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- Pershing’s hometown of Laclede, Missouri, was invaded by Confederate bushwhackers just before his 4th birthday. The guerillas were hunting for his father, who flew the Union flag above his general store.
- Before entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1882, Pershing taught African-American students at Prairie Mound School in Missouri.
- In 1885, Pershing was promoted to first lieutenant and became one of the first white officers to command African-American soldiers in the 10th Cavalry.
- In 1898, Pershing led 10th Cavalry soldiers up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. Pershing’s gallantry in the Battle of San Juan Hill caught the attention of Teddy Roosevelt, who also fought his way up San Juan Hill with his “Rough Riders” regiment.
How many U.S. Army five-star generals have there been and who were they? The temporary grade of "General of the Army" (five-star) was provided for by Public Law 482, 78th Congress, approved...
General of the Army was created as five-star rank by an Act of Congress on a temporary basis with the enactment of Public Law 78-482. The law creating the five-star rank stipulated that Pershing was to be considered senior to the five-star generals of World War II.
- Early Life and Launch of Military Career
- Service in The Spanish-American War and The Philippines
- Personal Tragedy and Role in Pursuit of Pancho Villa
- Leadership in World War I
- Pershing’s Later Years
- Sources
Pershing was born in 1860 near the small Missouri town of Laclede. While still a teenager, he got a job teaching at a school for African American students. After seeing an advertisement for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Pershing applied and won acceptance in 1882. He graduated four years later, ranking 30th in a class of 77. Pershing spe...
After spending several years teaching military science and tactics at the University of Nebraska (where he also obtained his law degree) and returning to West Point as an instructor, Pershing headed to Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War. In 1898, he and the 10th Cavalry Regiment fought bravely in the Battles of Santiago and San Juan Hill alo...
After another tour in the Philippines from 1906-13, Pershing returned to the United States, where he was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco and placed in command of the Army’s 8th Brigade. In August 1915, while Pershing and his men were on assignment in Fort Bliss, Texas to defend the southern border from attacks by Mexican bandits, a fire ...
After the United States entered World War I in 1917, Wilson bypassed five other major-generals to appoint Pershing as commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). U.S. armed forces expanded quickly during the conflict, and Pershing was tasked with turning some 2 million relatively inexperienced troops into a professional fighting force. Soo...
When Pershing returned home, Congress made him only the second person (after George Washington) to be honored with the rank of “General of the Armies of the United States.” As the war’s greatest American hero, he was considered a possible president, but failed to win the 1920 Republican nomination. He served as U.S. Army chief of staff from 1921 to...
John J. Pershing. Historic Missourians. Today in History: July 15. Library of Congress. General John J. Pershing. National Park Service. Andrew Carroll. My Fellow Soldiers: General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War. (Penguin Press, 2017)
Sep 23, 2018 · On Oct. 6, 1917, Pershing, then a major general, was promoted to full general in the U.S. Army. He bypassed the three-star rank of lieutenant general and was the first four-star general since Philip Sheridan in 1888.
May 21, 2024 · John J. Pershing (born September 13, 1860, Laclede, Missouri, U.S.—died July 15, 1948, Washington, D.C.) was a U.S. Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I. Pershing graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1886. He was commissioned a second lieutenant ...
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Jan 7, 2019 · Updated on January 07, 2019. John J. Pershing (born September 13, 1860, in Laclede, MO) steadily progressed up through the ranks of the military to become the decorated leader of US forces in Europe during World War I. He was the first to rank as General of the Armies of United States. Pershing died at Walter Reed Army Hospital on July 15, 1948.
