Download John J. Pershing - davis.k12.ut.us

US History Makeup
Read the article. Write a 250 word essay answering the question and email it to
[email protected] or turn it into the box.
What role did John J Pershing play in America’s WW1 fight?
John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing was a general in the U.S. Army who led two million men to victory in World
War I (1914–18).
Early years
Pershing was born in the small southern town of Laclede, Missouri , in 1860. Although the
family was prosperous, it suffered financial difficulties in 1873, a year of economic depression.
Pershing's plan to attend college was replaced with the need to work on the family farm. The
Pershings were unable to pay the mortgage and lost the farm to the bank. Page 1216 | Top of
ArticleNeeding to find work, Pershing took the state's teaching examination and passed. He got a
job teaching in Laclede's school for African Americans.
Within months, Pershing landed a higher-paying job at a school near Laclede. Pershing divided
his time between teaching and studying at a two-year college for teachers. He still clung to his
dream of going to college, and eventually he entered West Point, a military academy.
At West Point, Pershing earned a reputation as a leader. After graduation, at which point he was
a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Pershing spent the next few years in the southwest, fighting
Apache leader Geronimo (1829–1909) and his tribe. In late 1890, Pershing and the Sixth Cavalry
were sent to the Dakotas to fight the Sioux nation. They remained there until mid-1891.
War and marriage
From late 1891 to 1898, Pershing spent most of his time as a military instructor. He first taught at
the University of Nebraska and then at West Point, where he got into trouble for being too hard
on his students. He was not popular among the cadets he instructed.
Pershing served in the Spanish-American War in 1898, where his courage on the battlefield
earned him a promotion to major and an assignment to the Philippines. The Philippines had been
under Spanish rule but the United States assumed control after the war. Tired of being ruled by
outsiders, the islanders began a revolt. Pershing's job was to impose order. He did so, and in
1902 he was promoted to captain and given command of a small outpost there.
Pershing married in 1905 and moved his family around the country as his assignments changed.
In 1915, while he was in Texas , his family home in San Francisco, California , burned down
while his family was inside. His wife and three daughters died; son Warren was the sole
survivor.
World War I
Great Britain, France, Russia, and other countries (known as the Allies (had been fighting the
Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey) in World War I for nearly
three years before America joined the fight in 1917. When Pershing and his men arrived in
Page 1217 | Top of ArticleFrance, he was immediately asked to turn over command of his
troops to Allied commanders so that the American soldiers could be trained quickly. Pershing
refused and promised that his men would be an effective fighting force all on their own.
Pershing decided he wanted one million troops in France by mid1918, with more to follow. He
got his men and trained them by the summer of 1918. In the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in
France, Pershing's First Army captured sixteen thousand prisoners and almost five hundred
German artillery guns. Pershing then moved some of his troops 60 miles (97 kilometers) to
launch another offensive. It was more than the Central Powers could handle, and a cease-fire was
signed on November 11, 1918.
Home again
Pershing led a victory parade in Washington, D.C. , in September 1919. The same year, he was
promoted to general of the armies, a rank created just for him. He served as army chief of staff
from 1921 until his retirement in 1924. Pershing died on July 15, 1948.