When the United States entered the First World War in 1917 it had a small army and no experience of industrial-scale European war. John J. Pershing built the force that tipped the balance, and he fought hard to make sure it fought as America's own army.
Black Jack
A veteran of the Indian Wars, Cuba and the Philippines, Pershing led the Punitive Expedition into Mexico in 1916 in a fruitless chase after Pancho Villa1. The next year he was chosen to command the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France, charged with turning millions of new recruits into an army.
Pershing and his officers at the field headquarters near Casas Grandes, Mexico, during the 1916 expedition after Pancho Villa; the group includes the young Lieutenant George S. Patton (Library of Congress). Public domain
An American army
Britain and France, bled white after three years of war, wanted American troops fed piecemeal into their own units2. Pershing refused. He insisted the AEF fight as an3independent American army under American command, a stand that shaped the war's end4 and America's place in the world. American divisions helped stop the German spring offensive of 19182 in savage fights such as Belleau Wood.
The Allied commanders in 1918, from left: Philippe Pétain, Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch and John J. Pershing. Photograph published in Clara E. Laughlin's book Foch the Man, 1918. Public domain
The Meuse-Argonne
In the autumn of 1918 Pershing launched the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the largest battle in American history to that point, with more than a million US troops5. It was costly and at times chaotic, but it helped break the German lines and bring the armistice of 11 November 1918. Pershing was later made General of the Armies, the highest rank the United States has ever conferred6.
The Meuse-Argonne offensive of September to November 1918, from the lines of 26 September to the armistice line near Sedan. US Army map. Public domain
He was the American general who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in the First World War (1860 to 1948), nicknamed 'Black Jack.'
Why did Pershing insist on an independent American army?
The Allies wanted to feed US troops into their own depleted units, but Pershing believed America should fight as its own army under American command, both for effectiveness and for its standing at the peace table.
What was the Meuse-Argonne offensive?
It was a huge American attack in autumn 1918, the largest battle in US history to that point, involving over a million troops; costly and hard-fought, it helped force the German armistice.
What was Pershing's Punitive Expedition?
In 1916 he led US troops into Mexico to hunt the revolutionary Pancho Villa after a cross-border raid; the expedition never caught Villa but gave the army useful experience.
What rank did Pershing hold?
He was made General of the Armies, the highest rank in the US Army, an honour shared only with George Washington, who was later granted it posthumously.
Did American troops decide the First World War?
They did not win it single-handed, but the fresh weight of Pershing's growing army in 1918 helped tip an exhausted balance decisively against Germany.
Lead the AEF in France
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