJECTING THE MOROS 96
IX IN PURSUIT OF VILLA 118
X CALLED TO COMMAND THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES
IN FRANCE 131
XI WHY AMERICA WENT TO WAR WITH GERMANY 149
XII IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE 161
XIII AT THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON 171
XIV A WREATH FOR THE TOMB OF LAFAYETTE 181
XV FOURTH OF JULY IN FRANCE AND BASTILE DAY IN AMERICA 193
XVI INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS 203
XVII WHAT OTHERS THINK OF HIM 225
XVIII AS A WRITER AND SPEAKER 238
XIX THE MAN BEHIND THE GENERAL 242
XX HIS MILITARY RECORD 257
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
GENERAL PERSHING _Frontispiece_
THE HOME OF THE PERSHINGS, LACLEDE, MISSOURI 10
GENERAL PERSHING AS A BOY 22
THE CHURCH THE PERSHINGS ATTENDED AT LACLEDE 28
THE PRAIRIE MOUND SCHOOL 28
THE HIGHLAND MILITARY ACADEMY 34
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, WEST POINT, N. Y. 34
COL. HUSE, "SPLENDID OLD CALEB" 40
KIRKSVILLE, MO., STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 40
THE LIEUTENANT IN THE FAMILY 46
GENERAL FOCH AND GENERAL PERSHING 254
THE STORY OF GENERAL PERSHING
CHAPTER I
A HISTORIC MOMENT
THE morning of June 13, 1917, was one of the historic mornings in the
history of the world. On the landing dock at Boulogne, France, a
detachment of French infantry was drawn up in line. The men were clad in
the uniform of battle. Their faces confirmed the report that recently
they had seen hard service in the trenches--as they had. Not a young
soldier was in the lines--they were all middle-aged men, perhaps made
older by the fearful experiences through which they recently had
passed. This morning, however, there was an air of eagerness and
expectancy in the expressions on their faces; and the eyes of all, with
an intentness that was at once pathetic and tragic, were watching a boat
that was drawing near the landing stage.
In the assembly on the dock an observer would have seen certain of the
great men of France. There were Brigadier General Pelletier; René
Bernard, Under Secretary of State for War; General Dumas; General Dupon,
representing General Petain; and the military governor of Boulogne.
Representatives of other nations and forces also were in the midst of
the eager throng. There, too, were Sir George Fowke, representing
General Sir Douglas Haig; and Captain Boyd, Military Attaché of the
American War Department. Men, resplendent in their uniforms and
decorations, who represented the British and French navies, also were in
the assembly, all as deeply interested as were their military comrades.
The nearby streets were filled with people waiting and subdued, and yet
in a state of mind that at any moment would have carried the great
assembly into the wildest enthusiasm.
The cause of the excitement was to be found in a little group of men
assembled on the deck of a steamer that was slowly approaching the dock.
In the center of the group stood a man in the uniform of the United
States Army. He was six feet in height, broad shouldered, trim-waisted,
muscular and wiry. His hair was gray and his closely cropped mustache
was also tinged with gray. His dark eyes were glowing, though every
nerve and muscle was under the control of his will--a will that was as
strong as his prominent chin and nose indicated. It was the first time
in the history of the world that an American soldier was landing in
Europe, there to fight for his own country and for the liberty of the
world. There is slight cause for wonder that a murmur ran from one to
another in the expectant crowd: "Truly here comes a man!" And the man
was to be followed by millions, clad in the uniform of the land from
which he came.
We may be sure that when this soldier, General John Joseph Pershing,
stepped ashore and General Dumas greeted the American in the words, "I
salute the United States of America, which has now become united to the
United States of Europe," there was a cause for the deep emotion that
manifested itself in Pershing's dark eyes. It was, as he said, "a
historic moment." As he greeted the French colors, the detachment of
brave men that had recently come from the firing line stood immovable
like men of steel, and the American general slowly passed down the line,
his face alone still betraying his feeling over the deep solemnity of
the moment. And what a moment it was! Their dead had not died in vain,
their heroic struggle against barbarism, all the sorrows and losses the
devoted French people had borne were now focused on the coming of an
American general and his staff. For behind him was America, and she was
coming too.
And this American general, with his staff of fifty-three officers and
one hundred and forty-six men, including privates and civilian attachés,
stood before the beholders as the fore-runners of a mighty host which
was determined to help clear the world of the German menace to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. General Pershing, the fifth full
general of the United States, is the successor to Washington, Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan. So modest has been his career, so great his
reluctance to appear in print, that many, even in his own nation, are
not familiar with the deeds he has done. He has not sought promotion,
but promotion sought him. Apparently, at times, in far away provinces,
he has been banished to obscurity. Seven years passed before he was
raised from the rank of a second lieutenant to a first lieutenancy, and
yet the year 1917 found him in command of the American Expeditionary
Forces in France, the first leader of American troops to land with drawn
swords on the soil of Europe. The record is marvelous and it is also
inspiring. What manner of man is this commander? What is the story of
his life? Who were his father and mother? Where did he come from? How
did he develop the powers that led one American President to advance
him eight hundred and sixty-two points at one time and caused another
President to select him as the one man to command the soldiers of the
United States in France? What are his qualifications--mental, moral and
physical?
This story is an attempt to answer these questions in such a manner that
the people of his own land may be able to understand a part at least of
the career of the man behind the general. It does not try to analyze
critically the military career of General John Joseph Pershing, nor does
it primarily portray the development of the soldier. It is rather a
modest recital of the leading events in the life of Pershing, the man,
who became Pershing, the General.
CHAPTER II
BIRTH AND EARLY HOME
FROM this, the time of our greatest war, we must drop back approximately
half a century to the time of our second greatest war. It is noteworthy
that General Pershing, our leader in the war for the world's freedom,
was born in the early days in the war for the negroes' freedom.
The future general first saw the light September 13, 1860, in or near
the little village of Laclede, Missouri. The lad was "from Missouri" and
the current semi-slang expression has certainly been true in his case.
One had to "show him," for he made up his mind, mapped out his own plans
and conducted his own studies and investigations. This characteristic
has remained with him to this day. The accepted date of his birth and
the house in which he was born are still matters of mild dispute among
the good people of the little village of Laclede. A friend of his
boyhood days says, "He was born in a section house about 3,000 yards
from the site of the old depot. The foundation is still there." But the
people of Laclede and Meadville, a nearby hamlet, are not a unit in this
detail, though all are heartily agreed and proud in their recollection
of the lad who since has made the little hamlet famous.
"Grandma" Warren (Mrs. Louisa D.) through her daughter sends the
following contribution to this mooted question:
"My mother states that in the spring of 1859, the
General's father and mother, then recently
married, came to board with her father, Meredith
Brown, who resided about two and one-half miles
east of Meadville, Mo. My mother, then a widow,
was living at the home of her father and was
associated with the Pershings that summer.
"In the fall of the year the Pershings moved to a
house of their own about a half mile west of the
Brown home and this is the place where the General
was born. The tract of land on which the house
stood is now owned by John Templeman and is the
north ½ of Sec. 5, T'wp 57, range 21, Linn Co.,
Mo. The house in which the General was born was
destroyed by fire during the Civil War. Mother
was present at the General's birth and dressed him
in his first suit.
"From the house where the General was born they
moved to what was known as the 'Section House,'--a
house built for the section foreman of the
railroad. This house was located about two miles
west of Meadville on the Hannibal and St. Joseph
R. R., now the Burlington.
"During the time from 1859 and a few years later,
the senior Pershing was section foreman on this
road. At the last mentioned place of residence the
second child was born.
"After a few years' residence at the section
house, the family moved to Laclede, Mo., seven
miles east of Meadville. At this place the father
engaged in mercantile business, continuing in the
business for a number of years. My mother visited
at the Pershing home at this place frequently.
After leaving Laclede, mother lost communication
with them.
"The citizens of Meadville and vicinity have in
the course of construction at the present time a
large sign to be erected at the birthplace of the
General. My mother is now in her 85th year.
"The place of the General's birth is near a small
stream known as Hickory Branch and the community
along this stream is known as the Hickory Branch
Community. In closing, I wish to pay my respects
to the General: John J. Pershing, the baby,
belongs to Hickory Branch. John J. Pershing, the
man, belongs to the world.
"Yours truly,
"E. S. WARREN."
[Illustration: The Home of the Pershings, Laclede, Missouri.]
It is not strange if seven cities contended with one another for the
honor of being the birthplace of Homer that two small villages in
Missouri are divided in their claims for a similar honor in the case of
the present foremost American soldier. As to the merits of the contest
it is impossible to pronounce judgment at this time. The General himself
has only hearsay evidence of the exact locality of his birth, though
there is no question as to its having taken place in Linn County,
Missouri, and that his boyhood was passed in the village of Laclede.
The General's father, John P. Pershing, a short time before the birth of
his oldest child (the general), came from Westmoreland County,
Pennsylvania, and went to work as a section foreman on the Hannibal and
St. Joe Railroad. He was a forceful man, of energy and ambition, and it
was not long before he was running a general store and at the same
time was postmaster of the village. A man now living, who worked for the
General's father in both the general store and post office, has this
tribute to pay to his one time employer: "He was a very active business
man with wonderful energy, strictly honest, never stooped to a dishonest
trick; a pronounced man in the community; the leading business man. He
liked to make money. He lost two fortunes on the Board of Trade,
Chicago. He traveled several years out of St. Joseph, probably one of
the best paid men. He later left St. Joe for Chicago, where he was
traveling salesman for another firm. He made many business ventures--was
something of what to-day is called a promoter.
"He was a man of commanding presence. He was a great family man, loved
his family devotedly. He was not lax and ruled his household well."
The older Pershing was insistent that his children should be able to
meet the difficulties in life that must be overcome before success can
be won. The value of regular habits of appreciation of the things worth
while, was his hobby and he taught by example as well as by precept.
Hard work was essential. Therefore hard work must be undertaken and
done, and he began early to train his three boys and three girls, who of
the nine that were born to him grew to maturity. His creed included the
precept that it is well to learn to bear the yoke in one's youth. Every
Sunday the Pershing family were seen on their way to the little
Methodist church of which the father and mother were members, Mr.
Pershing at one time being superintendent of the Sunday School. He is
reported also to have been a local preacher. He was one of the founders
of his church.
A neighbor writes, "When the Civil War broke out, the elder Pershing
left the railroad and became the regimental sutler of the old 18th Mo.
Reg. Infantry. Later he engaged in merchandising and farming with
success, but was caught in the panic of 1873. About 1876, he went to
work for I. Weil & Company of St. Joseph, Mo., as a traveling salesman,
selling clothing, and later for a big Chicago house. The family lived at
Laclede until about 1886, at which time they moved to Lincoln, Nebraska,
where two of the daughters now reside. General Pershing's father and
mother are both dead.
"The Pershing family were zealous church people. John F. Pershing was
the Sunday School superintendent of the Methodist Church all the years
he lived here, I think, or until he commenced to work for I. Weil & Co.
Every Sunday you could see him making his way to church with John (the
general) on one side and Jim on the other, Mrs. Pershing and the little
girls following along. The family was a serious loss to the Methodist
church when they moved away from here."
Throughout his life there was an air of seriousness under which the
future general was brought up. Doubtless from his earliest days the
impression that if he was to do anything worth while he must first be
something worth while, consciously or unconsciously influenced the life
of the son of the father, who was eager to have his children secure the
best education within their power to obtain and his ability to give. At
all events, the General's life-plan seems to have been to get ready,
whether or not the test comes. If it does come, one is prepared; if it
does not come one is prepared just the same. Here again it was the man
behind the general, shaped, guided, trained and inspired by the strong,
earnest personality of his father.
From a member of the Pershing family the following statement has been
received: "His (the general's) father was born near Pittsburgh, Pa., his
ancestors having come from Alsace-Lorraine. He was prominent in church
work and all philanthropic work. He established the Methodist Church at
Laclede, Mo., and after moving to Chicago was instrumental in forming
the Hyde Park Methodist Church. He was also active in the Y. M. C. A.,
Chicago, and organized the Hyde Park branch. He was in the Union Army
and was the first man to observe Memorial Day in Laclede, taking his own
children and the children of his neighborhood, with flowers from his
own garden, to decorate the graves of the soldiers. Mr. Pershing (John
Fletcher Pershing) was president of the school board at Laclede and it
was through his work that the graded schools were organized and new
buildings erected. He was also postmaster in Laclede."
Of his mother--the best report from Laclede is that she was a "splendid
home maker." Why is it that most great men have had great mothers?
Frequently we are disappointed in the sons of great men. Either the boys
do not measure up to their sires, or we are prone to expect too much of
them, or, as is quite likely, we contrast the young man at the beginning
of his career with the reputation of his father when it is at its
zenith.
But history is filled with examples of men who have attributed all they
have done or won to the inspiring love and devotion of the mothers that
bore them. And General Pershing is no exception to this rule. One time,
when, after years of absence he came back to Laclede as a brigadier
general in the army of the United States, he went to call upon Aunt
Susan Hewett, an aged widow and old resident of the town. In his
boyhood, Aunt Susan and her husband, "Captain" Hewett, had "run the
hotel." Aunt Susan in her prime was famous for her pies and her love of
boys, and Johnnie Pershing was a favorite. As a result of her affection
for the lad he was a frequent and successful sampler of her wares. The
picture of Aunt Susan and her pies and the sampling done by the future
general of the United States Army is one that is easily imagined and
strongly appeals to those who know the worth of well made pies,--for in
spite of local pride, good pies are not all limited to New England.
To a reporter two or three years ago Aunt Susan said,[A] "Law, yes, I
remember John when he wasn't more'n two or three years old. When John
was big enough to put on trousers he used to eat more pies in our
kitchen than any other boy in town.
"He was back here about ten years ago. It was on the 24th day of
October that Uncle Henry Lomax came to my house and said, 'Aunt Susan,
there's a gentleman outside that wants to see you.' When I stepped
outside and saw a tall young man, Uncle Henry asked me if I knew who it
was.
"'Yes,' I said, 'it's John Pershing. I can see his mother's features in
his face.' He came to me with his arms open and he embraced me and
kissed me and we both cried. 'Aunt Susan,' he says, and I'll never
forget his words as long as I live, 'it does my heart good to see my
mother's dear old friends. The place seems like home to me and it always
will. I've been away a long time and there have been many changes, but
this is home.' The chrysanthemums were in bloom and after we had talked
a while in the parlor I went out and picked a bouquet for him to take
away.
"'They are going to have some kind of a reception for me to-night and I
want you to come, Aunt Susan,' he says. I told him I'd try to be there
but that I was tired and worn out because I had been working hard in the
garden. 'You won't have to walk, Aunt Susan, because I'll come after
you myself.' About five in the afternoon he came in a buggy. We went to
his reception together and my! what a crowd. The whole house was packed
and people were standing in the yard. Johnny shook hands with everybody
and talked to them and he finally made a speech, which I didn't hear
because there were so many people around. John Pershing always did have
talent."
This incident of his later years is eloquent of the earlier years--and
of Pershing's mother. Behind the figure of the living is another who
being dead, yet speaketh. "A splendid home maker."
The relatives of General Pershing disclaim all knowledge of this
incident and are inclined to pronounce it "mostly fiction." The incident
is taken from the _Missouri Historical Review_. In other forms also the
story has become current. A former friend of the family, now a resident
of Laclede, also questions the reliability of the tale, basing his
conclusion upon the fact that the local village taverns were not places
which such a man as General Pershing's father would knowingly permit his
boys to frequent.
Nor is Aunt Susan's fact (or fiction) the only tribute. Before me is a
letter from a long time friend and neighbor of the family which states:
"Mrs. Pershing stood high among her neighbors. She was a woman of
unusual intelligence and much better educated than the average woman of
those days. She was an unusually cultivated woman. Mr. Pershing probably
had the best library in the town. His father and mother were both
religious and John went to Sunday School and church every Sunday." The
deep affection is apparent as one reads between the lines of many
letters received from those who years ago knew her both personally and
well. It is not difficult to trace the source of the inspiration of
Pershing's life.
An intimate friend of the General in response to a personal request has
courteously given the following modest statement: "General Pershing's
mother was Ann Elizabeth Thompson. She was born near Nashville, Tenn.
Although she came of a southern family she joined her husband in her
sympathy for the cause of the North, and made the first flag that was
raised in Linn County, thereby risking the lives of her family. One of
her brothers was in the Southern army, and one served on the Northern
side. When her brother, Colonel L. A. Thompson, was wounded, her husband
secured permission to cross the line and brought him home. Mrs. Pershing
was always an inspiration for her children and her ambition for them,
especially in an educational way, was without bounds."
And there came a time when General Pershing doubtless realized as never
before all that his mother had been to him. His troops were mounted and
he was about to give the command for the departure of his men on an
expedition against the Moros. At that moment an orderly advanced and
gave him a message which informed him of the death of his mother, in her
far away home. It was a blow as hard as it was sudden. The face of the
leader was almost ghastly in its whiteness. He swallowed hard two or
three times and then quietly gave the command for his troops to advance.
He was a soldier of his country and the message which had brought him
the deepest sorrow of his life up to that time must not be permitted to
allow his personal grief to interfere with his duty. The lesson his
mother had taught him was put to the test and was not forgotten.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] _Missouri Historical Review._
CHAPTER III
BOYHOOD AND STUDENT DAYS
IN the family were three boys and three girls (of the nine children)
that lived to manhood and womanhood. Ward, the general's younger
brother, an officer in the Spanish-American war, is dead. Lieutenant
Paddock married the General's sister, Grace. He died in China during the
Boxer uprising. Two other sisters now reside in Lincoln and a brother is
in business in Chicago.
[Illustration: General Pershing as a Boy]
The writer quoted above also says, "John was always settled as a boy.
There was nothing sensational or spectacular about him. He had the
confidence of everybody." Another of his boyhood chums writes: "John
Pershing was a clean, straight, well behaved young fellow. He never was
permitted to loaf around on the streets. Nobody jumped on him and he
didn't jump on anybody. He attended strictly to his own business. He
had his lessons when he went to class. He was not a big talker. He said
a lot in a few words, and didn't try to cut any swell. He was a hard
student. He was not brilliant, but firm, solid and would hang on to the
very last. We used to study our lessons together evenings. About
nine-thirty or ten o'clock, I'd say:
"'John, how are you coming?'
"'Pretty stubborn.'
"'Better go to bed, hadn't we?'
"'No, Charley, I'm going to work this out.'"
One, who distinctly recalls him as a boy, describes him: "His hair was
light and curly. He had large black eyes; was square-jawed and was
iron-willed. His shoulders were square, and he was straight as an arrow.
He had a firm, set mouth and a high forehead, and even as a boy was a
dignified chap. And yet he was thoroughly democratic in his manner and
belief."
Another, who was a playmate, has the following tribute: "As a boy
Pershing was not unlike thousands of other boys of his age, enjoying the
same pleasures and games as his other boyhood companions. He knew the
best places to shoot squirrels or quail, knew where to find the hazel or
hickory nuts. He knew, too, where the coolest and deepest swimming pools
in the Locust, Muddy or Turkey creeks were. Many a time we went swimming
together in Pratt's pond. At school John was studious and better able
than the most of us to grasp the principles outlined in the text books.
As a rule he led his classes, particularly in mathematics. His primary
education was obtained in a little white school house of one room,
eighteen by twenty feet, which is still standing. Later he attended
Lewis Hall, a building which formerly was a hospital in the War of the
Rebellion. It was located across the street from the Pershing residence.
This building later was moved to the old Pershing farm (now owned by
Mrs. John Deninger's family) and is used as a barn.
"John was and is naturally human and that is why he always had so many
friends. His old playmates and friends are all proud of his success as a
soldier, but they love him because of his high standards of principles
and his unswerving integrity. As a boy he was forceful, honest in every
way and when he had given his word we all knew we could depend upon it
absolutely."
This boyhood friend acknowledges modestly that he and John were not
entirely ignorant of the sensations produced by certain hickory or osage
switches in the hands of an irate or hasty teacher, but this chapter is
not enlarged. There is, however, an unconsciously proud and tender touch
in his closing words, "I have two sons in the army doing their bit, and
I am thankful that they will be under the direction and order of my old
friend, John J. Pershing." True praise could not be better expressed
than in this gracious and kindly reference.
But the future general's boyhood was not all, nor even chiefly devoted
to swimming and nutting. There was hard work to be done and he was a
hard worker. Long rows of corn had to be planted and cultivated, pigs
and cattle must be fed and cared for, and the "chores" on a Missouri
farm began early in the morning and were not all done when at last the
sun set. The boy Pershing did much of his labor on the farms that his
father had leased near the village. Frequently the farm-work lasted
until late in the fall and thereby interfered with attendance at school.
Here, too, there were obstacles to be overcome and the commander of our
army in France was early learning his lessons of control and
self-control in a little hamlet in Missouri.
At that time Laclede and vicinity had more negroes than whites in its
population. When Pershing had arrived at the mature age of seventeen,
the teacher of a local negro school suddenly left and the school was
turned over to him. There were three elements in the "call" to this
untried position--the school had no other teacher, the need was great
and in spite of his youthfulness it was believed there was no one who
could do better under the circumstances for the colored children than
he. He understood them, he wanted to help them, and he was able to
control them. And he did. "Discipline," as it was commonly understood in
the country schools, might have been defined as the ability to whip the
older boys. Discipline as a positive as well as a negative force was
something new, and the new teacher finished the year with the reputation
of having trained his pupils to do something worth while.
Then white schools were taken by the youthful pedagogue, and in them
also he succeeded. There was growing up in his mind a strong
determination to secure an education. In this way he was earning and
saving money by which he should be able to carry out his growing plans.
Dimly in the background also was an ambition ultimately to study law. In
this desire not only his father and mother but also his sister now was
sharing.
[Illustration: The Church the Pershings attended at Laclede]
[Illustration: The Prairie Mound School]
In the _Missouri Historical Record_, April-July, 1917, there is recorded
the story of a contest into which the young teacher was forced by an
irate farmer whose children had been disciplined.
"Though he never sought a quarrel, young Pershing was known even at this
time among his fellows as a 'game fighter,' who never acknowledged
defeat. To a reporter for the _Kansas City Star_, who was a pupil under
Pershing when the general was a country school teacher at Prairie Mound,
thirty-seven years ago, was recently related an incident of him as a
fighting young schoolmaster. One day at the noon hour a big farmer with
red sideburns rode up to the schoolhouse with a revolver in his hand.
Pershing had whipped one of the farmer's children and the enraged parent
intended to give the young schoolmaster a flogging.
"I remember how he rode up cursing before all the children in the
schoolyard and how another boy and I ran down a gully because we were
afraid. We peeked over the edge, though, and heard Pershing tell the
farmer to put up his gun, get down off his horse and fight like a man.
"The farmer got down and John stripped off his coat. He was only a boy
of seventeen or eighteen and slender, but he thrashed the old farmer
soundly. And I have hated red sideburns ever since."
Through all these various experiences he was saving every penny
possible, with the thought in view of the education he was determined to
obtain. At last the time arrived when he and his sister departed for
Kirksville, Mo., to enter the State Normal School. His father had done
all in his power for him, but his main reliance now was upon himself.
There he continued his former steady methodical methods, doing well, but
not being looked upon as an exceptionally brilliant student. He was
still the same persistent, reliable, hard-working, successful student he
had formerly been.
It is not quite clear just when his decision for West Point was made.
His room-mate at the State Normal School reports that it was in the
spring when he and Pershing were at home in vacation time that the
matter was decided. According to his recollection and report to the
writer, when the two boys were at home the elder Pershing urged his
son's room-mate again to enter his store as clerk. A definite answer
was postponed until the following day. "So next day I saw Pershing," he
writes, "and asked him what he was going to do. He didn't know; he
didn't want to teach a spring term of school; believed he would go back
to Kirksville for ten weeks. And then came the West Point opportunity."
Another friend of Pershing at that time sends the following quotation
from the local paper which evidently places the date at another time:
"In looking over some old papers the other day, I ran across a copy of
the _Laclede News_ under date of December 28th, 1881, and among other
news items found the following: 'John J. Pershing will take his leave of
home and friends this week for West Point, where he will enter the
United States Military Academy. John will make a first-rate good-looking
cadet with Uncle Sam's blue, and we trust he will ever wear it with
honor to himself and the old flag which floats above him. John, here's
our hand! May success crown your efforts and long life be yours.'"
In reality, however, the only confusion is between the time when the
thought entered Pershing's mind and the time when he entered the
Military Academy.
An advertisement had appeared in the local papers concerning a
competitive examination for entrance. The announcement bore the name of
Congressman J. H. Barrows, the "greenback" representative of the
district, formerly a Baptist minister. He was looked upon by his
constituency as true and reliable, a reputation that was not without its
appeal to the lads who wanted to go to West Point. It is a current
report that not always had these appointments been made on merit alone
and that "from $250 to $500 was the amount frequently paid to obtain
them." The examination was to be conducted at Trenton, Mo., and was open
to all who were eligible.
Pershing decided to try. In making this decision his sister strongly
encouraged him, and was the only one of his family who was aware of his
plan. His room-mate writes that Pershing urged him also to try. "No," I
told him, "I didn't know that I could pass." "Well," he said, "you'd
better come and we'll take a chance. One or the other of us ought to
win." I told him he had been in school three months while I had been
selling goods, and that if he thought he would like it, to go, that I
didn't care for it. But I should like to have the education, though I
should probably stay in the army if I happened to pass. "No," he said,
"I wouldn't stay in the army. There won't be a gun fired in the world
for a hundred years. If there isn't, I'll study law, I guess, but I want
an education and now I see how I can get it."
Eighteen took the examination and Pershing won, though by only a single
point, and that was given only after he and his competitor,
Higginbottom, had broken the tie by each diagramming the following
sentence--"_I love to run!_"
Higginbottom's solution--
"I"--subject.
"love"--predicate.
"to run"--infinitive phrase qualifying the meaning
of the verb.
Pershing's solution was as follows:
"I"--subject.
"love"--predicate,
"to run"--is the object.
The commission preferred Pershing's diagram, and thus by a single point
he won the competitive examination and received the appointment.
When, however, Pershing and his sister informed their mother that he had
passed the best examination and was to receive the appointment to West
Point, she expressed her strong disapproval of the plan to make a
soldier of John. Her objections were finally overcome, and she
consented, partly because she believed her boy when he said "there would
not be a gun fired for a hundred years" and partly because she was even
more eager than he for him to obtain a good education.
[Illustration: The Highland Military Academy.]
[Illustration: United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y.]
Thirty years afterward General Pershing himself wrote: "The proudest
days of my life, with one exception, have come to me in connection with
West Point days that stand out clear and distinct from all others. The
first of these was the day I won my appointment at Trenton, Missouri,
in a competitive examination with seventeen competitors. An old friend
of the family happened to be at Trenton that day and passing on the
opposite side of the street called to me and said, 'John, I hear you
passed with flying colors.' In all seriousness, feeling the great
importance of my success, I naively replied in a loud voice, 'Yes, I
did,' feeling assured that no one had ever passed such a fine
examination as I had."
In spite of his success, however, Pershing was not yet ready to take up
the strenuous course in the Military Academy. The work is severe and
only the fittest are supposed to survive. He must have a more careful
preparation in certain branches, he decided, and accordingly entered the
Highland Military Academy, Highland Falls, New York, in which he
continued as a student until the following June (1882). The head of the
school was sincerely loved and deeply respected by his boys, and in
after years General Pershing usually referred to him as "splendid old
Caleb"--for "Caleb" was the title the students had bestowed upon Col.
Huse.
In the military school Pershing's record is much what one who has
followed his development in the preceding years would expect it to be.
He was an earnest, consistent student, doing well and steadily improving
in his work, without any flashes of brilliancy. He was moving not by
leaps but steadily toward the education he was determined to obtain.
Those who recall him as a pupil at Highland say that he is best
remembered for his physical strength and his skill as a horseman.
Doubtless he had had training and experiences which were outside those
which many of his classmates had shared.
At last in July, 1882, when he was not quite twenty-two years of age,
Pershing became a plebe in the United States Military Academy at West
Point. A part of his dream had been realized. His record shows that he
still was manifesting the traits he already had displayed. Persistent,
determined, methodical, a hard and steady worker, he was numbered thirty
when he graduated in his class of seventy-seven. However, his "all
around" qualities were shown by the fact that in his fourth class or
final year, upon the recommendation of the commandant of Cadets, he was
appointed by the Superintendent of the Academy to be the senior, that
is, first in rank, of all the cadet captains--an honor worth while and
of which Pershing was justly proud.
His love of West Point has always been strong. He is proud of the school
and proud to be counted among its graduates. Loyal in all ways he has
been specially loyal to West Point. Perhaps his true feeling can be best
shown by the following letter written by him when he was in far-away
Mindanao. He was class president at the time and sent the letter for the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the graduation of the class. Like many an
"old grad" the thoughts of the writer turn affectionately to the old
days. The joys and disappointments are alike remembered and General
Pershing shows a slight tendency to recall an occasional slip in the
strict rules of the institution. This infraction is not upheld by him,
and his friends, who are fully aware of his belief in strict discipline,
will perhaps condone the slight infringement when they are aware that he
records also the strict penalty which followed it. He indirectly shows
that the infraction was due not to a desire to avoid a task but came of
a grim determination to accomplish it.
GREETING TO THE CLASS.
Headquarters, Department of Mindanao.
Zamboanga, P. I.
March 15, 1911.
To the Class of 1886,
U. S. Military Academy,
West Point, New York.
DEAR CLASSMATES:
The announcement in the circular sent out by your
committee saying that I would write a letter of
greeting to be read at the class reunion imposes
upon me a very pleasant obligation. It gives me an
opportunity as Class President to write you
collectively and to say many things that I would
like to say if I were writing to each individual.
Above all, however, I am permitted to feel myself
a real part of the reunion. This letter shall be
a heartfelt and sincere word of greeting from the
opposite side of the world. I shall try to imagine
myself among you around the banquet table or
perhaps again in the old tower room, first floor,
first division, or familiarly even in the "usual
place." With this greeting I also send a word of
explanation and regret for my absence, a few lines
of reminiscence and pages of affection and
friendship for all recorded at random.
It is unfortunate indeed for me that higher
authority has concluded that I should not leave my
post at this time. This is a great disappointment
to me. There is nothing that could equal the
pleasure of meeting once more with old
'86--companions of my youth, the friendship for
whom is above all others the dearest and most
lasting. To be again for a few hours as in the
olden days at West Point with those who stood
shoulder to shoulder with me and I with them
through over four years, would be worth a great
sacrifice. The thought makes me long for cadet
days again. I would gladly go back into the corps
(although of course it has gone entirely to the
dogs since we were cadets) and gladly (in spite of
this) go through the whole course from beginning
to end to be with you all as we were then. Life
meant so much to us--probably more than it ever
has since--when the soul was filled to the utmost
with ambition and the world was full of promise.
The proudest days of my life, with one exception,
have come to me in connection with West Point
days that stand out clear and distinct from all
others. The first of these was the day I won my
appointment at Trenton, Missouri, in a competitive
examination with seventeen competitors. An old
friend of the family happened to be at Trenton
that day and passing on the opposite side of the
street, called to me and said, "John, I hear you
passed with flying colors." In all seriousness,
feeling the great importance of my success, I
naively replied, in a loud voice, "Yes, I did,"
feeling assured that no one had ever quite passed
such a fine examination as I had. The next red
letter day was when I was elected President of the
Class of '86. I didn't know much about class
presidents until the evening of our meeting to
effect a class organization. To realize that a
body of men for whom I had such an affectionate
regard should honor me in this way was about all
my equilibrium would stand. Another important day
was when I made a cold max in Phil. at June
examination under dear old Pete, with Arthur
Murray as instructor. This was the only max I ever
made in anything. I fairly floated out of the
library and back to the barracks. The climax of
days came when the marks were read out on
graduation day in June, 1886. Little Eddy Gayle
smiled when I reported five minutes later with a
pair of captain's chevrons pinned on my sleeves.
No honor has ever come equal to that. I look upon
it in the very same light to-day as I did then.
Some way these days stand out and the recollection
of them has always been to me a great spur and
stimulus.
What memories come rushing forward to be recorded.
It was at Colonel Huse's school, now called The
Rocks, I believe, with splendid old Caleb at its
head that several of us got the first idea of what
we were really in for. Deshon, Frier, Winn,
Andrews, Clayton, Billy Wright, Stevens, Segare
and the rest of us at Caleb's used to wrestle with
examinations of previous years and flyspeck page
after page of stuff that we forgot completely
before Plebe camp was over.
[Illustration: Cal. Huse
Splendid Old Caleb]
[Illustration: Kirksville, Mo. State Normal School.]
This brings up a period of West Point life whose
vivid impressions will be the last to fade.
Marching into camp, piling bedding, policing
company streets for logs or wood carelessly
dropped by upper classmen, pillow fights at tattoo
with Marcus Miller, sabre drawn marching up and
down superintending the plebe class, policing up
feathers from the general parade; light artillery
drills, double timing around old Fort Clinton at
morning squad drill, Wiley Bean and the sad fate
of his seersucker coat; midnight dragging, and the
whole summer full of events can only be mentioned
in passing. No one can ever forget his first guard
tour with all its preparation and perspiration. I
got along all right during the day, but at night
on the color line my troubles began. Of course, I
was scared beyond the point of properly applying
any of my orders. A few minutes after taps, ghosts
of all sorts began to appear from all directions.
I selected a particularly bold one and challenged
according to orders, "Halt, who comes there?" At
that the ghost stood still in its tracks. I
then said, "Halt, who stands there?" Whereupon the
ghost, who was carrying a chair, sat down. When I
promptly said, "Halt, who sits there?"
After plebe camp came plebe math and French. I
never stood high in French and was prone to burn
the midnight oil. One night Walcott and Burtley
Mott came in to see me. My room-mate, "Lucy" Hunt,
was in bed asleep. Suddenly we heard Flaxy, who
was officer in charge, coming up the stairs
several steps at a time. Mott sprang across the
hall into his own room. I snatched the blanket
from the window, turned out the light and leaped
into bed, clothing and all, while Walcott seeing
escape impossible, gently woke Hunt, and in a
whisper said, "Lucy, may I crawl under your bed?"
I paid the penalty by walking six tours of extra
duty.
The rest of it--yearling camp and its release from
plebedom, the first appearance in the riding hall
of the famous '86 New England Cavalry, furlough
and the return up the Hudson on the _Mary Powell_;
second year class with its increasing
responsibilities and dignity--must all be passed
with slight notice. While the days were not always
filled with unalloyed pleasure, to be sure, yet no
matter how distasteful anything else may have been
up to that time there is none of us who would not
gladly live first class camp over again--summer
girls, summer hops, first class privileges,
possible engagements, twenty-eighth hop, and then
the home stretch. As we look back from the
distance of a quarter of a century the years went
by all too rapidly.
The career of '86 at West Point was in many
respects remarkable. There were no cliques, no
dissensions and personal prejudices or
selfishness, if any existed, never came to the
surface. From the very day we entered, the class
as a unit has always stood for the very best
traditions of West Point. The spirit of old West
Point existed to a higher degree in the class of
'86 than in any class since the war. The West
Point under Merritt, Michie and Hasbrouck was
still the West Point of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan,
Schofield and Howard. The deep impression these
great men made during their visits to West Point
in our day went far to inspire us with the
soldier's spirit of self-sacrifice, duty and
honor. Those characteristics were carried with us
into the Army and have marked the splendid career
of the class during the past twenty-five years.
The Class of '86 has always been known in the Army
and is known to-day as a class of all-around solid
men--capable of ably performing any duty and of
loyally fulfilling any trust. The individual
character of each man has made itself felt upon
his fellows in the Army from the start. In civil
life, as professional men, or as men of affairs,
wherever placed the Class of '86 has always made
good. Well may we congratulate ourselves upon
reaching this quarter century milestone, on the
achievements of the class.
If I thought you would listen longer I should
continue, but the evening will be full of song
and reminiscence. Those of us out here will
assemble at Manila and wish we were with you at
West Point. It may be that age and experience will
prevent a repetition of the lurid scenes enacted
at the class dinner in New York in '86. Yet when
you feel time turn backward and the hot blood of
those days again courses through your veins, there
is no telling what may happen. Still all will be
for the glory of the Class and will be condoned.
Then here's to the Class of '86, wives and
sweethearts, children and grandchildren, your
health and your success!
Always affectionately,
J. J. P.
CHAPTER IV
FIGHTING THE APACHES AND THE SIOUX
AT last the days at West Point were ended and the class of '86 was to
take its place with others in the wide, wide world. To young Pershing
fell the lot to be assigned to the Sixth Cavalry in the southwest, where
General Miles, the successor of General Crook, was soon to bring the war
against the Apaches to an end. He was then a second lieutenant.
The wily and daring leader of the redmen was commonly known as Geronimo,
a medicine man and prophet of the Chiricahuas. Strictly speaking, the
Indian's true name was Goyathlay, "one who yawns," but the Mexicans had
nicknamed him Geronimo--the Spanish for Jerome.
This Indian was born about 1834, near the headquarters of the Gila
River, in New Mexico. He was the son of Taklishim, "The Gray One."
Neither the father nor the son was a chief, although Geronimo's
grandfather claimed to be a chieftain without having been born to the
purple or elected by the tribe.
In 1876, the Mexican authorities complained bitterly to the United
States of the raids and depredations in the state of Sonora by the
Chiricahua Indians with the result that it was decided by the Government
to remove the tribe from their reservation on the southern border, to
San Carlos, Arizona. But Geronimo, who was a natural leader, soon
gathered a few of the younger chiefs about him and fled into Mexico.
Later, he was arrested and sent with his band to Ojo Caliente, New
Mexico. There, apparently, thoughts of war were abandoned and the redmen
became successful tillers of the soil in the San Carlos Reservation.
[Illustration: The Lieutenant in the Family]
After a time, the tribe once more became restless and discontented
because the Government would not help them to irrigate their lands. Just
how much justice was in the claim it is impossible now to ascertain.
Other nearby lands were being watered and this favoritism, as they
believed, as well as the competition of the neighboring ranches,
doubtless had a strong effect on the Indians. At all events, in 1882,
Geronimo was the leader of a band that was engaged in many raids in
Sonora, but at last his force was surrounded and he surrendered to
General George H. Crook in the Sierra Madre.
In spite of the fact that Geronimo had one of the very best farms in the
entire San Carlos Reservation, the Apache leader soon was again in
trouble with the United States in 1884, when attempts were made to stop
the making and sale of tiswin. This was an Indian drink and highly
intoxicating.
In 1884-5, Geronimo gathered and led a band of Apaches that not only
terrorized the settlers in southern Arizona and New Mexico, but also the
inhabitants of Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico. General Crook was ordered
to proceed against the raiders and to capture or kill the chief and his
followers. The story of the war is filled with exciting deeds of daring,
but through them all Geronimo looms as the foremost figure. His name
came to inspire terror.
At last in March, 1886, a truce was made and this was followed by a
conference, at which terms of surrender were agreed upon. But the wily
Geronimo was not yet caught. Again with a band of his devoted followers
he fled to the Sierra Madre mountains, beyond the borders of Mexico.
General Miles was now in command of the United States troops and quickly
he began an energetic campaign against the Apache outlaws. This
continued until August, when the war came to an end. The entire band of
340 were made prisoners and the warfare at last was ended. Geronimo and
Nachi (the latter a hereditary chieftain of the tribe, though his
comrade was the real leader), were sent as prisoners of war to Florida.
Later they were removed to Alabama and at last were settled near Fort
Sill, Oklahoma. There, Geronimo evidently concluded (and his conclusion
was the more easily arrived at because he was under the continual
supervision of United States soldiers) that he had had a sufficiency of
war and that henceforth he was to be a man of peace. He became
prosperous, and was a most cautious spender of his money.
The part which Lieutenant Pershing, a young officer fresh from West
Point, had in the round-up of this campaign naturally was not of a
character to bring him into great prominence. That he did his work well
and that he had the full confidence of his men, however, are evidenced
from the following incidents which remain among the reports of the
campaign.
In the autumn maneuver in 1887, he was specially complimented by General
Miles for "marching his troops with a pack train of 140 mules in 46
hours and bringing in every animal in good condition." Doubtless his
early experiences in dealing with mules on a Missouri farm had stood him
in good stead.
Another instance of his courage and his ability to deal with men, even
at this early stage in his career, was shown when word came of the dire
predicament of a score of "bad men"--horse thieves and cow-punchers--who
had been surrounded by the Indians and were threatened with the death
of every one in the band unless they should be speedily rescued. The
young lieutenant with his detachment not only succeeded in penetrating
to their refuge, but also in saving every one of them without the loss
of the life of one man, white or red. The same qualities that had been
displayed in his student days were here again in evidence. His sense of
duty was still strong upon him and quietly, persistently, he worked hard
to do his best.
There still was work for the lieutenant on the border, for the troubles
with the Indian tribes were by no means ended. His service on frontier
duty at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and in the field from July 30, 1886, to
July 30, 1887, was followed by duty at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.
He went to Fort Wingate, New Mexico, in February, 1889, remaining there
until September 1, 1889. He then returned to Fort Stanton to stay until
September, 1890, when again he was sent to Fort Wingate.
At Fort Wingate, with the exception of a few weeks spent in scout duty,
he remained until December 1, 1890, when he was transferred to take the
field in the campaign against the Sioux Indians at Pine Ridge Agency,
South Dakota. In February, 1891, he was stationed at Fort Niobrara, in
Nebraska, only to return to the Pine Ridge Agency to take command of the
Sioux Indian Scouts until July of the same year. Again he was with his
troops at Fort Niobrara, remaining until August 7, 1891, when he was in
command of a detachment (rifle team) en route to Fort Sheridan,
Illinois. On September 25th he became Professor of Military Science and
Tactics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska.
This brief record, however, does not cover all that the young officer
was doing. Studying and at the same time working hard at his duties, he
was already laying the foundations for that which later was to come. At
the time, however, his future career seemed vague if not impossible.
Indeed, he himself was almost convinced that war had ceased to be a
threat among the nations. "There won't be a gun fired in a hundred
years," he had declared to a friend when he was about to enter West
Point, and the thoughts of the young officer reverted to the law for
which in his younger days he had almost decided to prepare.
That he was not without suggestions and desires to improve the
conditions in the army is shown by the following letter which he wrote
the _Journal of United States Cavalry_ in 1889:
[Journal of U. S. Cavalry, December, 1889.]
SOME HINTS FOR IMPROVEMENT.
More prominence should be given to the revolver
competitions and some changes might be made in the
manner of conducting them. We should have a
regular revolver competition and teams with
competitors one from each troop held every
morning, best pistol shots in the troop, and not
have pistol competition supplementary to carbine
competition though the two might be held at the
same time and place.
In connection with the army carbine competition
there should be an army revolver, competitors to
be selected from the various revolver teams as
they are held for the army carbine competitions.
Prizes for the revolver teams should be the same
as those awarded to the infantry department and
for the army revolver team the same as those
awarded to the infantry division teams.
No good reason can be seen why dismounted revolver
firing should not be held at the three ranges, 25,
50 and 75 yards, the same as for individual record
in the troop. In the mounted firing, both in
troops and practice competitions, no gait slower
than ten miles and a half should be permitted.
These changes would give a stimulus to revolver
firing in the army which would bring about
surprising results.
J. J. PERSHING,
Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry.
In the part which Lieutenant Pershing took against the Sioux, he was
sharing conditions which were by no means slight or insignificant. The
Sioux were notably brave and bold and more than once their chiefs had
outgeneraled the trained white soldiers that fought them.
It is difficult to determine at this time just where to place the blame
for these wars with the Sioux. The stories of the causes of the outbreak
told by the Indians themselves differ radically from those which were
given by certain of the whites, but whatever the true cause may have
been, young Pershing had nothing to do with that. He was simply obeying
orders and doing his best in the war with the redmen who already
confronted him.
Sitting Bull in particular was a strong and successful fighter. Crazy
Horse, a bold and able chief, had, as the Sioux believed, been
treacherously seized and bayoneted by the whites. Indeed, one of their
rallying cries in the campaign was, "Remember our Chief, Crazy Horse."
General George A. Custer and nearly every one of his soldiers had been
killed in a battle on the plains, in which the Indian leaders had
succeeded in first surrounding Custer's force. Pa-he-hors-kah-zee (Long
Yellow Hair), as the redmen had named Custer, was respected and greatly
feared by them and for that reason they did their utmost to shoot him
first of all when he finally took his stand in the center of the hollow
square, into which he formed his troops when he discovered, after the
breaking out of the battle, that he and his men were nearly surrounded.
The death of General Custer greatly angered the whites, and it was
promptly decided that once for all they would put an end to the
uprisings of the strong and wily Sioux. This result, of course, was at
last accomplished and in the final battle Lieutenant Pershing had his
part. This battle, which the whites call Wounded Knee and the Indians
term The Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, was won when the troops finally
surrounded the tepees of the redmen and then demanded that every gun
should be given over.
This demand the Sioux refused, declaring that their experiences with the
whites did not warrant them in making themselves entirely defenseless.
They also explained that they themselves had bought and paid for every
gun in the possession of the tribe.
This explanation or refusal was declared to be unsatisfactory. The
command to attack quickly was given, the soldiers fired obediently and
the report was made that they shot down every man, woman and child, with
few exceptions, in the Indian village.
Thus the great Indian wars came to an end and whatever may have been
his feelings concerning the justice of the methods employed to subdue
the Sioux, Lieutenant Pershing did not speak. He was a young officer and
his part was not to explain, but to obey.
In September, 1891, he became Professor of Military Science and Tactics
at the University of Nebraska.
CHAPTER V
A MILITARY INSTRUCTOR
AT the University of Nebraska the young instructor-lieutenant
revolutionized his department. It is said that when first the students
presented themselves before him, according to the rules of the
University, for drill, their preparations were nil and their appearance
was far from being prepossessing. Previously the military drill had been
more or less looked upon by the student body as a somewhat necessary but
negligible and irksome task. Few prepared carefully for it and all were
glad when the hour ended.
Under the new instructor the change was startling and immediate--and the
college boys liked it. Among the strict demands of the new instructor
was one that required every student when he appeared for drill to have
his boots well blacked. Not only must the toes of the boots appear well,
but every boy must see to it that the heels also received proper
attention. Perhaps Lieutenant Pershing was interpreting for the Nebraska
boys the familiar old proverb, "Black the heels of your boots."
The new professor speedily became popular, for no man is more unpopular
in a student body than the teacher who weakly condones their neglect or
too readily excuses their deficiencies. In spite of their protests to
the contrary, they like the strict work and the fair and exacting
teacher. And Pershing was liked--and liked more because he did not try
to secure the goodwill of his students.
The impression which the new instructor in military tactics made upon
the student body is well shown by the following statement of the
director of athletics in the University at that time, who naturally
coöperated with the official representative of the Government whose
influence over the college boys speedily became pronounced.
"He was the finest man I ever worked with," said
Best. "It is true he was mighty strict with his
work, but the results he got were so good that
everybody he worked with loved him for it. When he
was here we had a regiment the University could be
proud of. I just worshipped that man and everybody
around the University felt the same about him.
"Usually he was mighty dignified in his work, but
he had a way of getting next to the new men.
"The boys at the University got a surprise the
first time Pershing drilled them. It had been
their habit before this time to come to drill with
shoes blackened or not, just as they pleased. When
Pershing took hold the first thing he looked at
was to see that all shoes were well blackened and
that the heels looked as good as the toes. He was
just that thorough-going in everything all the
time."--From the _New York Times_.
An incident recently told by one of his students in the University of
Nebraska also is illustrative of the grip the drillmaster had upon the
student body.
When Lieutenant Pershing later was appointed to a new position in the
Army there was keen disappointment among the students, all of whom were
his strong admirers. Certain of his cadets, who had profited greatly
under his discipline and served under his orders, got together and
decided that they wanted to wear badges of some kind. Gold medals were
suggested, but for obvious reasons were not selected. Then one of the
cadets suggested a plan as novel as it was new, and after a hearty laugh
a delegation went to Lieutenant Pershing to ask for the gift of his
riding trousers.
"Good Lord!" exclaimed the astonished instructor in tactics. "What do
you want of my trousers?"
The students then explained their plan. They were to cut the trousers
into such small bits that both the blue of the cloth and the yellow of
the border would be found in every piece. Of these little strips they
would make badges--one for every cadet.
The lieutenant promptly presented his visitors with his best pair.
One of the little band in relating the incident not long ago said, "We
made the badges, which as far as I know were the first service badges
ever used in the United States. If I could only buy, borrow, beg or
steal one of those badges I'd readily wear it in France by the side of
my ribbon of the Spanish-American war."
With duties that were not arduous Lieutenant Pershing now not only
continued his studies, particularly in strategy, but also found time to
carry out the desire and plan that more or less had been in his thoughts
since his boyhood--he took the course in law as it was given in the
University. From this course he graduated and consequently was entitled
to write another title after his name--that of Bachelor of Laws. He then
was "Professor" Lieutenant John Joseph Pershing, A.B., "Esquire."
However, he was soon to become first lieutenant in the 10th U. S.
Cavalry--a promotion which he received October 20, 1892. Joining his
troop on October 11, 1895, he was again sent into the service with the
10th Cavalry at Fort Assinniboine, Montana, where he remained until
October 16, 1896. In June and July of that year the monotony of life in
the fort was varied by service in the field, where he assisted in
deporting the Cree Indians.
A brief leave of absence followed this work on the frontier, but on
December 17, 1896, he was assigned to duties at the Headquarters of the
Army at Washington. This inside work, however, did not strongly appeal
to the active young lieutenant, and in May of the following year he
rejoined his regiment at Fort Assinniboine, Montana.
Here, however, his stay was to be very brief at this time. Promotion
apparently had been slow, and doubtless many a time the heart of the
ambitious young officer must have been somewhat heavy. The teachings of
his father, however, were now bearing fruit and not for a moment did
Lieutenant Pershing relax his steady, persistent labors. Whether
recognition and promotion came or not he was to be prepared.
But the quiet, efficient young officer had not been unnoticed or
forgotten by those who were higher in authority. At this time a new
instructor in military tactics was needed in the United States Military
Academy at West Point. What could be more natural than that the choice
should fall upon Pershing? He was a hard worker, he had seen active
service on the plains, he had learned how to deal with men, and,
besides, he had had actual experience in teaching tactics when he had
been stationed at the University of Nebraska. And behind the experience
was a personality quiet, modest and marvelously efficient. Lieutenant
John Joseph Pershing was assigned to duty at the United States Military
Academy as Assistant Instructor of Tactics, June 15, 1897.
To be back again in the well-remembered and beloved institution where he
himself had been trained was a joy and honor. His devotion to and
appreciation of West Point strengthened and intensified by his
experiences in the years that had intervened since his graduation, we
may be sure that the heart of Lieutenant Pershing was proud of the
confidence which had been manifested in his selection to fill the vacant
position.
Here again there was a continuance of his previous record of quiet and
efficient service. It is true he was older now and he was more ready for
the public and social duties of his position than perhaps he had been
in his earlier days. And to the social side of his new task he responded
as became one in his position.
It was not long, however, before a fresh opportunity presented
itself--the one for which he had been waiting. The troubles between
Spain and the Island of Cuba had for a considerable time been
threatening to involve the United States. Many people sympathized with
the Cubans in their longing and their efforts to secure their
independence. The sturdy fight which the Islanders were making appealed
strongly to many patriotic Americans who were glorying in the traditions
of the struggle their own forefathers had made a century and a quarter
earlier.
The friction between the United States and Spain steadily increased. The
latter nation, perhaps not without a certain justification, was claiming
that her colonists were fitting out expeditions and obtaining munitions
and supplies for their soldiers in the cities of the United States, a
supposedly neutral nation. She was not unnaturally irritated, too, by
the steadily increasing numbers of Americans that were serving in the
hard pressed and poorly equipped troops of Cuba. The culmination,
however, came when the United States battleship, _Maine_, was blown up
in the harbor of Havana, February 15, 1898. The long delayed declaration
of war by the United States, April 21, 1898, was the speedy outcome.
CHAPTER VI
IN THE SPANISH WAR
LIEUTENANT PERSHING instantly grasped his long awaited opportunity. He
resigned his position at West Point, and at once was sent to his
regiment, the 10th Cavalry, then at Chicamauga, and afterwards near
Tampa, Florida, but in June of that same year he went to Cuba and shared
in the campaign against Santiago. Many have thought that the nickname
"Black Jack" was affectionately given him because he was such a daring
and dashing leader of the exceptionally brave black men of whom the 10th
U. S. Cavalry at that time was composed.
In this campaign no official records can have quite the same human touch
as the words of the modest young officer himself. In a lecture or
address in the Hyde Park M. E. Church, Chicago, November 27, 1898, the
church whose founding was largely due to the interest and labors of his
father,--Lieutenant Pershing described the experiences and deeds of his
troop. The interest at the time was keen in the campaign he described.
To-day, however, the interest is still keener in the young lieutenant
who gave his vivid description of the battles in which he shared.
Address by Lieutenant Pershing at the Hyde Park M. E. Church, Chicago,
at a patriotic Thanksgiving service, November 27, 1898:
The admonition of George Washington, "In peace
prepare for war," had gone unheeded for one-third
of a century. Congress had turned a deaf ear to
the importunities of our military commanders. The
staff departments of the army were only large
enough to meet the ordinary necessities in times
of peace of an army of 25,000 men. They had not
transported even by rail for over thirty years a
larger command than a regiment. In the face of all
this every official both civil and military of
staff and line seemingly did his best to overcome
these adverse conditions and though of course
mistakes were made I should hesitate to attribute
to any individual other than the purest motives
of patriotism. The wonder is it was done at all.
The wonder is it was done so well. The point of
embarkation for the first army of invasion was
Port Tampa, Florida. There was some delay in the
embarkation due to various causes one of which was
the inexperience of officers in transporting
troops by water. Another cause of delay was
uncertainty as to whether or not the Spanish fleet
was really confined in the harbor of Santiago.
On the afternoon of June 14th, the fleet steamed
out under its naval escort and a grander and more
impressive sight the world has never seen.
Arriving in the vicinity of Santiago some time was
spent in deciding where to attempt a landing. Two
plans were proposed, one an attack from the west,
which was said would involve, with the assistance
of the navy, the capture of the outer defenses of
the harbor of Santiago. The other plan, the one
which was adopted, ignored the existence of Morro
Castle and the coast defenses and contemplated an
attack on the city from the rear. This decided, a
point of debarkation was selected at Daiquiri.
There were no good maps of Cuba and very little
was known of the coast or country.
At Daiquiri the navy prepared the way for landing
by bombarding the town and driving out the Spanish
troops who before leaving set fire to the
buildings of the town and the machine shops and
the mines located there. There were no docks at
Daiquiri except a small wooden affair, old and out
of repair. The vessels could not go nearer than
about 300 yards from the shore and then only in
calm weather.
Nothing was taken ashore with the troops except
what they carried on their backs, but the load was
so heavy that to fall overboard in deep water
meant to be drowned, though from the entire army
but two men were lost.
On the morning of June 23d, the Tenth Cavalry,
together with the First Cavalry and Roosevelt's
Rough Riders and regiments which formed the second
brigade of the cavalry division, were sent ashore
and moved out northwest passing through Siboney to
a point beyond the most advanced outposts toward
Santiago. These troops though belonging to the
cavalry were dismounted and in marching through
marsh and bog overhung with boughs and vines, clad
as they were in heavy clothing, they soon began to
feel the wilting effects of the tropical sun; but
every man had resolved for the honor of his
country to make the best of the situation as a
soldier and whether working or marching or
fighting all behaved as though the success of the
campaign depended upon their own individual
efforts.
On July 10th, the day set for the ultimatum of the
bombardment, the white flags of truce were again
taken down and the men again climbed into the
trenches. At four o'clock in the afternoon at the
signal of the first gun from our northern battery
the firing began and the battle raged with the
same old fury as of those early July days; shells
and bullets whistled violently for a few minutes
but the enemy's fire gradually died away into
silence. They realized their helplessness and the
battle was over.
Our reinforcements had begun to arrive and the
terms of capitulation dictated by the commanding
general were soon agreed upon. On the morning of
July 17th the lines of both armies were drawn up
to witness the formal surrender. General Toral
with an infantry escort rode out from the city to
meet General Shafter, who was escorted by a
squadron of mounted cavalry. The formalities were
courteous though simple. Arms were presented by
both commanders and the Spanish General tendered
his sword to our commander.
General Shafter, accompanied by all the general
and staff officers, his escort of cavalry and one
regiment of infantry, then entered the city.
Shortly before twelve o'clock our troops were
again drawn up in line along the six miles of
trenches and stood at present arms. An officer
ascended to the top of the Governor's palace and
lowered the Spanish colors and now held the Stars
and Stripes, impatient to declare our victory to
the world. Suddenly at exactly twelve o'clock the
enthusiasm burst forth, cannon boomed the national
salute, bands played the Star Spangled Banner,
hats were thrown into the air and ten thousand men
as if to burst their throats joined in one grand
American yell. There just beyond the hill outlined
against the clear sky, over the Governor's palace
in the captured city, though invisible to many of
us floated our own beloved flag. The campaign was
over. For us the war was ended.
On June 29th a part of General Garcia's Army with
some 4000 Cubans were marched to the front, but
they rendered little assistance, either in working
or fighting. The most of them fled at the first
explosion of a Spanish shell over El Pozo Capital
Hill on July 1st. However, some excuse is theirs.
Ragged, some half naked, wearied from hunger,
laden with huge earthen water pots, heavy packs
and cooking utensils slung over their backs, armed
with every conceivable obsolete pattern of gun, it
is no wonder that they dared not face the deadly
Mauser rifle; we ourselves had much less contempt
for Spanish arms after we had met them face to
face on the battle field.
On June 30th the general order came to move
forward and every man felt that the final test of
skill at arms would soon come. The cavalry
division of six regiments camped in its tracks at
midnight on El Pozo Hill, awoke next morning to
find itself in support of Grimes' Battery which
was to open fire here on the left.
The morning of July 1st was ideally beautiful; the
sky was cloudless and the air soft and balmy;
peace seem to reign supreme, great palms towered
here and there above the low jungle. It was a
picture of a peaceful valley. There was a feeling
that we had secretly invaded the Holy Land. The
hush seemed to pervade all nature as though she
held her bated breath in anticipation of the
carnage.
Captain Capron's field guns had opened fire upon
the southern field at El Caney and the hill
resounded with echoes. Then followed the reply of
the musketry of the attacking invaders. The
fighting in our front burst forth and the battle
was on.
The artillery duel began and in company with
foreign military attachés and correspondents we
all sat watching the effect of the shots as men
witness any fine athletic contest eagerly trying
to locate their smokeless batteries. A force of
insurgents near the old Sugar Mill cowered at the
explosion of each firing charge apparently caring
for little except the noise.
A slug of iron now and then fell among the
surrounding bushes or buried itself deep in the
ground near us. Finally a projectile from an
unseen Spanish gun discharged a Hotchkiss piece,
wounded two cavalrymen and smashed into the old
Sugar Mill in our rear, whereupon the terrorized
insurgents fled and were not seen again near the
firing line until the battle was over.
When the Tenth Cavalry arrived at the crossing of
San Juan River the balloon had become lodged in
the treetops above and the enemy had just begun to
make a target of it. A converging fire upon all
the works within range opened upon us that was
terrible in its effect. Our mounted officers
dismounted and the men stripped off at the
roadside everything possible and prepared for
business.
We were posted for a time in the bed of the stream
to the right directly under the balloon and stood
in the water to our waists waiting orders to
deploy. Remaining there under this galling fire of
exploding shrapnel and deadly Mauser bullets the
minutes seemed like hours. General Wheeler and a
part of his staff stood mounted a few minutes in
the middle of the stream. Just as I raised my hat
to salute in passing up the stream to pass the
squadron of my regiment, a piece of bursting shell
struck between us and covered us both with water.
Pursuant to orders from its commander, with myself
as guide, the second squadron of the Tenth forced
its way through wire fence and almost impenetrable
thicket to its position. The regiment was soon
deployed as skirmishers in an opening across the
river to the right of the road and our line of
skirmishers being partly visible from the enemy's
position, their fire was turned upon us and we had
to lie down in the grass a few minutes for safety.
Two officers of the regiment were wounded; here
and there were frequent calls for the surgeon.
White regiments, black regiments, regulars and
rough riders representing the young manhood of the
North and South fought shoulder to shoulder
unmindful of race or color, unmindful of whether
commanded by an ex-confederate or not, and mindful
only of their common duty as Americans.
Through streams, tall grass, tropical undergrowth,
under barbed wire fences and over wire
entanglements, regardless of casualties up the
hill to the right this gallant advance was made.
As we appeared on the brow of the hill we found
the Spaniards retreating only to take up a new
position farther on, spitefully firing as they
retreated and only yielding their ground inch by
inch.
Our troopers halted and laid down but momentarily
to get a breath and in the face of continued
volleys soon formed for attack on the block houses
and intrenchments on the second hill. This attack
was supported by troops including some of the
Tenth who had originally moved to the left toward
this second hill and had worked their way in
groups slipping through the tall grass and bushes,
crawling when casualties came too often,
courageously facing a sleet of bullets and now
hung against the steep southern declivity ready to
spring the few remaining yards into the teeth of
the enemy. The fire from the Spanish position had
doubled in intensity. There was a moment's lull
and our line moved forward to the charge across
the valley separating the two hills. Once begun it
continued dauntless in its steady, dogged,
persistent advance until like a mighty resistless
challenge it dashed triumphant over the crest of
the hill and firing a parting volley at the
vanishing foe planted the silken standard on the
enemy's breastworks and the Stars and Stripes over
the block house on San Juan Hill to stay.
This was a time for rejoicing. It was glorious.
* * * * *
But among the scenes of rejoicing there was others
of sadness. Both American and Spanish troops lay
dead and wounded around us; all were cared for
alike. I saw a colored trooper stop at a trench
filled with Spanish dead and wounded and gently
raise the head of a wounded Spanish lieutenant and
give him the last drop of water from his own
canteen. Their dead, of whom there were many, had
fought bravely and we buried them in the trenches
where they gallantly fell.
The losses of the day were heavy--the Tenth
Cavalry losing one-half of its officers and twenty
per cent of its men. We officers of the Tenth
Cavalry have taken our black heroes in our arms.
They had again fought their way into our
affections, as they here had fought their way into
the hearts of the American people. Though we had
won, it had cost us dearly.
An attempt was made that evening to recapture the
hill, but our defense was so strong that the
attempt was futile; the Spaniards retreating to
their first interior line of intrenchments 300 to
500 yards away.
The firing on both sides was kept up until dark
and ceased only at intervals during the night.
Over El Caney the battle had raged all day, but
steadily as the Spaniards had held their positions
the fierce charges of the gallant Seventh, Twelfth
and Twenty-fifth regiments of infantry were
resistless. Soon after San Juan was ours, El Caney
fell.
By morning the position was strengthened so that
our line was fairly well protected, reveillé was
sounded by Spanish small arms and artillery in
chorus, but the signal had been anticipated and
all men were in their places at the firing line.
Daylight was breaking in the east when both sides
began where they had left off the night before and
the firing all day was incessant. A few moments
after the firing opened, some cannoneers permitted
a limber from one of the guns of the light battery
near us to get away and it went rolling down the
hillside to the rear for a quarter of a mile. Our
artillery was silenced by the enemy's small arms
and compelled to take up a new position; strong
shrapnel went screeching over head and bursting
beyond. The adjutant of my regiment was stricken
by a hidden sharpshooter. The heat soon became
intense and there was no shelter and cannon balls
plunged through the lines at the top of the hill
and went rolling to the bottom of the valley;
bullets spattered against the isolated trees or
grazed the newly made earthworks covering with
dirt the men in the trenches and fairly mowing the
grass for many yards in our front. Thus the day
went on and the night and the succeeding day
began. Then came the welcome truth; everybody drew
a long breath and thanked God; it was possible
once more to walk erect; however, the echoes of
the last three days were slow to die away and at
the breaking of a bough or the rusting of a leaf
there was a temptation to duck.
At noon on July 4th the regiments were formed into
line and I had the pleasure of reading to my
regiment a telegram from the President extending
the thanks and congratulations of the American
people to the army in front of Santiago for its
gallantry and success.
The brave Linares, however, had already realized
the hopelessness of his cause, but he would not
surrender without permission from his home
government. Therefore the city must be bombarded.
Pacificos and the non-combatants were ordered out
of the city and were permitted to come within our
lines. All day long on the dusty road leading from
Santiago to El Cancy passed the long white line;
faint, hungry women carried a bundle of clothing
and parcel of food or an infant while helpless
children trailed wearily at the skirts of their
wretched mothers. An old man tottered along on his
cane and behind him a puny lad and an aged woman;
old and young women and children and decrepit men
of every class--those refined and used to luxury
together with the ragged beggar--crowding each
other in this narrow column. It was a pitiful
sight; from daylight to dark the miserable
procession trooped past. The suffering of the
innocent is not the least of the sorrows of war.
The days of truce and hostilities alternated; all
roll calls were suspended except the sunset call
and retreat on days of truce.
At the evening call we daily ceased our chatting,
cooking or working and groups or lines of officers
and men stood with uncovered heads in respectful
and reverent attention as the music of the Star
Spangled Banner and the sight of the flag we had
planted on the hill above us, lifted us out of
ourselves and carried us in thought to home and
country; it was the soldiers' silent Ave Maria.
Duty in the trenches was no less arduous because
of the few days of truce; all the available men
would report to work at strengthening positions
and building bomb-proof shelters. Vigilance never
relaxed until the capitulation. The rainy season
had set in in earnest and the trenches were at
times knee deep with mud and water. The constant
exposures to the heat and rain together with the
strain of battle began to have its effect upon
even the strongest of us. Our sick list gradually
grew and the dreaded yellow fever appeared in our
ranks; the field hospitals already overcrowded
with wounded were compelled to accommodate the
increasing number of fever patients; medical
supplies and food for the sick were lacking and
though many things were furnished by the Red Cross
there was yet a shortage.
Since July 3d the firing from the Spanish trenches
had become irregular, desultory and non-effective.
Our artillery gunners now knew the range of every
Spanish battery and our men in the trenches--every
one a trained marksman--knew the distance of every
Spanish position. A Spanish captain told me
afterward that it was dangerous for them even to
stick up a finger for fear of having it shot off;
and yet the Spanish commander still held out.
The literary style of the young lecturer reveals the direct virile
qualities that since have made General Pershing one of the most forceful
and clear American writers on topics having to do with the military
affairs of the country. His use of adjectives perhaps is somewhat freer
than in his later writings, but there is the same vivid, direct power of
expression and description. His modesty at the time prevented him from
referring to the fact that twice he was recommended for brevet
commissions in the war with Spain for "personal gallantry and untiring
energy and faithfulness." Nor did he mention the words of General
Baldwin, a brave soldier of the Civil War, who said of him: "Pershing is
the coolest man under fire I ever saw." And he makes no mention of the
earnest protest of a certain foreign officer, the representative of his
own government in the Santiago campaign, who begged the daring troops
not to make the now famous charge up San Juan Hill because they would be
rushing into certain death.
The official records, however, are now available and consequently we
are not dependent upon stories which occasionally seem to possess a
snow-ball like quality of increasing in size as they gain in distance
from their starting points.
Headquarters, Tenth U. S. Cavalry,
Camp Hamilton, Cuba, July, 1898.
Adjutant General, Second Brigade, Cavalry Division,
Fifth Army Corps.
Sir:--I have the honor to submit the following
report of the part taken by the Tenth Cavalry in
the battle of July 12th and 13th, 1898, before
Santiago de Cuba.
On the morning of July 1st the regiment,
consisting of troops, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I,
field and staff, occupying a position on the left
of the second cavalry, directed the line extending
nearly north and south on a ridge some three or
four miles from Santiago.
At about 6:30 A. M. a battery of artillery massed
a short distance from our right opened upon the
works of Santiago, the regiment being exposed to
much of the return fire of the American batteries.
After the artillery fire had ceased the regiment
moved right past the sugar mills and proceeded in
rear of the town on the road toward Santiago. The
movement was delayed as we approached the San Juan
river and the regiment came within range of fire
about half a mile from the crossing. Upon reaching
the river I found that the Seventy-first N. Y.
Volunteers were at the crossing and that the
regiment preceding mine had moved to the right.
The Tenth Cavalry was here subject to and
confronting radically an infantry fire from the
three block houses and intrenchments in front and
the works farther to the left and nearer Santiago.
The fire was probably drawn by a balloon which
preceded the regiment to a point near the ford
where it was held. I was directed to take a
position to the right behind the river, however,
for protection moving to this position and while
there the regiment suffered considerable loss.
After an interval of 20 to 30 minutes I was
directed to form line of battle in a particularly
open field facing toward the blockhouse and strong
intrenchments to the north occupied by the enemy.
Much difficulty was found on account of the dense
undergrowth crossed in several directions by wire
fences. As a part of the cavalry division under
General Sumner, the regiment was formed on two
lines. The first squadron under Major S. T.
Norvall consisting of troops A, E, B and I
leading. The second line under Major T. J. Wint
consisting of troops C, F and G. Troop D having
crossed further down the river attached itself to
a command of infantry and moved with that command
on the two blockhouses. The regiment advanced in
this formation under a heavy fire from the enemy's
position proceeding but a short distance when the
two lines were reunited into one. The advance was
rapidly continued in an irregular line toward the
blockhouses and intrenchments to the right front.
During this advance the lines passed some troops
of the first cavalry which I think had been
previously formed on our right. Several losses
occurred before reaching the top of them; first
lieutenant W. H. Smith being killed as he arrived
at its crest. The enemy having retreated toward
the northwest toward the second and third
blockhouses, new lines were formed and rapid
advance was made upon the new positions.
The regiment assisted in capturing these works
from the enemy and with the exception of Troops C
and I who had joined the first volunteer cavalry,
then took up a position north of the second
blockhouse, remaining there during the night. With
some changes in the positions of troops they held
this line of the second and third under a heavy
and continuous fire from the enemy's intrenchments
in front and the regiment now occupying a part of
the advance intrenched positions. Some troops lost
their relative positions in line during the first
day of the battle but attached themselves to
others and continued to move forward. During the
entire engagement the regiment acted with
exceptional coolness and bravery. It held its
position at the ford and moved forward
unflinchingly after deploying through the advance
under the heavy fire from the enemy's works.
The officers and men in general throughout
exhibited great bravery obeying orders with
unflinching alacrity while attacking with small
arms an enemy strongly posted in intrenchment and
blockhouse supported with artillery. Words cannot
express my gratification at such conduct and I
would request such service receive some special
recognition. It is difficult to distinguish
between officers and men all of whom are so
deserving but of the officers whose conduct on the
field came under my direct personal observation I
would especially mention Major S. T. Norvall,
Major T. J. Wint, squadron commander, first
lieutenant J. J. Pershing, quartermaster, and
first lieutenant M. H. Bowman, adjutant, for their
untiring energy, faithfulness and gallantry during
this engagement and would recommend the officers
mentioned for brevet commissions, ...
Very respectfully,
(s) T. A. BALDWIN,
Lieutenant Colonel, Tenth Cavalry,
Commanding.
[A TRUE COPY]
Second lieutenant, Tenth Cavalry, acting
regimental adjutant.
* * * * *
"A foreign officer standing near our position when
we started to make that charge was heard to say,
'Men, for Heaven's sake don't go up that hill. It
is impossible for human beings to take that
position and you cannot stand the fire.'
Notwithstanding this with a terrific yell we
rushed up to the enemy's works and you know the
result. Men who were near said that when this
officer saw us make the charge he turned his back
and wept."
* * * * *
Camp A. G. Forse,
Huntsville, Ala., December 1, 1898.
The Adjutant General, U. S. Army,
Washington, D. C.,
Through military channels,
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following
report of the part taken by Troop D, Tenth
Cavalry, in the engagement before Santiago de Cuba
so far as it is known to me. As we approached the
foot of the hill our artillerymen fired over our
heads at the enemy on top of it. This caused a
slowing up on the general advance. When I was
about half way up the hill I was disabled by three
bullet wounds received simultaneously. I had
already received one, but did not know it. What
took place after my disablement is known to me
only through the statement of my men and others
subsidized by the depositions enclosed herewith.
My platoon went to the top of the hill with the
infantry and was soon afterward conducted by
Lieutenant J. J. Pershing, R. O. M., Tenth
Cavalry, to the line of the Tenth Cavalry some
distance to the right.
Very respectfully,
JOHN BIGELOW, JR.,
Tenth Cavalry, Commanding,
Troop D.
In the report of Major Wint, November 28th, 1898, to the
adjutant-general is the following: "Lieutenant Pershing, R.O.M., was
with the Second Squadron when passed on Sugar House Hill and during its
advance on San Juan Hill he conducted himself in a most gallant and
efficient manner."
The war with Spain was soon terminated but the executive ability of
Lieutenant Pershing was still in demand. The period of reconstruction
was difficult then, as it always is, presenting problems different from
those of active fighting, but no less puzzling and perplexing. In this
trying time we find him serving as an executive under the direction of
the War Department and manifesting in his quiet, persistent way the same
qualities of efficiency which had marked his career up to this time. On
August 18, 1898, he was serving as Major Chief Ordnance Officer with the
United States Volunteers, remaining on duty at the Headquarters of the
Army until December 20, 1898, and then on duty in the office of the
Assistant Secretary of War, under whom he organized the Bureau of
Insular Affairs, and was at the head of that Bureau until the following
August. On May 12, 1899, he was honorably discharged from Volunteer
service and on June 6, 1899, he was Major and Assistant Adjutant
General, United States Volunteers.
Office and work of detail did not, however, appeal strongly to him.
Having known the life and work in the field, and also possessed of a
temperament that demanded more active work and out-of-door life that an
office provided, at his own request he was sent to the Philippine
Islands and was assigned to duty as Adjutant General of the District of
Mindanao and Jolo (afterwards a Department under the same name).
He became captain in the First Cavalry, February, 1901, and on August
20th of the same year he was transferred to the Fifteenth Cavalry. His
work in the Philippine Islands continued and there his soldierly
qualities found a larger field for development and activity than they
had known before.
CHAPTER VII
IN THE PHILIPPINES
THE supreme testing of Pershing up to this time in his career came in
the Philippines. There he was dealing with a strange people who for
three centuries had learned their lessons and formed their opinions of
the white men from their contact and dealings with the Spaniards, of
whom they had seen chiefly the adventurers or those who for the "good of
their country" had fled from their homes. To such men the exploitation
of the "natives" was a legitimate game and the little brown men had
thoroughly learned to play their part in it.
The provinces in which Pershing was to find his field of activity were
as difficult as any in the islands. For years the natives had been
accustomed to import arms from Borneo and elsewhere. Certain of the
tribes were famous also for their skill as forgers of swords, krises
and barongs. Every datto had numbers of lantaka or brass cannon and was
well skilled in the use of them. Pershing's problem was not only to
subdue these men,--farmers, artificers and all alike fighters after
their own manner, but he must also at the same time convince them of the
good will and helpful intentions of the new Government, which for a time
and for their own good was now to control them. Naturally suspicious,
treacherous in many ways, the Islands presented difficulties that well
might have staggered the young officer.
General Pershing's first term of service in the Philippines was from
1899 to 1903. In the interval between his first and second terms of
service as soldier and governor in the Islands, he was back in the
United States to serve on the General Staff and also was serving as
military attaché in the army of General Kuroki in the war between Russia
and Japan.
In his first years in the Philippines his work was of a character that
made him known to the Army and to the authorities at Washington, but it
did not make him widely known to his countrymen.
Briefly stated, his record during his two terms of service in the
Philippines is as follows: he was in the field November, 1900, to March,
1901, against General Capistrano, the commander of the insurrectionary
forces; he was in command of an expedition against the hostile Moros of
Maciu, starting from Camp Vicars, Mindanao, September 18, 1902. In the
actions at Guam, September 18, and at Bayabao, September 20, 1902, he
had a responsible part. On September 29, 1902, he captured Fort Moru,
driving the Moros from that Peninsula on that date. He attacked the
Moros at Maciu, September 30, 1902, capturing their two forts and then
returned to Camp Vicars October 3, 1902. He was again in action at
Bacolod, April 6-8, 1903, and again at Calabui April 9, 1903, and Iaraca
River, May 4, 1903. He commanded the first military force that ever
encircled Lake Lanao.
In May, 1902, General Chaffee was desirous of securing a young leader
to deal with the troublesome and specific problem in the province of
Zamboanga, where the fierce and turbulent little Moros dwelt. Many of
these people were Mohammedans and had been taught that the swiftest and
surest way to secure happiness in the next world was by the slaughter of
Christians in this present world. During 300 years they had fought the
Spanish invaders, whose every attempt to subdue them had failed.
Pershing in command of five troops of the Fifteenth Cavalry, together
with a battery of artillery, a company of engineers and a battalion of
the Twenty-seventh Infantry, was stationed at Camp Vicars in the Lake
Lanao District of Mindanao. He had taken the place made vacant by the
promotion of Colonel Baldwin.
Although the Americans had obtained a foothold on the southern side of
Lake Lanao, very few of them had actually become friendly. In fact the
Spaniards, in all the years of their occupation, had never subdued the
main tribes to subordination.
Among those who especially defied the American authority was the Sultan
of Bacalan and 600 of his followers who occupied a stronghold on the
western side of Lake Lanao from which they made almost daily forays.
Walls of earth and bamboo some 20 feet in thickness had been added to
the natural defenses of the position they selected. A moat 40 feet wide
and 30 feet deep surrounded the position. The defenders thought it was
proof against any possible attack. Friendly overtures failed to make an
impression upon their leaders, and their cotta was finally surrounded
and their surrender demanded. Still confident of their prowess, they
declined to accede to the American Commander's demands and the latter
was compelled to assault this strong fortification. Accordingly trees
were felled and used to make a crossing over the moat and when all was
in readiness the place was taken in a fierce hand-to-hand encounter
between the Americans and the Moros. The American success was complete
and a severe lesson was taught to Moros in that region. General Pershing
completed the conquest of Mindanao Moros by marching his command
entirely around Lake Lanao through the dense jungles and swamps
bordering the lake.
As a matter of interest several reports made by General Pershing on his
work in the Philippines follow, and some in which reference is made to
him by certain of his superior officers at that time.
In the later reports sent by Pershing there is manifest the same
painstaking carefulness and thorough understanding of his task. He makes
recommendations concerning the distribution of the troops in the
Philippines, goes into detail about the necessity and the location of
cold storage plants, and has positive convictions as to what changes
ought to be made in the Subsistence Department. Certain posts also ought
to be made permanent. He clearly presents the reasons leading to his
conclusions.
Annual Report of the Lieutenant General commanding
the Army--1901
The command left Cagayan, December 16th, under
Major Case, accompanied by Major J. J. Pershing,
adjutant general, department of Mindanao and
Jolo.
In a narrow gorge 800 feet deep formed by the
river the insurgents were found in three strongly
constructed forts which our troops attacked
without loss. The enemy must have suffered
severely, but his loss was not ascertained. Two
cannon fell into our hands. The 18th and 19th of
December were consumed in surrounding the
stronghold of Maxajambos by gaining a position
commanding Langaran to the south of Maxajambos.
Langaran, which was the headquarters of the
insurgents, was entered on the 20th and
considerable quantity of provisions, ammunitions
of war, cuartels, etc., were found and destroyed.
The insurrectos had made good their escape under
cover of darkness.
On the 28th, the insurgents were discovered a mile
and a half south of Langaran occupying a strong
position which our troops succeeded in reaching
and the enemy was forced to retreat in disorder.
The command then moved on to Talacao but was not
met by any resistance. Such buildings as had been
used by the insurgents for storehouses, etc., were
destroyed as well as supplies. One prisoner was
taken. The surrounding country was thoroughly
scouted without encountering any enemy force. The
troops returned to Cagayan the 31st of December.
From the report of Captain James J. Mays, 40th Infantry, concerning the
attack on Cagayan, December 16th to 25th, 1900:
He reports, "late in the afternoon of December
17th insurgents concealed in the brush fired on
horses that were being watered in the cañon. Major
Pershing, who was with the command, took fifteen
men on one bluff and I took about the same number
on another and poured volleys into the cañon,
firing at smoke from insurgent pieces, silencing
their fire. I think we killed some of them, but do
not know. The following morning Major Pershing
crossed the river and joined Captain Millar.
Captain Millar threw shells into Maxajambos and
signaled that the place seemed deserted. During
the day I kept patrols on the plateau. Señor Cruz
came out on the morning of this day and I sent him
to Captain Millar. I questioned him about the plan
of cutting through the timber. He said he never
heard of anyone getting through there and that it
would be very difficult on account of the cañon,
and also that it would end on top of a cliff 400
or 500 feet high. I concluded not to attempt it."
To the Headquarters Department of Mindanao and Jolo.
Cagayan de Misamis, P. I.
February 2, 1901.
The Commanding Officer, Provincial District of Mindanao
and Jolo.
SIR: I am instructed by the department commander
to advise you that General Capistrano, commanding
the insurgent forces in Northern Mindanao, has
signified his wish to meet the department
commander in conference and to direct that you
take whatever measures are possible to insure his
safe conduct accompanied by his staff and that of
any tribes with a pass signed by the commanding
general and countersigned by the adjutant general.
Patrols and expeditionary forces need not be
suspended but should be warned to be at special
pains not to molest unresisting parties of natives
and to take special care not to interfere with
individuals or squadrons, to indicate that their
mission is peaceful.
Very respectfully,
J. J. PERSHING,
Assistant Adjutant General.
To the Headquarters Department of Mindanao and Jolo.
Cagayan de Misamis, P. I.
February 28, 1901.
To the Commanding Officer, 1st District of Mindanao and
Jolo.
SIR: I am instructed by the Department commander
to invite your attention to the fact that there
are at this place ten prisoners of war either now
or recently officers in the insurgent forces. With
one or two exceptions these officers have
voluntarily surrendered one at a time and have
been induced to do so with a distinct
understanding that they would not be closely
confined or otherwise molested so long as they
refrained from all conduct which might be
construed as hostile to the United States.
It is understood that most of these have severed
their connections with the insurgent forces and
have thrown up their appointments as officers.
You will please assemble these men, give them
strict, but fair limits of arrest, extending in no
case beyond the limits of the town of Cagayan de
Misamis and inform them that any violation of
their obligations as prisoners of war, however
slight, will be followed by immediate arrest and
deportation from the Philippine Islands to Guam;
also that they are to report daily in a body at a
stated hour to the Provost Marshal.
The Department Commander further directs that you
assemble all the more prominent citizens of this
and adjoining towns who are known or suspected of
being in sympathy with the insurgents and inform
them that they must refrain absolutely from giving
aid or comfort to them and without communicating
with the insurgent forces in any manner under
penalty of immediate arrest and deportation.
In carrying out the terms of this order you are
directed to exercise considerable vigilance and
the most drastic vigor.
Very respectfully,
J. J. PERSHING,
Assistant Adjutant General.
CHAPTER VIII
SUBJECTING THE MOROS
THE first period of General Pershing's service in the Philippine Islands
lasted until 1903. He then was recalled to the United States and became
a member of the General Staff Corps. This position he held until 1906.
Within that time, however, he was appointed the military attaché at
Tokio, Japan, and was with General Kuroki in the latter's campaign in
the war between Japan and Russia. It is said that his report forwarded
to our Government is one of the most lucid and forceful military
documents ever received by the Department.
If any discouragements had come to the young officer in his lonely
campaigns in the jungles of the Philippines and he had felt that somehow
he had been banished to a region where his services of necessity would
never be recognized, that thought was banished by the action of
President Roosevelt in 1906.
His services in the First and Fifteenth Cavalry as well as his
activities in Washington and his report as the military attaché of his
Government, had brought him very strongly before the attention of the
President, who now was eager to reward him for his faithful services.
There were certain obstacles, however, in the way, and the President did
his utmost to secure the proper legislation to enable him to reward the
soldier whom he was eager to honor. There were delays, however, and the
delays continued. Red tape exerted its binding force upon the makers of
the laws and no apparent progress was made.
Thereupon President Roosevelt in his direct way determined to wait no
longer for changes in the laws. Promptly he nominated Pershing to be
Brigadier General; the nomination was confirmed and the long deferred
recognition was now manifest.
He had labored in somewhat obscure fields. He had assisted in subduing
insurrections, had supervised many local improvements in the territory
within which he was working. He had assisted in winning victories and
had warded off attacks by hostile Moros. There had, however, been
nothing spectacular in his work. His reliability, good sense, bravery
and administrative ability, however, were now better known and he was in
every way prepared for the more important problems which now confronted
him.
The President by his action had raised or "jumped" the new general eight
hundred and sixty-two orders. Worthy as the honor was and worthily
bestowed, for a time there were protests from disappointed seekers after
office. Some cried "politics," but as a rule these objections came in
loudest tones from those who by devious ways had sought certain "pulls"
for their own elevation. Personal ambitions and personal jealousies,
perhaps, also entered to a degree and aided not a little in delaying the
legislation which President Roosevelt desired.
Doubtless this condition deeply hurt General Pershing, but there was no
complaining on his part. It was his to show that he was not unworthy of
his new honor. Years before he had been taught by his father that to be
worthy of promotion was more than the promotion itself. And now he was
soon to return to the Philippines to show in the jungle and on the
field, in council and administration, that the action of the President
had not been the result of idle or thoughtless impulse.
Not long before this time, on January 26, 1905, General Pershing was
married. There is a current story, for the truthfulness of which the
writer cannot vouch, that when the nomination of Major Pershing for
promotion was placed before the Senate, there was made at the same time
a just and true statement of the distinguished services he had rendered
his country in his career in the Philippines. In the visitors' gallery
with friends, intently listening to the proceedings, was Miss Frances
Warren, daughter of United States Senator Warren of Wyoming. As she
listened to the words spoken concerning the American officer in the
Philippines it is said she remarked, "What a wonderful record. I should
like to see the man who made it." Not long afterward she did see him
though the meeting was entirely unexpected. Doubtless the man impressed
her more than had his praises to which she had listened in the halls of
Congress, for on January 26, 1905, she became Mrs. John Joseph Pershing.
The general, who for years had been compelled to live a somewhat lonely
life, whose activities had kept him far from friends and his own people,
was now to have the help and comfort of the strong and beautiful
daughter of Senator Warren. Never effusive nor one to refer to his
personal or private affairs, his friends nevertheless have told of the
deep love of the General for his wife and family--a tragic setting for
the terrible tragedy which later in a moment disrupted his home and
deprived him forever of his wife and three little daughters.
Directly after the wedding and before the general and his bride could
carry out the plans of a trip they were expecting to make to Japan, he
was abruptly ordered to join the forces of General Kuroki, as has been
said, as the representative of the Army of the United States in the war
between Japan and Russia. Like the good soldier that he was there was no
complaining, no expression of his personal disappointment; he at once
obeyed.
For a time General Pershing's work in the Philippines, to which he soon
returned, was not unlike that in which he formerly had been engaged.
The raids of the Moros on the coast towns were checked by Pershing's
brilliant victory at Bayan. But the tribe though defeated in this battle
were by no means conquered. They were obdurate and their long experience
with the Spaniards made them confident of their ability to hold off the
new invading force.
Six hundred hot-headed Moros were ready to defend their fortress--the
first of forty similar ones,--in the crater of an extinct volcano. The
most hot-headed of all was the leader, the Sultan of Bacolod. Walls of
earth and bamboo, forty feet in thickness, had been added to the
natural defenses. A moat forty feet wide and thirty feet deep surrounded
the position. The defenders believed it was proof against every possible
attack.
With five hundred of his own men and an equal number of selected
Filipino scouts Pershing advanced. The march was difficult and slow, for
in many places the troops were compelled to cut a pathway through dense
jungles and all the way they were exposed to sudden and fierce attacks
by the fanatical Moros. But Pershing relentlessly pushed forward and at
last arrived at the foot of the mountain on which the Moros had
confidently gathered in their supposedly impregnable stronghold,--"proof
against all attacks."
Not a day was lost. Quietly the leader remarked that he would "take the
place if it took ten years to capture it"--a remark that reminds one of
a similar declaration by another American soldier that he would "fight
it out on this line if it takes all summer."
First, his jungle fighters cut a trail entirely around the base of the
mountain, at the same time doing their utmost to protect themselves
against attacks from the Moros who were as skillful in this work as they
were in nearly every phase of fighting in the jungle. The men were
compelled also to protect themselves from attacks from above, for it was
a favorite method of the Moros by unexpected attacks, in rushes of wild
fury, to scatter their enemies when they tried to ascend.
The soldiers speedily formed a complete cordon around the mountain and
the siege promptly began. Pershing knew what the Moros did not know that
he knew,--when they had withdrawn to their stronghold they had done so
in such haste that they neglected or were unable to bring with them
supplies sufficient for a long siege, and not many days would pass
before the necessity of obtaining food would compel them to try to break
the iron ring about them and to send out parties for help.
Pershing's information soon proved to be correct. After a few days, in
small detachments the Moros did their utmost to gain the open jungle by
dashing through the surrounding lines. But every dash was frustrated,
although the fanatical fighters recklessly threw themselves into what
was certain death. The failure of one band to break through was merely a
clarion call to others of their fellows to renew the attempt. The mad
and useless efforts were all baffled.
At last on Christmas Day, 1911, the Moros in the little fortress did
what Moros had not done before,--they marched down the mountain side and
surrendered,--that is, all did save a few who made a final wild attempt
to break through the jungle. The effort was vain, however, for the
regulars hotly pursued the little brown fighters and the desperadoes
paid the penalty of their daring.
A second fortress was taken in a similar manner. But the leader was as
wise as he was brave and determined. After he had permitted the
knowledge of the fall of the first forts to be carried throughout the
tribe, soon after the beginning of the siege, he sent a message within
the third fort that the inmates, if they surrendered, would receive the
same generous treatment the defenders of the other forts had received.
Soon the brown fighters were convinced and promptly acted accordingly.
They discovered that they were dealing with a leader different from any
they had previously known. He did exactly what he said he would do. His
promise could be trusted. His word was reliable; and forty forts soon
were given over to the Americans.
The subjection of all the Moros, however, had not yet been accomplished.
Some still distrusted the white men and, as they believed, fought to
retain and defend their homes. At last, however, at the Battle of Bagsag
in June, 1913, the task was completed, though Pershing's work was not
yet all done. What he had believed to be only a temporary task had now
assumed larger and longer proportions. He had done so well that he was
retained not only in command but also was the governor of the newly
conquered, but not yet friendly province. Perhaps there is no better
proof of the ability and sterling character of General Pershing anywhere
to be found than the fact that the little brown Moros whom he defeated
and overthrew, later made him a datto of their tribe--an official
position that granted him full power of life and death over every man,
woman and child in their numbers and also made him a judge as well as a
ruler over them.
In his quiet, efficient, modest manner General Pershing in a larger way
had manifested the same qualities that had marked the lad at Laclede,
the student at West Point, and the young lieutenant leading his black
troops in Cuba. To-day all Americans are proud as well as pleased that
there were leaders able to recognize, and brave enough to reward, the
services of a soldier who had filled with honor every position to which
he had been assigned.
In the reports to the War Department there are many interesting
incidents descriptive of the daring and labors of General Pershing, who
was not only in command of the troops, but also, as has been said, the
military governor of the Province of Mindanao. In his own reports there
are general as well as specific recommendations and the directness with
which he states what to him appear to be needful for the good of the
Filipinos as well as of the American troops, is marked.
[From the Report of June 30, 1910.]
To the Adjutant-General of the United States Army:
To keep down the lawless element among the Moros
and pagan tribes a relatively large force must be
maintained in this department. We have now
occupied these Islands long enough to determine
quite definitely where such posts should be
located. There should be a regiment post on the
Island of Jolo, a brigade post in the Lake Lanoa
division and the regimental post in some point in
the vicinity of Zamboanga, besides smaller posts
at Fort Overton and Malabang.
Jolo is the strategical site for the post in the
Sulu Archipelago. From there any point in the
Island can be quickly reached and the other
islands of the Sulu group can be easily
controlled. It possesses a good harbor and is
otherwise well situated as a military station.
Mounted troops can go anywhere on the Island and
they exert more influence over the Moros than
dismounted troops.
The Lake Lanoa Moros are turbulent and unruly and
the presence of a relatively large force in that
region will be required for years to come. The
shores of Lake Lanoa afford a very desirable place
for a military post. The country is very fertile
and in case of necessity troops could maintain
themselves there almost indefinitely.
The erection of a permanent post at Zamboanga is
in every way desirable. Troops located at
Zamboanga could be sent to any place in the
department more quickly than from any other point.
After stating that many of the barracks and quarters will not last long,
he comments:
Permanent posts should be built entirely of
concrete or of a combination of concrete and most
durable hard woods.
The khaki uniform furnished by the quartermasters'
department for tropical service is poorly made and
ill-fitting. The American made cotton khaki cloth
is heavy, shrinks badly, fades rapidly and is
almost as warm as woolen cloth. This clothing is
as poor an excuse for a military uniform as can be
imagined. Instead of offering inducements to
soldiers to enter and remain in foreign service by
giving them good-looking and well-fitted clothes,
we force upon them these unbecoming, hot, heavy,
ill-fitting uniforms. The best khaki cloth is of
English manufacture and should be prescribed for
the army. It is light, cool, holds its color and
does not shrink. All uniform cloth ought to be
manufactured by tailors enlisted for the purpose.
He goes on to discuss the water supply, public animals, ships and
drydocks, and pack and wagon transportation, water and sewer systems,
the roads and the works, ice and cold storage plants and also makes
suggestions for the engineering and ordnance departments. He asks for
the construction, for military purposes, of a telegraph line of
communication with the District of Davao. He speaks also of the marked
improvement in the target practice, especially in small arms. He gives
the details of the eighteen expeditions entered upon and has a complete
description of the Subano uprising, which occurred in November, 1909,
among the hill people of Zamboanga. Certain Moro chiefs from Lake Lanoa,
assisted by pagan and Christian outcasts and criminals from the Misamis
Strip, planned to gather the hill people into an inaccessible part of
the "Bolman Country." This plan was carried out by resorting to false
prophecies, and, in many cases, to violence. Thousands of these small
pastoral Subanos were driven into camps, where they would be more
completely under the control of these self-appointed leaders. Large
camps were built, one at Bolman and one at Dampalan, and preparations
were made for defending them. The positions were well selected. The
occupants were armed with spears, krises, kampilans and barongs. A
constabulary force from Capitan was sent November 28th, by the Governor
of the Moro provinces, to the outskirts of the Barbon camp. The Subanos,
under the leadership of their Moro chiefs, attacked the constabulary
with spears, and several of the men were killed. Upon the call of the
Provincial Governor for troops, the second company of Philippine scouts,
commanded by Captain Moses T. Barlow, was sent to Dipolog to report to
Major John J. Finley, Governor of the District of Zamboanga, who was
placed in command.
In the report of Major Finley that officer writes:
"The considerable reward offered for the
apprehension of the leaders did not stimulate the
natives to search for them. The Subanos were
thoroughly subdued and terrorized by the rigorous
discipline of the camp and after the fight of
November 28th they were only too glad to hide
themselves in the woods and mountains. The
Philippines made no effort whatever to earn the
reward.
"Ample time was given for the hill people to take
a look at the troops and become convinced that
this form of governmental power was friendly and
really interested in their salvation and
prosperity. After becoming thus convinced, the
good influence of the government spread with
rapidity among the Subanos. They returned to their
farms by hundreds daily, they preferred their
services to the government and declined
remuneration. The important witnesses emerged from
their hiding places and the apprehension of the
leaders became a possibility. The leaders were
caught, the witnesses came forward from their
hiding places to convict them, and the wondering
Subanos reclaimed their homes and began life anew.
There was a general rejoicing among them."
He reports a shortage of officers and states that two-year troops hardly
get acquainted with the people or really become interested in the larger
problems that are being worked out under American control. "The army
cannot do itself full justice in the administration of civil affairs in
a Moro Province unless the period of service be extended." He declares
that service in the Philippine Islands is not more arduous than service
in Texas or Arizona. "There is no reason why enlisted men should be
given credit for double service for every year spent in the Islands."
He reports also that the Philippine Scouts are in excellent condition. A
high state of discipline exists among them. Their officers are
enthusiastic and willing, and the same spirit extends to the men.
In 1911, similar reports are made concerning uniforms, clothing, etc.
The general good health of the soldiers is described. Only three cases
of typhoid fever occurred in the entire department. "Too much time is
devoted to target practice in comparison with other classes of training.
The increased pay for expert riflemen, sharpshooters and marksmen does
not serve to increase appreciation and the efficiency in rifle fire." He
recommended that extra pay be discontinued.
He reports nineteen expeditions of the troops and gives a clear account
of the pagan uprising. He urges an increase in the regular regiments of
infantry in time of peace, to form a substantial basis in the first line
when war comes. "Under no circumstances should the enlisted strength of
a regiment be less than one thousand men, in time of peace. In war this
should be increased to two thousand four hundred or even three
thousand." He recommends that the cavalry regiments be made smaller. He
states that the efficiency of the cavalry is not as high as it should
be, while the field artillery is below the recognized requirements. The
Philippine Scouts sometimes are inclined to consider themselves on the
same footing as the white troops, with a consequent disinclination to
perform duties away from well-equipped and centrally located garrisons.
"Considering their low cost of maintenance I
believe it poor policy not to keep them up to the
authorized maximum strength of 12,000, reducing
the garrison of American troops accordingly.
"I believe the time is propitious for the
organization of Philippine cavalry, mounted on
hardy native ponies which require none of the
expensive hay of the American horse.
"The post exchange ought to be authorized to sell
beer and light wines. Conducted under proper
regulations and under official supervision this
feature formerly served as a means to furnish
soldiers with a club of their own and save many
from the grog shops and the brothels. The
reestablishment of that part of the exchange would
go far to reduce desertion, venereal diseases and
alcoholism among our troops."
In 1914 General Pershing was recalled from the Philippine Islands.
His work and that of General Funston was now fully recognized by his
countrymen. Peace had come in the Philippines and the victorious leaders
had been successful not only with their enemies, but also in winning the
confidence of most of the tribes they conquered. It is said there was no
man in the islands who was more deeply respected and loved by the
natives than was General Pershing. They were fearful of him, also,
because they knew that he would do exactly what he said he would do.
Strict with offenders against the laws, he was at the same time gentle
and friendly to the deserving, and it was not long before all were aware
that he was working not for conquest or for the glory of his nation, but
to help his country solve one of the most difficult problems left by the
Spanish War. That problem was to reconstruct and reorganize the life
among the Filipinos in such a way that they themselves should be helped
and not hurt by the plan. When General Pershing returned to America,
hope was strong that not many years would elapse before the little brown
men would be able to care for themselves and be recognized as an
independent nation.
For a brief time he was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco,
California, but soon afterward was placed in command of the southwestern
division, along the Mexican border. It was while he was stationed there
in command of a scant and greatly extended line, which required constant
change on his own part in order to keep in touch with the various
elements in his command, that the great tragedy of the death of his
wife and three little daughters occurred.
On August 27, 1915, while he was in command at El Paso, word came to him
over the telephone of the awful fire in the Presidio at San Francisco,
where his family, then consisting of his wife, three little daughters
and a little son, were residing in his enforced absence. Of these, all
except Warren, the little boy, perished in the fire, a maid having
succeeded in rescuing the little fellow. When the terrible message was
received by the general it is said that at last he inquired, "Is there
anything more to be told?"
Upon being assured that he now knew not only the worst but had heard
all, he quietly hung up the receiver and turned away. There was to be no
manifestation of his almost crushing sorrow. It was his own, and there
we too must leave it. There are few who can fail to understand. The
lines in his strong face were soon deeper, the graying hair became
lighter still, but General Pershing's suffering and sorrow were his own,
not even to be referred to except as one of the facts in the life of a
man who belongs not to himself alone, but also to his country.
It has been reported that the general requested that he might be sent on
the most dangerous service to which his country could assign him.
Whether or not he ever made the request the writer does not know, but
that he might have had such a feeling in his heart can readily be
understood by all. The little motherless lad, Warren, has been cared for
by the general's sisters, who now reside in Lincoln, Nebraska.
CHAPTER IX
IN PURSUIT OF VILLA
GENERAL PERSHING had been sent to the Mexican border in command of the
Southwestern Division early in 1915. In command of the El Paso patrol
district, he necessarily was busy much of his time in guarding and
patrolling the long thin lines of our men on duty there.
The troubles with Mexico had been steadily increasing in seriousness.
The rivalry and warfare between various leaders in that country had not
only brought their own country into a condition of distress, but also
had threatened to involve the United States as well. Citizens of the
latter country had invested large sums in mining, lumber and other
industries in Mexico and were complaining bitterly of the failure of our
Government either to protect them or their investments. Again and
again, under threats of closing their mines or confiscating their
property, they had "bought bonds" of the rival Mexican parties, which
was only another name for blackmail.
Raids were becoming increasingly prevalent near the border and already
Americans were reported to have been slain by these irresponsible
bandits who were loyal only to their leaders and not always to them. The
condition was becoming intolerable.
Germany, too, had her agents busy within the borders of Mexico, artfully
striving not only to increase her own power in the rich and distracted
country, but also to create and foment an unreasonable anger against the
United States, vainly hoping in this way to prevent the latter country
from entering the World War by compelling her to face these threatening
attacks from her neighbor on the south. President Wilson was doing his
utmost to hold a steady course through the midst of these perils, which
daily were becoming more threatening and perplexing.
The climax came early in March, 1915, when Francesco Villa, the most
daring and reckless leader of all the Mexican bandit bands, suddenly
with his followers made an attack on the post at Columbus, New Mexico.
The American soldiers were taken completely by surprise. Their machine
guns (some said there was only one at the post) jammed and their defense
was inadequate. They were not prepared. When Villa withdrew he left nine
dead civilians and eight dead American soldiers behind him.
Instantly the President decided that the time had come when he must act.
There was still the same strong desire to avoid war with Mexico if
possible. The same suspicion of Germany was in his mind, but in spite of
these things Villa must be punished and Americans must be protected.
Quickly a call for regulars and State troops was made and General
Pershing was selected as the leader of the punitive expedition.
The New York _Sun_, in an editorial at the time of his selection, said:
"At home in the desert country, familiar with the rules of savage
warfare, a regular of regulars, sound in judgment as in physique, a born
cavalryman, John J. Pershing is an ideal commander for the pursuit into
Mexico."
The selection indeed may have been "ideal," but the conditions
confronting the commander were far from sharing in that ideal. Equipment
was lacking, many of his men, though they were brave, were untrained,
and, most perplexing of all, was the exact relation of Mexico to the
United States. There could not be said to exist a state of war and yet
no one could say the two countries were at peace. He was invading a
hostile country which was not an enemy, for the raids of bandit bands
across the border did not mean that Mexico as a state was attacking the
United States. He must move swiftly across deserts and through mountain
fastnesses, he was denied the use of railroads for transporting either
troops or supplies, enemies were on all sides who were familiar with
every foot of the region and eager to lure him and his army into traps
from which escape would be well nigh impossible. The fact is that for
nearly eleven months Pershing maintained his line, extending nearly four
hundred miles from his base of supplies, in a country which even if it
was not at war was at least hostile. It is not therefore surprising that
after his return the State of New Mexico voted a handsome gold medal to
the leader of the punitive expedition for his success in an exceedingly
difficult task.
It was on the morning of March 15, 1916, when General Pershing dashed
across the border in command of ten thousand United States cavalrymen,
with orders to "get" Villa. A captain in the Civil War who was in the
Battle of Gettysburg, when he learned of the swift advance of General
Pershing's forces, said: "The hardest march we ever made was the advance
from Frederick. We made thirty miles that day between six o'clock A.M.
and eleven o'clock P.M. But Maryland and Pennsylvania are not an alkali
desert. I have an idea that twenty-six miles a day, the ground Pershing
was covering on that waterless tramp in Mexico, was some hiking." And
the advance is one of the marvels of military achievements when it is
recalled that the march was begun before either men or supplies, to say
nothing of equipment, were in readiness.
It may have been that it was because of his better knowledge of these
conditions that the general wrote:
"Our people are not a warlike people and the
average person knows little about our army. The
centers of population have never been brought into
close contact with it, and, like anything that is
unfamiliar, the people entertain a certain
prejudice against it. To overcome this prejudice
and to arouse and maintain an active interest in
military preparedness it will be necessary to
adopt some plan that will bring the army more
closely in touch with the people. The time for
this seems opportune and it can best be done by
assigning the various units of the army to
prescribed districts for local recruiting.
"If each regiment or smaller unit were composed of
young men whose families were neighbors,
especially if the home station of that unit were
easily accessible, the people would undoubtedly
support the unit with men and money. Each
regimental unit might be given a local name and
there surely would be quite as much pride in
having a regiment named for a city or state as in
having a war vessel so named. A regiment recruited
locally would start out with a high _esprit de
corps_ and the evil of desertion would be
eliminated. Men now desert mainly because they
have no pride or interest in the individual
organization to which they belong. Localization
would soon develop both. It would also in time
become an easy stepping stone to universal
training to which we must come if we are ever to
hope for a satisfactory solution of our military
problem.
"Universal training does not mean that every man
would have to serve with the army two years or any
other given length of time, but it should mean
that every young man though not drawn to the
colors would have to take a certain amount of
military training. Universal training is a
necessary prerequisite to effective war armies.
"Under a system of compulsory service the whole
number of men to become eligible each year would
be greater than required for active service in the
army, but selections could be easily determined by
lot. Those not drawn for service with the colors
would be given enough training to teach the
meaning of discipline and make them familiar with
the principles of marching, camping and shooting.
They would all be subject to call in case of war
and the question as to whether they were needed at
the front would not be left to the judgment or
personal inclination of the individual. The
humiliating spectacle of expending time and effort
after war begins in appealing through the press
and platform directly to the people to support the
Government would not have to be repeated. Each man
would expect to do his part. Men called out for
service during the war require at least a year of
drill before they are familiar with what the
modern soldier must know. The demands of modern
warfare upon individuals are greater than ever
before and only the thoroughly trained and tried
soldier is able to stand the strain. In the Civil
War troops were confronted by equally untrained
levies."
Behind this calm, clear and deliberate utterance it is easy to read the
unspoken anxiety and the needless strain forced upon the commander of
the punitive expedition in pursuit of Villa. And these words were
written long before Pershing ever dreamed he would be the leader of a
mighty host to cross the seas and in a foreign land fight not only the
battles of his country but also those of humanity as well.
Although the punitive expedition failed in its main purpose,--the
capture of Villa,--the opinion in America was unanimous that the
leadership had been superb. _The American Review of Reviews_ declared
that "the expedition was conducted from first to last in a way that
reflected credit on American arms."
An interesting incident in this chapter of Pershing's story is that
fourteen of the nineteen Apache Indian scouts whom he had helped to
capture in the pursuit of Geronimo, in 1886, were aiding him in the
pursuit of Villa. Several of these scouts were past seventy years of
age; indeed, one was more than eighty, but their keenness on the trail
and their long experience made their assistance of great value. One of
the best was Sharley and another was Peaches. Several of these Indian
scouts are with the colors in France, still with Pershing.
The main facts in the story of the punitive expedition are as follows:
LEADING EVENTS IN THE PUNITIVE EXPEDITION INTO MEXICO
1916
Feb. 17 Report in United States Senate that
76 Americans since 1913 had been
killed in Mexico. 36 others had been
slain on American soil.
March 9 Villa and his band cross the border
and attack the 13th U. S. Cavalry at
Columbus, New Mexico. 8 troopers
were killed and 9 civilians wounded.
March 10-13 Notes were exchanged between the
U. S. and Carranza. The U. S. decided
upon an immediate punitive
expedition. Two columns estimated
at 6,000 men under Brigadier-General
John J. Pershing and Colonel Dodd
enter Mexico from Columbus and
Hachita.
March 20 Three columns are in Mexico. The
maximum penetration is reported as 80
miles.
April 11 It was officially announced that
18,000 Americans were now on the
border while 12,000 have penetrated
375 miles.
April 16 A false report of Villa's death.
April 23-29 Conferences are held at El Paso
between American and Mexican officials.
The Americans ask for the active
coöperation of the forces of Carranza.
Skirmishes are reported in
Mexico and raids are made on the
frontier by followers of Villa.
May 9 President calls the militia of Texas,
New Mexico and Arizona to the border.
Additional regular troops are also
sent.
May 22 Carranza protests to the United
States against the violation of Mexican
sovereignty.
June 18 President calls many militia units to
the federal service for duty on the
frontier and in mobilization camps.
June 20 In a note to Carranza the President
declines to withdraw American troops.
June 21 A force of Carranza's men attack a
scouting body of U. S. cavalry at Carrizal.
A score of Americans are killed and 22 made
prisoners.
June 22 Secretary of State Lansing informs
the governments of South and Central
America concerning the intentions of
the United States in Mexico.
June 24 Carranza again demands that American
troops must not advance west, east
or south in Mexico.
June 25 Secretary Lansing enters a demand
for the return of the prisoners at
Carrizal.
In the same letter he also declares
that the action at this place was
a "formal avowal of deliberately
hostile action." He also inquires
what Carranza's intentions are.
June 28 Carranza orders the release of the
prisoners at Carrizal.
July 1 American troops in Mexico are gradually
being withdrawn.
July 4 Carranza suggests the acceptance by
the U. S. of Latin-American offers of
mediation.
July 7-10 Views of American and Mexican officials
are exchanged at Washington.
Within three weeks 60,000 militia has
been brought to the border.
July 20 Carranza suggests a conference of
three commissioners from each nation
to confer concerning withdrawal of
troops and the raiding of bandits.
July 28 President accepts the proposal.
Aug. 1 The 98,000 militia on the border is
increased by 25,000 more.
Aug. 3 Luis Cabrera, Ignacio Bonillas and
Alberto J. Pani are selected as Mexican
commissioners.
Aug. 22 Franklin K. Lane, George Gray and
John R. Mott are named as commissioners
of the United States.
Aug. 30 The War Department orders 15,000
militia to return from the border to
state mobilization camps.
Sept. 6 American-Mexican joint commission
meets at New London, Conn.
Sept. 7 The War Department orders a return
of militia regiments to be mustered
out of federal service.
Sept. 22 Militia from Kansas, Wisconsin and
Wyoming are ordered to the border in
place of the departing units.
Nov. 15 Militia to the number of 5,296 ordered
from the border.
Nov. 21 The President's new proposal is placed
before the Mexican commissioners.
Nov. 24 At Atlantic City, N. J., a protocol
signed by the joint commission is sent
to Carranza. It provides for the withdrawal
of the punitive expedition from Mexico within
40 days after ratification and also for
combined protection for the border.
Dec. 18 Carranza refuses to ratify the protocol
and explains his desire to submit a
counterstatement. The U. S. force on
the border is reduced to 75,000 men,
while 12,000 are still in Mexico.
Dec. 27 Carranza asks for revision of the protocol.
This is declined by the U. S.
Early in the following year satisfactory adjustments were made and the
punitive expedition was withdrawn. Villa was not captured, but it is
confidently believed the troubles on the border have been greatly
mitigated.
FOOTNOTE:
[B] Quoted in the _Army and Navy Journal_ from the New York _Times_.
CHAPTER X
CALLED TO COMMAND THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN FRANCE
MEANWHILE matters were moving swiftly, the results of which were to
summon General Pershing to other and far higher duties. The attitude of
Germany was steadily becoming too unbearable for any self-respecting
nation to endure. War may be the great evil which it is often called,
and doubtless no words can describe its horrors, but there is one evil
even worse--for a nation to lose its ideals. The time for action by the
United States had come.
In President Wilson's war message after referring to the dastardly deeds
of Germany he wrote, "I was for a little while unable to believe that
such things would be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed
to humane practices of civilized nations," and he refers also to the
wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants--men,
women and children--engaged in pursuits "which have always, even in the
darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate."
In spite of the Teutonic claim of a higher "kultur" than other nations
and the loudly expressed desires for the "freedom of the seas,"
Germany's brutal disregard of the rights of neutrals had extended far
beyond the confines of Belgium, which she ruthlessly invaded and
ravaged.
On the sea her former promises were like her treaty with
Belgium--"scraps of paper."
And the President had now behind him not merely the sentiment of his
people, but also specific examples to uphold him. For instance, Admiral
Sampson in the war with Spain, had appeared May 12, 1898, with his fleet
before Santiago, Cuba. There he conducted a reconnaissance in force in
his efforts to locate the Spanish fleet, of which Admiral Cervera was in
command. Sampson, however, did not bombard the city, because, in
accordance with the accepted laws of nations, he would have been
required to give due notice of his intention in order that the sick,
women, children and non-combatants might be removed. And yet everyone
knew that a hard, quick bombardment of Santiago would have given him the
city. He attacked the forts only, and before a gun was fired gave his
ships' captains word that they were to avoid hitting the Spanish
Military Hospital.
Even in the general orders of the German Admiralty staff (Berlin, June
22, 1914) was the following direction, after stating that the passengers
of every armed captured merchant vessel were to be left to go free
"unless it appears they have participated in the resistance": "Before
proceeding to the destruction of the (neutral) vessel (which has been
seized for proper reason), the safety of all persons on board, and, so
far as possible their effects, is to be provided for."
President Wilson, at first unable to believe that Germany was
deliberately violating her word and even after it was impossible to
avoid the conclusion that the campaign of the Teutons was being
conducted, to use their own expression, "ruthlessly," still was doing
his utmost to keep the United States out of the World War. For this he
was bitterly assailed and criticised. However, he patiently held to his
policy announced a year before, that he would "wait until facts become
unmistakable and even susceptible of only one interpretation."
As early as December 24, 1914, Admiral Von Tirpitz in numerous inspired
newspaper articles and interviews, began to explain the possibility of a
very decided change in the German U-boat campaign. This too was before
Germany was really suffering in any marked degree from the tightening
work of the British navy. In spite of his arrogant words, however, the
German admiral directly asks, "What will America say?"
On February 4, 1915, the Germans in a way that was outside all
international law, publicly declared that 'within certain expressed
limits of the sea or war zone, their U-boats would sink vessels without
warning found there without permission, or if they were engaged in
dealings with the enemy.'
Six days later President Wilson warned Germany that she will be held to
"strict accountability" if the rights of American vessels within the
proscribed limits are violated.
It was April 22, 1915, when, through the acknowledged direction of the
German Embassy, advertisements appeared in New York papers warning all
against sailing on vessels planning to pass through the war zone. And
this was done in the face of the President's words and the
correspondence that had been carried on between the two countries.
The _Lusitania_ was sunk May 7, 1915. A thousand lives were lost, many
of them Americans. A roar of anger rose from America and the civilized
world at the brutality of this act, as well as at the dastardly
disregard of the rights of neutral nations. "They were warned," said the
Germans glibly, as if their "warning" was sufficient. For a nation that
had made huge profits in selling munitions at other times to warring
peoples their "warning" would have been ridiculous had it not been
tragic. The commander of the U-boat received a German medal for his
"gallantry" in sinking the _Lusitania_ and sending hundreds of innocent
victims to their watery graves. As if to add insult to injury Germany
proclaimed a holiday for her schools on the occasion.
President Wilson still held to his patient course. He would give Germany
every opportunity to explain the act before he himself acted. May 13,
1915, his first so-called "_Lusitania_ letter" was written. Germany
replied May 28th, declaring that she was justified in sinking the great
vessel. On June 9th, the President sent his "second _Lusitania_ letter,"
and correspondence followed which plainly indicated that Germany was
trying to evade the real issue.
July 31, 1915, saw the "third _Lusitania_ letter," for even then the
President was doing his utmost to avoid war, if avoidance was possible.
On August 19, 1915, the _Arabic_ was torpedoed by a U-boat and still
other Americans lost their lives. The German ambassador to the United
States, Count von Bernstorff, however, apparently thought to stave off
action by pledging (orally) for his country that her submarines would
not sink "liners" without warning.
The ambassador's words were not unlike those previously received, for
instead of the matter being settled, still more unsatisfactory
correspondence followed and other boats also were sent to the bottom of
the sea.
The following February, Germany made certain proposals that had an
appearance of a grudging or compulsory willingness on her part to
provide for the _Lusitania_ victims, but within a few days (March 24,
1916), another passenger steamer, the _Sussex_, was torpedoed, and among
the lost were Americans.
The feeling in Washington was becoming tense and was still more
intensified in April, when Germany sneeringly explained that she was not
positive whether or not she sank the _Sussex_. She did admit, however,
that one of her submarines had been in action near the place where the
_Sussex_ was sent to the bottom.
Eight days later President Wilson threatened Germany that he would
break off diplomatic relations if similar acts recurred. Perhaps because
she was biding her time Germany on May 4th gave a "promise" that no more
ships should be sunk without warning.
In October of that same year (1916) a German submarine appeared off the
New England coast. Her officers put into Newport and it is said were
even graciously received and most courteously treated. Then, in return
for the hospitality thus received, the submarine sank the _Stephano_,
which had a large body of Americans on board returning from a vacation
spent in Newfoundland. Without doubt many would have been lost if
American men-of-war had not been at hand to rescue the victims from the
water. Still, apparently there was not even a thought in the minds of
Germany's rulers, that they had violated any rules of decency, to say
nothing of rules of right.
The patience of the United States was near the breaking point when still
the dastardly deeds did not cease, and few were surprised when at last,
January 31, 1917, Germany discovered that deceit no longer was possible
and that the patience and hope of America could no longer be abused. On
that date the German leaders came out openly and informed the President
that they planned to "begin an unrestricted submarine war." Three days
afterward President Wilson gave the German ambassador to the United
States his passports and recalled the American ambassador (Gerard) from
Berlin.
Such evasion and hypocrisy, such wanton brutality and cruelty as had
been displayed by Germany were without parallel in history--or at least
since the history of civilization began. Naturally a declaration of war
by the United States was the only possible outcome.
The unlawful sinking of American vessels or of other vessels having
Americans on board makes up a list that is striking when it is looked at
as a whole and it is recalled that they had been sunk after Germany had
"ruthlessly" repudiated the pledges she had given.
_Housatonic_, February 3, 1917.
_Lyman M. Law_, February 13, 1917.
_Algonquin_, March 2, 1917.
_Vigilancia_, March 16, 1917.
_City of Memphis_, March 17, 1917.
_Illinois_, March 17, 1917.
_Healdton_, March 21, 1917 (sunk outside the
"prohibited zone" arbitrarily proclaimed by
Germany).
_Aztec_, April 1, 1917.
Perhaps in this list should also be included the sinking of the _William
P. Frye_, January 28, 1915, by the German raider, _Prinz Eitel
Friedrich_. The very acme of impudence seems to have been reached when
this raider, after having unlawfully sunk American vessels, sought
refuge in the American port of Newport News, Virginia. No clearer
testimony has ever been given of the state of mind among the Germans,
unless it is the actions of the German crew of this vessel after they
had been interned.
Preceding the declaration of war by the United States, two hundred and
twenty-six of her citizens had lost their lives by the unlawful acts of
German submarines. Among those who perished in this manner were many
women and children. In nearly every instance there was not even the
form of an excuse that Germany was acting in accord with the laws of
nations. Outside the American vessels the official estimate made at that
time by the Government of the United States was that six hundred and
sixty-eight vessels of neutral nations had been sunk by the piratical
German submarines. It appeared almost as if the rulers of Germany either
were insane or were so bent on their wild dreams of subduing the world
to their will that they deliberately said to themselves, "evil, be thou
our good." They had thrown down the gauntlet to the civilized parts of
the entire world. Even after Brazil, China, Bolivia, Guatemala and other
nations broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and almost all the
civilized nations of the earth had protested against the brutal policy
boldly followed by her, she whiningly complained that the world was
jealous of her greatness and had combined to overthrow the "kultur" she
was so eager to share with all mankind.
In addition to the frightfulness of Germany on the seas (a term she
herself had invented and blatantly advocated), the activity of German
spies and the dangerous "propaganda" she was putting forth in the United
States were even more insulting and quite as threatening to American
lives and property as was her dastardly work with her submarines. Many
of the intrigues were not made known by the Government of the United
States.
When the message of President Wilson was presented, the committee on
Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives went on formal record,
after presenting its resolution declaring a state of war to exist
between the United States and Germany, that within our country at least
twenty-one crimes or "unfriendly" acts had been committed either by the
direction of or connivance with the Imperial German Government. And
nearly every one of these unfriendly acts in itself was a sufficient
basis for war. Included in this list were the following clearly known
facts:
An office had been maintained in the United States to issue fraudulent
passports for German reservists. This work was under the direction of
Captain von Papen, who was a member of the German Embassy.
German spies were sent to England who were supplied with passports from
the United States.
In defiance of our laws steamers had been sent from our ports with
supplies for German sea raiders.
Hindus within the United States had been supplied with money by Germany
to stir up revolutions and revolts in India.
A German agent had been sent from the United States to blow up with
dynamite the international bridge at Vanceboro, Maine.
Germany had provided funds for her agents in the United States to blow
up factories in Canada.
Five distinct conspiracies had been unearthed, in which Germany was the
guiding spirit, to make and place bombs on ships leaving ports of the
United States. Several of those conspiracies were successful and the
murderous bombs were placed even on board vessels of the United States.
She was working to arouse and increase a feeling of bitterness in Mexico
against the United States. In this way it was hoped by Germany that we
would be drawn into war with Mexico, and thereby be prevented from
entering into either the Great War or European affairs.
Providing huge sums of money to be used in bribing newspapers in the
United States to publish articles which should prevent America from
entering the war and arouse a feeling of bitterness against England and
France. Later it was admitted by German agents that a plan had been
formed by which forty leading American newspapers were to be purchased
and used for this purpose. The plan was not wholly successful, but many
papers or certain editors were proved to have been bought with this end
in view and some fully earned their money.
Insult was added to injury. Such colossal brutality was even commended
and upheld by the friends of Germany and defended on the ground that the
"fatherland" had been attacked treacherously and therefore was
entitled, whether or not she was acting in accord with established and
accepted laws, to which she had given her approval, to defend herself in
every possible way.
Perhaps the climax of this outrageous disregard of decency came when
Secretary Lansing exposed March 1, 1917, the infamous "Zimmerman note."
It was written before war had been declared, and, officially at least,
Germany and the United States were friends at the time. Indeed it was
only three days after the appearance of President Wilson before the
Senate with his plan for a league of nations to secure and assure
justice and peace for all nations. This infamous note was even brought
to the United States and was to be carried across the border into
Mexico, a country with which we were not at war and with which the
President was doing his utmost to maintain peace.
It is impossible to give the entire message but the following extracts
will reveal its character:
"Berlin, January 19, 1917.
"On February 1 we intend to begin submarine war
unrestricted. In spite of this it is our intention
to keep neutral the United States of America.
"If this attempt is not successful we propose an
alliance on the following basis with Mexico,--That
we shall make war together and together make
peace. We shall give general financial support and
it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the
lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
The details are left to you for settlement."
The German Secretary then goes on to instruct the German Minister in
Mexico to open secret negotiations with Carranza just as soon as it is
plain that the proposed U-boat campaign brings the United States into
the war and also to get Carranza to draw Japan into the proposed war
against us.
Just how the Government obtained this note will not be known until an
explanation is given later, but its authorized publication by Secretary
Lansing instantly aroused an intense feeling of anger throughout the
country. For a "friendly" nation to be plotting against a "friend," to
attempt to use that nation even then as a base of operations against
its peace and security, to say nothing of the plan to induce still
another friendly power to attack us, outraged our every sense of decency
and justice. A cry of anger and dismay was heard on every side--except
perhaps from certain pro-Germans who weakly protested that "the letter
was a palpable forgery, too apparent to be read under any other
supposition than that the German Secretary never wrote such a piece of
work."
The dismay of these friends of Germany can only be imagined when
Secretary Zimmerman boldly acknowledged that he had written the letter.
He even defended himself in doing so. As if that were not sufficient, he
proceeded to complain because the United States had intercepted the
letter, for the Mexican President had quickly declared his ignorance of
any such message. It is difficult to say whether the calm assurance of
Zimmerman that he was the writer or his childish whining that the United
States had no right to intercept even such treacherous messages if they
chanced to be written by Germany, produced the greater consternation.
The inability of Germany to comprehend why any nation should object to
anything Germany wanted to do or say was itself beyond the ability of a
civilized people to understand. It was perhaps the most sublime
impudence the world ever has witnessed.
CHAPTER XI
WHY AMERICA WENT TO WAR WITH GERMANY
A STATE of war had been declared April 5, 1917, to exist between the
United States and the Imperial German Government. There is no clearer or
more forceful statement of the reason why we went to war than the
address delivered by President Wilson at Washington on Flag Day, June
14, 1917:
MY FELLOW-CITIZENS: We meet to celebrate Flag Day
because this flag which we honor and under which
we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power,
our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no
other character than that which we give it from
generation to generation. The choices are ours. It
floats in majestic silence above the hosts that
execute those choices, whether in peace or in war.
And yet, though silent, it speaks to us--speaks to
us of the past, of the men and women who went
before us and of the records they wrote upon it.
We celebrate the day of its birth; and from its
birth until now it has witnessed a great history,
has floated on high the symbol of great events, of
a great plan of life worked out by a great people.
We are about to carry it into battle, to lift it
where it will draw the fire of our enemies. We are
about to bid thousands, hundreds of thousands, it
may be millions, of our men, the young, the
strong, the capable men of the nation, to go forth
and die beneath it on fields of blood far
away--for what? For some unaccustomed thing? For
something for which it has never sought the fire
before? American armies were never before sent
across the seas. Why are they sent now? For some
new purpose, for which this great flag has never
been carried before, or for some old, familiar,
heroic purpose for which it has seen men, its own
men, die on every battlefield upon which Americans
have borne arms since the Revolution?
These are questions which must be answered. We are
Americans. We in our turn serve America, and can
serve her with no private purpose. We must use her
flag as she has always used it. We are accountable
at the bar of history and must plead in utter
frankness what purpose it is we seek to serve.
FORCED INTO WAR
It is plain enough how we were forced into the
war. The extraordinary insults and aggressions of
the Imperial German Government left us no
self-respecting choice but to take up arms in
defense of our rights as a free people and of our
honor as a sovereign Government. The military
masters of Germany denied us the right to be
neutral. They filled our unsuspecting communities
with vicious spies and conspirators and sought to
corrupt the opinion of our people in their own
behalf. When they found that they could not do
that, their agents diligently spread sedition
among us and sought to draw our own citizens from
their allegiance--and some of those agents were
men connected with the official embassy of the
German Government itself here in our own capital.
They sought by violence to destroy our industries
and arrest our commerce. They tried to incite
Mexico to take up arms against us and to draw
Japan into a hostile alliance with her--and that,
not by indirection, but by direct suggestion from
the Foreign Office in Berlin. They impudently
denied us the use of the high seas and repeatedly
executed their threat that they would send to
their death any of our people who ventured to
approach the coasts of Europe. And many of our own
people were corrupted. Men began to look upon
their own neighbors with suspicion and to wonder
in their hot resentment and surprise whether there
was any community in which hostile intrigue did
not lurk. What great nation in such circumstances
would not have taken up arms? Much as we had
desired peace, it was denied us, and not of our
own choice. This flag under which we serve would
have been dishonored had we withheld our hand.
But that is only part of the story. We know now as
clearly as we knew before we were ourselves
engaged that we are not the enemies of the German
people and that they are not our enemies. They did
not originate or desire this hideous war or wish
that we should be drawn into it; and we are
vaguely conscious that we are fighting their
cause, as they will some day see it, as well as
our own. They are themselves in the grip of the
same sinister power that has now at last stretched
its ugly talons out and drawn blood from us. The
whole world is at war because the whole world is
in the grip of that power and is trying out the
great battle which shall determine whether it is
to be brought under its mastery or fling itself
free.
THE MASTERS OF GERMANY
The war was begun by the military masters of
Germany, who proved to be also the masters of
Austria-Hungary. These men have never regarded
nations as peoples, men, women, and children of
like blood and frame as themselves, for whom
Governments existed and in whom Governments had
their life. They have regarded them merely as
serviceable organizations which they could by
force or intrigue bend or corrupt to their own
purpose. They have regarded the smaller States, in
particular, and the peoples who could be
overwhelmed by force as their natural tools and
instruments of domination. Their purpose has long
been avowed. The statesmen of other nations, to
whom that purpose was incredible, paid little
attention; regarded what German professors
expounded in their classrooms and German writers
set forth to the world as the goal of German
policy, as rather the dream of minds detached from
practical affairs, as preposterous private
conceptions of German destiny, than as the actual
plans of responsible rulers; but the rulers of
Germany themselves knew all the while what
concrete plans, what well-advanced intrigues lay
back of what the professors and the writers were
saying, and were glad to go forward unmolested,
filling the thrones of Balkan States with German
Princes, putting German officers at the service of
Turkey to drill her armies and make interest with
her Government, developing plans of sedition and
rebellion in India and Egypt, setting their fires
in Persia. The demands made by Austria upon Serbia
were a mere single step in a plan which compassed
Europe and Asia, from Berlin to Bagdad. They hoped
those demands might not arouse Europe, but they
meant to press them whether they did or not, for
they thought themselves ready for the final issue
of arms.
A TOOL OF GERMANY
Their plan was to throw a broad belt of German
military power and political control across the
very center of Europe and beyond the Mediterranean
into the heart of Asia; and Austria-Hungary was
to be as much their tool and pawn as Serbia or
Bulgaria or Turkey or the ponderous States of the
East. Austria-Hungary, indeed, was to become part
of the Central German Empire, absorbed and
dominated by the same forces and influences that
had originally cemented the German States
themselves. The dream had its heart at Berlin. It
could have had a heart nowhere else! It rejected
the idea of solidarity of race entirely. The
choice of peoples played no part in it at all. It
contemplated binding together racial and political
units which could be kept together only by
force--Czechs, Magyars, Croats, Serbs, Rumanians,
Turks, Armenians--the proud States of Bohemia and
Hungary, the stout little commonwealths of the
Balkans, the indomitable Turks, the subtle peoples
of the East. These peoples did not wish to be
united. They ardently desired to direct their own
affairs, would be satisfied only by undisputed
independence. They could be kept quiet only by the
presence of the constant threat of armed men. They
would live under a common power only by sheer
compulsion and await the day of revolution. But
the German military statesmen had reckoned with
all that and were ready to deal with it in their
own way.
THE PRESENT CONDITION
And they have actually carried the greater part of
that amazing plan into execution. Look how things
stand. Austria is at their mercy. It has acted,
not upon its own initiative nor upon the choice of
its own people, but at Berlin's dictation ever
since the war began. Its people now desire peace,
but cannot have it until leave is granted from
Berlin. The so-called Central Powers are in fact
but a single power. Serbia is at its mercy, should
its hands be but for a moment freed; Bulgaria has
consented to its will and Rumania is overrun. The
Turkish armies, which Germans trained, are serving
Germany, certainly not themselves, and the guns of
German warships lying in the harbor at
Constantinople remind Turkish statesmen every day
that they have no choice but to take their orders
from Berlin. From Hamburg to the Persian Gulf the
net is spread.
A FALSE CRY FOR PEACE
Is it not easy to understand the eagerness for
peace that has been manifested from Berlin ever
since the snare was set and sprung? Peace, peace,
peace has been the talk of her Foreign Office now
for a year or more; not peace upon her own
initiative, but upon the initiative of the nations
over which she now deems herself to hold the
advantage. A little of the talk has been public,
but most of it has been private. Through all sorts
of channels it has come to me, and in all sorts of
guises, but never with the terms disclosed which
the German Government would be willing to accept.
That Government has other valuable pawns in its
hands besides those I have mentioned. It still
holds a valuable part of France, though with
slowly relaxing grasp, and practically the whole
of Belgium. Its armies press close upon Russia and
overrun Poland at their will. It cannot go
further; it dare not go back. It wishes to close
its bargain before it is too late, and it has
little left to offer for the pound of flesh it
will demand.
The military masters under whom Germany is
bleeding see very clearly to what point fate has
brought them. If they fall back or are forced back
an inch their power both abroad and at home will
fall to pieces like a house of cards. It is their
power at home they are thinking about now more
than their power abroad. It is that power which is
trembling under their very feet; and deep fear has
entered their hearts. They have but one chance to
perpetuate their military power or even their
controlling political influence. If they can
secure peace now with the immense advantages still
in their hands, which they have up to this point
apparently gained, they will have justified
themselves before the German people; they will
have gained by force what they promised to gain by
it--an immense expansion of German power, an
immense enlargement of German industrial and
commercial opportunities. Their prestige will be
secure, and with their prestige their political
power. If they fail, their people will thrust them
aside; a Government accountable to the people
themselves will be set up in Germany as it has
been in England, in the United States, in France,
and in all the great countries of the modern time
except Germany. If they succeed they are safe and
Germany and the world are undone; if they fail
Germany is saved and the world will be at peace.
If they succeed America will fall within the
menace. We and all the rest of the world must
remain armed, as they will remain, and must make
ready for the next step in their aggression; if
they fail the world may unite for peace and
Germany may be of the union.
Do you not now understand the new intrigue, the
intrigue for peace, and why the masters of Germany
do not hesitate to use any agency that promises to
effect their purpose, the deception of the
nations? Their present particular aim is to
deceive all those who throughout the world stand
for the rights of peoples and the self-government
of nations; for they see what immense strength the
forces of justice and of liberalism are gathering
out of this war.
PROPAGANDA
They are employing liberals in their enterprise.
They are using men, in Germany and without, as
their spokesmen whom they have hitherto despised
and oppressed, using them for their own
destruction--Socialists, the leaders of labor, the
thinkers they have hitherto sought to silence. Let
them once succeed and these men, now their tools,
will be ground to powder beneath the weight of the
great military empire they will have set up; the
revolutionists in Russia will be cut off from all
succor or coöperation in Western Europe and a
counter-revolution fostered and supported; Germany
herself will lose her chance of freedom, and all
Europe will arm for the next, the final, struggle.
The sinister intrigue is being no less actively
conducted in this country than in Russia and in
every country in Europe to which the agents and
dupes of the Imperial German Government can get
access. That Government has many spokesmen here,
in places high and low. They have learned
discretion. They keep within the law. It is
opinion they utter now, not sedition. They
proclaim the liberal purposes of their masters;
declare this a foreign war which can touch America
with no danger to either her lands or her
institutions; set England at the center of the
stage and talk of her ambition to assert economic
dominion throughout the world; appeal to our
ancient tradition of isolation in the politics of
the nations, and seek to undermine the Government
with false professions of loyalty to its
principles.
But they will make no headway. The false betray
themselves always in every accent. It is only
friends and partisans of the German Government
whom we have already identified who utter these
thinly disguised disloyalties. The facts are
patent to all the world, and nowhere are they more
plainly seen than in the United States, where we
are accustomed to deal with facts and not with
sophistries; and the great fact that stands out
above all the rest is that this is a people's war,
a war for freedom and justice and self-government
among all the nations of the world, a war to make
the world safe for the peoples who live upon it
and have made it their own, the German people
themselves included; and that with us rests the
choice to break through all these hypocrisies and
patent cheats and masks of brute force and help
set the world free, or else stand aside and let it
be dominated a long age through by sheer weight of
arms and the arbitrary choices of self-constituted
masters, by the nation which can maintain the
biggest armies and the most irresistible
armaments--a power to which the world has afforded
no parallel and in the face of which political
freedom must wither and perish.
For us there is but one choice. We have made it.
Woe be to the man or group of men that seeks to
stand in our way in this day of high resolution
when every principle we hold dearest is to be
vindicated and made secure for the salvation of
the nations. We are ready to plead at the bar of
history, and our flag shall wear a new luster.
Once more we shall make good with our lives and
fortunes the great faith to which we were born,
and a new glory shall shine in the face of our
people.
The war was now on. All the latent power of the nation of every kind was
to be used in every way to help drive the German menace from the world.
A visit to the new world by Marshal Joffre, Viviani, Lord Asquith and
others helped to accelerate matters. No one will know until the war is
ended just what took place in the councils between these great men of
the old world and the leaders of the new.
Everyone does know, however, the instantaneous activity and enthusiasm
which seized with compelling force upon the people of the United States.
But there must be a military leader. What was more natural than that the
choice should fall upon General John Joseph Pershing? General Funston
had died suddenly at San Antonio, Texas, and there was no one now to
outrank the leader of the punitive expedition into Mexico.
So General Pershing was selected. The man who had feared he was to be
ignored and left forgotten in the jungles of the Philippines was now to
be the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force in France.
Promotion once more had come to the man who had sought first to be
worthy to be promoted.
CHAPTER XII
IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE
ON June 8, 1917, General Pershing with his staff arrived (on the White
Star Liner, _Baltic_), at Liverpool. There was keen excitement in the
busy city and a warm welcome for the military representative of the
great republic which now was one of the Allies. Accompanied by a guard
of honor and a military band which was playing the Star Spangled Banner,
a British general was waiting to pay due honor to the arriving military
leader. The British admiral in command at Liverpool was also present to
greet the arriving General, as was also the Lord Mayor of the city. The
docks and shops, the houses and parks were filled with a waiting, eager
throng that was quiet in its deep, tense feeling.
To the British public General Pershing gave out the following message:
"We are very proud and glad to be the standard
bearers of our country in this great war for
civilization and to land on British soil. The
welcome which we have received is magnificent and
deeply appreciated. We hope in time to be playing
our part--and we hope it will be a big part--on
the western front."
As soon as the American Commander had been suitably greeted he started
for London by special train. The official state car had been attached to
the train for the General's benefit. In his swift ride through the many
busy cities which remind one more of American cities than does any other
part of England, through the beautiful and carefully cultivated rural
regions, past Oxford with its crowning towers, many hoary with age, the
party was taken. It is only natural to conjecture what thoughts must
have been in the mind of the General at the time. Was he thinking of
Laclede and the negro school which he had taught? Or of his modestly
brave work in Cuba and the Philippines? Or did the statement he had
made to a friend years before when he started for West Point that "war
was no more and a gun would not be fired in a hundred years," again come
back to him, when, seated in the car of state, he was swept swiftly
toward London on that beautiful and historic day in June?
In London, United States Ambassador Page, Admiral Sims of the United
States Navy, Lord Derby, British Secretary of State for War, General
Lord French and many other leaders of the British Army were waiting to
receive him. Throngs of people on every side were doing their utmost to
show that they too as well as the representatives of their Government,
wanted to manifest their appreciation in every possible way of the
coming of the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force.
The following day General Pershing was presented formally to King George
V at Buckingham Palace. General Lord Brooke, commander of the Twelfth
Canadian Infantry Brigade, as was most fitting, was the spokesman. To
General Pershing the King said:
"It has been the dream of my life to see the two
great English-speaking nations more closely
united. My dreams have been realized. It is with
the utmost pleasure that I welcome you, at the
head of the American contingent, to our shores."
His Majesty conversed informally with each member of the General's staff
and talked with the General a longer time. His intense interest and
enthusiasm as well as his gratitude were manifest not only in his spoken
words but also in the cordial grasp of his hand when they departed. It
was the representative of one great nation trying to express his
appreciation to the representative of another nation.
There were numerous formal calls and entertainments to follow and on
June 11th, when these all had been duly done, General Pershing and
Ambassador Page were entertained at luncheon by King George and Queen
Mary, who personally showed their guests through the historic rooms and
beautiful grounds of the palace. It was not merely a meeting of the
English king and the American soldier--it was the quiet manifestation of
the deep feeling and strong ties that now bound together the two great
peoples they represented.
General Pershing then departed for the War Office where already members
of his staff had been busily conferring with the corresponding members
of the British Army.
In the afternoon of that busy day General Pershing was taken as a
visitor to the House of Commons. In the Distinguished Visitors Gallery
he sat watching the scene before him though he himself in reality was
the observed of all the observers, as perhaps he was made aware a little
later when as a guest of the members he "took tea" on the Terrace.
In the evening he was the guest of Ambassador Page at dinner when among
others he met Premier Lloyd George, Arthur J. Balfour, Lord Derby, Lord
Robert Cecil, Viscount French, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Vice-Admiral
William S. Sims, U. S. N., and General Jan Smuts. It may all have been a
part of the formal reception of a welcome visitor, but it also was more,
for in this way England and America were doing their utmost to express
to the world the cordial relations existing between the two great
nations now banded together to fight a common foe.
There are many formalities which have grown to be a part of the
reception of the representative of a foreign power by the country which
receives him. In a democratic land, like the United States these may
appear to be somewhat exaggerated, but they have also become the
expression of the desire to honor the land from which the visitor comes
and consequently cannot be ignored. Shaking hands as an expression of
personal regard is doubtless a somewhat meaningless conventionality, but
the man who refuses to shake hands is looked upon as a boor. Doubtless
General Pershing, whatever his simpler tastes might have dictated, was
well aware that behind all the formal display was the deep-seated desire
to honor the country whose personal representative he was.
After a visit to a training camp to witness the British method of
training for fighting in the trenches, he was the guest at a luncheon
of Lord Derby, the British Secretary of State for War. Although the day
had been strenuous, nevertheless in the evening he and eighteen members
of his staff were the guests of the British Government at a formal
war-dinner. This dinner was served at Lancaster House, a beautiful
building which the Government uses solely for state entertainment of
distinguished visitors from abroad. Eight members of the British Cabinet
were among the thirty present. The dinner was served in the
magnificently furnished dining-hall. The guests were seated at six round
tables, each presided over by one of the distinguished men of Great
Britain, the Prime Minister sitting at the head of the first table and
Lord Curzon, Lord President of the Council; the Right Honorable George
M. Barnes, Pensions Minister; Viscount Milner, member of the War
Cabinet; Earl of Derby, Secretary for War and Sir Alfred Mond, presiding
at the others.
The four days of formal welcome in England were at last ended and
General Pershing and his staff sailed for France where the military
activities of the United States were to be made a part of the common
purpose to turn Germany back from her designs.
In France, too, although she is not a kingdom, there were to be certain
formal ceremonies of recognition. The French people are somewhat more
demonstrative than the English, but behind it all was the common
enthusiasm over the entrance of America into the Great War.
Of General Pershing's reception at Boulogne we have already learned.[C]
Before he departed for Paris, however, he said to the reporters of the
French newspapers, whom he received in the private car which the French
Government had provided for his use: "The reception we have received is
of great significance. It has impressed us greatly. It means that from
the present moment our aims are the same."
To the representatives of the American press, whom he welcomed after he
had received the French, he said: "America has entered this war with the
fullest intention of doing her share, no matter how great or how small
that share may be. Our allies can depend on that."
Great crowds of enthusiastic people from streets, walls, windows and
housetops greeted the American General when the train that was bringing
him entered the Gare du Nord at Paris. Cordons of "blue devils" were on
the platforms of the station and dense lines of troops patrolled the
streets and guarded adjacent blocks as the party was escorted to the
Place de la Concorde, where General Pershing was to make his temporary
headquarters at the Hotel de Crillon.
Bands were playing the Star Spangled Banner and the Marseillaise, the
flag of the United States was waving in thousands of hands and displayed
from almost every building, while a steady shout like the roar of the
ocean, "Vive l'Amerique!" greeted the party as the automobiles in which
they were riding advanced along the densely packed streets. It is said
that General Pershing was "visibly affected" by the ovation into which
his welcome had been turned. What a contrast it all was to the life and
work in the jungles of the Philippines where the young officer had
perhaps feared he had been left and forgotten. And yet it was the
faithful, persistent, honest work done for the little brown Moro people
which helped to make the present occasion possible.
In the evening of that day (June 13th) American Ambassador Sharp gave a
dinner in honor of the coming of General Pershing. At this dinner the
chief officers of the French army and navy were present. Indeed in the
brief time before General Pershing was to assume his active duties it
almost seemed as if the desire of the French Government and the French
people to do honor to the American commander would test his powers of
endurance to the uttermost. There were several events, however, that
stand out in the foreground of those remarkable days.
FOOTNOTE:
[C] See Chapter I.
CHAPTER XIII
AT THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON
ONE of these notable events was the visit of General Pershing to the
Hotel des Invalides in which is the tomb of the most brilliant soldier
of all history--Napoleon Bonaparte. General Galterre and General Niox,
the latter in charge of the famous monument, received the American
General and his staff when they arrived at the marvelous building.
An interesting incident that was reported as having occurred directly
after the entrance of the party was the spontaneous action of General
Pershing, when his party met some of the aged veterans of the former
wars of the French. Impulsively stopping when he was saluted by a bent
and aged soldier who had seen service in the Crimean War, General
Pershing shook the old soldier by his hand as he said, "It is a great
honor for a young soldier like myself to press the hand of an old
soldier like yourself who has seen such glorious service." This natural
and impulsive action by the American is said to have deeply touched not
only the Crimean veteran, but also all who saw it and even more those
who later heard of it, for the simple act was soon a topic of
conversation among the already deeply enthused people of Paris.
The American soldiers were conducted first to the great rotunda where
one can stand, and, looking down, see the tomb of Napoleon resting in
eloquent silence in the sarcophagus beneath. But the Commander of the
American Expeditionary forces was to have a still more distinctive
honor--he was to be taken into the crypt itself. How much of an honor
the French consider this may be judged from the fact that in addition to
the crowned heads of Europe that had been admitted there, Ex-President
Theodore Roosevelt is the only other American previously taken to this
spot. It was also a part of the directions which Napoleon himself had
left that only a Marshal of France was to remain uncovered in the
presence of the Little Corporal of Corsica.
Naturally the American soldiers followed this precedent and it was
Marshal Joffre himself who led them to the crypt. The door is immense
and heavy, and made of brass. Just before the great key was inserted in
the lock and the massive door was slowly to swing open, Marshal Joffre
and General Niox left General Pershing alone before it. Those who saw
him report that General Pershing drew a deep breath and then without
confusion or delay quickly turned the key in the lock of the great brass
door.
In a small alcove within the crypt was the case which held Napoleon's
sword. General Niox quietly unlocked this case and took out the famous
sword and kissed it. Then he extended the sword to the American soldier.
General Pershing received the weapon, for an instant held it at salute
and then he too kissed the hilt. One cannot help wondering whether the
impressive moment suggested to the General the mighty contrast between
the aims of Napoleon and those which were guiding the United States in
the desperate war in which she now was to share. Brilliant as Napoleon
was, mighty strategist and soldier that he proved himself to be, it is
difficult even for his warmest admirers to defend the principles (or
explain the lack of them) that controlled him in his campaigns. On the
other hand, Pershing was the representative of a nation which was to
fight with its utmost power--not for conquest nor to overthrow its
rivals. Vast sums were to be expended, millions of men were to respond
to the call to the colors--for what? "To make the world a decent place
to live in." The living and the dead met in the crypt of the Hotel des
Invalides, but the aims that animated the two men--one in the early days
of the preceding century, and the other in the year 1917--were as far
removed from each other as the East is from the West.
A ceremony like that with which Napoleon's sword had been extended to
General Pershing was also followed in the case of the cross of the
Legion of Honor, the visitor holding it to his lips a moment and then
passing it back to General Niox. A correspondent writing of the occasion
says: "This was the most signal honor France ever bestowed upon any man.
Before this occasion not even a Frenchman was permitted to hold the
sacred relics in his hands. Kings and princes have been taken to the
crypt that holds the body of the great Emperor, but they only viewed the
sword and cross through the plate glass of the case in which they
rested. The relics had not been touched since the time of Louis
Philippe."
Next followed a formal call upon the American ambassador and then with
lines of soldiers and the music of many military bands he was escorted
to Elysée Palace, where formally he was to be presented to President
Poincaré. Still the enthusiasm of the people endeavored to find
expression. Flags and cheers were on every side. Flowers were cast upon
the slowly advancing procession and there were many eager watchers,
young and old alike, down whose cheeks unchecked tears were falling.
The occasion was formal and stately, but its necessary formalities were
not able to repress the deep emotions of the brave and valiant people.
Instead of the enthusiasm dying away it almost seemed as if it had
increased in volume when General Pershing entered the diplomatic box
that afternoon in the Chamber of Deputies. Premier Ribot was addressing
the body when the General quietly and without any ostentation took the
seat assigned him.
Speedily, however, the arrival of the American General became known in
the chamber. The deputies leaped to their feet and cheered and then
remained standing and continued their cheering. General Pershing was at
last compelled to rise and bow to the assembly in acknowledgment of the
remarkable greeting which he had received. Then the packed galleries
took up the same theme. "Vive l'Amerique!" resounded loud and long and
then was repeated again and again, as if the grateful spectators were
fearful lest their former attempts to express their feelings had not
been adequate. And all this applause was against every tradition and
custom of the dignified Chamber of Deputies.
At last it was possible for the Premier to continue his address, but no
longer was he speaking of Greece, as he had been when the Americans had
entered, he now was doing his utmost to portray the might and the
unselfish devotion of the nation across the sea whose leading soldier
was now not only with them in soul, but also in body. He closed his
eloquent address by quoting the words of President Wilson, "The day has
come to conquer or submit. We will not submit; we will vanquish."
M. Viviani, who recently had visited the United States, was the speaker
to follow the Premier. Eloquent, earnest, devoted--there is no one to
whose words the Chamber usually is more willing to listen. Viviani at
this time also spoke of the United States--its people, its President,
its Army and its help, enlarging particularly on the principles for
which both France and America were fighting.
When the eloquent speaker ended his address, almost as if the impulse
had been kept too long under control, the Deputies again rose and
cheered and continued their cheering for General Pershing, until at last
once more he was compelled to rise and bow in his acknowledgment of the
remarkable ovation he had received. And the cheers continued after he
had gone.
Before the people of Paris, Joffre and Pershing stood together, each
bare-headed, on the morning of June 15th. They were on the balcony of
the Military Club. In the Place de l'Opera was a crowd assembled to do
honor to the two military leaders--a public reception by the city. The
wild cheering rose in waves. The excitement was intense. The hopes of
the people, who, as one distinguished Frenchman said, "had surprised not
only the world, but also their own nation by their bravery,
determination and heroic endurance," were now keyed to the highest
pitch. America was coming. Nay, America is here in the person of its
commander, whose Alsatian ancestors years before had found a home in
America. Surely the peoples were indeed one. "Vive l'Amerique!" "Vive
Joffre!" "Vive Pershing!" It almost seemed as if the cheering would
never stop.
A correspondent describes what occurred in a momentary lull in the
tumult. A young girl, excited, ardent, patriotic, in a clear call, was
distinctly heard above the cries of the vast assembly as she shouted,
"Vive Joffre, who saved us from defeat! Vive Pershing, who brings us
victory!"
Instantly the crowd responded and for a moment it seemed as if the
excitement would break all bounds. The applause became deafening. The
vast assemblage took up the moving words of the unknown young girl.
"Vive Joffre!" "Vive Pershing!" rose in a wild cry of joy and hope.
Indeed, long after the two soldiers had withdrawn and the balcony of the
Military Club was no longer occupied, the enthusiastic crowd refused to
depart and the streets still resounded with "Vive Joffre!" "Vive
Pershing!" Pleased General Pershing must have been by the wild
demonstration of the affection and hope, and yet he must also have been
made intensely serious by the appeal of two great peoples to lead them
to a victory that should forever put an end to the savagery and the
cruelty which the German nation, wherever it touched the world through
its army, was manifesting as the controlling motive in its life.
CHAPTER XIV
A WREATH FOR THE TOMB OF LAFAYETTE
THE official calls and the ceremonies that were designed both to
recognize formally the full meaning of the entrance of the United States
into the world war and to arouse a fresh enthusiasm in the French people
were almost at an end. General Pershing announced that on the following
day he intended to begin the work for which he had come. Already the
headquarters of the American Army had been established at the Rue de
Constantin and the work there was in full operation.
However, there were two other visits which the American commander
desired to make while he was in Paris. In Picpus Cemetery, Paris, was
the tomb of Lafayette. The friendship of the young marquis, his
enthusiasm for the ideals of democracy and the aid he had given the
colonies in America in their struggles for independence nearly a century
and a half before this time, had made his name as familiar as it was
beloved in the United States. He had been the personal friend of
Washington, his visit to America after the new nation had been formed,
his gifts and his example alike had added to the esteem in which he was
held there. As Lafayette had come from France to help America so now
Pershing had come from America to help France. What could be more
fitting than for the American commander to manifest publicly the
memories of the deep appreciation which clustered about the name of
Lafayette?
Accordingly General Pershing and a half-dozen of his officers were taken
to the tomb in Picpus Cemetery. There the little party was met by the
Marquis and the Count de Chambrun who are direct descendants of
Lafayette. Two orderlies carried a wreath of American Beauty roses which
was to be placed on the tomb of the ardent young Frenchman. There were
no formal or public services--the occasion being more like a token of
the personal feelings of the representative of one great nation for the
honored dead who had been the representative of another. The oft quoted
remark of General Pershing, "Lafayette, we are here," added to the
impressiveness.
General Pershing was welcomed at the cemetery quietly by the two
descendants of Lafayette and by them was conducted to the tomb. The
General and his fellow officers stood at salute while the orderlies were
placing the wreath of roses on the marble slab that marked the final
resting place of the brave and brilliant young French soldier.
In spite of the simplicity of the beautiful ceremony, however, the
enthusiastic people of Paris felt that somehow they must express their
appreciation of the tender and dignified tribute to one of their honored
dead. Great throngs lined the streets through which the party passed,
while a vast concourse assembled in the vicinity of Picpus Cemetery.
Their quickly aroused sentiments had been deeply stirred. A glimpse of
the passing American General was sufficient to deepen this appeal and
the cheers that greeted the Americans were fervent and heartfelt.
The third day was to be the last of the formal ceremonies. General
Pershing paid the formal and official calls expected of him, had
luncheon with Marshal Joffre and then visited the French Senate. As soon
as he and Ambassador Sharp were discovered in the diplomatic box, every
senator sprang to his feet and the cheering was loud and long--"Vive
l'Amerique!" "Vive l'Pershing!" It almost seemed as if the dignified
senators were determined to make their salvos louder and more genuinely
enthusiastic than any that had yet been heard by the distinguished
visitor. Again and again General Pershing bowed in acknowledgment of his
generous reception.
At last when the senators once more took their seats, Premier Ribot
referred to the presence of the soldier from the United States and
called upon M. Viviani to speak in acknowledgment of the event. Eloquent
as Viviani is known to be, it is said that never had his words been
more expressive or appealing than on this momentous occasion. Repeatedly
he was compelled to pause and wait for the applause to cease before he
was able to continue his address. In his final words he referred to his
own recent visit to the United States and in vivid phrases pictured the
conditions as he had found them there. The ideals of civilization, the
rights of free peoples, the heritage received from sires who had dearly
paid for that which they bequeathed their children were to be defended
and upheld. Savagery, brutality, disregard for national and individual
rights were to be overthrown. Because of the ideals under which the
United States had been reared and the freedom the nation had enjoyed the
people were determined to share in the battle for the same privileges to
be enjoyed by all mankind.
The response of the audience was instantaneous. Leaping to their feet
they shouted, "Vivent les Etats Unis!" "Vive l'Amerique!" "Vive
l'Pershing!" Not until after General Pershing once more arose and again
and again bowed in acknowledgment of the soul stirring tribute to him,
and through him to the nation of which he was a part, was quiet
restored. Even then the Senate unanimously voted a recess of a half-hour
to permit the Senators personally to meet and greet the American
Commander. Antonin Dubost, President of the Senate, escorted General
Pershing through the imposing lobby of the Luxembourg and introduced him
to the members of the Senate, one by one. The occasion served as a
fitting climax to three such days as General Pershing never before had
seen and the world never had known.
Of Pershing's coming to France and of his gracious, quiet manner of
receiving the welcome of Paris, and his dignity that fitted every
occasion, the Paris newspapers, made much. The outstanding quality,
however, appeared to be his simplicity. Georges Clemenceau wrote the
following tribute when the three days of welcome passed:
"Paris has given its final welcome to General
Pershing. We are justified in hoping that the
acclamations of our fellow-citizens, with whom are
mingled crowds of soldiers on leave, have shown
him clearly right at the start in what spirit we
are waging this bloodiest of wars: with what
invincible determination never to falter in any
fiber of our nerves or muscles.
"What does France stand for to-day but the most
striking proof of the perseverance of the French
spirit? I can even say that never was such a
prolongation of such terrible sacrifices demanded
from our people and never was it so simply and so
easily obtained.
"Unless I misjudge America, General Pershing,
fully conscious of the importance of his mission,
has received from the cordial and joyous
enthusiasm of the Parisians that kind of fraternal
encouragement, which is never superfluous, even
when one needs it not. Let him have no doubt that
he, too, has brought encouragement to us, the
whole of France that followed with its eyes his
passage along the boulevards, all our hearts, that
salute his coming in joy at the supreme grandeur
of America's might enrolled under the standard of
right. This idea M. Viviani, just back from
America, splendidly developed in his eloquent
speech to the Chamber in the presence of General
Pershing.
"General Pershing himself, less dramatic, has
given us in three phrases devoid of artificiality
an impression of exceptionally virile force. It
was no rhetoric, but the pure simplicity of the
soldier who is here to act and who fears to
promise more than he will perform. No bad sign
this for those of us who have grown weary of
pompous words, when we must pay so dearly for each
failure of performance.
"Not long ago the Germans laughed at 'the
contemptible English army' and we hear now that
they regard the American army as too ridiculous
for words. Well, the British have taught even
Hindenburg himself what virile force can do toward
filling gaps in organization. Now the arrival of
Pershing brings Hindenburg news that the Americans
are setting to work in their turn--those Americans
whose performance in the war of secession showed
them capable of such 'improvisation' of war as the
world has never seen--and I think the Kaiser must
be beginning to wonder whether he has not trusted
rather blindly in his 'German tribal god.' He has
loosed the lion from its cage, and now finds that
the lion has teeth and claws to rend him.
"The Kaiser had given us but a few weeks in which
to realize that the success of his submarine
campaign would impose the silence of terror on the
human conscience throughout the world. Well,
painful as he must find it, Pershing's arrival in
Paris, with its consequent military action, cannot
fail to prove to him that, after all, the moral
forces he ignored must always be taken into
consideration in forecasting human probabilities.
Those learned Boches have yet to understand that
in the course of his intellectual evolution man
has achieved the setting of moral right above
brute force; that might is taking its stand beside
right to accomplish the greatest revolution in the
history of mankind.
"That is the lesson Pershing's coming has taught
us, and that is why we rejoice."
Another graceful tribute was that of Maurice de Waleffe who wrote:
"'There is no longer any Pyrenees,' said Louis XIV
when he married a Spanish princess. 'There is no
longer an ocean,' Pershing might say with greater
justice as he is about to mingle with ours the
democratic blood of his soldiers. The fusion of
Europe and America is the enormous fact to note.
Henceforth there is but one human race, in the Old
World as in the New, and we can repeat the words
of Goethe at the battle of Valmy: 'From to-day a
new order of things begins.'"
In the evening after his first day of work, at the opera the enthusiasm
of Paris found one more outlet for its admiration of the American
General whose physical strength and bearing, whose poise and kindly
appreciation of his welcome again found expression. The General arrived
at the close of the first act. It was now the turn for the society of
Paris to express itself. The wildest enthusiasm instantly seized upon
the audience as soon as his arrival became known. As he entered his box,
which was draped with the American colors, the orchestra quickly struck
up the national anthem, for the moment drowning even the wild cheering
of the crowded house. The curtain rose and Mme. Richardson, holding
aloft a large American flag as she advanced to the front of the stage,
began in English to sing the Star Spangled Banner. After each stanza the
wild cheering seemed to increase in volume and enthusiasm. Then Mlle.
Marthe Chenal followed and began to sing La Marseillaise. It was now the
turn of the American officers and soldiers present to cheer for France;
and cheer they did. A chorus of soldiers and sailors accompanied each
singer. When General Pershing departed from the opera house the throngs
assembled on the streets joined in another outburst. By this time even
the slowest of Americans must have been fully aware that the French were
glad that the commander of the Army of the United States was in Paris.
The new problem confronting the American General was stupendous. His
recommendations were to be final at Washington. In his duties he was to
have the assistance of Marshal Joffre, whose ability as a soldier and
whose position as the official representative of France would mean much
to General Pershing. The British War Office (May 28, 1917) had said that
including those already serving in French or British armies there
shortly would be 100,000 American soldiers on French soil. Within a year
the number was to exceed 1,000,000 and hundreds of thousands more were
to follow. No such numbers or speed in transporting troops 3,500 miles
had ever been known before. And in France plans must be formed,
organizations made, great buildings must be erected, military measures
must be adopted--and General John Joseph Pershing must be the directing
power. What a task! Small cause for surprise is it that he solemnly said
to a prominent clergyman before his departure from America that he "felt
the need of all the help that could be given him,--human and divine."
Already in France Americans were drilling in preparation for active
fighting. Among these were detachments of college students from Harvard,
Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago, Williams, University of
California, and many other American colleges, but a vast concourse of
men from every class and condition in life in the United States was
making ready to join their fellow soldiers across the sea. From no man
in all the world was more expected than from General Pershing. And the
expectations were resting on strong foundations if the manner in which
he carried himself in the four trying days in London and in the three
days of formal ceremonies in France and then in the beginnings of his
heavy labors in preparing for the demands of Americans who were yet to
come, were indications. By many he was declared to be the
personification of the best type West Point could produce.
CHAPTER XV
FOURTH OF JULY IN FRANCE AND BASTILE DAY IN AMERICA
THE manifestation of the feeling of France and England for the United
States as shown to General Pershing was still further in evidence when
the national holiday of each nation was celebrated. In this celebration
all three nations united. "Never did I expect to see a day like the
Fourth of July this year in London," wrote an American stopping in that
city. "The flag of the United States was everywhere in evidence. I don't
think Great Britain ever saw so many American flags at one time. The
streets almost seemed to be lined with them. They were hanging from
windows, stretched across the streets and sidewalks, carried in the
hands of the passing people and everywhere were in evidence. Bands were
playing the Star Spangled Banner, public meetings were held, addresses
were made and dinners given--all showing that the new feeling between
the countries was not only friendly but also most intensely cordial.
From the King and Queen to the humblest newsboy the enthusiasm was
everywhere to be seen." And what was true in London was true also
throughout the kingdom.
From the front General Pershing received the following telegram:
"DEAR GEN. PERSHING: In behalf of myself and the
whole army in France and Flanders I beg you to
accept for yourself and the troops of your command
my warmest greetings on American Independence Day.
"Fourth of July this year soldiers of America,
France and Great Britain will spend side by side
for the first time in history in defense of the
great principle of liberty, which is the proudest
inheritance and the most cherished possession of
their several nations.
"That liberty which the British, Americans and
French won for themselves they will not fail to
hold not only for themselves but for the world.
With the heartiest good wishes for you and your
gallant army,
"Yours very sincerely,
"D. HAIG,
"Field Marshal."
To this hearty message of congratulation and good will General Pershing
sent the following response to the Commander in Chief of the British
Army in France and Flanders:
"MY DEAR SIR DOUGLAS: Independence Day greetings
from the British armies in France, extended by its
distinguished Commander in Chief, are most deeply
appreciated by all ranks of the American forces.
The firm unity of purpose that on the Fourth of
July this year so strongly binds the great allied
nations together stands as a new declaration and a
new guarantee that the sacred principles of
liberty shall not perish but shall be extended to
all peoples.
"With the most earnest good wishes from myself and
entire command to you and our brave British
brothers in arms, I remain, always in great
respect and high esteem,
"Yours very sincerely,
"JOHN J. PERSHING."
In Paris also the celebration was an evidence of the same or even
greater enthusiasm. Flags, bands, cheers, songs, public meetings and
addresses--these all were like a repetition of the scenes that had
greeted the arrival of the American commander on the soil of France.
Once more General Pershing was the idol of the day, because in this way
the French people best believed they could express their deep
appreciation of the part America was promptly taking in the fight for
freedom.
The response of America was equally strong when ten days later the great
country, more than 3,000 miles away, joined in a hearty celebration of
the French national holiday--Bastile Day. As Lafayette had brought to
and presented to the United States the key to the famous old prison so
it seemed almost as if the key had unlocked the doors of every American
heart. The French flag was flying from thousands of buildings. The
French national air was heard on every side.
In America, too, just as there had been a brief time before in France,
there were great assemblies quickly aroused to the highest pitch of
enthusiasm by the words of orators describing the marvelous heroism and
devotion of France in the present world war. As one famous, speaker
said, "France had not only found her soul and surprised the world by her
devotion; she had even surprised herself."
Perhaps the celebration in America reached its highest point in a vast
meeting in the Madison Square Garden in New York City on the evening of
July 14th. One newspaper glowingly described the vast concourse that
filled the Garden: "It isn't too much to say that perhaps the air
quivered no more violently around the Bastile on that great day in Paris
129 years ago, than it did in Madison Square Garden last night when at
the apex of a day of glorious tribute to France a tall young man wearing
the horizon blue of the French army and noted throughout the world for
his singing, sang with splendid fervor France's--and now in a way our
own--'La Marseillaise.'"
The Garden fairly rocked with the applause, as banners and flags were
waved in the hands of the excited, shouting throng. French soldiers with
the little marks upon their sleeves that showed the bravery on the
battlefield of the men privileged to wear them, soldiers and sailors of
many lands, war-nurses in their cool white costumes, men who had fought
in France, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, at Gallipoli, at the Marne and at
Verdun--and many more were there to assist in expressing the feelings of
America for her ally.
"They shall not pass"--it was almost like the determination of the men
that doggedly stood before and blocked the Germans as they did their
utmost to drive through Verdun.
A message from General Foch was read by the chairman, Charles E. Hughes.
"After four years of struggle the plans of the enemy for domination are
stopped," began Judge Hughes, but he also was compelled to "stop" until
the deafening applause that interrupted the reading of the message from
the great French commander had quieted down sufficiently to enable him
to proceed. After several minutes passed he resumed. "He (the enemy)
sees the numbers of his adversaries increase each day and the young
American army bring into the battle a valor and a faith without equal;
is not this a sure pledge of the definite triumph of the just cause?"
If the true answer to the question of the commander of all the armies of
the allies was to be measured by the mighty roar that spontaneously
arose, then the General must have been convinced as well as satisfied.
"We are doing more to-night than paying tribute," declared the chairman.
"We are here to make our pledge. We make our pledge to the people of
France. We make our pledge and it is the pledge of a people able to
redeem it."
Secretary of the Navy Daniels read a message from President Wilson:
"America greets France on this day of stirring memories, with a heart
full of warm friendship and of devotion to the great cause in which the
two peoples are now so happily united. July 14th, like our own July 4th,
has taken on a new significance not only for France but for the world.
As France celebrated our Fourth of July, so do we celebrate her
Fourteenth, keenly conscious of a comradeship of arms and of purpose of
which we are deeply proud.
"The sea seems very narrow to-day, France is a neighbor to our hearts.
The war is being fought to save ourselves from intolerable things, but
it is also being fought to save mankind. We extend other hands to each
other, to the great peoples with whom we are associated and the peoples
everywhere who love right and prize justice as a thing beyond price, and
consecrate ourselves once more to the noble enterprise of peace and
justice, realizing the great conceptions that have lifted France and
America high among the free peoples of the earth.
"The French flag floats to-day from the staff of the White House and
America is happy to do honor to that flag."
A similar statement was made by Great Britain's ambassador, the Earl of
Reading, who declared that Bastile Day was also being celebrated
throughout the British Empire.
The climax came when Ambassador Jusserand spoke:
"Your national fete and ours have the same
meaning: Emancipation. The ideal they represent is
so truly the same, that it is no wonder, among the
inspiring events in which we live, that France
celebrated the other day your Fourth and you are
now celebrating our Fourteenth. We owe so much to
each other in our progress toward Freedom.
"Those enthusiastic French youths who served under
Washington, Rochambeau and Lafayette had seen
liberty and equality put into practice, and had
brought back to France the seed, which sown at an
opportune moment, sprang up and grew wonderfully.
"The two greatest events in our histories are
closely connected. Between the end of your
revolution and the beginning of ours, there
elapsed only six years. Our flag, devised the day
after the fall of the Bastile, combining the same
colors as your own, is just a little younger than
your Old Glory, born in revolutionary times. And
the two, floating for the first time together over
the trenches of distant France, defying the
barbaric enemy, have much to say to each other,
much about the past, much about the future.
"United as we are with the same firmness of
purpose, we shall advance our standards and cause
the enemy to understand that the best policy is
honesty, respect of others' freedom and respect of
the sworn pledge.
"That song of freedom, the 'Marseillaise' will
again be sung at the place of its birth, that
Alsatian song born in Strassburg, justifying its
original title, a 'War song of the Rhine.'
"The place where he shall stop is not, however,
written on the map, but in our hearts, a kind of
map the enemy has been unable to decipher. But
what is written is plain enough, and President
Wilson is even plainer in his memorable speech at
the Tomb of Washington on your own Fourth. It
comes to this: 'One more Bastile remains to be
taken, representing feudalism, autocracy,
despotism, the German one, and when it falls,
peace will reign again.'"
And over in France was an American--brave, kind of heart, dignified and
tremendously in earnest who stood before the people of the old world as
the very personification of the spirit that animated the new world.
CHAPTER XVI
INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS
ONE of the most striking elements in the grip which General Pershing has
upon his soldiers is well shown by the following extract from a letter
which a quiet, unknown doughboy recently sent from France to his mother:
"I think I forgot to tell you that Pershing looked us over. He is a
wonderful man to look at. Power is written all over his face. Believe
me, with a man like that in the lead we ought to win, hands down. Just
one look commands respect and confidence."
One reason for this confidence doubtless is the frequently expressed
opinion which the commander also has of his men. Again and again he has
publicly declared that the idealism of the American soldier boys was
bound to win this war. "They will defend these ideals at any
sacrifice." And those who are aware of the spirit of many a young
American student in college or worker on some quiet farm, will
understand why General Pershing has made so much of this idealism which
he says is the backbone of the American fighting men in France.
It is not only the General, but the man Pershing behind the General that
makes its appeal and finds its response from the American boys. In every
Y. M. C. A. hut in France to-day there is hanging a picture of the
leader of the American armies. Underneath this picture are the following
words, which bear his own signature:
"Hardship will be your lot but trust in God will give you comfort.
Temptation will befall you but the teaching of our Saviour will give you
strength. Let your valor as a soldier and your conduct as a man be an
inspiration to your comrades and an honor to your country."
The meaning of these words perhaps becomes more apparent if for a moment
they are placed in contrast with the reported relations existing between
the German soldiers and their officers, sometimes driven into battle by
brutal methods, threatened, kicked and beaten, and if they protested,
sometimes the gunners were chained to their guns--small cause for
surprise is it that the American boys fail to appreciate the "blessings"
of autocracy or are determined that the brutality and aims of all war
lords shall forever perish from the earth.
Then, too, his personal interest in the young American fighter who has
done something to deserve recognition is one of his elements of
strength. There must, however, first have been given an indication that
the deed was worthy of praise--for General Pershing's commendation is
not cheap nor does he scatter it promiscuously. The following incident
may be looked upon as typical.
John Kulolski, born in Poland, emigrant to the United States, enlisted
at Buffalo, New York, June 7, 1916. In the following year, on his
birthday, he reënlisted and on the same month and day in 1918 he was
sent to the trenches. Indeed, he declared that his birthday "always
brought something great into his life." His first service in the army
was as a cook, but at his own request he was transferred to the fighting
forces. Cooking might be necessary, but it was "too slow for him." Soon
in the Bois de Belleau he found his opportunity. The fighting was savage
and John Kulolski's company was in peril from a nearby gunners' nest.
Suddenly, without orders and with the new spirit of initiative which had
been acquired by the young Pole in America, he darted ahead alone, and
by the sheer force of his own impetuous act charged the gun and made
prisoners of the gun crew and its officer. Doubtless his very daring
caused his enemies to believe that he was not alone but was one of many
who were about to attack them. At all events the Germans surrendered to
John Kulolski and his bravery was quickly known all along the line.
To him as soon as he heard of his daring deed General Pershing sent the
following telegram from headquarters:
"For Private Kulolski, Company (deleted).
"I have just heard of your splendid conduct on
June 6th when you alone charged a gun, captured it
and its crew, together with an officer. I have
awarded you the Distinguished Service Cross. I
congratulate you.
"PERSHING."
Who does not know that Kulolski's deed and the commander's quick and
personal as well as official recognition of the heroism of this private
soldier at once aroused a spirit of gratitude and enthusiasm not only in
the heart of the young Pole, but also caused a thrill in the heart of
every doughboy in the ranks that heard the story?
From Paris, July 22, 1918, the Associated Press sent the following
despatch:
"Your country is proud of you, and I am more than
proud to command such men as you. You have fought
splendidly."
General Pershing thus addressed wounded American soldiers lying in the
American Red Cross hospitals in Paris to-day. In each ward of every
hospital he talked to the men. He inquired if they were being well cared
for, how and where they were wounded, what regiments they belonged to,
and expressed his sympathy to scores of patients.
General Pershing also talked to the physicians, surgeons, and nurses,
and thanked them for the work they were doing in caring for the wounded.
"No one can ask of any fighting force more than that they should do as
well as you have done," he said to his troops. The General added that he
wished he could speak personally with each and every man in the
hospital, but this was impossible. So he asked Major James H. Perkins to
repeat his message and say to each individual man, "The American people
are proud of you."
It is a very devoted and democratic army which General Pershing commands
in France. Those who know him personally have a deep affection for him
for they understand what he is. Those who do not have a personal
acquaintance admire him no less for what they believe him to be. It is a
common remark in the ranks, even by those who never even saw their
leader, "What a fine man Pershing is." His nickname "Black Jack" is an
expression of admiration and affection, as much so as when the French
poilus tenderly refer to "Papa" Joffre.
Whenever General Pershing in his scattered duties arrives at a place
where there are wounded American soldiers he never fails to find a few
brief minutes when he can visit these boys and speak a word of
affectionate appreciation of what they have done. It is usually,
however, not to his own but to his country's pride and sympathy that he
refers. "Your country is proud of you." Sometimes it is just a
handclasp, sometimes only a glance from his dark eyes, expressive of the
deep interest and pride in his soldier boys that he can give the
wounded. He is a man of few words and as a consequence every spoken word
counts.
A direct report states that "faces are brighter, eyes have a new
expression whenever, which is as often as the crush of his duties
permits--he visits a hospital."
One further incident will illustrate the many-sided activities of the
American General. One evening at a certain nameless point he found that
he had a very few minutes free before his automobile was to rush him to
the next place he was to visit. Instantly he decided to visit the Y. M.
C. A. hut. As he drew near he found that a couple of hundred boys were
in the building and that someone was "banging the piano" with a furious
rag-time. Hobnailed shoes were noisily keeping time to the music and the
lusty voices of the shouting and singing young soldiers were plainly
heard far beyond the building. Not one of the boys was aware that the
commander was anywhere in the vicinity.
Suddenly a yell arose near the entrance. Instantly every soldier turned
to discover the cause of the break. "General Pershing" ran as a loud
whisper throughout the assembly and instantly every one of the assembled
doughboys sprang to his feet and stood at attention. Then no longer able
to repress or restrain their feelings they united in such an
enthusiastic yell as might have revealed their presence to an enemy if
he was not too far away.
Quickly the General was in the midst of the throng and was telling his
admirers just how he had "dropped in to see how they were getting
along." He was delighted, he told them, to find everything in good order
and expressed his deep satisfaction with the manner in which they were
doing their part in the gigantic struggle. "Your country is proud of
you."
Small cause for wonder is it that it is currently reported that "no army
ever went to the battlefield better protected against the pitfalls of
army life than the American forces in France." Every friendly and
helpful activity receives his cordial support--Red Cross, Y. M. C. A.,
Knights of Columbus, Salvation Army and all. He is deeply concerned not
only with the quality and quantity of the work in France but also with
the reports that are to go back home concerning what the boys are doing
on the far distant fields of France. Still more is he concerned about
the effects of their stay upon the boys themselves. "Everything possible
is being done to see that these young Americans who will return home
some day shall go back clean."
He is deeply interested in all the athletics and sports of his troops.
He simply is insistent upon one main quality, "everything must be
clean."
A certain reporter for a New York newspaper sends the following
incident:
Passing a dark corner one night I encountered a M.
P. (Military Policeman). Some of the M. P.s are a
bit rough. They have to be, and they would wade
into a den of wildcats.
"Hey, you pencil pusher," he called, "did you see
the big boss?"
I had.
"Well," he said, "you've flashed your lamps on the
finest man that ever stood in shoe leather."
One day General Pershing arrived at a station where a motley crowd
greeted his coming. The following day there was posted on a bulletin
board of the barracks a cordial commendation of the young French officer
who had so efficiently done his duty at the station in handling the
somewhat unruly assembly at the arrival of the American commander and
his staff. That is General Pershing's way. Quietly cordial, looking for
good in every one of his men and usually finding it, a strict
disciplinarian and quick to punish neglect or an evil deed, he is the
idol of the army.
"General Pershing is one of the finest men I ever met. Everybody in the
army admires him greatly," declares a prominent American officer, and
another adds, "I have never met a nobler man in my life than General
Perching."
According to a statement of an orderly sergeant of the commander, the
General has a regular order for beginning the work of every day. Rising
at five o'clock there is first a half hour of setting up exercises which
the two men take together. Next the General, although he is at an age
when most men abandon running except as a necessity or a last resort,
goes out for a run of fifteen minutes. Later there is a united attack
upon the medicine ball and there is no slight or "ladylike" exercise.
Although the sergeant is twenty-five years younger than the General, he
acknowledges that he is usually the first to declare that he has had
sufficient for the beginning of the day.
The hour of retirement is usually eleven o'clock, and just before that
time there are more setting up exercises, after which the sergeant says
he himself is entirely reconciled to the suggestion to turn in.
In this way and because he has followed this somewhat strenuous plan
since he was a young man General Pershing has kept himself in
magnificent physical condition.
Indeed, the sergeant said that in the ten years during which he had been
the commander's orderly he has never known but one day when the General
was incapacitated for his duties. That day was in the early rush of the
punitive expedition into Mexico to get Villa. The change of water or
perhaps the quality of it made him ill, but even then, in spite of the
surgeon's advice for him to remain quietly in his tent for a day or two,
General Pershing, unmindful of the influence of his example, "disobeyed
orders" and resumed his work. Fortunately no ill effects followed his
disobedience.
A tender touch in the sergeant's statement is one upon which we have no
right to enlarge though the fact is as suggestive as it is
characteristic. The first duty of the orderly in unpacking the General's
belongings when they move to new quarters is to take the photograph of
Mrs. Pershing and the four children as the family was before that
terrible fire in the Presidio, and place it on a desk or bureau where it
is easily seen. Often the General sits in silence before it, and as he
looks at the family group, the sergeant believes that, for the time, the
tragedy is forgotten and to the silent soldier his family again seems to
be complete. It is an occasion into which an outsider, however, has no
right to enter and however strong may be his sympathy, the sorrow is too
intensely personal for even a close friend to obtrude.
In the letter which General Pershing wrote from Mindanao to his
classmates on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary of their
graduation from West Point he lightly referred to his difficulties in
acquiring French. In view of his ancestry, for his name and lineage can
be traced back to Alsace, this at first may appear somewhat strange; but
the statement is his own. However, when he first went to France his
fluency in the language of the people of that country was not sufficient
to satisfy him and an interpreter was provided, who usually was present
when he met with French officers who were as ignorant of his language as
he was of theirs. In a brief time, however, the interpreter was
discarded. General Pershing, in spite of the difficulty of acquiring a
new language when one is older, was soon conversing in their own tongue
with Marshal Joffre, General Petain and General Foch. Just what the
opinion of his accent was we do not know and they doubtless were too
polite to express it. The essential point, however, is that just as the
American Commander years before had learned the language of the Moros in
order to assist him in his task of dealing with the little brown people,
so he resolutely set to work to learn French, at least to an extent that
enabled him to understand what was said in his presence and to express
himself to his friends without the aid of an interpreter.
Not long before the raid upon Columbus by Villa and his bandits General
Pershing, in a letter from which the following extract is taken, wrote:
"We do not want war if we can honestly avoid it, but we must not
hesitate to make war if the cause of civilization and progress demands
it. Nearly every step in human progress has been at the sacrifice of
human life. There are some things dearer even than life. If a nation has
set up high ideals either for itself or for others it must be prepared
to enforce those ideals if need be by armies and navies. Of course it
would be better to enforce them through moral prestige." These
sentiments were expressed long before the declaration of war with
Germany or the President had written his famous words about making the
world safe for democracy. They are doubly interesting for that reason
and expressive of General Pershing's innermost feelings when there was
every reason why he should express himself freely. Most brilliant
American fighters have not been lovers of war for its own sake.
Washington was reluctant to enter upon war, although when he believed
there was no escape he fought to the uttermost limit of his power.
General Grant's most frequently quoted words are not warlike, but "Let
us have peace." And General Pershing is not one whit behind the other
two.
Early in July, 1918, Chairman Hurley sent a cablegram to the American
fighting men in France that the shipbuilders at home would launch one
hundred merchant ships July 4th. Promptly from General Pershing came the
following appreciative and defiant acknowledgment: "The launching of one
hundred ships on the Fourth of July is the most inspiring news that has
come to us. All ranks of the Army in France send their congratulations
and heartfelt thanks to their patriotic brothers in the ship-yards at
home. No more defiant answer could be given to the enemy's challenge.
With such backing we cannot fail to win. All hail American
shipbuilders."
His quick sense of appreciation is seen also in the following telegram
which he sent Premier Clemenceau after the hearty congratulations sent
by the great Frenchman on the occasion of the parade of American troops
in Paris in the celebration of the Fourth of July:
"Permit me to tell you how much I am touched by
the cordial telegram you sent me. I shall not fail
to make it known to the troops in question. All
the officers and men of the troops who had the
privilege of participating in the Fourth of July
ceremony in Paris will retain unforgettable
recollections of the enthusiastic reception
accorded to them. Proud of the confidence France
places in them they are heartened more than ever
to do their duty until common victory comes."
One day in France he saw two American soldiers at work on a woodpile.
One glance was sufficient to show him that the two men were working out
a form of punishment for some misdeed. As we know General Pershing is a
believer in strict and if necessary stern discipline. Soon after coming
to France he had ordered one American soldier to be hanged for a
nameless crime and several others to be disciplined severely for
drunkenness. Believing in the best and hoping and expecting the good in
every one of his men to manifest itself, nevertheless he is severe when
severity is demanded. And he was at once interested when he first saw
the two American boys at the woodpile, manifestly serving a sentence of
some kind.
Stopping his automobile, General Pershing sent his orderly to find out
what the offense was for which the two soldiers were serving their
sentence. Upon the orderly's return he reported that the two men had
taken "French leave" of their company several days before this time.
They were jealous because certain of their fellows "had been sent up
ahead to fight" while they had been left behind. And they were eager to
fight. They had enlisted and come to France for that express purpose.
And now to be left behind! The thought was more than the two Yankee boys
could endure. Fight they could and fight they would--with or without
specific orders from their officers. And fight they did, for without any
ceremony they departed for the front one night and kept on going until
they found it. According to their own story they "found war and mixed
in." And also they were found out and sentenced to serve five days at
the woodpile as a penalty for their disobedience and over-hasty zeal. It
is said General Pershing hastily departed from the spot and that he
laughed heartily at the story of Americans who were punished not because
they were not willing to fight, but were so eager that they did not wait
for such a little thing as orders or commands. And then the General fell
to talking about his favorite theme--the daring and bravery of his men
in the campaign against the Moros.
One day in Paris, General Pershing saw a tiny man--a dwarf--upon the
sidewalk of the street through which he was passing at the time. The
little man instantly recalled to the commander the wedding of Datto
Dicky of Jolo. The little chieftain was about to be married. There was a
current report that he was the smallest man in the world, but the
statement has not been verified. At all events, whatever he may have
lacked in stature he more than made up in his power over the tribe of
which he was a chief.
At a fair in Zamboanga, Datto Dicky was about to take unto himself a
wife, the little lady being as diminutive as her prospective husband.
After the formal wedding General Pershing presented to the bride a tiny
house in every way adapted to the needs of such a diminutive couple. The
dwelling stood on stilts on the beach, a thing of beauty in the eyes of
all the Moros that were attending the fair.
The tiny chieftain and his bride gratefully accepted the present of the
little building, which they occupied during their honeymoon. Upon their
return to Jolo they in turn gave their present to the children of the
General and they used it as a playhouse. As Datto Dicky is said to have
been just two feet and three inches in height the little children of the
American governor doubtless found the structure much to their liking and
well adapted to their needs. They were as delighted over Dicky's
generosity to them as the diminutive chieftain had been over the
unexpected gift their father had given him.
The following incidents are taken from the New York _Times_:
"About ten years ago he and Mrs. Pershing were in
Paris and the General, who was then a captain, was
suffering from a slight indisposition, which his
doctor thought might be attributable to smoking.
Upon Mrs. Pershing's insistence the captain went
to Mannheim where there was a famous cure. The
resident doctor examined him and advised that he
give up smoking. It happened that Pershing had
always been an inveterate smoker. His cigar was a
part of his life. He wrestled with the question a
day or two and made up his mind that he would
follow the medical advice.
"When asked if he hadn't found the job a hard one
and whether he wasn't still tempted the reply was:
"'Not in the least, the only hard thing was in
making up his mind. He had hardly given the matter
a thought since.'
"There are two subjects which the General will
always talk about with interest--his farming
experience and his four years with the Moros in
the Philippines.
"He loves to hark back to those days when his
highest obligation was to get out into the
cornfield at the very earliest minute in the
morning that there was daylight enough to see the
ears of corn. When he was fourteen he took the
management of the farm. His father had been a rich
man, but the panic of 1873 broke him. John was the
oldest of nine children and he had to go to the
front. In everything that he does now I can
detect the influence of his early training. I can
see in the General of to-day the farmer boy with
his contempt of hardship, the country school
teacher with his shepherding instinct for those
around him and the general wariness of country
bringing-up. It is inexorably true that the boy is
father to the man."
CHAPTER XVII
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF HIM
IN quoting a few words from the opinions others have expressed
concerning the American Commander doubtless some of them may seem to be
a trifle too laudatory. It is not to be forgotten that the words of
those who perhaps did not fully share the sentiments have not been
recorded. If such opinions exist, their record has not been brought to
the attention of the writer. As a rule, Americans have no comparative
degree in their estimates of men. They like a man or they do not like
him. He is either a success or a failure, good or bad, wise or foolish.
Between the two extremes there is little standing room, and into one
category or the other they cast nearly everyone. If General Pershing has
not escaped this condition, his consolation doubtless is that he is
merely sharing the common lot of his fellow-citizens.
A close friend has this to say of him: "You should meet him at a dinner
party and listen to his stories. You should stand with him before his
tent in the field, in the sunshine--he loves the sunshine and the wide
out-of-doors--and hear him tell stories of his campaigning at his best.
You should meet this big man with the heart of a little child, this man
who by befriending his enemies has made them his companions, this man
who stands up erect and faces the horrors of disaster with a smile and
prays in his heart for the sufferers."
Another friend says: "There is something about Pershing that reminds one
of Lincoln. It may be his ready wit and never failing good humor or
perhaps his big sympathetic heart. In the army the similarity is
frequently pointed out."
An officer who served under him in the Punitive Expedition into Mexico
and was thrown into close relations with him writes: "I have had the
pleasure of knowing many of our great men, but Pershing is the biggest
of them all. He combines the rugged simplicity of Lincoln with the
dogged perseverance of Grant; the strategic mystical ability of
Stonewall Jackson and the debonair personality of McClellan. In one
quality, that of intuition, he may be inferior possibly to Roosevelt,
but in cold logic and in supreme knowledge of human nature and of
soldier nature I have never met his equal."
The colonel of his regiment when Pershing was a lieutenant in the 10th
Cavalry said of him: "I have been in many fights but on my word he is
the bravest and coolest man under fire I ever saw."
In 1903, Elihu Root, then Secretary of State, in President McKinley's
cabinet, cabled him: "The thanks of the War Department for the able and
effective accomplishment of a difficult and important task."
A simpler, but no less effective estimate of his character, although it
was given in a way to puzzle him and perhaps also was a source of
embarrassment was the act of the Sultan of Oato who officially made
young Major Pershing the "father" of his eighteen-year-old boy. This was
the highest tribute the ruler of the tribe could pay, to give his own
son to the American officer. And this was done, too, when by his
training and religion the Mohammedan chieftain looked down upon even if
he did not despise a Christian.
Georges Clemenceau, whose words have been previously quoted, has this to
say concerning the directness and simplicity of the American General:
"General Pershing has given us in three phrases devoid of artificiality,
an impression of exceptionally virile force. It was no rhetoric, but
pure simplicity of the soldier who is here to act and who fears to
promise more than he will perform. No bad sign this, for those of us who
have grown weary of pompous words when we must pay dearly for each
failure of performance."
An intimate friend of his boyhood writes: "John was and still is
intensely human and that is why we all love him. His old playmates and
friends are proud of his success as a soldier, but they love him
because of his high standard of principles and unswerving integrity.
John J. Pershing is revered by the entire population of Linn County,
Missouri, and I hope in the near future to see a statue of Pershing
erected in the beautiful town park of Laclede, in his honor."
A well-known college president writes of him: "It is his foresight as
distinct from vision which has most impressed me. He sees what ought to
be done and then does it. His spirit of determination, his persistence,
his foresightedness, seem to me the predominant traits in a well-rounded
character. Strength rather than brilliancy, solidity, reliability,
saneness are other terms by which the same qualities might be defined."
Another distinguished president of a college in General Pershing's
native State makes the following analysis: "I have been here twenty-six
years and have had a good deal to do with young men. I have never seen a
man yet that had these characteristics that failed in his life work:
"_First_, Pershing's modesty.
"_Second_, His friendliness--his ability to get along with his fellows.
"_Third_, His industry.
"_Fourth_, What the boys call, 'everlastingly on the job'--always in his
place, always had his lessons, always performed his duties.
"_Fifth_, His courage in facing every obstacle.
"_Sixth_, His forward look--his looking ahead.
"My secretary adds that I have omitted one of the strongest of General
Pershing's attributes--his sense of right."
It is a great asset when the people of a man's native town speak of him,
even of his boyhood, in terms of affection and confidence. It is to his
credit when school and college mates write of their belief in his
sterling character. It is a source of pride when the early efforts of a
young man, in the trying days of his first experiences in his chosen
profession, find a cordial response to his efforts and it is a still
deeper source of gratification when he has done his best and has
received recognition and reward from the nation at large. And then when
maturer days have come and the glitter and the glamour have lost much of
their appeal, for one to find that the great ones of the earth recognize
and value more highly than the doer the deeds he has done--all this is a
heritage the children and the coming generations will receive with
grateful hearts. All these are a part of the possessions of General John
Joseph Pershing.
The supreme honor thus far which General Pershing has received is the
recognition from his own country which found its expression in his
appointment as General, October 6, 1917, "with rank from that date,
during the existence of the present emergency, under the provisions of
an Act of Congress approved October 6, 1917."
When, on October 8, 1917, he accepted this appointment what thoughts
must have been in his mind. He had then received the highest military
honor the United States of America could bestow upon a soldier. He was
the successor in office of Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.
What a wonderful list of honored names it is! And a half-century had
elapsed since anyone had received such an appointment. The wildest dream
of the young captain of cadets at West Point had come true. And he had
expressed his opinion just before he went to West Point that there would
be slight opportunity for promotion in the permanent peace which
apparently had settled over the nations of the earth. It is a source of
comfort to learn that even the wisest and the best of men are sometimes
compelled to revise their judgments.
It is not incredible that the gift which Marshal Joffre provided, or at
least one in which he was the prime instigator, the presentation of a
small gold-mounted sword for General Pershing's little son, Warren, may
have touched the General's heart as deeply as any honor he ever
received. A sword from the Field Marshal of France, given in the
greatest war ever fought by mankind! And we may be sure that however
kindly the feeling of the foremost soldiers of France may have been for
little Warren Pershing the gift nevertheless was made to the boy because
he is the son of his father.
A similar method of expressing the regard for the father by a gift to
his son was followed in an incident in the celebration of Bastile Day in
Paris, July 14, 1918. At the general headquarters of the American Army
in France the members of the graduating class of the Lycee presented to
the American Commander a marvelously bound volume of episodes in the
history of France. This beautiful work, however, was "to be transmitted
to Warren Pershing from his comrades of the Lycee."
What other people than the French would have thought of such a dainty
and yet effective way of expressing their admiration of a man? Sometimes
a son objects to being known chiefly because he bears the name of his
father. It is seldom, however, that a man ever objects to being known as
the father of his son.
Just before this volume was given by the students, General Pershing had
presented their diplomas to the members of the graduating class of the
Lycee. This very pleasing duty had followed after he had formally
received the American troops and the French societies which had marched
through the streets that were gay with brilliant decorations and
thronged by cheering thousands.
On August 7, 1918, there appeared in many American newspapers the
following brief and simple message from France:
"With the American Armies in France, Aug. 6.
"President Poincaré personally decorated General
Pershing with the Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honor this morning with impressive military
ceremonies at American General Headquarters."
This was all that was cabled, but a column would not have added to the
meaning. As far as military recognition was concerned France could do no
more. Her choicest honor, the one most highly prized by her patriotic
soldiers, had been bestowed upon a soldier from across the sea, not only
as a token of her esteem for the man, but also for the country which had
chosen him to be the leader of her armies.
Nor was this the only honor of its kind. England already had shown her
appreciation by awarding him the Grand Cross of the Order of the
Bath--an honor which it is said was then bestowed for the first time
upon a soldier of a foreign nation, or at least upon a soldier from the
United States.[D] And other similar orders and decorations were given
and by different nations. It is difficult in democratic America to
appreciate just how much such recognition means in the lands in which
they were so generously bestowed. We may be certain, however, that these
honors, which are rare, were not bestowed thoughtlessly and that General
Pershing was deeply appreciative in each instance of the motive and
feeling that lay behind the gift.
Without question, the honor which most deeply touches the General is the
confidence and affection of the men he commands. This is more and deeper
than mere popularity. The latter varies and shifts as a weathercock
veers with the changing winds. Many of the world's great characters
have not only not had it, but have suffered martyrdom because they or
their teachings were unpopular. But the deep regard, the confidence and
pride which the American forces universally manifest for their leader
are based primarily, not upon their impulses or impressions, but upon
their belief in the qualities he has quietly manifested, the record he
has made, and the power of his own personality.
Deeply impressed as the American commander must be by the receptions
given him, the formal honors bestowed upon him by his own and other
countries, there is still a minor chord that sounds in the chorus of
acclaim. What would the mother, who in the little Missouri village first
fired his boyish heart with an earnest desire to make the most of
himself, say now if she was here to treasure in her heart the words that
have been spoken in memory of the deeds he has done? And his wife--if
she had not perished in the fire at the Presidio, and now could follow
his career with the pride which a good woman ever has in the
recognition of her husband, what added strength her sympathy and
fellowship would give to the arm and heart of the man whose name and lot
she shared. Sometimes there are tragedies for our soldiers greater even
than the battlefields provide.
FOOTNOTE:
[D] Beyond the cabled report the writer is unable to verify this
statement.
CHAPTER XVIII
AS A WRITER AND SPEAKER
THE two predominant qualities that have marked General Pershing in other
lines of activity naturally appear in his written and spoken words.
These are simplicity and forcefulness.
He writes but little and then only when he has something to say. What he
has to say he tells and then stops. His style is lucid and interesting;
even his early reports make good reading.
Certain of his sayings have almost the force of proverbs. For example,
when one has once heard, "Germany can be beaten; Germany must be beaten;
Germany will be beaten," he can never forget the terse epigrammatic
phrasing. The same thing is true also of his response to the message of
the French school children who invaded his headquarters, bringing their
Fourth of July greetings:
To-day constitutes a new Declaration of
Independence, a solemn oath that the liberty for
which France has long been fighting will be
attained.
It is not much when measured in words, but it is enough when behind it
is the man.
Similarly terse and appealing are his words already referred to, hanging
in every Y. M. C. A. hut in France.
He is not an orator in the sense of being oratorical, but he is
conversational, direct and impressive in public address. His soldierly
bearing, his fine physique, clear voice and strong face are accessories
of no small value.
There is a field in which General Pershing has been a pronounced success
as a speaker which perhaps is not commonly known, and that is at dinners
and similar public functions. Anyone who notes the corners of Pershing's
mouth, at once is aware that the General possesses a keen sense of
humor. No better illustration could be given of this fact than an
incident not long ago recorded in the _Missouri Historical Review_:
"He was invited to a stag dinner party one evening
where a jolly story-telling lot of good fellows
were to be present and he went primed with his
best stories, a memorandum in his vest pocket to
aid him in telling them. The memorandum was
accidentally dropped on the floor and was picked
up by one of his friends, who immediately saw what
it was and decided to have his little joke at the
General's expense. The finder got an opportunity
to spring the first story and promptly started off
with the first one on the list. Pershing said
nothing and laughed--he always does when a good
story is told, and makes you laugh, too--but when
the second one on his list was told he felt in his
pocket for the memorandum and discovered its loss.
A few minutes later the General, after a
consultation with a waiter, announced that he had
just received a message which would require his
absence for a few minutes on important business.
"Jumping into a car he was hurried to a hotel.
From the clerk he secured the names of half a
dozen traveling men--drummers--who were stopping
there and announced that he wanted to see these
men at once on important business. The drummers
responded and in twenty minutes the General was
back at the banquet, before the coffee had been
poured, with a new stock of yarns. Then ensued a
battle royal between the two famous raconteurs,
much to the amusements of the guests, until his
friend played out the string and left the General
victor in the humorous contest.
"Just at this juncture one of the drummers, made
up as a police officer, arrived, arrested the
joker, searched him and found the General's
memorandum, which he exposed to the hilarious
guests with the significant comment: 'General
Pershing has really been the only entertainer this
evening, but lots of people are making reputations
with the public on the General's ideas.'"
His words to the British public and his public address in France are
alike notable for their simplicity and directness, their friendliness
and dignity. He understands thoroughly his part. It is a great advantage
for America to have a representative for whose public utterances no
apology must be made and no explanations given.
CHAPTER XIX
THE MAN BEHIND THE GENERAL
IT would be as impertinent as it is impossible for one who has not been
associated with General Pershing for a long time directly and closely to
attempt anything like an analysis of the man or his career. There are,
nevertheless, certain qualities that have become more or less the
possessions of the public because they have been manifested in his
public service. It is therefore permissible to refer briefly to certain
of them.
As a foundation for all his work is a strong, vigorous body which at all
times has been cared for in a way to make it the servant and not the
master of the man. Regular and somewhat strenuous physical exercise
maintains the uniformly excellent health and vigor of the Commander.
Naturally strong, hard work developed his strength in his boyhood, and
his military career has made many demands upon as well as increased
these powers. Even when he entered West Point he was an acknowledged
expert in horsemanship and his early work in the ten years of his
campaigns against the Indians, certainly tested his skill to the utmost
in this particular line.
He has known almost every form of active service the American Army can
provide. In the demands for rough or heavy work excellent judges
asserted when he was sent to France that he has no superior and since
his arrival he has shown that he was equally at home in the finer and
higher demands that were made upon him. His distinguished bearing, his
physical vigor and good health have provided an excellent foundation.
The old Latin proverb _Mens sana in corpore sano_ has certainly been
verified in the life of General Pershing.
It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who has been frequently quoted as having
said that "the foremost qualification for success is the proper
selection of one's grandparents." The forcefulness of General Pershing's
father, the inspiring words of his mother form a rare background.
"Foremost citizen," "devoted to his family," "sterling,"
"ambitious"--these are some of the words of old-time friends and
neighbors, descriptive and expressive of their estimates of his father.
All of them, however, are not more suggestive and tender than a
neighbor's description of the General's mother as a "splendid
homemaker," and "an inspiration to her children." There are many things
a son cherishes more highly than the inheritance of great riches, and
foremost is the heritage of a good name.
As the oldest of nine children naturally he learned and assumed certain
responsibilities at an early age. With the advice and help of his mother
it is said that even when he was only fourteen he was managing a farm in
the absence of his father. There was work to be done and in abundance.
There is ancient authority for the claim that it is good to "learn to
bear the yoke in one's youth." A "yoke," however, is not the burden, it
is a contrivance which enables one to bear his burden.
A prominent and successful man of business in New York City declared not
long ago that if a man does not learn to work when he is young (this man
placed the limit at twenty-two) he does not learn afterward. This was
the result of both observation and experience.
Whether or not these conclusions are correct, certain it is that in the
case of General Pershing, as it has been also in many other marked
instances, he learned not only to work but also learned how to work when
he was only a boy.
His birthplace was in the great state of Missouri. Reference has already
been made to the semi-slang expression which indicates that a man from
that State "must be shown." Not long ago there appeared in one of the
foremost newspapers of America a bit of verse applying this saying to
the present gigantic task of the Commander of the American Expeditionary
Forces in France. The following quotation (_The Evening Telegram_),
whatever it may lack in poetic flavor, is expressive of the public
conception of the meaning of the statement:
"When 'Jack' Pershing left for Europe
With his sturdy fighting men,
Kaiser Willy said, 'How silly!
I'll annihilate them when
I have time to bother with 'em,
For that peewee Yankee force
Won't be in it for a minute
With my Prussian troops, of course.'"
"Is that so? Well, Kaiser Willy
You have made a foolish bet,
You have boasted, then you've roasted,
But you haven't whipped 'em yet.
Let this, Kaiser, make you wiser,
If you really care to know,
Jack was born in old Missouri,
He's a man you'll 'have to show.'"
"Pershing, Pershing, 'Black Jack' Pershing,
We are with you, one and all,
We will ever pull the lever
That will make the Prussians fall.
Fighting Pershing,--yes, we know you,
Old Missouri born and bred,
Here's our motto, we will show you,
'All together! Forge ahead!'"
His determination is one of his fundamental qualities. It is seen in the
very expression of his face, emphasized by the prominent nose and jaw.
Although it was doubtless a heritage, nevertheless the trying
experiences of his early days intensified and aided in developing the
quality.
He knew the meaning of hard work when he was a boy, as has been said,
but it did not shake his ultimate purpose. He was eager to obtain an
education and with this determination once fixed in his mind he never
relaxed. Working, teaching, saving, when he entered the Kirksville
Normal School he understood something of the price he was paying for the
advantages he received. He knew what the attendance had cost him and it
is easily understood why he was determined to get the worth of his
money.
At West Point this same element was still prominent. It impressed his
classmates and teachers. He saw what he wanted and wasted no time or
effort on "asides" that might interfere. To be senior captain of cadets
was to him the supreme honor--therefore it was only natural that he won
the appointment.
The same spirit carried him through his campaign in the Philippine
Islands. The Moros could be brought to reason, therefore the Moros were
brought to reason. It animates him in France--"Germany can be beaten,"
"Germany must be beaten," and the third clause is as natural as the
words of the General can make them--"Germany will be beaten." It is
fitting that the commander of the best trained army America ever had
should lead it in a spirit of determination that cannot be shaken.
Underneath this firmness is an unfailing spirit of fairness. After seven
years of hard work he established in the Philippines a new record in
diplomacy by winning the complete confidence of the natives. Said one
man, "In all the Philippines there is no one so beloved for his gentle
yet unrelenting manner, his absolute fairness and justice, as this
soldier who had the unusual power of instilling love for himself and
fear for his enmity at the same time."
In his boyhood his close friends report that this same quality often
made him the protector of the younger boys when they were the victims
of the school bully. "As a young fellow," states one of his early
friends, "he was accommodating and never pushed himself forward. He was
always ready to help other fellows who were not able to work out their
problems. As a boy his decisions were always quick and accurate."
Of course the spirit of fairness implies the possession of a kindly
nature as well as imagination. One cannot be fair or just to his enemies
unless he can first get their points of view. This was the underlying
quality in the work Lincoln did. He saw what his opponents saw but he
also saw more. It is the quality which makes of a man or a boy "a good
sport." He appreciates his antagonist and also--in the end--is
appreciated by his antagonist.
A writer in the _Missouri Historical Review_, whose words have before
been quoted, pays the following tribute to this quality in General
Pershing:
With his scholarly attainments, his ability as a
writer and speaker and his grasp of big problems,
Pershing might have developed into a statesman:
he certainly would have succeeded as a business
man if he could have contented himself with the
humdrum life in a downtown office; and with his
attractive personality he might indeed have led a
successful career as a politician, except for his
unfortunate modesty which even in the army has
frequently delayed for him a merited promotion. As
a soldier, Pershing's methods are those of
clemency rather than ruthlessness and he makes
personal friends even of his enemies.
Writing as he did before the declaration of war with Germany he adds:
Since the death of General Funston he has been in
command of the Department of the South, one of the
important military posts of the country at the
present time. With this country an active
participant in the War of the Nations and the
probability that a strong expeditionary force will
be sent to coöperate with the Allies in France,
what is more probable or desirable than that
General Pershing should command it? He has
participated in every war in which this country
has been engaged for thirty years and in every
campaign has added luster to his own name and
distinction to American armies.
One has to read no more than the painstaking reports which he sent from
the Philippines to the Adjutant General or to the Headquarters
Department of Mindanao and Jolo to comprehend the mastery of details
which has been a striking characteristic of General Pershing. From his
recommendations concerning military posts and the disposition of the
troops in the province he turns to deal specifically with detailed
suggestions about cold storage plants and to present carefully prepared
suggestions to aid the quartermaster from whom "too much is expected."
It is easy for one to tell what _ought_ to be done. The world has never
lacked, nor does it lack now, multitudes of men who fancy they are
competent to do that. But to find one who is able to tell how to do
it--he is the individual for whom the world ever has a warm welcome.
Many are officious, but only a few are competent or efficient.
Nor is this quality of mind and heart limited to details of
administration alone. It applies also to his knowledge of men. The
incident of the telegram to the former cook, John Kulolski, related in
Chapter XVI, is illustrative. Most men find that for which they are
looking. If they expect to find evil they seldom are disappointed. If
their objective is the thing worth while, that too they find. To know
men as well as maps, to study soldiers as well as supplies, to grasp the
varying and differing elements that compose an army--these are the
essential elements in a successful leader of men. To the German war
lords their men may be merely "cannon fodder." To the public a French
soldier may be a poilu, a British fighter a Tommy, an American a
doughboy. To General Pershing every one that carries a gun is above all
else a man. This is at once the basis of his confidence in and appeal to
his followers. It may be because of this trait that Rowland Thomas and
others have described General Pershing as "the most brilliant and most
dependable general officer in our army."
Like many men who are large, physically as well as mentally, he has
almost infinite patience. This quality too is so closely linked to
self-control that at times it is difficult to distinguish between them.
Confidence and self-possession are the foundation stones upon which
patience rests. It is the man sure neither of himself nor of the goal he
seeks nor of the cause for which he fights who becomes impatient. Was
promotion delayed? Then he must wait with patience, first making himself
fit to be promoted or doing his work in a manner that would compel
recognition. Had the Moros for three centuries successfully resisted
every attempt to subjugate them? Then his campaign must be so conducted
that the little brown people must be made to see that the United States
was seeking to help as well as to subdue. Had Germany for more than
forty years been preparing armies to overthrow civilization and dominate
the world? Then, "Germany can be beaten, Germany must be beaten, Germany
will be beaten," is the quiet statement of the American Commander,
because, having confidence in the cause for which he is fighting and
faith in his fighters, he can be patient. With the end in view, there
must be no hasty or impatient activity which might lead to disaster.
[Illustration: General Foch and General Pershing.]
One distinguished writer on military topics has called him the American
Kitchener, because of his ability as an organizer. Points of resemblance
there may be and doubtless are, and these are not limited to any one
man, British or American, but the people of the United States are well
content to take him as he is. If comparisons are to be made then the
resemblance should be based upon the fact that the party to which
reference is made is "like Pershing," not because General Pershing is
like another.
It is a marvelous time in the history of the world and the times require
men equal to the demand. Nearly four years of the war passed and up to
that time the hearts of many were heavy because no one outstanding
figure had appeared. The unspoken call was for a leader. Great men, good
men and many of them were in evidence, but the Napoleonic leader had not
appeared.
Then upon the insistence of the President of the United States a supreme
commander, one brain, one heart, one sole power to direct, was found and
the Allies were no longer separate units, each free to come or go,
without adhesion or cohesion. There was now to be one plan and one
planner. The world already is aware of the result, for Foch has been
tried and tested. The great unifying power has been discovered. The man
for whom the world had been waiting had appeared and taken charge.
Whether times make men or men make the times is a riddle as old as the
one concerning the egg and the hen as to which was first produced.
Without question both are true.
But no military genius can win battles, much less win a war, unless he
is supported by strong men and true. And in the number of those who are
closest to Foch is the Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in
France. All are rejoiced that he is where he is, but they are equally
proud that he is what he is.
It is easy to paraphrase the words of the great Apostle to the Gentiles,
and to say of General John Joseph Pershing that he too "is a citizen of
no mean country." It is also easy to say that he is no mean citizen of
that country, for he is both the citizen and the general, the man as
well as the soldier. And there is the strongest possible desire on the
part of his countrymen, that, upheld by his armies and helped by
everyone in his native land, he may speedily add new luster to his name
and to that of his own land until the words of the greatest orator of
the new world may have an added significance and a deeper meaning--"I--I
also--am an American!"
CHAPTER XX
HIS MILITARY RECORD
THE complete Military Record of General Pershing as it has been kept by
the War Department of the United States is here presented. To the facts
obtained from this Department are added a few later items, which the
Acting Adjutant General kindly has provided.
JOHN J. PERSHING
BORN SEPTEMBER 13, 1860 IN AND APPOINTED FROM
MISSOURI.
Cadet Military Academy July 1, 1882
2nd Lt. 6th Cavalry July 1, 1886
1st Lt, 10th Cavalry Oct. 20, 1892
Captain, 1st Cavalry Feb. 2, 1901
Trs. to 15th Cavalry Aug. 20, 1901
Brigadier General Sept. 20, 1906
Accepted Sept. 20, 1906
Major General Sept. 25, 1916
General Oct. 6, 1917
VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Maj. Chief Ord. Officer Aug. 18, 1898
Honorably discharged May 12, 1899
Maj. A. A. G. June 6, 1899
Honorably discharged June 30, 1901
SERVICE
Served with regiment on the frontier from September, 1886 to 1891;
Professor of Military Science and Tactics at University of Nebraska,
September, 1891 to October, 1895; was Instructor of Tactics at the
Military Academy at West Point, N. Y., June, 1897 to May, 1898; served
throughout the Santiago Campaign in Cuba, June to August, 1898; on duty
in War Department, August, 1898 to September, 1899, when he left for
Philippine Islands; served in Philippine Islands until 1903; member
General Staff Corps 1903 to 1906; and also Military Attaché at Tokio,
Japan; served again in Philippine Islands from 1906 to 1914; commanded
Punitive Expedition in Mexico from March, 1916 to February, 1917;
commanded Southern Department to May, 1917, and United States Forces in
France since that date.
BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS
Sioux Indian Campaign, South Dakota, September,
1890 to January, 1891; action near mouth of Little
Grass Creek, South Dakota, January 1, 1891; Las
Quasimas, Cuba, June 24, 1898; San Juan, Cuba,
July 1, 1898, and was recommended by his
regimental commander for brevet commission for
personal gallantry, untiring energy and
faithfulness; and by the brevet board convened
that year for the brevet of Captain for gallantry
at Santiago de Cuba, July 1, 1898; in the field in
Philippine Islands, November, 1900 to March, 1901,
against General Capistrano, commander of
insurrectionary forces; in command of an
expedition against the hostile Moros of Maciu,
starting from Camp Vicars, Mindanao, September 18,
1902; action at Gauan, September 18, and Bayabao,
September 19, 1902; captured Fort Moro, September
29, 1902, driving the Moros from Maciu Peninsula
on that date. He attacked the Moros at Maciu
September 30, 1902, capturing their two forts, and
returned to Camp Vicars, October 3, 1902; was in
action at Bacolod, April 6 to 8, 1903; Calahui,
April 9, 1903, and Taraca River, May 4, 1903. He
commanded the first military force that ever
encircled Lake Lanao; Punitive Expedition in
Mexico, 1916 and 1917; and since June, 1917,
commanding the Expeditionary Force in France.
An additional statement by the War Department:
John J. Pershing was appointed a Major General in
the Regular Army, during a recess of the Senate,
on September 25, 1916, with rank from that date.
His name was submitted to the Senate on December
15, 1916, for the permanent form of commission, in
confirmation of his recess appointment, and the
nomination was confirmed on December 16, 1916, the
permanent commission being signed on December 20,
1916. He accepted his appointment as Major General
on September 30, 1916.
He was appointed General on October 6, 1917, with
rank from that date, for the period of the
existing emergency, under the provisions of an Act
of Congress approved October 6, 1917. He accepted
this appointment on October 8, 1917.
Gen. Pershing sailed for Europe on May 28, 1917.
Prior to that date a total of 211 officers and 919
enlisted men had embarked from the United States
for Europe.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The frontispiece of General Pershing was taken from the 1920 edition of
this book.
"Bastille" spelled "Bastile" throughout the text.
Page 4, "attaches" changed to "attachés" (and civilian attachés)
Page 32, "diagraming" changed to "diagramming" (by each diagramming)
Page 41, "roommate" changed to "room-mate" to match rest of usage (My
room-mate, "Lucy")
Page 67, "Sanitago" changed to "Santiago" (harbor of Santiago)
Page 72, "inpenetrable" changed to "impenetrable"
Page 80, "potection" changed to "protection" (protection moving to)
Page 129, period added after Sept (Sept. 7)
Page 130, period added after Sept (Sept. 22)
Page 132, "reconnoissance" changed to "reconnaissance" (conducted a
reconnaissance)
Page 158, "cooperation" changed to "coöperation" (all succor or
coöperation)
Page 167, "magnificiently" changed to "magnificently" (the magnificently
furnished)
Page 197, closing quotation mark added (own--La Marseillaise.'")
Page 205, period added to end of paragraph (upon as typical.)
Page 214, "incapicitated" changed to "incapacitated" (was incapacitated
for)
Page 215, "in" changed to "on" (place it on a desk)
Page 220, "wood pile" changed to "woodpile" to match rest of usage (boys
at the woodpile)
Page 225, "catagory" changed to "category" (and into one category)
Page 231, "came" changed to "come" (days have come)
Page 234, "Poincare" changed to "Poincaré" (President Poincaré
personally)
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