Pershing
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN JOSEPH, an American general. He was born in Lynn co., Mo., in 1860, and was graduated at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1886, as senior cadet captain, on which he received his commission as second lieutenant in the Sixth United States Cavalry, getting his first experience of warfare in the Apache Indian campaigns in Arizona and New Mexico. He was also named to command the Sioux Indian scouts in 1890- 1891 Sioux campaign in Dakota. His next appointment was as military instructor in the University of Nebraska, after which he was transferred to the 10th Cavalry in 1892, continuing his lectures, when in 1896 he gained distinction in the Cree campaign, and in 1898 in the Santiago campaign. He organized the bureau of insular affairs in Cuba, and next saw service in the Philippine Islands, bein active there at Mindanao in operations against the Moros. When the Russo- Japanese War broke out he went as United States military attaché to Japan, and was with the army of General Kuroki during the Manchurian rian campaign. He returned to the Philippines in 1906, as brigadier-general and governor of the GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING Moro province, continuing his campaigns till they culminated in victory in June, 1913. He then was engaged in department work till the Mexican crisis of 1915, when he was put in command of the punitive expedition against Francisco Villa. It was in this year that he lost his wife and three children in a conflagration at the Presidio, San Francisco. In May, 1917, Pershing was made commander-inchief of the American Expeditionary Forces destined for Europe and went ahead of the army in the following month. In October he was made full general, and following the appointment 40 3 amir 4 36 5 34 6 32 7 30 8 28 9 26 10 of forces Foch, he as generalissimo of his disposal placed. During the American the in close association war eral, and on his return with the States received a great to popular welcome. Toward the end of the war Fren French, Italian, British, and American honors were showered upon him. Sept. 4, 1919, confirmed by Senate as General of the Armies of the United States.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's caught Pershing in 1921 at his peak of fame, just after the Senate confirmed him General of the Armies. He went on to serve as Army Chief of Staff from 1921 to 1924, overseeing the reorganisation of the peacetime army, then retired and wrote "My Experiences in the World War," which won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1932. He died on 15 July 1948 and is buried at Arlington among the ordinary soldiers of the A.E.F., under a plain government headstone at his own request. His name outlived him in unexpected places: the Pershing Map of 1922, a blueprint for national military highways, and the Pershing missile of the Cold War.
Written for this edition, 2026.